Lebanese officials and civilians alike celebrated on Friday the 76th anniversary of the day of independence. This celebration, as is well established, requires the full sovereignty over all Lebanese land, waters, and sky. However, Lebanon still suffers from partial occupation by Israeli forces in Shebaa Farms, Kfarchouba Hills, and the town of Ghajar as well as the border town of Qura al-Sab’e which were occupied by Israel in 1948, the year Israel was established.
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Every day, Israel trespasses on Lebanon’s territorial waters by stealing the Lebanese natural gas wealth in the Mediterranean Sea, while the country’s politicians continue to falter on the extrataction of this wealth and reestablishing the demarcation of the border with the enemy again following the demarcation that existed between Lebanon and the State of Palestine before the Israeli occupation. Meanwhile surveillance and fighter jets violate the Lebanese air space consistently, proving the absence of the full sovereignty of the Lebanese State over its borders.
It is then most ironic that the symbols of this administration held the Independence Day parade this year, just as they had done the years before, with the participation of UNIFIL forces as well.
In that celebration lies enough symbolism to express the full erosion of the Lebanese sovereignty in reference to the incomplete independence.
There are other aspects of the deficient sovereignty such as blatant foreign interference in Lebanese sovereign decisions. These interferences have prevented and continue to prevent the decisions that need to be taken to rescue the economy and avoid a fiscal and social crisis.
When will the Lebanese politicians realize what is truly needed to have a true independence and not a complete one?
