Gebran Tueni: A Million Affronts To Syria, Not a Million Loyalists
Emile Lahoud and Omar Karami sought a "one million-strong demonstration" as a referendum in support of their pro-Damascus rule. Instead, they got a 100,000-strong show of loyalty that underscored their poor popularity, Gebran Tueni opined Thursday.
"Regrettably, the government has not yet realized that the world has considerably changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of the Eastern Bloc," he said. "There is no longer room for (totalitarian) regimes that organize programmed demonstrations of loyalty."
An Nahar's general manager said that in modern-day democracies, "demonstrations are purely for the opposition to exercise its freedom of decision."
Tueni observed that Tuesday's protest, inspired by pro-regime opposition to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, proved that loyalists were worse enemies to Damascus than the opposition, which has been struggling to build national reconciliation at home and mend fences with Syria.
He wondered how the rally, which he called "a Syrian demonstration held on Lebanese soil," would help polish Syria's image in Lebanon or in the world at large.
Tueni expressed surprise how the streets in Syria were "empty" when Beirut was bustling with demonstrators, whose slogans included rejection of a peaceful settlement with Israel.
Ironically, the march coincided with the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, where Syrian President Bashar Assad was conveying to his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, his desire to resume peace negotiations with Israel without preconditions, Tueni observed.
"Simply put, the policy of this government  is an act of conspiracy against Lebanon and Syria," he said. Lebanon is no longer "arena for auctions and bazaars, where political bargains are traded."
Tueni concluded: "Lebanon and Syria need to carefully read the fine print of the changes occurring around us so we may benefit from them, rather than pay the price as we usually do."
"Regrettably, the government has not yet realized that the world has considerably changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of the Eastern Bloc," he said. "There is no longer room for (totalitarian) regimes that organize programmed demonstrations of loyalty."
An Nahar's general manager said that in modern-day democracies, "demonstrations are purely for the opposition to exercise its freedom of decision."
Tueni observed that Tuesday's protest, inspired by pro-regime opposition to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, proved that loyalists were worse enemies to Damascus than the opposition, which has been struggling to build national reconciliation at home and mend fences with Syria.
He wondered how the rally, which he called "a Syrian demonstration held on Lebanese soil," would help polish Syria's image in Lebanon or in the world at large.
Tueni expressed surprise how the streets in Syria were "empty" when Beirut was bustling with demonstrators, whose slogans included rejection of a peaceful settlement with Israel.
Ironically, the march coincided with the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, where Syrian President Bashar Assad was conveying to his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, his desire to resume peace negotiations with Israel without preconditions, Tueni observed.
"Simply put, the policy of this government  is an act of conspiracy against Lebanon and Syria," he said. Lebanon is no longer "arena for auctions and bazaars, where political bargains are traded."
Tueni concluded: "Lebanon and Syria need to carefully read the fine print of the changes occurring around us so we may benefit from them, rather than pay the price as we usually do."
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