“Lebanese Flee Their Homes,” “Lebanese Plead for Help,” “Lebanese Want a Ceasefire” — such international headlines can be misleading when they classify all of Lebanon’s residents under a single heading and identity.

In Lebanon, a country with a diverse population of Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, Ismailis, Alawis and Nusayris (all Muslim); Maronites, Greeks, Melkites, Armenians, Syrians (Catholics and Orthodox); Roman Catholics, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Copts and Protestants (all Christians), there is clearly no one way to be Lebanese.

These demographics are impressive considering that Lebanon’s population boasts fewer than four million people.

But diversity does not always lead to peaceful coexistence. Sectarian conflict has plagued Lebanon for hundreds of years. The four main parties involved in the sectarian strife are the Maronite Christians, the Sunni Muslims, the Shiite Muslims and the Druze, which are a splinter sect of Shiism.

A short history

Religious groups have historically sought sanctuary in the mountainous confines of Lebanon. In the 19th century, tensions ran particularly high between Maronite Christians and the Druze. In response to the clashing parties, on Dec. 7, 1842, the Ottoman Empire divided Lebanon into two districts — north and south. The northern district was to be ruled by a Christian deputy governor, while the southern district was to be ruled by a Druze deputy governor.

The partition plan did not succeed in quelling animosities, which were now spurred on by foreign powers. Christians enjoyed French support while the British backed the Druze. For the next 20 years, the fighting continued until the conflict reached its peak in 1860 when the Druze killed 10,000 Maronite Christians. The massacre was later determined by an international commission to be a direct result of the 1842 partition.

Lebanon was officially declared independent in 1943, when France ended its 20-year mandate. During the mandate, France had both helped and hindered Lebanon. The French had built up Lebanon’s economy to a certain extent, but had also exacerbated sectarian strife by favoring the Maronite Christians, whom they had backed since the 19th century.

France conducted a population census in 1932, which determined that the Maronites were marginally the largest community in the country. On this basis, France granted the Maronites such key roles as the presidency, commander-in-chief of the army and the head of the internal security apparatus. The Sunni Muslims were given the post of prime minister, while a Shiite Muslim was appointed speaker of the house.

A census has not been conducted in Lebanon since 1932 due to fear of an outbreak of sectarian violence. Consequently, this peculiar power-sharing system based on a possibly inaccurate population count never really changed. Since the end of the civil war in 1990, the three posts shared among the Christian president, the Sunni prime minister and the Shiite speaker of the house have become positions of equal importance and power.

According to Dr. Michael Johnson, a senior lecturer of politics at the University of Sussex and author of two books on Lebanon, the old Christian dominance in Lebanese government is gone even if it may not appear that way.

“The reason they didn’t go further and establish the Shiites as the dominant group [after the civil war] was that they didn’t want to further antagonize the Christians. The fact that there is power sharing among these groups is a result of a compromise at the end of the civil war,” Johnson said.

Before the latest round of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel flared up, political reform was on the way. Johnson claims that a group had drawn up draft electoral law to reform the electoral system and limit the power of old sectarian leaders.

“It was likely to be implemented soon. There was a medium-term plan of moving towards political reform. It takes time, though, and one has to remember that Lebanon has only been independent from Syrian rule for a year,” Johnson told The Media Line.

Even if political reform is achieved, there will always be four distinct groups in Lebanese society.

Shiite Muslims

Before the civil war, the Shiites were the poorest and most marginalized segment of Lebanese society. After the civil war, the Shiites emerged much strengthened. During the war, the Shiites had powerful militias, which helped establish them as a force to be reckoned with. The Shiites are currently the largest religious group in Lebanon and are believed to make up as much as 40 percent of society.

Two factions exist within the Shiite community, the comparatively moderate Amal and the extremist group Hezbollah.

“The main aim of these groups is to get a fair share of resources for the Shiites and to raise the Shiites’ position in the confessional system,” Johnson told TML. “Hezbollah faces two ways. There’s one face which wants to be part of the mainstream Lebanese political system and another part that wants to play a regional war, and they are encouraged to do that by their sponsors in Iran.”

Sunni Muslims

After the Shiites, the Sunni Muslims are the second largest Muslim group in Lebanon. While the Sunnis are the majority in the Muslim world and were once the strongest Muslim group in Lebanon, they are now demographically weaker than the Shiites and Christians in Lebanon. During the 1975-1990 civil war, the Sunnis allied themselves with the largely Sunni Palestinians.

According to Johnson, the Sunni Muslims as a community are not aggressive.

“There might be some fundamentalist Sunni Muslim groups, but they are completely marginal and of no real influence,” he said.

Maronite Christians

The Maronite Christians traditionally held the most power in Lebanon due to their alliance with the French rulers at the time of the French Mandate. Their power has diminished in recent years due to their decreasing numbers and their losses during the civil war.

“I can’t say they were utterly defeated, but they finished up the war in a much weaker position, with Syria in control and a settlement which gave greater power to the Muslims,” Johnson explained. “They always fear that they are going to be somehow subsumed into an Islamic or predominantly Islamic country. They want to make sure Lebanon remains their homeland and they want to defend their rights.

The Druze

The Druze are a sect of Shiite Islam that branched off in the 11th century. The Druze are a very close-knit community and have an esoteric religion in which very few adherents can access the holy literature. There was a time in the 18th and early 19th centuries when Mount Lebanon was ruled by a Druze family.

While there are different Druze sects, the strongest clan is led by Walid Jumblatt, who has been trying to improve Druze relations with Christians in the Shouf region of Mount Lebanon, where Druze and Christians have traditionally fought. During the civil war, the Druze allied themselves with different sects and had a strong militia of their own. As of late, Jumblatt has been critical of Hezbollah and any Syrian influence in Lebanon.

While all Lebanese communities see themselves as being very separate from one another, there are some factors that can unite them all.

“People were angry that Hezbollah launched this attack, but that has all been subsumed in an anti-Israeli feeling. Although the Lebanese still might privately blame Hezbollah for starting it, they now feel they are all Lebanese together against the Israeli enemy,” Johnson said.

Even if these nationalistic sentiments last, sectarianism will always remain a political and social reality in Lebanon, brewing under the strata of historical conflict.