02 December 2005

BEIRUT: Many stereotypes have been circulated about the approximately 150,000 Armenians in Lebanon over the years: they eat spicy meat, speak poor Arabic and all live in the ghettos of Beirut's northern suburbs being just a few. However, Khatchig has never had basterma in his life. Harout speaks fluent Arabic. Raffi has many Arab friends. Zohrab doesn't live in Bourj Hammoud. But all four men are Armenian. Lebanese Armenian. To be more precise: "Armenian by culture, Lebanese by citizenship," says 32-year-old teacher Zohrab, adding with a smile that he has never felt an identity crisis.

Khatchig, Harout, Raffi and Zohrab, four young academics, are indulgent with this foreigner's questions.

"We have a different alphabet. We have different origins," says Khatchig, an editor of the Armenian daily Aztag. "We are not Arabs, end of story. But believe me I never met a person that blamed me for not being Lebanese enough."

Yet there are distinctions. "Armenians didn't take part in the Lebanese Civil War," says Zohrab, despite the fact "some people accused us of doing so, of not being loyal to the Christian side."

During the infamous 15 years in Lebanese history, Armenians enjoyed a sometimes life-saving privilege. Since their passports did not contain the names Mohammad or Maroun, they could safely cross Christian and Muslim borders. A person with the name Sarkis or Yeznik didn't arouse suspicion.

The magic formula was - and in many cases still is - "positive neutrality." The reasons behind the phenomenon are found in history. When Armenians first came to Lebanon at the beginning of the 20th century, they came as refugees. Traumatized, fleeing an annihilation campaign of their race - the Armenian genocide in which 1 million to 1.5 million Armenians were liquidated - they came to build a shell to retreat to.

"There is much empathy among the Lebanese people toward the Armenian genocide," says Raffi, a student of psychology. Parliament officially recognized the atrocities in 2000. However, Turkey is adamant in its refusal of the term genocide, saying widespread killing took place on both sides. "Still, we spend a lot of time explaining to people that the confrontation between the Turks and the Armenians wasn't a fight between Muslims and Christians. That is very important to know."

Armenians came to the Levant before the state of Lebanon was created and forged lasting ties to their new homeland. Recent events in Lebanon have shown just how entwined Armenians have become in the country's intricate social fabric.

Khatchig recalls that during the "Cedar Revolution," Armenians were among the many groups that took to the streets. "During the demonstrations you could see banners with anti-Syrian messages in Armenian!" he said.

At the same time other Armenians showed solidarity with the Syrians. Positive neutrality, again. "For good reasons. We had to think about our 300,000 brethren in Syria," Khatchig explains.

If one of the messages of the demonstrations was to overcome the sectarian system, Zohrab says he definitely supported it. "It is the sectarianism that prevents an Armenian from becoming president!"