They Are Not Martyrs

"Lebanon mourns the innocent martyrs amidst calls for calm," reads the headline. The "martyrs" are 12 year-old Ziad Ghandour and 25 year-old Ziad Qabalan.

Here is the applicable definition of "martyr": "a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause." But what cause do you think the 12 year-old died on behalf of? I remember when I was twelve. I was interested in hoarding baseball cards, not preparing for my imminent "martyrdom" for some political cause.

The two Ziads were the victims of sectarian divisions and deep-rooted tribal loyalties. They died because of a sickness within Lebanese society, and for precisely nothing. They did not sacrifice their lives for some grand principle. They are not "martyrs," they are simply dead.

These are hard truths. But they are important ones. Every faction in the Middle East has their martyrs. Each uses the dead as a reason to press on with the struggle, to never forget who are their friends and who are their enemies. It focuses attention towards those who are dead, away from those who are living. They are a conversation-stopper. "Should we forget old grievances?" "No, we can never dishonor the memory of our martyrs!" The bloody shirt is waved early and often in the Middle East.

Someday, I will write a full article on the cult of martyrdom. Let me just say that there is a healthier way to think of political murders. When President John F. Kennedy was killed, Americans did not speak of his "martyrdom." His death remains a national tragedy, but there are precious few lessons we take away from it. It was awful and that was all; it is still the duty of the living to move forward in the way they believe is best. And the same is true now, after the death of the two Ziads.