What happened in Lebanon this week, analysts say, is the beginning of a new era in the Middle East, one in which popular demand pushes the momentum for democracy and the people's will can no longer be disregarded.
The protests -- triggered by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri -- come after a string of democratic steps in the Arab world, including votes in Iraq and by the Palestinians, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's vow to allow more open elections.
TV broadcast Beirut's protests into homes, coffee shops and clubs across the Middle East. The coverage culminated with the Syrian-backed government's resignation.
Inevitably, it raised the question among many spectators: What about here?
''I wish this could happen in Yemen,'' Ahmed Murtada, an unemployed Yemeni, said in San'a. ''But here, tanks would prevail.'' AP
Elated protesters crowded downtown Beirut on Tuesday as Syrian President Bashar Assad indicated he would withdraw Syria's 15,000 troops from Lebanon within months.
Russia joined Egypt and Saudi Arabia in trying to persuade Syria to withdraw all its troops, and Assad told Time magazine that the troops would be out ''maybe in the next few months. Not after that.'' The troops were originally deployed during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
In reaction to the Time report, Syria appeared to back off the comments. A Syrian official questioned whether it could occur within months.
In London, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice applied the strongest American pressure on the Syrians to date, saying they were ''out of step'' in the Middle East. AP
Posted by proutist-universal on March 2, 2005 2:34 PM
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |