PILGRIMS' PROGRESS:

Inside the cedar revolution (May Akl, 3/06/05, Sunday Herald)

From the northern side of the capital, convoys of young people arrive waving Lebanese flags from car windows and chanting the national anthem. To the south, people park their cars on a bridge, once a demarcation line dividing the capital, before making their way through the crowds. All are heading towards the same destination, Martyrs’ Square – now known as Freedom Square.

There, breaking the barriers of religious and political loyalties, they join other protesters who have spent recent days and nights in tents erected in the surrounding gardens. Their aim: not to leave the tomb of the late premier unattended, to voice their anger over the crime of his death and claim independence for their country.

“We want the truth” and “we want a free, sovereign and independent Lebanon” are the two main slogans the protesters chant.

These “pilgrims of freedom” – Christians, Muslims and Druze – have taken to the streets spontaneously since the assassination, defying Lebanese security forces that have been given orders by the outgoing pro-Syrian interior minister, Suleiman Frangieh, to forbid any rally or demonstration. But so far, the sympathy shown by the security forces has prevented any clashes.

The demonstrators’ message is crystal-clear: no longer will they tolerate a Syrian-backed government they see as perverting Lebanese democracy, and turning the country into a haven for an intelligence-service-ruled totalitarian regime.

“We still have a long way to go,” says 21-year-old Marwan Maalouf, head of the student cabinet of the law school at Saint Joseph University.

For those like him, determination is the name of the game. “We will not rest. We will persevere. We will pursue our actions relentlessly until we reach our aim, no matter how long it takes,” Maalouf insists.

Conscious of the need for unity, gone are the banners and slogans of the protesters’ own political parties and movements, instead replaced with the Lebanese flag.

The conversion from Martyrs' Square to Freedom is eloquent.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 5, 2005 11:59 PM