The first two days of the 2011 Development & Peace Youth Solidarity Trip were spent meeting with members of the Permanent Peace Movement and understanding the organization’s important work within the context of the current social, economic and political realities in Lebanon.

The Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) is an independent Lebanese Non-Governmental Organization founded in 1986 at the height of the Lebanese civil war by a group of young university students unified by their common vision of the future and their aversion to war.  They considered that peaceful means for conflict resolution are the most useful of all, and that when these are exhausted, one should resort to non-violent means and never to violence. 

Such a commitment to peace building within Lebanon is an incredible challenge – this is a country brimming with domestic tension as members of 18 various sects, within a population of less than 4 million people, have repeatedly entered into violent conflict.  Sectarianism within Lebanon means that political office, government positions, and senior military and security appointments are divided based on the principle of religious balance.   Thus, it appears that for many Lebanese, political, economic or cultural survival is dependent upon occupying positions of power in order to protect the rights and values of their own group.  Moreover, divisions within the country are not simply predicated on religion, but on various political ideologies, which further fragment groups. 

It is apparent that there are no easy solutions to ending violence and preventing further conflict.  Indeed coming from a generation of Canadians which have little experience with war, the situation appears absolutely overwhelming.