‘All struggles are a priority and solidarity is the solution’ from the IWD march in Beirut on the 11th of March, 2017. Picture by Pat Sy.Since the end of 2016 under Michel Aoun’s presidency, and the new government of Saad Hariri, it has been increasingly clear that a new form of governance is taking shape in the country. It is one that is marked by growing repression, new limitations on freedom of expression and political action, and an alarming level of militarisation.
Lebanese sectarianism, xenophobia, and racism is certainly no new phenomenon, they have a history that can hardly fit into one article. However, unprecedented levels of incitement against refugees and “others” are today visible. One can find many similarities between the discourses of many of the Lebanese ruling parties, most notably the Free Patriotic Movement (the President’s political party) and those of the xenophobic extreme right wing parties in Europe and the US.
Refugees after all have become a global scapegoat and an easy demon to rally against by such right wing movements. They all rely on demonising an “other” (the Muslim, the Arab, the refugee, the Syrian, the Palestinian, etc.) in order to justify their legitimacy as the saviors of a certain “true” political subject, while distracting people from the injustices, inequalities and corruption of the system they are safeguarding.
