By Hussein Dakroub
Monday, March 14, 2011

BEIRUT: The March 14 coalition proclaimed Sunday the second “Cedar Revolution” aimed at forcing Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the Lebanese state in the same way the first revolution in 2005 led to a Syrian troop withdrawal, ending nearly three decades of Syria’s control over Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese turned out in Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut, heeding calls by March 14 leaders to reject the supremacy of Hezbollah’s weapons over political life and to show support for the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the face of a fierce campaign by the Party of God and its March 8 allies to try to abolish it altogether.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the main speaker at a mass rally commemorating the sixth anniversary of the March 14 movement’s founding, sounded confident that the movement would eventually put an end to the presence of weapons outside state control.

Hariri and other March 14 speakers  stepped up the campaign against Hezbollah’s arsenal, stressing that the country’s Constitution and economy cannot function while the party maintained its weapons to influence internal political disputes. “We want to place [Hezbollah’s] weapons under state control because the state unites us all and because the Lebanese Army protects us all,” Hariri said.

The rally began with chants from the crowd: “The people want to topple the arms.”
Hariri, who has launched blistering attacks on Hezbollah’s arsenal since the collapse of his government in January, used his speech to survey the crowd about the party’s weapons.

“I came to ask each and every one of you, you the first and only reference, you March 14, you the Cedars Revolution. I came to ask you and I want the world to hear your answer: Do you accept the tutelage of the weapons? Do you accept to have the weapons in the hands of anyone but the state? Do you accept the government to be formed as a result of the tutelage of the weapons to consecrate this tutelage over our national life?” said Hariri, dressed in a white shirt with sleeves rolled up after taking off his jacket and tie on a sunny spring day. The crowd responded with a resounding “NO.”
As in previous similar occasions, Hariri and other March 14 leaders spoke from behind a bullet-proof glass podium. A senior Internal Security Forces source estimated the crowd at 800,000, but this could not be independently confirmed by other sources.

Hariri’s Cabinet was brought down in January following the resignations of ministers of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies in a long-simmering dispute over the STL, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hariri and his March 14 allies have blamed what they called “a Hezbollah-led coup” for the collapse of his Cabinet and the subsequent appointment of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati to form a new government.
Hariri and March 14 allies have warned Mikati against ending Lebanon’s cooperation with the STL as demanded by Hezbollah.

“Do you accept the formation of a government whose task is to abolish Lebanon’s relationship with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon? Do you accept the formation of a government which will try to eliminate the Special Tribunal for Lebanon? Do you accept a government that will stop financing the tribunal? Do you, the people of March 14 and the Cedars revolutionists, accept to have anyone else than the Lebanese state control the decision of the free, sovereign and independent Lebanon?” Hariri asked. Again, his questions were met with a resounding “NO” from the crowd.

Mikati denounced the impassioned speeches. “May God have mercy on martyr Rafik Hariri because he would not have said some of the remarks which invited strife near his grave. Today, we became more certain than at any time before that he is the martyr of Lebanon’s unity,” Mikati said.

The March 14 movement was launched a month after Hariri’s assassination in a massive bombing on Feb. 14, 2005, to defend the country’s freedom, sovereignty and independence and call for a Syrian troop withdrawal.

Sunday’s rally was viewed as a show of force as the political confrontation between the March 14 coalition and the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance heats up ahead of the STL’s indictment into Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The STL has been at the heart of tension between the camps for months amid wide expectations that some Hezbollah members would be implicated in the assassination.
A huge portrait of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz hang on Virgin Megastore building a few meters from Rafik Hariri’s tomb, reflecting Saudi support for the March 14 coalition.

In addition to Hariri, the rally was addressed by Kataeb (Phalange) Party leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Deputy Speaker Farid Makkari, caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb, caretaker Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Michel Pharaon, MPs Ghazi Youssef and Sebouh Kalpakian of Hariri’s Future bloc, Chouf MP Dori Chamoun and former MP Elias Atallah.

“We still need to achieve freedom, because there cannot be freedom for a people when their state, Constitution, security, economy, future and decision are subjected to the supremacy of weapons and to those who control the weapons,” Hariri said. Referring to Hezbollah’s refusal to lay down its arms under U.N. resolutions, he said: “You knew from the beginning six years ago, when Rafik Hariri was martyred and we gathered in this square that nothing is impossible. What was impossible six years ago was achieved and what they are describing today as being impossible will be achieved, God willing. Why is it impossible? What are we asking for?

“It is impossible for any of us to accept tutelage over Lebanon again, whether an external tutelage or an internal tutelage of the weapons for the benefit of external [powers],” Hariri said. “It is impossible to give up on our freedom, our Arabism, justice, the truth and most of all it is impossible to give up on Lebanon,” he added. Hariri said the March 14 groups were not asking for the impossible when they demanded a state where no one but the state can carry weapons.

“We are asking for a state that has one strong army in the face of the Israeli enemy, with the support of all the Lebanese people, and not a state that has an army beside the army, outside the state and the law, under the pretext of the Israeli enemy, which turns its weapons toward the people,” Hariri said.

Taking a direct swipe at Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who has retained his post since 1992, Hariri said: “It is impossible for someone to remain for 20 years in the same position in power, and then he gives us lessons in the alternation of power just because every time someone thinks of running against him, the weapons appear in the streets.”

After finishing his speech, a smiling Hariri waved to the crowd, flashing a victory sign with both hands.
Addressing the rally, Geagea announced the launching of a second Cedars Revolution to achieve the March 14 movement’s objectives.

“No life for us without a state and no state with the presence of a mini-state,” Geagea said, referring to Hezbollah’s arsenal. “I announce in front of you today a second Cedars Revolution which will not rest or stop until the mini-state is eliminated and the state has been resurrected. This is not impossible.”

Gemayel implicitly accused Hezbollah of carrying arms to establish a state within a state and to try to overthrow the state. He rejected the presence of arms beyond state authority. “Had it not been for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army and the collapse of the [Syrian] tutelage system, freedom would not have been achieved,” Gemayel said.

Hariri condemns non-state arms while urging continued support for tribunal

Taking to the stage in Beirut’s Martyrs Square amid cheers from exuberant supporters, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri Sunday delivered a passionate address, calling for an end to non-state arms.

“Do you, the people of March 14 and the Cedars revolutionists, accept to have anyone other than the Lebanese state control the decision of the free, sovereign and independent Lebanon?,” Hariri asked while the audience shouted “No” to “the tutelage of weapons” and “weapons in the hand of anyone but the state.”

Hariri also stressed the importance of continuing support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the U.N.-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Do you accept the formation of a government whose task is to abolish Lebanon’s relations with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon?” Hariri asked.

“We have been in the square for six years. Six years ago they assassinated Rafik Hariri and they thought they got rid of Rafik Hariri. They thought they got rid of Lebanon and of you,” he added. “[But] six years ago, you, the Lebanese youth, surprised them and surprised the world … You came to say: We want the truth, justice, freedom, sovereignty and independence.”

The mass protests that erupted following Hariri’s assassination, dubbed the Cedar Revolution, prompted Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon after a presence of almost 30 years.

“They told you that this is impossible. And you answered them back in this square: Lebanon doesn’t die … You achieved sovereignty, independence and the [STL],” Hariri said. “We still need to achieve freedom, because there cannot be freedom for a people when its state, Constitution, security, economy, future and decision are subject to the supremacy of weapons and to those who control the weapons,” he added in objection to Hezbollah’s possession of non-state arms.

Demanding that the “first-class citizen who is carrying a weapon and using it whenever he wants” be eliminated, Hariri said that only a strong state could counter Israeli aggression.
“Whoever wants to liberate [Palestine] must direct his weapons toward Israel and not toward his country, and disrupt the state of Israel and not his country, and weaken the economy of Israel and not the economy of Lebanon,” Hariri said.

“We are asking for a state that has a constitution respected by everyone and not breached at any time by those who are carrying the weapons,” he added. “What is impossible is for the weapons to remain a toy thrown at our children so that it explodes in their face … [And for] these weapons to remain raised against the democratic will of the people, in the face of truth and in the face of right.”

Hariri lashed out in a thinly veiled attack at Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, saying it was wrong “for someone to remain for 20 years in the same position in power, and then he give us lessons in the alternation of power because every time someone thinks of running against him, the weapons appear in the streets.”

Berri has served five consecutive terms as speaker.
Hariri also launched a presumed attack on Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, once a fervent supporter of March 14 who back March 8 in January and prompted the fall of Hariri’s government.

“What is impossible is for an MP to stand before you and vow to defend the tribunal, Taif, democracy and to transmit your voice with honesty, then say that he was obliged to do the opposite because someone else told him that if he does, the weapon will haunt this country and haunt your and his children,” Hariri said.

Strongly condemning any kind of external interference, Hariri explained that it was in Israel’s interest to see the Lebanese divided. “Israel wishes to see the weapons pointed toward Beirut, the mountains, and all of Lebanon, just like on May 7, [2008],” said Hariri.
We must not “remain silent, bend our heads, abandon our freedom, and not defend our constitution, our democracy and country,” he added.

Calling on everyone not to forget the martyrs of the Cedars Revolution, Hariri urged supporters to remember that Lebanon was capable of being a “jewel” and a model of coexistence, where freedom of expression, belief, production, education, culture, art and life were all respected.
“What is impossible is to give up on our freedom, on our Arabism, on justice and truth and most of all what is impossible is to give up on Lebanon,” said Hariri. – The Daily Star