Articles

Between Furn al-Chebbak and Monot, I managed to see two theatrical performances in the space of a single week. I will not analyze here, nor discuss what I watched. I am not a critic, and what I lived through during those performances is far too personal. But something awoke inside me. A fierce desire to speak, not to judge, but to bear witness. Theater. Light. The direct encounter with the other. The other who reveals himself before me in his body and his voice, in his sweat and his living breath. And I, I go alone, as if between me and the theater there is a romantic appointment. I ready myself for that encounter,

The condemnation by the United States Mission to the United Nations of the attack carried out by the Polisario Front against the city of Smara, in the Moroccan Sahara, is no trivial event. The American mission deemed that such acts threaten regional stability and undermine the progress made on the path to peace. Equally significant is the American mission’s insistence that the time has come to put an end to this conflict, which has dragged on for nearly fifty years, with a reminder that UN Security Council Resolution 2797 considers Morocco’s autonomy proposal the framework tracing the path toward peace in the Sahara.

The past week in the Middle East was marked by maintaining a fragile balance while waiting for a major event in the next one: U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China. The world's second superpower has yet to have its say in the conflict between its ally and one of its main energy suppliers, Iran, against its primary global rival. In any case, another ally—that of the Americans—once again made headlines: the Israeli prime minister ruled that the 'war is not over' as long as there are 'still nuclear materials—enriched uranium—that must be removed from Iran' and 'enrichment sites to dismantle,' Benjamin Netanyahu told American broadcaster CBS.

In a moment of extreme regional complexity, Lebanon finds itself confronted with an existential question that goes far beyond the daily calculations of politics and the country's traditional fault lines: what does it seek to obtain from any eventual negotiations with Israel, what can it offer, and does it even possess, internally, the capacity to honour whatever commitments might emerge? These questions have long ceased to be theoretical. They are now directly bound up with the fate of the Lebanese state, with the prospect of hundreds of thousands of its citizens returning to their villages, and with the country's ability to emerge from its condition as an "open theatre of war" and accede at last to the rank of an ordinary state, sovereign over its borders and its decisions.

Saturday in Lebanon was marked by the visit of Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to Damascus, where he was received by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. This visit is particularly significant in the current circumstances for several reasons: firstly, the outstanding issues between the two countries, such as border security, the resolution of the issue of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon, and others; secondly, the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, even as Israeli incursions into southern Syria have taken place in recent months; and finally, the context of the direct negotiations process between Lebanon and Israel, initiated by the Lebanese authorities and sponsored by Washington, within which Lebanon would benefit from expanding its contacts in the region.

Since the emergence of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon has strenuously sought to shield itself from falling entirely into the furnace of open-ended wars, adopting a policy built on two pillars: to be the last Arab State to sign a peace agreement with Israel, and to remain a “supporting State” for the Palestinian cause rather than a “frontline state” bearing the burden of war alone. This approach stemmed from Lebanon’s singular nature — its delicate balances and its political and social composition, which could not absorb protracted conflicts exceeding its capacities and resources. Yet this equilibrium began to shift gradually with the rise of armed Palestinian fedayeen action, as vast areas of South Lebanon transformed into what became known as “Fatahland,” under the aegis of Islamic and leftist forces. Lebanon entered then a new phase of division, particularly as the Assad regime exploited this reality and channelled it to serve its regional projects, turning the country into an open stage for wars and external settlements.