Lebanese Maronites Insulted by Iranian Accusation of Warmth Toward Israel

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch (The National)

A sectarian row produced tension across Lebanon on March 5. The Maronite League, representing the largest Christian minority in the country, denounced “insults” directed toward its patriarch, Bechara al-Rai, by an Iranian state-run Arabic news channel.  On its website, the channel referred to a variety of recent statements made by al-Rai as indicative of support for diplomatic normalization with Israel. The League then demanded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut for an official reprimand. 

The 80 year-old patriarch, outspoken in recent months, desires an international conference under United Nations auspices to “avert chaos, hunger, and oppression” building in the country as a result of the political, economic, and health crises which have slammed Lebanon over the past year.  The idea, first championed by French President Macron, stalled in the face of sectarian divisions.  At a February 27 rally, he made a thinly veiled reference to Iranian meddling through its local Hezbollah proxy party when claiming that he drew the line when it came to individuals  “who harbor evil for Lebanon, regardless of their sect,” and warned of a “full-fledged coup.” Emotional followers at the rally chanted, “Hezbollah is terrorist.  Get out Iran.”  The event made up part of a campaign directed by the Maronite Church to end the current political deadlock that took hold in the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion August 2020. Though the previous government resigned following the explosion, Lebanon’s provisional caretaker government has had little success at enacting reform or filling key positions.

Tehran, widely regarded as a beneficiary of the country’s stalemate and disunity, reacted to attempts at involving the U.N. by accusing al-Rai of leading a right-wing conspiracy to normalize ties with Israel along the lines of last Autumn's Abraham Accords. The League, in turn, demanded that the caretaker government denounce the assertion.  For its part, Hezbollah, a Shi’ite political party and militant group, refused to engage, stating that it “did not wish to debate the Patriarch’s ideas” and that it rejected the idea of internationalizing a national crisis. 

Lebanese, however, frustrated by political paralysis, have looked for non-government leadership to bridge the Muslim-Christian divide. Al-Rai received significant grassroots support for an international conference, clearly a factor in Iranian attempts to discredit him. Nevertheless, even Muslim protesters have attended his rallies, calling the patriarch their “last hope.”