Victor's Blog about the Web, Security and Life

The web for me is a hobby where standards and best practices are daily bread. Security is a concern that everybody must be aware of its details for IT in general, and the web in particular, to be a safer place. My life, on the other hand, is that of a regular Lebanese citizen where politics and social issues are discussed on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and make sure to drop me a comment about any topic you find interesting.

Lebanese Security?!

Printable Version

victor | 02 March, 2005 19:39

I really don't know where this entry should go. Should it be under Security (a topic that I prefer and that is still empty for the time being on my blog or under Politics where it really should be?)

The whole story is related to what happened during the past few days here in Beirut. This story is a complete mapping of what happens every day in Lebanon when politics is taken into consideration and when players fall and others rise.

Here we go...

Last week, the opposition to the power (known in Lebanese language as the Mouarada) asked for a peaceful demonstration on Monday at the Martyrs square to support parliament members in their democratic seek to know the truth about the assassination of Mr. Rafic El-Hariri.

For me, like any other Lebanese, this was just another demonstration to be performed by Free Lebanese guys where we will all go to the Martyr's square to demonstrate. The usual scenario during the last 10 years was that the gorvernment will first reject to let us do so while being easy-going when it comes to street rules. Then, when we insist on moving forward, the Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces take care of delaying protestants from reaching the place.

What happened this time was completely different. All of a sudden, the government decided (unofficially) to have another demonstration by people of its own in the same place and at the same time and the reason was that they wanted to show the US (since a US diplomat was visiting Lebanon at this time) that other Lebanese people are AGAINST what the Mouarada was asking for.

The following questions directly popped into my mind:

  • The US diplomat visit was NOT at the Martyrs place. Why would they want to demonstrate there?
  • The US diplomat arrived two days before the demonstration. Why did they chose this day?

Weird enough, I, as many others, concluded that this was just another way for making things harder for us while demonstrating.

To make a long story short, the day went great and the opposition forced the gorvernment to resign. This is where the whole thing started really getting weird. Mr. Karami (the Ex-Prime Minister) left to Tripoli and his followers demonstrated there causing huge damage to shops, homes of current opposition members, and the death of an innocent person called Fadi Ahmad (as I still recall as it's been two busy days around here)

The second day, followers of Mr. Karami and Mr. Frangie also organized two other demonstrations. Their communication language was tense and the language that was being used was very sarcastic.

My questions, which are still not "completely" answered, and I insist on the word completely answered are the following:

  1. Fourteen days of demonstrations from the opposition by hundreds of thousands of people. Result: Not a single fight took place (except a minor one with parliament members not with other people). One day of demonstration from people IN POWER. Result: shops corrupted, bullets shot randomly in the air, and an innocent person died. What does this mean?
  2. While in power, Mr. Karami and Mr. Frangie were asking the opposition to negotiate. Now, when they resigned, their communication language is more tense and no more negotiation is being offered. It is worth being noted that the opposition held Mr. Karami and Mr. Frangie responsible for the assassination of Mr. Hariri as Government members and not as Lebanese citizens. Why did things get worse between Mr. Karami and Mr. Frangie on one hand and the opposition on the other hand. Shouldn't the resignation be a door to more negotations? Are they afraid now too or is this an expression of something else? Of course this is not revenge since death of innocent people (who are not part of the party you wish to take revenge with) is an act of someone angry or afraid. They are not angry. Are they afraid? If yes, of what?
  3. Why did all of the sudden Mr. Frangie attack Patriarch Nisrallah? Is this related in any form to his way of staying a leader in Zogharta? Is he afraid that his followers stop being loyal or is this related to something else?

I am sure that the three questions above are completely weird and probably don't have complete answers so don't tell me how the heck did I come up with these. What is more weird for me is why did I think of them? This question can only be answered if I was capable of answering these questions in a logical manner.

Politics | Next | Previous | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Related Articles:

Comments

Add comment
 
Accessible and Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS