Our Revolution
This is us, proud Lebanese, mighty prisoners of our weaknesses and fears, of our flags and slogans. This is our sad revolution, and the dismal fate we committed ourselves to fulfill. How unfortunate. And Gebran, I just hope you're peaceful enough where you are to accept that yours, and so many people's blood was spilled in vain.
posted by Fouad at 11:40 PM
8 Comments:
Fouad,
Don't give up please. Post other posts like your last 2. The street is moving. The student leaders of the intifada, partisans and independants (excluding the aounist because they refused) are moving and will ask the civil society to back them. 2 clear objectives: get the parliament to reconsider constitutionally the presence of the unbearable guy in Baabda and ask for concrete actions to purge the security apparatus and strenghten it. The 2 objectives were already claimed by the politicians (the 14th of march forces) in their declaration. Unity of this coalition is essential and if you know some aounists, please tell them to stop focusing on only one issue i.e. have Aoun on the seat....Another hope is to get chiites leaderships to agree on these objectives that are purely Lebanese and are not messing with the moukawama. Parliament and government will have to take their internal responsabilities. Let it not be wishfull thinking. Be ready to act.
I'm the first anonymous. Check what the young political leaders said in their press conference this noon. We are planning another permanent camp starting monday. 3 objectives (in short and without nuances...):
1-ask parliament to find a way to get rid of Lahoud.
2-ask executive power to efficiently clean the security services.
3- back government in its demand for an international court and for the widening of the investigation to include the other crimes.
On the Lebanese side of the problem, these should be the priorities of all. Regarding the Syrian side, I think Mustapha's idea is great...
Fouad, I understand your despair, I do.
But - and this is probably extending the physician analogy to the extreme - you understand that sometimes the best approach is conservative. Sure you can go in slashing and curetting all the way, but that doesn't mean you will get the outcome you seek.
All of the martyrs we wish to avenge were people who valued reason over reaction.
Honor them by keeping your faith, hope and determination as strong as theirs.
I think that one important thing to understand for us Lebanese is that diversity is not a sin.
You're living in the States, right? Well, imagine that Peter Jennings did not die of lung cancer but was assassinated by a car bomb. Who would go down on the streets? African Amercians would form a clan, and would come up with a rap song as well. Whites ( trash on one side and 'good' whites on the other). And then you will have democrats and republicans, mormons, amish, gays and lesbians. Each group will have his own slogans, flags and are prisoners of their weaknesses and fears. Except that these groups never went into war ( all groups against each others like we did).
They all love being americans in their diversity. Each one of these groups might deep down hate the other. But that's OK. Do you like every person you meet? I don't.
Our problem as Lebanese is our geopolitcal position in the Middle East. We are different but that's not a sin.
We just have to learn to love, hate, laugh and cry over common things. That's where Gebran's death has a huge meaning. Even in assafir they loved him.
I hope you don't mind my long speech.
This is good news guys. I hope we can carry it through. What I mostly fear is our tendency to rapidly lose our verve. We've done it before, and left to our own devices, we will do it again. But I assure you, I have not lost my verve. I am as angry and driven as I've ever been. On the contrary, it's this endemic lassitude that revolts me even more.
I just wish we had a higher platform to carry our voices further than the confines of the blogosphere, or a way to spill onto the more accessible media.
Ramzi, I understand and would completely endorse your view, had we not had a continuous run of tragic experiences, and an entirely reproducible set of noble, though ultimatley inadequate responses. The best approach cannot be conservative if you keep losing your patients one after another. I strongly believe that a change of strategy and attitude is in order. There's no more room for passive resistance. We need to be proactive in order to make things happen and prevent our intellectual elite, our national symbols, and our right to be free, from being decimated by the enemy within.
A couple more things..
Mustapha's thoughts are largely idealistic in a world where we wake up every single day to fight for our lives and our freedom. Promoting an intellectual revolution to overthrow the syrian government is a wonderful utopia, but a utopia nonetheless. Plus it brings us back to our original premise. There are criminal hands amongst us carrying out the syrian master plan, and these need to be cornered and severed before contemplating change in other countries and on other fronts. In other words, let's try and change our own regime before having a go at theirs.
Anonymous, you are always welcome to leave as long a comment as you wish. This is an open forum for thoughts and deliberations, although I would appreciate if the anonymous commentators would choose a name or a pseudonym so we can have more focused and coherent interactions.
Fouad
Fouad,
I did a post about Gebran after I read about his death and read your other post. I'm very sorry, and I wish Lebanon and the United States had better leadership. This can only happen if people like us, and Gebran, defend and share our beliefs and knowledge.
It is sad he is gone, but I doubt he regrets his words or actions because he made a difference with his life. You can, too, and you are for those who read your words and look at your photographs. Hope things get better for you.
Hope so too Kat. Hope so too.
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