The USJ elections - Nadim Gemayel, MTV and cultural hegemony

Opinion Campus Policy Analysis by Francesco Pitzalis, Staff Writer

December 7th, 2020

 “!‏زعران الحزب اللي بدن يجو يتعلّمو بالجامعة اليسوعية، بدّن يحترمو الجامعة ورمزيتها والمنطقة وخصوصياتها!" 

“Nadim Gemayel: Hezb's thugs, who want to study at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), must respect the university and its symbols, in addition to the area and its characteristics!”

Member of Parliament Nadim Gemayel’s comments denoted an ugly brawl in Achrafieh between the supporters of Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces. The brawl, which is reported to have been initiated by Hezbollah supporters, was timed directly before the University of Saint Joseph’s (USJ) student elections. Gemayel’s charged rhetoric was hence an instrument for political gain through characterizing Hezbollah as an alien incursion to the “Christian” environs of USJ. However, Gemayel sorely underestimated the impending victory of Secular candidates in the elections, limiting his comments to a humiliating afterthought.  

Gemayel’s rhetoric disseminates the antiquated view that behaviour and culture are preordained or determined by religious and political affiliation. His language poignantly demarcates the environment surrounding the University as one of distinct sectarian nature. These environs are affixed the title of “le triangle d’or” (the golden triangle) by the area’s overwhelmingly Christian residents. The Golden Triangle, in years past, was a bastion of the rightist Christian political parties –  the Kataeb and Lebanese Forces. Thus, Gemayel saw USJ’s elections as an opportunity to stamp the authority of the incumbent political class within their “home turf.”

In asserting that Hezbollah’s “zaaran” (thugs) must respect the “area”, Gemayel surreptitiously confines the “heritage” of USJ to a single sectarian paradigm. This positions Hezbollah in addition to non-Christian sects as foreign quantities; removed from the symbols, area and characteristics of USJ. Gemayel’s words also semantically denigrate Lebanese Shiites to a historical stereotype of criminality. Alas, the word zaaran is not used to describe the thugs of the Lebanese Forces nor condemn violence universally. Gemayel’s words are therefore strictly confined to his construction of what is alien. This discourse is an age-old trick to reflexively reinforce one’s “identity” through an illustration of a hostile outsider. In tying the behaviour of a sectarian movement to neighbourhoods, Gemayel also attempts to differentiate a culture of “civilisation” with the barbarism of Hezbollah. In essence, Gemayel endeavoured to delineate a narrative of “us” vs “them” and exacerbate a Manichean divide between “good” and “evil”. Such divides act as a tool to swell support for political movements considered  “native” (in this case the Kataeb and Lebanese Forces) in opposition to the foreigner. 

Gemayel’s statements were not dissimilar to those of his equally demagogic father, Bachir. Bachir Gemayel commonly described Palestinian refugees as “haywanat” (animals) and “klab” (dogs). As such, Nadim Gemayel continues to sustain the communal memory of his father as “protector of the Christians” against an ominous “foreign” monstrosity. As noted by Edward Said, collective memory is neither passive nor neutral and is being persistently manoeuvred, in this case by Nadim for political gain. Indeed, current supporters of the Kataeb and Lebanese Forces often bleat “Bachir hayy fina” (Bachir lives in us). Evidently, Nadim aimed to fulfil this prophecy by embodying his popular father’s xenophobic narrative to suppress opposition at USJ.

Interestingly, Gemayel’s statements failed to mention the secular movement, Taleb, headed by Charbel Chaaya. This is simply because Taleb lacked the foreignness and prolific sectarian face of Hezbollah. Hezbollah connotates Shiite Islamism, residence from outside the confines of Achrafieh and an allegiance with Iran. Contrarily, a secular movement does not epitomise a religious sect, area or international allegiance. Secular movements , therefore, overlap and inhere within the boundaries of demarcated sectarian space. Thus, Taleb proved an elusive target for the crude, demagogic discourse of Nadim Gemayel. 

Nevertheless, attempts to ostracise Taleb did not escape the airwaves of the Lebanese Forces-affiliated news station, MTV. In a spate of atrociously dishonest journalism, MTV proclaimed that Taleb was an instrument of Hezbollah’s student apparatus. The lies were a last-ditched attempt to marginalize any polity opposing the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb. In doing so, both Gemayel and MTV attempted to consolidate a “regime of truth”; by intertwining USJ and its surrounding areas with a narrow sectarian discourse disseminated by the Christian right. By tying together political movements, with artificial space and sect, sectarian movements make their presence seem native or congenital in the areas that they control. The hegemony of each movement within artificially demarcated space is reinforced by visual cues (posters and the like) and biased, coercive media (MTV, OTV, Al-Manar, take your pick). Thus, it is exceedingly difficult for individuals to separate their identity from the collective identity of a political movement. Tools to prevent such separation include the depiction of outsiders as “foreigners”, “criminals” or possibly “enemies of God.” The sustained cultural hegemony is therefore highly ossified and the challenge for secular movements is ever greater. 

Thankfully, there is arguably much to be hopeful for. The sectarian class’s monopoly on coercion was ruptured by an emphatic victory of Taleb in the student elections. The secular movement secured 85 of 101 seats, ending the grip of the sectarian parties on USJ. Thus, the elections were a wonderful reminder that facts still matter, backwardness can be overcome, and Lebanon could be aiming headstrongly for a progressive and secular future. Taleb deserves credit for being robust, honest, and policy-centred in the face of crude sectarian stone-throwing and attempts to discredit it. 

Congratulations to all the secular candidates for dealing a body blow to the Lebanese political class.