Bassam Abou Zeid, "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency

From "Steadfastness and Confrontation" to "Resistance": War Persists

The Failure of Both Axes: No Victory, Only Destruction

For decades, Lebanon has stood at the crossroads of two grand narratives: the "Steadfastness and Confrontation Front" and the "Axis of Resistance". Both claimed that the road to Palestine and Jerusalem must pass through Lebanon. Yet neither reached Palestine, nor Jerusalem. Instead, they led Lebanon down a path of ruin and destruction.

In May 1976, the Mountain War was raging between the Lebanese Front forces on one side and the Joint Forces of the National Movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization on the other. Within the ranks of the National Movement, questions began to surface regarding the seriousness of the Palestinian factions' commitment to the fight. To dispel these doubts, Salah Khalaf, better known as Abu Iyad, the second-in-command of Fatah—addressed a crowd at Beirut Arab University on May 23, delivering his now-infamous declaration: "The road to Palestine must pass through Aintoura and Aayoun El Siman, and it is imperative that it reach Jounieh in order to thwart the conspiracy of partition".

Abu Iyad’s words were etched into memory, eventually becoming a lasting slogan: "The road to Palestine passes through Jounieh". But reality painted a different picture. Neither Abu Iyad nor his Palestinian and Lebanese comrades ever reached Jounieh. Their ambitions were ultimately defeated by Lebanese resistance forces, and they departed, forced to reckon with the fact that the road to Palestine does not pass through Lebanon, nor should it be paved at Lebanon’s expense.

Lebanon’s ordeal did not end there. With the disintegration of the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front, the Axis of Resistance rose to take its place, declaring Lebanon its forward line on the path to Jerusalem. But this new axis fared no better than the old. The road to Jerusalem remains blocked, while the Lebanese people have continued to pay the price in blood and lives. The first axis launched its war on Lebanon on April 13, 1975. The second continues it to this day.