The pride we feel for ‘Lebanon’ as a single nation is something we, as Lebanese, are close to losing. We must move away from nationalism at the level of factions of society and towards nationalism at the level of the state.

George Orwell, a great thinker and writer of the 20th century, defined nationalism as the practice of identifying oneself with a nation or an idea, and “placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.”

A common misconception is that nationalism is defined as the devotion to a country. However, nationalism can evolve based on an idea, notion, or political thought. In essence, this is what nationalism in Lebanon has evolved into – and quite destructively so - a dedication to political ideas, movements, and and their expression.

Nationalism is felt towards political movements and sects in Lebanon. It has overridden our sense of nationalism felt towards the country itself.

There is this ideological obsession with each faction attempting to achieve its goals within Lebanon. It is argued that if each faction-nation lived satisfied, within the state, there would eventually come about eternal contentment. However, the visions of the different nations are so conflicting by nature that they cannot co-exist.

Nationalism has the potential to blind a citizen or even an entire nation. The nationalism that has consumed Lebanon is one that blinds its citizens to cold, hard facts and causes an eclipse of the mind, making people ignore what is right in front of them.

The greatest of setbacks with nationalism is that, while taking in supposed facts, and ideas, our filter that works to sift the moral from the immoral, the fact from fiction, and the realistic from unrealistic, is stowed aside and we become more sponge-like, absorbing what is given to us. Rather than questioning our leaders and holding them accountable for indisputably horrid acts, there is a general illusion amongst movement followers that their leader is immaculate. We are placed in a situation where questioning our leaders may signal a hint of being anti-nationalist.

On a subconscious level, each and every Lebanese citizen is aware of the rights and wrongs, the do’s and don’ts. However, most of us find ourselves in a situation where we have to choose between our interests and the interests of the Lebanese people as an entity. Our leaders tell us to choose our interests because that’s what everyone else is doing. So, we do, and we prove the other leaders and those that doubted us right.

How many leaders can we count that have committed crimes and acts of injustice that are recognized world-wide? I’ll give you a hint. You may need more than one set of hands! The followers of these leaders choose to overlook these acts and justify them until they’re blue in the face. Rather than being innovators and free-thinkers, we’ve turned into a population that is merely a reactive force to leaders and the callings of different parties.

Nationalism is not an erroneous feeling, don’t get me wrong. I’m stating the exact opposite. It’s a useful, powerful, and enigmatic tool that can be used for good. However, like so many realities of today’s world, be careful not to prick yourself on this double-edged sword. The nationalism we sense towards political groups, religious sects, or our leaders, should be fostered into a new type of belonging and devotion – nationalism directed towards the whole country.

For the people of Lebanon to live and work together towards a better nation, they must, together, write a common narrative that they can all adopt. The ‘we' feeling of nationalism does not mean that everyone needs to be the same. They simply must agree on certain principles or histories that will allow them to feel like one team.

Published in the newspaper distributed with Al-Akhbar and An-Nahar on Thursday June 4th, 2009