In the years before the so-called Arab Spring Lebanon prided itself on being a haven of tolerance in a region dominated by autocratic and ultraconservative regimes. Many Lebanese described their country as a place where women in chadors, head-to-toe black robes, walk on the same streets as others in tank tops and miniskirts.

But the war in neighboring Syria and rising militancy across the Arab world is having a profound impact on a country that has never fully overcome the deep-seated animosities and religious divisions fomented by its own civil war in 1975-1990.

This week many Lebanese were shocked at how a once popular ballad singer was transformed into a vengeful extremist who glorifies killing in the name of Islam.

The 44-year-old singer Fadhel Shaker quit his career last year saying singing was haram, or against Islam, and joined the movement of Ahmed al-Aseer – a militant Sunni Muslim cleric from his native city of Sidon, south of Beirut. Read More »