Saturday, February 11, 2006

The Campaign has Begun... I hope it succeeds!

Today's Future TV news broadcast included a speech by Saad el Hariri that called on all Lebanese to reclaim their streets. I am not confident that the turn-out in the one-year commemoration of the Hariri's and Fleihan's assassination will be high. The "village Sunnis" are terrified because of the state clampdown on their Achrafieh rampage. The Maronite wounds may not have healed. Hizballah and Syria with Aoun's help have punched a deep dent in the March 14 political initiative.


Yet I have hope.


Some of March 14’s old voices have resurfaced. Bahia el Hariri, for example, spoke for the first time in several months; and her voice sparked a little flame in my heart. Amin el Gmeyyel gave an inspirational speech to followers that called on them to take back the initiative and forget the wounds of the past. The Bristol meetings, which have not been held for quite some time, have also started taking place. And finally, the new documentary about Hariri emotionally moves the individual because it shows an uncut version of the man that the Syrians so brutally annihilated.


All these factors combined may serve to bring the Lebanese street back to life. The March 14 Street. The Street that calls for


7urriyeh, Siyadeh, Isti2lal!


Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence!


Those words may echo in Lebanon once again. And I pray that they do! For the sake of Rafik, Basil, Samir, Gebran,George and every other Lebanese who has died at the hands of the Syrians and their agents, I pray that they do!

Addendum: Fellow blogger, Firas, has just informed me that Saad el Hariri has returned to Lebanon to lead his father's one-year commemoration.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

the 14 of march died with ashrafieh events.

i dont think that most of people ashrafieh would come to assist to the commemoration

go to ashrafieh, go to tabaris to ask the population what they think
they are telling it s over, they can no more live with this cohabitation of the future- dar al fatwa
they would also tell u that the day of the manifestation most of them were afraid and ready to pull their guns out, i m hearing many people telling me that for the first time since 15 years they were removing the dust of their guns, they were so afraid...

just go there and ask to the people living there, see their reaction, and u would understand that even the hezbollah alliance is better then the alliance with the future now

we have now to learn to be pragmatic and realistic:
the 14 of march of the politicians screwed the 14 of march of the population and nothing would repair the damages theses events have done