In the final violent spasms of the Lebanese crisis of 1958, the Christian Kata’ib party, outraged over the “rebellious” actions of the pan-Arab Lebanese oppositon and the kidnapping of a Kata’ib newspaper editor, decided to add a new trick to their political playbook. As Samir Khalaf notes in Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon, that “given the strategic location of their suburbs and villages around the capital”, they could “actually sever Beirut and the government from the rest of the country.” And so they did, denying the entry of a variety of merchandise into Beirut, not to mention a couple of hapless government ministers.
In a country as small as Lebanon, de facto veto power of political parties or sects often mirrors military advantages. Who has better interior lines? Who controls strategic overlooks of Beirut? Who can cut off the roads to the airport? In this last case, on a day where smoldering tires cancelled my classes, it always surprised me a bit that March 14th has never threatened to simply build a new airport outside Jbeil (or wherever there is a confluence of useable airport space and land under their control). Unlike last year’s “Let’s Drag Lebanon into Chaos” Day, the Metn was extremely quiet this go-around (possibly a sign of Michel Aoun’s decreasing popularity), and represents an area accessible to those in the North, Beirut, and the Shouf. While it wouldn’t change the underlying problem of Hezbollah’s repeated attempts to overthrows of a state, it would take a valuable card out of their hands.
To build an international airport is a costly and timely affair, especially for a country in debt as deep as Lebanon. But still, it’s not like Hariri and the Saudis are starving; the Great Satan could even chip in, and who knows, maybe even trust it to manage some direct flights to the U.S.
Update: This is what happens when you don’t do proper research before you write. Not only is the northern Lebanon airport I thought was bombed out of existence during the Civil War is still around, a Mustaqbal MP had the same idea a day earlier.
