Lebanon Riots Draw Large US Response
In response to what is now being called the Black Sunday riots in Lebanon, a massive turnout of people has gathered in Beirut for Tuesday, February 14, and is being widely supported across the United States. This event also launches the one-month period of remembrance for last year’s Cedar Revolution. Events which had already been planned for Tuesday’s one-year anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have been adapted into a march for peace in Lebanon. In the U.S., three million Americans of Lebanese descent are rallying to support this small, Middle Eastern country which still has emotional ties for their families, according to Sanford Holst, chairman of the Hariri-Tueni Remembrance Committee.
The Black Sunday riots broke out on February 5 in Beirut when Muslim protesters attacked the Danish mission and a church. It brought back unwanted reminders of the civil war which ripped Lebanon apart from 1975 to 1990. The peace rally on Tuesday is seen as an antidote to these heightened tensions. It will be held in Martyrs’ Square, the same place an estimated one million people gathered last year in the now-famous Cedar Revolution.
In the U.S., urgent activities are under way to allow millions of Americans of Lebanese descent to join the Beirut proceedings by telephone or online at www.cedar-lebanon.com. Many are also joining Lebanese-American clubs across the country to continue the peace effort through the full month of remembrance which lasts until March 14.
President Bush, in pointed reference to the perceived instigator of Lebanon’s recent troubles, called for Lebanon to be “free of Syrian intimidation, free to chart its own course.” Of the 174 people arrested in the Black Sunday riots, 76 were Syrian, 38 were Lebanese, 35 were Palestinian and 25 were stateless Bedouins.
“Lebanese people in the USA and in Lebanon are upset by these events, but also hopeful that peace will prevail,” said Holst. “Historically the Lebanese have always been peaceful until outside forces provoked violence.”
Sources:
“Bush Orders Full Probe of Hariri Murder” (Reuters 1/27/06)
“Rally, Concert to Mark Anniversary of Hariri’s Murder” (Daily Star [Lebanon] 2/4/06)
“Beirut Rioters Attack Church” (Los Angeles Times 2/6/06)
“Beirut Mob Burns Danish Mission Building Over Cartoons” (New York Times 2/6/06)
“Are Extremists Fanning Cartoon Outrage?” (AP 2/9/06)
“Siniora Unites Country’s Religious Leaders” (Daily Star [Lebanon] 2/11/06)
Sanford Holst is author of the highly-regarded “Phoenicians: Lebanon’s Epic Heritage.” Active in the American Lebanese community, he is an historian, noted speaker, and author of six books on world cultures. http://www.sanfordholst.com
