The Assassination of Gemayel

The assassination of Pierre Gemayel, an inconsequential Lebanese industry minister and leader of the Kataeb (Phalange) party, in the Christian Sin el-Fil neighbourhood of Beirut, has been presented in the Western media as a catastrophe for Lebanese democracy and unity, which is ironic, since Pierre Gemayel is a fascist, like his grandfather and namesake, who formed the Kataeb movement, having being inspired by the Nazis in 1936. This movement has little influence amongst the Christian minority, let alone with the majority of Lebanese. Pierre Gemayel (the Grandson) recently described the majority Muslim Lebanese as inferior to minority Christian Lebanese, so he was hardly a voice of moderation, liberalism or democracy.

Moreover the Western media has rather unsubtly implied that Syria is responsible for the assassination and have reported the allegations of Saad Hariri to that effect. Notwithstanding that there has not been a scintilla evidence to substantiate these claims, and that the Hariri gang also has a motive for the assassination: Gemayel has proved more useful dead to the Hariri gang than he did when he was alive. It is simply not possible in the absence of evidence to say who murdered Gemayel.