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Lebanese turmoil withers 'Beirut Spring' optimism
But many young activists are still struggling to maintain the movement that followed in the wake of Hariri's death.
By Nicholas Blanford | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the February 19, 2008 edition
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BEIRUT, Lebanon - Rafik Hariri's assassination three years ago triggered an uprising in Lebanon. Following the death of the former prime minister, young Lebanese poured onto the streets in a movement that not only pushed out Syrian troops, but also gave rise to a new optimism for political change known as Beirut Spring.
Since then, however, much of the ambition of those young protesters has been eroded by a devastating war with Israel, political turmoil, and ongoing violence.
"Spring 2005 was a very euphoric moment for all of us," says Asma Andraos, president of 05Amam, a civil society group. "Everything was going to suddenly change from a feudal and [client-state] country into a modern democratic transparent country. I think we were all very naive."
Leaders of the anti-Syrian March 14 parliamentary coalition had hoped that a rally last week in downtown Beirut to mark Mr. Hariri's death would rekindle the movement's spirit. But the event was overshadowed by the funeral for Imad Mughnieh, a Hizbullah leader killed in Damascus two days earlier. And many Lebanese who participated in the rallies of the Beirut Spring stayed home, partly because of weather, but also out of a sense of disillusion at the turmoil engulfing Lebanon.
Political deadlock between March 14 and the Hizbullah-led pro-Syrian opposition is continuing to stoke tensions here. The country has been without a president since November, the rate of bomb attacks has increased, and scuffles and shootings between rival groups break out nearly every day.
Now, even though the heady days of Beirut Spring are long gone and the situation here seems to present new obstacles every day, those civil society activists still cling to the idealism that they embraced three years ago.
05Amam recently organized a mock municipal council in a school in an impoverished area of north Lebanon, teaching students about democracy, voting, and accountability. The group hopes to expand the scheme to cover three mixed schools of Christians and Muslims.
Hayya Bina, Arabic for "Let's Go," is one group that has adopted a harder political edge to its campaign to abolish sectarianism. It is focusing its efforts on weakening Hizbullah's influence over Lebanon's Shiites by supporting new independent voices within the community.
"Frankly, Hizbullah scares other communities," says Inga Schei, an American activist with Hayya Bina. "It frightens them back into their sectarian holes."
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