Hanin Ghaddar

A Syrian refugee in Lebanon, Khalil Hassan, was arrested by the Lebanese General Security on Saturday. Hassan has refugee travel documents granted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but these documents did not protect him because he was wanted by the Syrian regime. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army Intelligence detained three Syrian activists in the Bekaa on the same day.

These arrests coincided with the return of two of the three Lebanese fishermen who were seized by Syrian naval forces and taken to Syria on Saturday after the latter opened fire on their fishing boat near the maritime border with Syria. The Syrian authorities also handed over the body of 16-year-old Maher Hamad, who was killed by the Syrian navy’s gunfire during the incident.

On a different, but not-too-distant, front, an Iranian general said on Thursday that Iraq and Hezbollah-dominated South Lebanon follow the orders of Tehran.

“Those two countries, in a way or another, submit to the will and the wishes of Tehran,” head of Iran’s elite al-Quds Force Qassem Suleimani was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA student news agency. He added that his country “can organize any movement that leads to the formation of Islamic governments [in Iraq and Lebanon] in order to fight imperialism.”

Surprising? Not really. It would be naïve to think that Lebanon as a whole, not just the South, does not submit to the will and wishes of Tehran. But what is surprising is that our prime minister does not say anything to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Of course, no one would expect Hezbollah to react to this statement, although Iraqi Sadr Movement leader Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr rebuked Suleimani on Friday. Even the spokesman of the Iranian foreign minister, Ramin Mehmanparast, told Iran’s Arabic television service Al-Alam that the report that cited Suleimani “has been refuted and it is not accurate.”

Brilliant! Everyone rebuked Suleimani’s statement except Lebanon. Anyone can interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs and no one will complain except a bunch of civil society groups and activists. The Syrian regime has repeatedly sent troops to stage deadly incursions into Lebanese border villages, and Lebanon has not seriously complained.

The only thing that seems to matter to Lebanon’s government and its prime minister is the Syrian regime’s approval.
Apparently, the decision to arrest Khalil Hassan came following a meeting held between PM Najib Mikati and Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali on Wednesday in Beirut.

Ambassador Ali stressed the need to implement agreements signed between the two countries in terms of border control, putting an end to the infiltration of gunmen, the spread of extremism, and preventing verbal attacks on Syria in its sister state Lebanon. He added that Mikati vowed to foil campaigns against Syria, including the smuggling of arms and the infiltration of militants across the border.

So it is happening. The Syrian regime wants Lebanon to increase the crackdown on anti-Assad activists, and Lebanon is accommodating. Mikati “vowed.”

The prime minister is not a stupid man. He has proved to be canny on many critical occasions, specifically in his dealing with Hezbollah on the issue of financing for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He proved both to the Lebanese—mainly the Sunni community—and the international community that he does not “submit” to Hezbollah, as we all thought he would when he became PM last year.

He acts when the ball is obviously in his court, if the blame will be directed solely at him and if he would be the one to suffer the consequences as a Sunni leader and a businessman. However, allowing Lebanese security and intelligence institutions to crack down on anti-Assad activists is something else. It is an issue that he thinks he can steer clear of.

But maybe Mikati should consider one thing before turning a blind eye to the suffering of the Syrians in Lebanon. When Assad is gone, and he will eventually be gone, and the international community decides to prosecute his regime for crimes against humanity, what will happen to those who allowed these crimes to take place when they had the power to stop them?

One of the fishermen released this weekend said that he was tortured while he was being interrogated in Syria and was forced to claim that he was handing over weapons to one of his relatives in Syria.

Mr. Prime Minister, you know exactly what happened. You are fully aware of the repeated violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and of Syrian refugees’ basic human rights. If you do not act now, when this is all over, no one will forgive you.

I know Khalil Hassan. The unbroken smile on his face and his relentless hope that he will return to his beloved country free and dignified made me realize that no one is capable of stopping the Syrians from realizing freedom, no matter what it takes.

I imagine Hassan’s wife and daughter now, living their darkest nightmare. I imagine Hassan being held in detention now, maybe being tortured, and thinking about one thing: that this is all worth it, because freedom and dignity are waiting at the end of the tunnel. And I think of PM Mikati, sitting in his comfortable chair, eating an expensive meal and enjoying the company of his family.

Mr. Mikati, will you sleep well tonight? Before you go to bed, maybe for once, consider the following: How do you envision your life when the Syrian regime is gone? Yes you, because you are, at the end of the day, the head of this government and all its institutions, which are handing over activists like Hassan to the Syrian regime.
Think about that, Mr. Prime Minister. Think about the Syrian lives that you could have saved. Think about Hassan in his cell and the boundless smile on his face.
Now, good night, and good luck!

Hanin Ghaddar is the managing editor of NOW Lebanon