The violence that erupted in South Lebanon Thursday was not about Israel. It was not about angry citizens demanding the toppling of the regime.
Instead, it was the result of a decades-old saga, namely the process of state-building in Lebanon, or the lack thereof.

Government officials have moved quickly to assert that they will implement the law, and make no exceptions for people who violate it. But Thursday’s tragic killing of two civilians cannot be repeated: Authorities need to approach the matter of illegal construction with a carefully crafted strategy whose guiding principle is ensuring the rule of law across the board.

Some people might focus on the areas where the violence broke out, as being the home of a certain sect, or the “stronghold” of certain political parties that represent this sect. The political parties, namely Hezbollah and Amal, have publicly washed their hands of the violations, and have vowed that the violators on the ground enjoy no political cover. It should be a cut-and-dried matter, judging from such statements.

There are the “good guys,” in the form of the state, and the “bad guys,” in the form of people who dare transgress on public property to engage in illegal construction activities. Why would they do such a thing?

Could it be that they take a long look, up and down the entire coast of Lebanon, from north to south, and see the rampant disregard for the public’s ownership of beaches? Decades of Civil War-era chaos, and the post-war lethargy when it comes to enforcing the notion of public property, have left Lebanese with a few, miniscule areas where access to the beach is free. The rest is the “property” of private interests, which have resisted attempts to reverse the process of encroachment.

People might also look to the country’s mountainous areas, which have been ravaged by the largely unchecked and unregulated quarrying industry. The latest news, which appeared this week, was that quarrying was endangering one of the country’s most valuable natural reserves, in Jbeil.

In fact, the callous disregard for public property extends throughout the country and traverses the supposed strongholds of the various sects: One can easily find a lack of respect for the law, and the notion of the public interest, wherever one looks, be it in the north, the south, the Bekaa Valley or Mount Lebanon.
Stern warnings by the country’s politicians and government officials about zero tolerance when it comes to legal violations are a good thing, if they are backed up by actions and enforced with a view toward maintaining public order – not destabilizing it.

The current moves reflect a piecemeal approach that will not generate respect by ordinary citizens. Today it is illegal construction, and tomorrow it might be something else. However, the general public will continue to see wide-scale laxity on the country’s coast, and in its mountains. This will only engender more resentment, and not produce the desired effect, namely a respect for the authority of the state.