Lebanonwire.com | With Syrians gone, Lebanese opposition to dismantle 'freedom camp'

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April 30, 2005

With Syrians gone, Lebanese opposition to dismantle 'freedom camp'
by Nayla Razzouk

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Sharbel Ghobtin brought his camera. He wants to catch the last pictures of the "freedom camp" in Beirut's Martyrs' Square where he spent 74 nights carrying the flame of the "uprising for independence" from Syria.

Ghobtin and 300 fellow opposition activists, who have been at the forefront of the people-power uprising against Syria's domination of its smaller neighbour, were preparing to take down their tents later Saturday.

The 22-year-old, who is proud to have "written a page in the history of my country with my own hands," said the camp was being dismantled after the demonstrators obtained their demands, chiefly Syria's troop pullout.

"Now that our main demands have been achieved, the camp will be dismantled during an evening ceremony on Saturday," Muin Ahmadiyeh, coordinator for youth movements at the improvised camp, told AFP.

Opposition youth movements have occupied the frontline of the "uprising for the independence" that has gripped the country since the February 14 assassination of five-times prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

The killing, which many Lebanese blamed on the pro-Syrian regime and their political masters in Damascus, triggered massive protests that led to the resignation of the government and saw Syria end its 29-year military presence last Tuesday.

"Syria is now out, the United Nations has launched an international inquiry into Hariri's killing, the government has resigned, security chiefs have been sacked and elections will take place on time next month," said Ahmadiyeh.

Veteran politicians have admitted the crucial role played by the youth movement that began with young men and women congregating on Martyrs' Square for Hariri's funeral, two days after his killing.

The biggest rally, on March 14, drew more than a million people, both Christians and Muslims, according to organizers.

The demonstrations -- dubbed the "cedar revolution" by the US State Department, after the tree on the Lebanese flag which has been omnipresent at the protests -- were partly inspired by the "orange revolution" in Ukraine.

Spontaneous and unorganised at first, followers of opposition youth groups along with older activists, slept under the stars for a few nights before erecting tents to declare their determination to stay put.

The younger generation -- free from the nightmare memories still carried by their parents from the 1975-1990 civil war -- broke every taboo. They held pictures of security chiefs as wanted men and even made jokes about mighty
Syrian leaders being "lions in Lebanon and rabbits" in front of Israel.

Politicians indirectly accused the Lebanese regime and their political masters in Damascus of the assassination, but it was the young protestors who first cried out openly: "Syria out!"

Although their elders took up arms 30 years ago at the start of the war, today's young generation surprised many with the peaceful protest.

"We learned to keep self-control. We learned to live together, instead of next to each other. That is what we will do at the upcoming elections," said Alaa, from the youth movement of the mainly Druze Progressive Socialist Party
(PSP).

Sitting in a circle together, some of the youths had crosses tatooed on their muscled arms, others wore gold plates with verses from the Koran and a few more sported badges bearing the emblem of the PSP.

"We learned to live, eat, drink and demonstrate together. We learned about each other. I had nearly never talked to any Druze before. I discovered that they were like me and wanted the same things," said Ghobtin, a Christian.

Mohamad Saleh Banat, from Hariri's Future Current, said "just as war started casually, with an inflow of arms and hatred, our uprising laid the foundations for peace in a casual way, with our daily life together and our joint peaceful actions.

"What we achieved was historic, not just in the Arab world, but in the entire world. I am proud and relieved to have done my national duty and I can finally go back home and get back to work," he said.

"The future starts today."