'Thousands march in Beirut to promote secularism in politics', reads the heading in the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star. The movement calls itself 'Laïque Pride', - an obvious reference to the Gay Pride movement, with secularism as its topic and aim.
I wouldn't have expected as many demonstrators, to be frank. So I am surprised and happy that this could happen. The Lebanese youth (for these are mainly - if not only - youngsters) definitely seems to want to draw a line.
It will be a long and tough battle, though. In Lebanon (as in Syria, and probably quite a few other Middle-Eastern countries) you simply don't exist if you are not registered with one of the 18 officially recognized religious communities.... You can't marry, you can't register a child (an an unregistered child can't go to school, for instance, it simply doesn't exist), you can't inherit. There is no civil code. Everything legal concerning families is determined by the 'code' of the community you (are supposed to) belong to. For instance, Muslims can get a divorce, Christians can't.
Also, the political representation is divided along religious line. The President of the country has to be a Maronite, the Prime Minister a Sunni, whereas the Speaker of the Parliament must be a Shi'ite. Each community is allowed so many seats in parliament - so try to build your political party around those lines... It is to drive one crazy. Constituencies are designated in the same way: this one is shi'ite, this one is Maronite, this one Greek orthodox, this one Sunni...
This system has been in place ever since Lebanon is an independent country (offcially, since 1943; but the Constitution was drawn long before, in 1926; and a similar system was introduced by the then Ottoman rulers in the 1860s, with the help of the European powers). And it was confirmed by the Taif agreement, which put an end to the 1975-1990 Civil War - with the non negligeable clause that this system was to end.
So there is a long way to go. Let's wait and see what happens next.
Read more about the demonstration in The Daily Star
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