And we are back to demonstration and counter demonstration. However this time it is a bit different…
The Lebanese flag, solely present in the massive demonstration that followed the assassination of PM Rafik Hariri in March 2005, is missing. Both recent demonstrations (Hezbollah victory parade and the Martyr’s Mass of the Lebanese forces) have been colored in yellow for the first one and in white with a smidge of green for the second…
What a shame, for that sea of red-white-green of thousands upon thousands Lebanese flag flowing in the wind, was a balm for sore eyes.
Second, the war of numbers that raged between the two political factions behind the massive demonstrations of last year is absent. Maybe because no major surprises occurred, Hezbollah’s popular support is still the same or slightly changed, ditto for the Lebanese forces’. However, the orange party (Aoun’s supporters) failed to show up in large numbers in Hezbollah’s “victory” parade, strange…
Third, the tones were higher than last year and mostly aimed at the opposing internal parties. But still nothing out of the ordinary, except Nassrallah’s demand of an apology from Joumblatt…
Conclusions, nothing new under the sun, a time for fiery statements and a time for shady deals, politics as usual in Lebanon…
Peace
1 comment :
Interesting post, I think that all we learned from the 14th of March demonstration is that crowds could be used as a new tool for our internal political struggles.
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