Arab Nationalism...Samir Kasir in Friday's Nahar:

"Throughout history, Beirut's streets have been reserved for the "defense of pan-Arab causes," wrote Kassir. But with the funeral for Rafik Hariri, Arab nationalism has taken on a new aim, he declared: "Today, the nationalist cause has shrunk into the single aim of getting rid of the regimes of terrorism and coups, and regaining the people's freedom as a prelude to a new Arab renaissance. Thus hundreds of thousands of free citizens walked in Rafik Hariri's funeral - while only a paltry cortege mobilized by the single party and its intelligence apparatuses walked in (former Syrian President) Hafez al-Assad's funeral a few years ago. (With the Hariri funeral) Beirut was the beating heart of a new Arab nationalism. This nationalism is based on the free will of citizens, male and female. And this is what the tyrannical (Syrian) regime should fear more than anything else if it tarries about ending its hegemony over Beirut and Lebanon."