People power has come to Lebanon. The resignation of the prime minister, Omar Karami, and his government would not have happened without thousands of Lebanese people laying peaceful siege to Parliament. The events on the streets of Beirut are comparable to the recent “orange†revolution in Ukraine and earlier “velvet†revolutions in Georgia and in Eastern Europe. They are not over yet, but are going to go down in the country’s history as a turning point as seminal as the civil war.
This Arab News editorial is a deft analysis–from a Saudi perspective–about what needs to be done next for Lebanon and, in a larger context, for the region.
The US, it acknowledges, gave the impetus for reform and change. It’s time now, the editorial claims, for the outsiders to stand back and let those most involved act on their own.
It’s a very good piece, worth reading and thinking about.
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March:02:2005 - 03:50
Arab News is Playing our Song
Arab News editorial: “Winds of change are blowing through the region: Elections in Iraq, a successful rebellion against the old establishment in the Palestinian Parliament, constitutional changes on the cards in Egypt and now people power in Lebanon. …
March:02:2005 - 04:56
We can’t step away. If we were to do so there’s substantial danger that progress would reverse itself.
Still, better not to intervene militarily unless we have to. Better to just keep the pressure up.
March:02:2005 - 09:52
John at Crossroads Arabia writes that this Arab News editorial is a deft analysis–from a Saudi perspective–about what needs to be done next for Lebanon and, in a larger context, for the region.