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Violence in Lebanon threatens religious coexistence

While Lebanon has always been known as a country where Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully, recent developments show that some are trying to sow discord among Lebanese of all religions.
The Christian crosses of a Beirut cathedral surround a minaret of al Amin mosque in Beirut November 28, 2006. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard (LEBANON) - RTR1JSZR
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A new concern has been added to the fears of the Lebanese people, whose Muslim community in this multireligious country is fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The security concern that surfaced in debates and discussions even before the start of Ramadan on June 28 has now taken the shape of bombs and immediate threats to non-Muslim Lebanese and other residents in Lebanon.

For decades, Lebanon has prided itself on being the only place of religious and cultural diversity in the Middle East. All its officials boasted that it is the only country in the world where Muslims and Christians coexist without problems and legal disputes regarding the way each group formulates its private and public life. For instance, wearing the hijab or placing religious symbols in public schools or private institutions was never a problem, and neither was the observance of religious holidays. Even the personal status affairs, which were left to the discretion of religious officials and were completely abandoned by the government, were never an issue. Muslims lived as they pleased in their private and public lives, and so did Christians. However, it seems that this situation has now changed.

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