Shiite Supremacy and the Federalist Project

By Joseph Sopholaos | Free Thinker, poet, essayist. Specialized in Arabic linguistics & analytical philospophy.

There is a recurring assumption that the existence of ethno-religious minorities makes them somewhat of natural allies, by virtue of their common grievances. However, there is no more premise historically and empirically falsified than this. Yet there are some who claim that the Shiite parties will join the federalist movement, on the premise of a minority alliance. Against such understanding one might posit two objections: (1) the nonexistence of “minority alliance” and (2) the Shiite supremacist attitude. Both objections serve as a serious challenge to what kind of emancipation the Christian federalists and Christian liberationists want.

The myth of minority alliances

The notion of “minority alliances” rests on the premise that all marginalized communities share a common goal of seeking political recognition and true equality as citizens within a political system that deprives them from their basic political and cultural rights. This notion presumes a minoritarian affinity against a majoritarian supremacy, however when examined with factual lenses such presumption collapses. Historical records show that most minorities found themselves at odds, if not in an outright conflict, with each other. To list a few historical examples from Lebanon:

1840 – Druze vs Maronite (result ethno-religious massacres and ethnic cleansing).

1860 – Druze vs Maronite (result ethno-religious massacres and ethnic cleansing).

1920 – Shia vs Maronite (result ethno-religious massacre).

1980s – Druze/Shia vs Maronite (result ethno-religious massacres and ethnic cleansing).

At the same time there are instances of Christian (minority) – Arab Sunni (majority) alliance, e.g. the conservative Sunni monarchies and anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Christian parties against Shiite Islamism.

The dangers of “minority alliance” discourse is that it risks being turned into a “minority subjugation” (as with the case of Hezbollah’s “Christian” allies); moreover, it undermines the true goal of the Christian federalist project: the creation of a federalist structure that ensures equality, enforces inclusivity, and protects diversity. Here we reach the ideological crux of federalism, i.e. its liberal foundation. Liberalism within the Islamic and Islamicate world suffered to gain a sympathetic audience, and even where it succeeded it was a quasi-form of Liberalism. Most Arab Muslim communities in the Middle East are theologically anti-liberal, whether they are demographically a minority or a majority. Hence, we come to face the undeniable aspect of the Shiite attitude towards federalism: supremacy.

Shiite Supremacy

It should be clear that Hezbollah’s Islamist ideology is that of domination. The “Christian” Hezbollah apologists tried to whitewash the obvious by claiming Shiite special “tolerance” (in contrast to the Sunni intolerance). However, the Shiite political parties and the overall behavior of the Shiite population in Lebanon dismisses such unfounded claims. The 2000 partial ethnic cleansing of the Christian population in South Lebanon following Israel’s withdrawal, as well as recent sectarian attacks on Christian properties and individuals, not to mention Hezbollah’s direct involvement with illegal acts of violence (assassinations, threats, etc.) serve as a stark reminder that there can be no reliable partnership with a supremacist mindset.

Concluding remarks

Given these two fundamental obstacles – the myth of minority solidarity and the reality of Shiite supremacist worldview – Christians must search elsewhere for partnerships, and at the same time refrain from seeking in the clouds for what lies at their feet: their self-reliance. Christian federalists and liberationists have long asserted that the struggle for political autonomy is not a leisure; one cannot demand equality, rather he must take it and enforce it, since it is within his natural right to do so. Without developing its defensive capabilities, social institutions, and educational system the Christian community’s sustainability is doomed. Herein lies the greater challenge.