In a startling display of political strength, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese followers of the Syrian-backed group Hezbollah converged on Beirut on Tuesday to express their gratitude to Syria and angrily denounce the U.S. and Israel.
The demonstration dwarfed a series of anti-Syria rallies it was designed to counter and provided a sobering illustration of Lebanon’s religious and political rivalries. After weeks of mounting pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad, the outpouring of Lebanese support is likely to strengthen his hand as he weighs international calls to withdraw thousands of troops from Lebanon.
Hezbollah leaders and protesters scolded the demonstrators at earlier rallies for “insulting” Syria and taunted President Bush and other Western leaders for hailing those protests as representative of Lebanese popular sentiment.
“To America and President Bush . . . you’re wrong in your calculations about Lebanon,” Hezbollah’s spiritual leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, shouted to a fervent but peaceful crowd estimated to be up to a half-million people.
“I ask our compatriots in Lebanon or those observing us from abroad: Are these hundreds of thousands of people all puppets?” Nasrallah asked from a balcony overlooking Riad Solh Square. “Is this entire crowd agents for the Syrians?”
The masses crowded a downtown plaza and filled acres of surrounding streets, swaying and chanting for hours. Men shinnied up trees and lampposts to wave the Lebanese flag and get a better glimpse of their leader. One banner billowing above the crowd succinctly captured the contrast to the previous weeks of anti-Syria protests: “Surprise.”
Ismael Assiyali, a 72-year-old who attended the rally, belittled the earlier demonstrators.
“They are a speck in the sea,” said Assiyali, who said he made the 90-minute trip into Beirut to honor a son who died fighting for Hezbollah against Israeli forces.
Hezbollah, Arabic for “Party of God,” is an Islamic resistance movement that grew out of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and has evolved into a major voice in Lebanese politics and society. Backed by weapons, money and guidance from Iran and Syria, it is an avowed enemy of Israel and the U.S. and seeks to create a Muslim fundamentalist state modeled on Iran.
Its leaders are concerned that a Syrian pullout could deprive them of their key patron and protector in Lebanese politics. They vowed to stage further rallies in coming days, opening an uncertain new phase in the Lebanese political drama that in three weeks has toppled a Syrian-backed government and forced the ongoing pullback of Syrian troops.
In contrast to the predominantly urban Christians, Druze and Sunnis who have been rallying for an end to Syrian domination under the slogan “Independence 2005,” Hezbollah’s mostly Shiite followers streamed in on rickety buses from rural stretches of southern and eastern Lebanon.
Where other protests have been a showcase for Beirut’s appetite for Western fashion, this crowd was replete with women in traditional head scarves, overwhelmingly drawn from the 1.2 million Lebanese Shiites who make up a plurality of the country’s 4 million people.
After weeks of protests calling for Syrian security services to “Get Out,” this crowd raised banners expressing, “America is the source of terrorism.” Where previous protests have praised a UN resolution passed in September that calls for Syrian troops to withdraw and Hezbollah to lay down its arms, Tuesday’s demonstrators served impassioned notice that they have no intention of disarming.
`We’re not a weak people’
“We want America to know we’re not a weak people like the Iraqis. We love our flag,” said Mustafa Fatouni, a 25-year-old from the southern town of Kfar Kana.
Lebanon’s political convulsion began Feb. 14, when the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri touched off massive protests. Many Lebanese blamed Syria and its allied Lebanese government for the killing a politician who had taken a hard line on Syria, though they denied involvement.
Under pressure from mounting protests, the government resigned Feb. 28. On Saturday, facing mounting international criticism, Syria’s Assad announced his 15,000 troops would pull back immediately to eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and then negotiate the details of a further withdrawal.
The troops have been in Lebanon since 1976, when a Christian-led Lebanese government invited them to serve as peacekeepers during a bloody civil war.
For weeks Hezbollah had remained largely uninvolved in the mounting protests. But Sunday, Nasrallah called for the Tuesday demonstration, accusing anti-Syria demonstrators of appeasing the U.S. and warning that a Syrian withdrawal would pave the way to a peace deal with Israel.
Hezbollah has launched attacks against the U.S. and Israel, including the 1983 suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines in their Beirut barracks. It earned wide support in 2000 for its role in forcing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon and continues to launch regular attacks on Israeli sites.
But its activities go well beyond violence, including a network of hospitals, orphanages, television stations and a 12-member bloc in the Lebanese parliament.
Even as the demonstration unfolded, President Bush reiterated his demand for a full and immediate Syrian withdrawal, telling an audience in Washington: “Any who doubt the appeal of freedom in the Middle East can look to Lebanon, where the Lebanese people are demanding a free and independent nation.” He said similar demands are likely to spread.
But for protesters like 35-year-old Wissam Mahmoud, Hezbollah’s appeal has grown with U.S. and European pressure.
“Defending every last piece of Lebanese soil is our responsibility,” he said. “We don’t want any interference of any kind. We don’t want America or France interfering in our affairs. We want cooperation between all the religious groups in Lebanon.”
For many demonstrators, it seemed Syria’s long-term presence in the country was not the issue; most of all, they resent the U.S. role in trying to rid them of Syrian influence.
Syria appreciated
“We can’t forget the good things [Syria] gave our country. They gave 12,000 martyrs,” said Rana Sadra, 29, a schoolteacher from southern Lebanon. “The difference between the other [protesters] and us is that they are disrespecting the Syrians with dirty language. We share common goals–our independence–but we don’t want [Syrians] to leave without dignity and self-respect.”
As the Hezbollah demonstration thundered a few hundred meters away, the tent city that has grown up around the anti-Syria rallies was quieter than it has been in weeks. Organizers had told protesters to stay home Tuesday to avoid possible confrontations.
Nevertheless, Lebanese lawmaker and opposition leader Fares Souaid said the anti-Syria protests could claim a greater public mandate because they have been more spontaneous than their Hezbollah counterpart.
“This opposition movement is the first healthy, pacific democratic movement in the Arab world since the fall of Saddam Hussein,” he said, standing among the tents. “It is not organized. It is spontaneous.”
Sensitive to any suggestion of conflict, however, he hastened to add that the two movements have more that unites them than divides them.
“Their problem is not with us,” he said, “it is with the international community.”
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Lebanon’s political rift
Two factions–pro-Syria and anti-Syria–have been defined in the recent Lebanese political upheaval. Although each side is composed of several political groups, a few main parties have moved to the forefront of the political conflict.
PRO-SYRIA
Hezbollah
Established: 1982
Formed in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah is the largest Lebanese political group, with support primarily from the country’s Shiite population and from the Syrian and Iranian governments. It is led by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
OPPOSITION
Progressive Socialist Party
Established: 1949
Formed by proponents of social change in Lebanon, the group is most popular among the Druze population. It is led by Walid Jumblatt.
Lebanese Forces
Established: 1976
Created as a coalition of Christian militias, the group is staunchly anti-Syrian. Its leader, Samir Geagea, is in prison.
Free Patriotic Movement
Established: Between 1988 and 1990
The group believes Syria is politically and militarily oppressing the Lebanese people and calls for a more democratic government. It is led by Michel Aoun, who is in exile in France.
Sources: U.S. Library of Congress, the Free Patriotic Movement, Tribune and news reports
