THE BEIRUT TEA PARTY

 Artículo de THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN en “The New York Times” del 10-3-05

Por su interés y relevancia, he seleccionado el artículo que sigue para incluirlo en este sitio web. (L. B.-B.)

The massive pro-Syrian demonstration that the Hezbollah militia mounted on the streets of Beirut on Tuesday underscored just how much all the old slogans and sentiments - anti-Israeli, anti-American, pro-Islamist, sectarian - can be exploited by Syria, Iran and their local proxies to still mobilize popular forces against change. It is also another reminder that the Berlin Wall is falling in the Arab world, but Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa and the Solidarity trade movement are not on the other side, just waiting to jump into the arms of the West. It is a much more divided, complex, confused and, at times, angry group.

Consider the message that the leaders of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were sending to President Bush through their mass rally in Beirut: "Hey, Bush, you want a piece of us? Well, come and get it. Remember what Stalin said about the pope: how many divisions does he have? When it comes to divisions on the ground, pal, we've got 'em. You don't. So nobody is going to remake Lebanon without our permission and without our interests being taken into account."

What is the right response to this? I would begin my answer with an assertion: What we have been seeing in the outbursts of democracy in the streets of Beirut, Baghdad, Cairo and even Riyadh is something real and authentic. It is driven both in response to particular events - like the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - and in response to a deep longing in this part of the world for a different future, particularly among young people, who know what is going on elsewhere and want their own piece of the freedom pie.

"It was our Boston Tea Party," said the Lebanese political analyst Nawaf Salam, speaking of the recent spontaneous pro-democracy demonstrations in Lebanon, which Hezbollah tried to counter on Tuesday with its own pro-Syrian rally. "People feel empowered for the first time; they are feeling that their voice matters - that they can say things," added Mr. Salam, whose recent book, "Options for Lebanon," is the best road map you will find for thinking through how democracy may emerge there. "It is not yet victory, but for the first time in a very long time, people are feeling, 'I can make change.' And there is a real sense of fraternity and unity."

The spreading virus that "things can change and I can make a difference" is the most important thing happening in the Arab world today. It is symbolized by the Egyptian opposition's motto: "Enough." And everyone is watching everyone else now - and comparing. An Egyptian businesswoman remarked to me, with a real sense of envy, how free and alive and energetic the Lebanese opposition protesters seemed, compared with those in Egypt.

The fact that Hezbollah had to resort to a mass rally, just like the Lebanese democracy movement's, is itself a victory for the democrats. Hezbollah clearly felt that it must prove it is as popular a force as the democratic opposition. But something tells me that those Hezbollah demonstrators who were waving the picture of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, were uncomfortable. And this is Hezbollah's weak spot: deep down, it and its supporters know that when they raise the pictures of Syria's president, they are raising the question of whose interests they have at heart.

If democracy in Lebanon is going to re-emerge in a reasonably stable way, Lebanese democratic forces have to constantly be inviting Hezbollah to join them. After all, Hezbollah represents an important and powerful trend among Lebanon's Shiites, most of whom are patriots eager to see Lebanon independent and united. At the same time, though, the Lebanese democrats need to constantly and loudly ask Hezbollah - and get the U.N. and the European Union to constantly and loudly ask Hezbollah - "Why are you waving the picture of the Syrian president? Whose side are you on?"

President Bush should stay in the background and keep focused on defusing the Arab-Israeli conflict, which will deprive Hezbollah of all its excuses to remain armed. The impact on Hezbollah will be much more powerful if it's the Lebanese democrats and the Saudis and the Europeans who ask Hezbollah over and over, "Do you have a real vision for a modern, progressive and pluralistic Lebanon? If so, why are you waving the picture of the Syrian president?"

If Hezbollah puts down Assad's picture and comes up with an answer to that question, that would be a big deal. If not, it could spell big trouble, which is why Joseph Samaha wrote in Wednesday's Lebanese daily Al Safir, "Yesterday was the sort of day in which homelands are founded or destroyed."