Majority Of Lebanese "Christians" Are Pro-Syria

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Divided Lebanon Vote Leaves Pro-Syrian Candidate With Victory

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070806/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_tense_vote

Vote leaves Lebanon's Christians divided

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 6 minutes ago
 
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The deadlocked struggle between the pro-U.S. government and mainly Shiite opposition deepened Monday after a tense parliamentary election showed a sharp divide among Christians, a key swing bloc.

Sunnis are the base for the ruling coalition, which opposes Syrian influence. Shiite Muslims, led by Hezbollah, overwhelmingly back the pro-Syrian opposition. Neither side has been able to decisively lure the Christians, around a third of Lebanon's 4 million people, to their camp.

That deadlock was reinforced when pro-government candidate Amin Gemayel, a former president and the head of one of Lebanon's most powerful Maronite Christian families, conceded defeat by a mere 418 votes in Sunday's election in the Christian stronghold of Metn north of Beirut.

The victor was little-known Kamil Khoury, who was backed by the most prominent Christian leader in the pro-Syrian opposition, Michel Aoun. Khoury took 39,534 votes to Gemayel's 39,116.

The result "reaffirms the existing stalemate," said Rami Khoury, an analyst with the Issam Fares think tank at the American University of Beirut. "It shows a very polarized Christian community."

Many fear the deepening stalemate may lead to the formation of competing governments if it is not resolved before the race to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term ends Nov. 23.

Under Lebanon's division of power among its sects, the presidency must be held by a Maronite Christian chosen parliament. Now, no Maronite leader can boost his bid among lawmakers by claiming to represent the entire community.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's backers are hoping to finally put in place an anti-Syrian figure in the presidency to strengthen their power. They rose to control the government after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, ending Damascus' decadeslong control of Lebanon.

But the political struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition has sapped the anti-Syrian movement's power and paralyzed the government. Gemayel's loss is a setback for his potential as a candidate.

Aoun has said he will stand for the presidency. But the slimness of Kamil Khoury's victory Sunday damages his patron Aoun's attempts to present himself as the top Christian politician.

"Aoun is still a formidable figure but cannot really present himself as the leading Maronite figure anymore. That's probably the single most significant element in the election," said Rami Khoury, the analyst.

Gemayel, 65, was running in his home district with an implicit endorsement by the powerful Maronite patriarch. He was seeking to replace his son, Pierre Gemayel, who was gunned down in November in an attack that government supporters blamed on Syria.

Gemayel got more of the Maronite vote than his rival — 75 percent, according to press reports. But Aoun's candidate made up for it by winning other Christians' votes.

Gemayel supporters blamed his loss on the large ethnic Armenian community in the Metn district and said Kamil Khoury was not representative of the Maronites, who form a majority in the district and are the largest Christian sect in Lebanon.

Armenians are largely Catholic or Orthodox Christian.

Another election Sunday was to replace lawmaker Walid Eido, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a June car bombing there. A pro-government candidate, Mohammed al-Amin Itani, won that race easily.

So the majority of Lebanese Christians support Syria and pro-Hezbollah candidates. My, my, my, what allies we have in the Middle East! 

[mord]

I think they may be scared

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

They always were pro-Muslim and anti-Israel. Did you know that Lebanese Christians ATTACKED Israel in 1948?

[mord]

No that i did'nt know,if they trust their arab brethren they should be aware that they'll turn on them

[newman]

Any Lebanese christian who would side with muslims over Jews these days (after all that's happened ) is a suicidal lunatic!

[mord]

Any Lebanese christian who would side with muslims over Jews these days (after all that's happened ) is a suicidal lunatic!

QFT

[Dr. Dan]

what about the SLA who were the IDF's allies in Southern Lebanon back in the day?

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

They were a tiny minority of Lebanese society.

Look at the summer of 06. The overwhelming majority of Lebanon's "Christians" were riotous cheerleaders for Hezbollah.

[Dr. Dan]

They were a tiny minority of Lebanese society.

Look at the summer of 06. The overwhelming majority of Lebanon's "Christians" were riotous cheerleaders for Hezbollah.

You're right!  They were very anti-Israel when she was trying to liberate lebanon from Hizballah...blaming tiny israel for all their problems.

[Lisa]

Chaim said on a past show that the majority of them identify racially, socially and politically as Arab Muslims. 

And remember George Habash who headed up the Popular Front For the Liberation of Fakestine was one of the Christians.  Hanan Ashwari, Yassir Arafats mouthpiece was also a so-called Christian.  Chaim mentioned a few especially vicious Arab terrorists who called themselves Christians. 

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

As per usual, Lisa is (sadly, in this case) right. None of us should waste ANY tears on these savage Amalek beasts who practice jihad and abide by all of the pillars of the Koran. They consider themselves Muslims in spirit and in any war will side with their Muslim Nazi brethren. Nearly every one of them is a demon.

We all like to think about the Brigitte Gabriels of the world, but the fact is that she is a tiny minority, not only among Arabs but among so-called Christian Arabs.

[TheCoon]

I think you need to look at the political situation in Lebanon and understand what's going on. There are more important things right now for Lebanese Christians than being pro-Israel. Those that support the FPM candidate who is pro-Syria are likely voting against the Sunni bloc lead by Rafik Hariri's son than anything else. A good portion of Lebanese Christians despise the sunni politicians as much as they do hizbullah because they see them taking over silently. The sunni bloc in Lebanon also gets considerably money from Saudi Arabia and has been known to support the "palestinians" in Lebanon. In Lebanon it's sadly every faction for themselves and everyone is out for their own. It must be noted that Amin Gemayal is a retreaded politician who was known to be extremely corrupt and a total failure.

[EagleEye]

It is possible (but not yet proven) that they may just be responding to peer pressure and societal expectations and that if the environment were to be controlled and the Muslim majority eradicated, they would no longer support it.  Possible, but not yet proven.