The Cedar Revolution Carries On.

Fire of Liberty

Claudia Rosett keeps up her great reporting on Lebanon's Cedar Revolution for The New York Sun and The Foundation for the Defense of Democracy in this piece. She notes that with the advent of technologies like Instant Messaging and the Internet, the students and people participating in the Cedar Revolution are able to get their message out and around the pro-Syrian government and forces. Just think what Andrie Sakharov, Natan Sharansky, and Havel would have been able to do with such technology. Anyway, check out this passage by Mrs. Rosett:

And though Lebanon's people have spoken up vehemently in recent weeks about their desire for liberty and self-rule, the Cedar Revolution is not yet out of the woods. The folks here know that communication is one of their prime weapons. And it's a peaceful one. One of the chief tools of a repressive regime is to isolate and silence individuals, cutting off people who might try to share their discontent or try to bring about change. For years, stifling dissent in Lebanon was the job of the Syrian-infested secret police. The deeper message of today's traffic is that the Lebanese are less and less afraid to speak their minds.

On Lebanon's grapevine, feelings run high, and not all the gags make for family reading. Among the more polite is a text message now making the rounds, announcing that the Lebanese quisling regime is changing its emblem from a cedar tree to a condom, "because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance." How so? The answer (slightly redacted) is that "a condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation ... and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed."

Awesome, don't you think? There's some insightful people within the Cedar Revolution.

Here's here piece from yesterday's NY Sun. Just read her great writing:

The bottom line is that years of pernicious Syrian occupation have provided many Lebanese with a common cause: "Syria out!" It has been enough to unite Sunni Muslims, Druze, and Christians in the desire for a better way of life, to which many here are putting the basic labels of democracy and freedom. And though some see the lack of a single opposition leader as a weak point, there are others who argue that in this coalition may well be the germ of genuine democratic process. More than any other country in the Middle East, Lebanon prior to its 1975 descent into civil war enjoyed the basic liberties and institutions of democracy. What tipped into civil war was the presence in Lebanon of Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization. Arafat is dead, and while Lebanon remains grudging host to a deeply unhappy and armed population of more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees, they are not calling the shots now.

I smell a Pulitzer. Lord, she deserves it. Keep up the good work.

Aside from Rosett, here's two articles from The Christian Science Monitor, here and here. Long live The Cedar Revolution!!!