September 14th will mark the 26th anniversary of Bashir Gemayel's assassination. Gemayel was a leader who first emerged to the forefront of Lebanese political life as the commander of the predominantly Maronite Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) militia, and, through a combination of political and military ingenuity, eventually became president of the war-torn country in 1982. His presidency was short-lived as he was killed in a bombing, along with a number of his colleagues, less than a month after being elected.
While some still criticize Gemayel for his stance on Palestinians in Lebanon, others came to see him as the promise of a better Lebanon. He was an individual who was able to mobilize a large segment of the country's Christian community against what was seen by some as a Syrian and Palestinian occupation. Thus, for many he became a symbol of Lebanon's ‘first’ resistance.
Accordingly, the poster of Gemayel (on the left) commemorating the 26th anniversary of his death reads at its base, “We are the Lebanese Resistance.”
Of course, the term ‘resistance’ in Lebanon today is often associated with Hezbollah. And, as Hezbollah has worked to frame itself as a national Lebanese resistance, so did Gemayel's Lebanese Forces years beforehand.
How has it come to be that the banner of ‘resistance’ has been carried by two parties so different from each other?
Gemayel, in an English-language interview with a British journalist in 1981, defined his resistance as such: (click here for video)
What similarities and differences can we draw between Gemayel's discourse in the early 1980s and Hezbollah's in the present day? While the uniforms of occupying forces have undoubtedly changed over the years, have the fundamental themes of ‘resistance’ remained essentially the same?
