Flags

Outside one of my friends' apartment in Ras Beirut there's a little roundabout - although calling it a roundabout doesn't do justice to the actual chaos of the flow of traffic. In the middle of this intersection there's a small island with a structure of sorts, to which are attached some flags. There's a Lebanese flag and what appears to be a tattered flag of assassinated Rafic Hariri's Moustaqbal (Future) party. I realized yesterday with some surprise that also flapping in the wind are two flags of the Islamic Salafists.

In conversations with friends and new acquaintances, it appears that the influence of the Salafists has been growing steadily, even in Shi'a areas. This is somewhat curious. The Salafis are not only Sunni, they are among the most extreme Sunni groups. For most of them (there are nuances) the Shi'a are kuffar, non-Muslims, or - worse - heretical Muslims. In Egypt, engulfed as I write this in tumult over murder charges brought against the deposed President Mohammed Morsi, the Salafis joined the secularists in bringing down Morsi's government. Not because they agreed with the secularists, but because they felt Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood had betrayed their charge to islamicize Egyptian society.That their view of an Islamic society leaves little room even for the Shi'a is illustrated by the recent attacks against Egyptian Shi'a in which four people were beaten to death

Here in Lebanon, tensions between Sunni and Shi'a are very high. In Sidon, less than an hour south, Salafi Shaikh Ahmad al 'Assir has been for months attacking Hezbullah and the Shi'a community. By attacking, I mean explicitly calling for war and violence in the battle against the Shi'a. Since Sidon is a largely Sunni town in the middle of a sea of Shi'a (most Lebanese Shi'a live in the south), the wisdom of his fulminations seems questionable. Over the last year there have been repeated violent clashes between 'Assir supporters and Hezbullah. These culminated in June with a 'mini-war' between the 'Assir's group and the Lebanese Army in which a large number of people were killed and wounded. Eventually the Army succeeded in bringing a return - of sorts - to order. The sheikh and several key followers apparently eluded capture, and no one seems to know for sure where he might be.