The following is an open letter from a Lebanese-Canadian, writing under a pseudonym (“Mustafa Salem“) to Canadian Friends of Peace Now, that “Dialogue is the only solution”:
I was raised in a society in which I had no contact with Israelis and was heavily influenced by negative views of Israel. Nevertheless, my family was always very open minded towards people of all origins, Israelis included.
When I first came to Canada about 20 years ago, I got to befriend a few Israelis, some of whom were also of Lebanese descent, and I discovered how similar our two cultures were and how strong our ties used to be in the past. Their grandparents shared stories of old Beirut, very similar to the ones I used to hear from my own grandparents. They even made me nostalgic for a time I didn’t live through. I used to talk to them frequently at a well-known Lebanese restaurant in Montréal, where I worked during my student years.
From getting to know these Israelis, I came to understand that the current conflict is not all black and white as some people paint it. I learned how important Israel is to Jews worldwide, especially in the present times, why it had been created, but also how Israelis had been affected by the past decades of intermittent war with its Arab neighbours. This is when I realized how important it was to reach peace between Lebanon and Israel, and how much both countries could benefit economically and socially from lasting peace.
I was very optimistic about prospects for peace in the Middle East as a whole, following the 2020 Abraham Accords, hoping that Lebanon would be next to sign a peace agreement with Israel. I know many Lebanese wished for this too – people from the north to the south of the country and of all faiths. Like you, I was horrified by the massacres of the 7th of October 2023, and all the death and destruction that followed.
Today, the peace process has run out of steam. Only the extreme positions monopolize the media.
I believe your movement needs support and involvement from Arabs who speak up in the name of peace and oppose the agenda of foreign entities who have nefarious interests in our region and wish to advance their extremist ideologies.
Those ideologies find open ears because after years of adversity – the bombings, the occupation, the brutality – people are full of fear. Fear of losing their loved ones and their homeland. People who are afraid tend to be more receptive to extremism.
This is why it’s so important to break the cycle of violence, today more than ever. It’s easier to make war than peace, and for the past 78 years war has proved totally counterproductive.
I believe that the solution to most of the issues in the region will only be through a durable, mutually beneficial peace and the normalization of relations between Israel and its neighbouring Arab countries. I also believe that this peace will only be attained through dialogue and acknowledgment of each other’s realities and by addressing common fears and misconceptions. This will encourage people to stop believing extremist rhetoric.
Destruction in Lebanon
Recently, destruction again reached my country of origin, Lebanon. I remember calling my mother and brother the day before it all started. I remember their denial of the whole situation. They told me that more than a decade of on and off tension changed their perspective of a normal everyday life. For them, it was business as usual. I also remember the anguish of Monday, September 23. How everyone was stranded on the highway, unable to flee the bombings in the South. How every Lebanese I knew was so anxious about their country’s future, the whereabouts of their family, their childhood homes and villages. Some reached out to me to check if my family was ok, if they were still alive and if they could flee to a safer place.
What is happening in Lebanon is not only the destruction of the enemies of Israel. Entire neighbourhoods and villages, peoples’ childhood memories, their retirement investments are getting wiped out. It’s a tragedy, and people are again losing hope.
Before October 7th, 2023, most of the Lebanese I used to engage with, from any faith or region, in or outside Lebanon, were very optimistic about a peace settlement with the Israelis. They anticipated either a friendly peace, as between Israel and Jordan, or a colder one as between Israel and Egypt. Today, after witnessing the destruction of their home country and the loss of their loved ones, their narrative has changed. They do not trust Israel anymore.
Some entities in Lebanon are actively trying to convince Lebanese that all Israel wants is to either kill them, or to expel them from their homes (as we see happening in parts of the West Bank) and colonize Lebanon. The older generation that lived through the civil war and/or the occupation of South Lebanon by the IDF and the SLA (South Lebanese Army) tend to think this way because of their experiences with Israel in the past.
Until now, the new generation was more inclined to promote normalization of relations with Israel, moving forward to a brighter future for the region, free of all the drama and religious extremism. This generation wished for a unified Lebanon, without the sects and the religious leaders dictating politics and especially without any armed terror group inside Lebanon, passing itself off as a “Resistance.” Sadly, the younger people are now living through the trauma of the older ones, and the peace process will again be set back. I hear more and more Lebanese losing hope of a better future between our two countries.
The only solution to this crisis is through dialogue and mutual recognition of the right of existence of the other. We need to overcome the biases that prevail toward each other in our common societies and learn to know and trust each other. Organizations such as Canadian Friends of Peace Now could create a forum for such dialogue in Canada.
I also believe that Canada has, through his peoples, values and convictions, a role to play in the solution to this conflict in the Middle East. I have learned in my life that small actions and achievements go a long way. We have been able to go to the moon a few times already so I believe we will be able to solve this issue in the future.