Something potentially momentous is happening right now in Lebanon. Peaceful demonstrations in response to the assassination of Rafik Hariri have toppled the Syrian-backed puppet regime and are threatening to kick the last Baathist tyranny out of their nation. So far the anti-Syrian movement has unite the various factions - Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze. There appears to be a real hope that Lebanon can finally rise from the ashes, and end its 30 year nightmare of civil war and foreign domination. If so, the potential possible repurcussions of a thriving, pluralistic, democratic and free Lebanon for the Arab world are enormous. The collapse of Lebanon into sectarian strife and chaos in the 1970s deprived the Arab World of its haven for progressives, artists, free-thinkers. The consensus had been that while Lebanon could physically rebuild what was torn down in the war (and of that succesful rebuilding, Hariri was the symbol), it could never reclaim its other losses. The present outpouring of non-violent popular action, however, suggests that the roots of Lebanon's civil society may go much deeper than suspected.
Lebanon is by no means out of the woods. The desire of the majority of Lebanese to put their past behind them is not shared by all, especially Hezbollah, who represent the interests of their pay-masters in Tehran far more than Lebanon's Shiites. Hezbollah seeks total war against Israel, despite its exit from Lebanese terrirtory (in fact, there is little doubt that its fingerprints were found on the recent massacre in Tel Aviv - otherwise Israel would have not directed its fury at Syria and given Abbas a temporary pass). However, in a free Lebanon Hezbollah will no longer be able to have it both ways - maintaining its domestic ambitions and its foreign terrorist agenda. The Lebanese people have had enough of war. They have had enough of tyranny. May the cedar bloom again, soon.
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