The Second Cedar Revolution

An image taken from the website of The Daily Star.

800,000 people met in Martyr's Square on Sunday to demand the disarming of Hezbollah in what some were calling "The Second Cedar Revolution." Here's a quick review of the maze of Lebanese politics:

• The first "Cedar Revolution" took place on March 14, 2005. Rafiq Hairiri's assassination sparked this spontaneous rally that demanded the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon -- it was assumed that Syria killed Hairiri, a former prime minister. After dozens more assassinations in the following months, Syrian soldiers did in fact leave Lebanon.
• Fast forward to November 2009, when Rafiq Hairiri's son, Saad, was selected as the new prime minister. He built a coalition cabinet that included members of Hezbollah, a group supported by Syria.
• By August 2010, news leaked that the United Nations' Special Tribunal for Lebanon was going to indict members of Hezbollah for the Rafiq Hairiri's murder.
• In January 2011, Hezbollah and its allies (known as the March 8 coalition) removed their members of Saad Hairiri's cabinet, "collapsing" the government. The did so because Saad refused to condemn the UN investigation as "politicized" and therefore illegitimate.

Saad Hairiri caused a stir on Sunday by taking off his jacket, his tie, then rolling up his sleeves. The picture comes from NowLebanon.com.

So that brings us to the present. Parliament has voted on a new prime minister, one approved of by Hezbollah, who is now trying to form a new government. Meanwhile, Saad Hairiri and his allies (known as the March 14 coalition) have become even more vocal about an issue that just a few months ago went unspoken: Hezbollah's weapons.

Saad, just a few weeks ago, started to say what a lot of us thought to be obvious -- that Lebanon cannot be a functioning state until it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. That seemed to be poli-sci 101, but to express that thought was seen as a provocation for civil war.

This picture accompanied the New York Times article.

Sunday's rally, marking the 6th anniversary of the original rally, focused on the issue of Hezbollah's weapons. With the UN's indictments about to be released any day and with 800,000 people (according to the Daily Star) standing in the middle of Martyr's Square demanding the Hezbollah's disarmament, all of the sudden Hezbollah now seems to be the one on the defensive.

The less glamorous view from Megan's iPhone.

Wade was away on a hike during the rally. Megan, however, was in Beirut and stopped by the rally.

From Megan's iPhone.

The Daily Star called it a revolution. NOWLebanon, a blog, called "reinvigorating after six years of disillusionment" to finish what was started in 2005. Najib Mikati, the newly elected Prime minister, called it a provocation to civil war. Megan mostly noticed a lot of people sitting around looking a bit bored and socializing by 1 p.m. Since everything was in Arabic, she didn't stick around long.