[rmlew]

They are not ethnically Arab and have seperate religious and linguistic histories. They have a seperate culture. They are not Arabs. Arabs are their oppressors.

[livius]

One of the major conflicts within Islam itself is between Arabs and non-Arabs. The latter are usually despised by the former and sometimes treated little better than non-Muslims in places where the Arabs are in power. So I think there are internal reasons for the Lebanese wishing to disassociate themselves from the Arabs. This is especially true now that almost all Christians have been driven out and Lebanon is mostly Muslim.