The IS vision is working as Da'ish metastasizes in Lebanon and in much of this region. A new political power chapter has arrived here of which the latest events in Yemen are only the most recent, but surely not the final, example. It is not anymore a question of whether or when Da'ish and/or al Nusra will activate their sleeper cells in Lebanon. They already have.

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Discreetly but inexorably"

(Damascus) As recent developments in the Levant make plain, the Sunni-Shiite conflict is increasingly dominating political and strategic initiatives and calculations in Lebanon. In the twelve months since declaring its "caliphate" on June 29, 2014, the "Islamic State" (IS/ISIS/Da'ish), basically a political power movement as opposed to being a religious project, continues birthing international and local franchises. This, while employing fear and acts of extreme violence and "terrorism" as forms of political theater to draw adherents.

The IS vision is working as Da'ish metastasizes in Lebanon and in much of this region. A new political power chapter has arrived here of which the latest events in Yemen are only the most recent, but surely not the final, example.

It is not anymore a question of whether or when Da'ish and/or al Nusra will activate their sleeper cells in Lebanon.

They already have.

This now largely accepted reality materialized despite intense efforts by Hezbollah, and rather less intense efforts by the majority Sunni Lebanese army to stop them. North in Tripoli and its environs, South in Saida and East in the Bekaa around Arsal as well as other localities Sunnis are getting over their initial revulsion and taking a second look at Da'ish (ISIS). Meanwhile, the relatively tolerant "Lebanese model" is disappearing in view of the increasing sectarian tone of military interventions in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and it appears to be the case that Lebanon in now part of this devolution into intra-Muslim violence as "with us or against us" sides are becoming ever hardened.

Like most Muslims these days, Lebanese Sunnis are tending to see themselves as victims of centuries of backwardness, marginalization, and defeat while searching for signs, or actors, that might help reverse Sunni weakness. Thus following Shiite ascendance, many of Lebanon's Sunni expressed support when an ISIS offensive rapidly seized Mosul and a large swath of Iraqi territory in June 2014.

As is becoming convincingly documented, Da'ish (ISIS) influence among alienated and radicalized youth is growing in Lebanon for many reasons. Among them are poverty, perceived empty lives, revulsion at rising crime and disgust with perceived as corrupt Lebanese politicians and religious leaders. Sunni's increasingly are feeling oppressed by the Shia who are accused of blocking Lebanon's government, including Parliament and baring the election of a President under orders from a foreign country. Syrian refugees in Lebanon, mainly Sunni, who feel abused, harassed, and discriminated against by the government and with suspicion by Shia in areas where refugees have taken refuge.

In a report in an-Nahar (Beirut), June 27, 2014 one neighborhood leader in Tripoli explained that "Iraq witnessed a Sunni triumph against Shiite oppression. Forcing Tripoli's Sunnis to denounce ISIS amounts to coercing them to exercise political self-suppression." A political leader in Saida, claimed that "The truth of the matter is that hatred for Iran and Hezbollah has made every Lebanese Sunni heartily supportive of ISIS, even if it's brutal methods will eventually affect them adversely."

As American University of Beirut Professor, Hilal Khashan has recently reported, Lebanese Sunnis are willing to support whoever can defeat their enemies and restore their pride. Many of them find ISIS appealing for a number of reasons: the group has a strong aversion to Shiites and feel estranged from the Lebanese state while harboring nostalgia for the caliphate. Many admire power in any form and are seeking to regain it.

A vendor in Tripoli's city center explained the popularity of ISIS: "People like whoever is strong. Poor, angry and marginalized teenagers in Tripoli want "great victories." Even though public display of support for ISIS in Lebanon is a crime, "any young man in Tripoli, if asked, would confess how much he admired its power."

When challenged with the brutal and bloodthirsty acts of ISIS, its supporters often find some words in the Qur'an to justify their position. In the case of Da'ish young men hanging around the streets, they regularly offer: "Muhammad ... and those with him are firm of heart against the non-believers, compassionate among themselves." (Quran 48: 29).

One Sunni Sheik in Lebanon expressed to this observer his belief that Da'ish "is our (Sunni) extremist Islamists and Hezbollah's is Iran's. In fact, both are more similar than either would want to admit."

The Sunni Muslim community in Lebanon is also receiving various forms of support from abroad from coreligionists, as they move toward Da'ish (ISIS). Lebanon's As Safir daily newspaper, reported this week that the government of Saudi Arabia has requested that France freeze the delivery of weapons to the Lebanese army under the Saudi's $ 3 billion arms grant. The reason is reportedly because the new Saudi coalition and leadership believes the arms will end up with Hezbollah and thus under Iranian control. The Saudi government reportedly also requested that France not inform Lebanese authorities about the decision to freeze the delivery, "for the time being."

This observer tentatively concludes that what is happening among Lebanon's Sunni population is rather more complicated than the issues he cites above, powerful as they may be in pushing/pulling Lebanese to Da'ish. In fact, since Lebanese Sunnis are willing to support whoever can defeat their enemies and restore their pride, many of them find ISIS appealing for the reason that they feel hostility toward Shiites and feel estranged from the Lebanese state while openly expressing nostalgia for the return of the caliphate.

In Lebanon the tribes, like in Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Iraq that once acted rather secular, in line with trends of the time, are now Islamist in keeping with an underlying changing culture. One concludes that neither Da'ish nor Nusra are all that interested in the creation of an Islamic state, just as Hezbollah gave up its plans for creating an Iran-style Islamic Republic.

A Palestinian student from Yarmouk camp south of Damascus, now squeezed into Shatila camp in Beirut, summed up our discussion of this subject and left this observer sort of speechless.

Farah said: "Actually Mr. Franklin, what we are seeing is just a continuation of the Damascus-based Umayyads and their successors, still fighting against the Baghdad-based Abbasids from Medieval times."

With no doubt, the young lady for sure has better political instincts than this observer and it may well be that the attraction of Da'ish for Lebanon's Sunni's is about political power and perceived dignity.

Meanwhile, as we begin the Holy month of Ramadan, several signs are pointing to a dramatic and violent post Ramadan summer.

Authors Website: http://mealsforsyrianrefugeechildrenlebanon.com/

Authors Bio:

Since 2013, Professor Franklin P. Lamb has traveled extensively throughout Syria. His primary focus has been to document, photograph, research and hopefully help preserve the vast and irreplaceable archaeological sites and artifacts in Syria.

Like Iraq, Syria is the cradle of civilization, and as such it has been a rich source of our shared global culture and historic heritage. Already endangered from illegal excavation, looting, international trafficking and iconoclasm; the theft and destruction of these sites has greatly increased as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.

Many of the endangered archeological sites and artifacts are over 7,000 years old. The oldest remains found in Syria are from the Paleolithic era (c. 800,000 BCE). The most endangered artifacts and archaeological sites currently are in Tell Halaf, the north of Syria near the Turkish border with Syria. These archaeological sites date as far back as 5,500 BCE. They include archeological sites and artifacts of the Babylonian, Sumerian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Phoenician, Aramaic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Ayyubid and Ottoman civilizations and empires.

Professor Franklin Lamb has also been working, sometimes under dangerous circumstances, to record and photograph the war damage done to religious icons, images, monuments, and ancient structures that span pre-Roman civilizations, and structures such as Islamic mosques, Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

Professor Lamb is working tirelessly to record and photograph these sites and artifacts because they are in danger of complete destruction for religious, political and illegal trafficking reasons, especially due to the ongoing wars in the Middle East.

Professor Franklin Lamb's website and his latest book, "Syria's Endangered Heritage, an International Responsibility to Preserve and Protect" presents exclusive and never published before photographs, records, data, articles, and interviews from across the whole of Syria. His book can be purchased at his website http://www.syrian-heritage.com/.

In addition to Dr. Lamb's urgent archaeological work he is also deeply committed to rescuing and aiding refugee children in Syria. He is a volunteer with the Lebanon, France, and USA based "Meals for Syrian Refugee Children, Lebanon (MSRCL)", which seeks to provide hot nutritional meals to Syrian and other refugee children.

Lamb says that the goal of MSRCL is to be able to provide one meal a day to 500 children. More donors are needed in order for him to reach that goal. At $2.25 per meal x 500 children per day ($1,225), the budget for a month (30 days) requires approximately $36,000. Over 95% of each donation goes directly towards the cost of each meal. The MSCRL volunteer teams give their time, energy and even their own money to help the refugee children so that they will not become part of the "lost generation" of Syria.

Lamb's books and publications include "Pollution as a Problem of International Law"; "International Legal Responsibility for the Sabra Shatila Massacre"; "Israel's 1982 War in Lebanon: Eyewitness Chronicles of the Invasion and Occupation", "The Price We Pay: A Quarter Century of Israel's Use of American Weapons against Civilians in Lebanon in addition to the three volume set, "Palestine, Lebanon & Syria Palestine, Lebanon & Syria (Commentary and Analysis 2006-2016)." Due out during Fall 2016, in English and Arabic, is "The Case for Palestinian Civil Rights in Lebanon: Why the Resistance Sleeps."

Dr. Lamb's most recent book is "Syria's Endangered Heritage: An International Responsibility to Preserve and Protect". www.Syrian-heritage.com

Lamb's Academic Credentials include: BA, and Law Degrees from Boston University, Master of Law (LLM) Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy from the London School of Economics (LSE); Diploma in International Air & Space Law from the University College of London; Post-Doctoral Studies at Harvard University Law School of East Asian Legal Studies Center, specializing in Chinese Law; International Legal Studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Studied Public International Law at The Hague Academy of international Law, at the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands.

Lamb's Professional and Political Activities include Assistant Professor of International Law, Northwestern College of Law, Portland, Oregon and Assistant Counsel to the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, During the Administration of President Jimmy Carter, Lamb was elected for a four year term to the Democratic National Committee, representing the state of Oregon. Lamb served on the Democratic National Committee Judicial Council with California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as well as the Platform Committee on East-West Relations. Professor Lamb served on the presidential campaign staff for Presidential Candidate Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.