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| Vol. 3 No. 3 | Table of Contents MEIB Main Page | March 2001 |
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| Security forces deployed throughout Beirut on March 14 to smother anti-Syrian protests [Al-Nahar] |
While expressions of overt opposition to Syrian authority have steadily escalated since the spring of 2000, the buildup to the present crisis began on February 12, when Murr Television (MTV) broadcast a live interview with Aoun. The authorities' decision to permit the broadcast apparently stemmed from two considerations. First, officials believed that the interview would show the world that freedom of expression is protected in Lebanon. After a series of incidents in recent months indicating otherwise, most notably the December 8 arrest of An-Nahar journalist Adnan Sha'ban for criticizing the chief of Syrian intelligence in Beirut, permitting the country's number one opposition figure to speak freely on national television would improve international perceptions of the Lebanese political system and thereby facilitate Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's efforts to attract foreign investment.
Second, it was expected that Aoun would tone down his criticism of the Syrian occupation in order to facilitate his return to Lebanon. The interview was considered to be a test of whether Aoun would be willing to observe the "red lines" on public discourse imposed by the Syrians after his return to the country.
However, Aoun pulled no punches. During the broadcast, he called for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and for free elections to be held under UN supervision. He also said that he had received a proposal to make him president of Lebanon, but turned it down because of the conditions that he would have had to accept. While insisting that he harbored no animosity toward the Syrian people, he argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad's comments in a recent interview with the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat "reflect the continuation of the Stalinesque spirit" in Damascus and demonstrate that he has no intention of pulling out Syrian troops in the foreseeable future. Aoun said that "the regime in Lebanon is merely an agent for Syria" and that President Emile Lahoud "had been appointed by Damascus." After the interview, the station reported that 94% of viewers who called in agreed with Aoun's views.1
Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials went ballistic after the broadcast. The next day, Jamil al-Sayyid, the director-general of Lebanon's General Security Directorate (GID), contacted Prosecutor-General Adnan Addoum and demanded that charges be filed against both Aoun and MTV for slandering the president and endangering Lebanon's relations with a foreign country, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment under Lebanon's criminal code. After what one local newspaper called "a long day of negotiations between MTV and the authorities," Addoum decided not to press charges against the station on the condition that it disavow Aoun's views in a subsequent broadcast.2 During its news bulletin on February 14, MTV broadcast a statement explaining to the public that it did not advocate Aoun's criticism of the political establishment or "a friendly state" (the media's code word for Syria).
Meanwhile, in an obvious bid to distract public attention, Syria permitted Hezbollah to launch its first attack across the border into Israel in over two months. On February 16, Hezbollah guerrillas ambushed an Israeli patrol in the southern end of the mountainous Sheba'a Farms district, killing one Israeli soldier and wounding two others. The timing of the operation was similar to the last Hezbollah attack, which occurred on November 26, just days after thousands of students affiliated with Aoun's Free National Current (FNC) staged anti-Syrian demonstrations to commemorate Lebanon's Independence Day.
The question of filing charges against Aoun had been temporarily put on hold after Prime Minister Hariri departed for a three-day visit to France on February 13. Upon his return, this issue was the subject of a contentious debate within the regime. While Sayyid and President Lahoud, who have the most direct ties to Syrian intelligence, advocated filing charges against Aoun, Hariri argued against this, saying it would disrupt his efforts to solicit economic aid from European countries, particularly France, where he was scheduled to return later in the month. Earlier in the week, sixty-two members of France's National Assembly signed a petition demanding the immediate withdrawal of Syrian army troops from Lebanon and were rapidly accumulating more signatures. As the Beirut newspaper Daily Star noted, prosecuting Aoun would "not be in line . . . with the government's efforts to protect public liberties in order to promote Lebanon's image and encourage foreign investment . . . requesting a prison sentence merely on the basis of a statement may be negatively perceived by European countries. "3
Sayyid and Lahoud remained suspicious of Hariri's motivations for suspending judicial proceedings against Aoun. It should be noted that in early January Hariri called upon Aoun to return to Lebanon, a move interpreted by many as an attempt to weaken the power of President Lahoud within the Maronite community. In their eyes, Hariri was responsible for letting the interview take place and has been attempting to ride the coattails of Aoun's growing influence over the population.
After visiting Damascus on February 19, Hariri met with Lahoud at Baabda Palace for discussions on "security issues" and tensions between the two sides were defused for the time being.
The newest wave of opposition to Syrian authority instigated by Aoun's interview continued to escalate, however. On February 23, 101 intellectuals signed a communiqué in the name of the "Democratic Forum" which criticized the government for permitting Hezbollah to renew operations against Israel and emphasized the need to "rectify Lebanese-Syrian relations based on a relationship of equals which will reinforce national sovereignty and independent decision-making."4 The list of signatories illustrated the increasingly multi-confessional character of opposition to the occupation. Prominent Muslims who signed the document include Assem Salam (Sunni), a former head of the Order of Engineers, and Habib Sadek (Shi'ite), the president of the Southern Lebanon Cultural Council and a former member of parliament.
Three days later, former President Amine Gemayel shocked the country by launching a fierce tirade against Syria. Gemayel had been permitted to return to the country after twelve years in exile last July in exchange for pledging not to directly oppose Syrian control over Lebanon. Asked by a reporter shortly after his arrival if the presence of Syrian military forces was an occupation, Gemayel responded: "I would prefer not to answer that."5 Although he had showed signs of backing down from this quid pro quo over the last seven months, most observers were stunned by his remarks during a lecture at the Byblos branch of the Lebanese American University (LAU) on February 26. "Lebanon is occupied, Lebanon's will is stolen and Lebanon's decision is not in our hands," said Gemayel, adding that he is "in the same trench as Gen. Aoun."6
The Day of Confrontation
On February 24-25, the FNC held a two day conclave in Paris, chaired by Aoun and other former officials of his 1988-1990 interim government, including former Ministers Issam Abu Jamra and Edgar Maalouf, and former GID chief Nadim Lteif. It was apparently at this meeting that the FNC decided to launch an unprecedented public relations campaign - a wave of peaceful demonstrations at Syrian military positions throughout Lebanon on March 14, the twelfth anniversary of the start of Aoun's 1989 war against Syrian occupation forces. In a brilliant move designed to heighten public expectations, the FNC announced that Aoun was returning to Lebanon. "The return is a foregone conclusion. Arrangements warranted by this return are under way," said an FNC statement released to the press.
Although it was widely expected that the FNC would organize student demonstrations to commemorate the occasion, no public announcements were made until March 11, when FNC activists began distributing copies of Aoun's weekly address to the nation, which called upon the population to "express your vote against Syrian occupation by taking to the streets." The next day, the FNC announced that demonstrations would be held at Syrian military installations near the presidential palace, the Lebanese defense ministry, and other locations.
The Lebanese Army reacted quickly with a strong warning. "The slogans used in the leaflets constitute provocative calls for insurrection, sedition and destabilizing riots, which would create disorders that threaten law and order across the country and reflect adversely on political, economic and social stability," said a statement released on March 12. It added that the army would "firmly smother any attempt to disturb public security."7A tense atmosphere began sweeping the country. A member of the FNC was detained by the Zghorta intelligence bureau and two students in Tripoli were assaulted. Later in the day, the FNC released a statement re-emphasizing that "Aoun's call for Lebanese citizens to practice their constitutional rights and refusal of occupation is an invitation to peaceful protest." Separately, Aoun released a statement calling on President Lahoud to resign. That evening, the Interior Ministry issued a statement warning activists that they cannot hold demonstrations without advance permits.
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| Lebanese students protesting the Syrian occupation in Fanar on March 14 [Al-Nahar] |
In an attempt to prevent students from gathering together in large numbers, the entrances to the American University of Beirut (AUB), Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Ashrafieh, and Mont La Salle in Ain Saadeh, were sealed off by security forces. Syrian intelligence agents in civilian clothes were said to be patrolling the entrances to most campuses.
Around mid-afternoon, students began sneaking out of university campuses in small groups to assemble at the Faculty of Arts of the state-run Lebanese University (LU), where a major Syrian military garrison is stationed. Lebanese security forces intervened to stand between the students and Syrian soldiers.
At Kaslik and Lweizeh universities in the northern suburbs of Beirut, security forces established a tight cordon around the campuses and arrested around a dozen students attempting to leave. In nearby Fanar, an estimated 3,000 students pushed down roadblocks, poured into the street and marched toward a Syrian army garrison, but were blocked by army and internal security forces, including riot police and a special forces brigade, who also confiscated the film of newspaper photographers on the scene.
At St. Joseph University, nearly 400 students managed to get past security forces, chanting "Lion in Lebanon and rabbit in the Golan," a play on words criticizing Assad (whose name means lion in Arabic) for fighting Israel from Lebanese, rather than Syrian, territory. At Sagesse University in Ashrafiyeh, about 200 FNC activists demonstrated with banners reading "Get Syria out of Lebanon."
Around forty protestors were arrested during the course of the day, all of whom were soon released.
Conclusion
The mass protests on March 14 were remarkable in light of the fact that few Christian politicians openly endorsed them. The Patriarch of Lebanon's Maronite Christian church urged the population "not to take to the streets," while Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) movement instructed its supporters not to participate. In fact, the only major Christian group that endorsed the FNC campaign was the National Liberal Party.
What was most remarkable about March 14, however, was not the thousands of Lebanese who assembled peacefully to protest the Syrian occupation (for this has happened on many occasions over the last year), but the size and scale of the military forces deployed to suppress the protests. "Aoun wanted his activists to close down Beirut in protest against Syria's domination. The army has done it for him in their stead," said one political analyst quoted by Al-Nahar. "The city is at a frightening standstill. What more would Aoun want?"8
Al-Nahar Editor Gibran Tueni aptly summarized the prevailing consensus in the aftermath of this most unusual day: "We live under a state that fears its own people."9 Even pro-Syrian newspapers acknowledged that Aoun had succeeded in embarrassing the authorities. Al-Diyar lambasted the "exaggerated security measures" which "paralyzed the country."10 Al-Safir wrote that Aoun proved he could "stir the streets" of Beirut.11
The spectacle of Lebanese security forces intervening to "protect" Syrian soldiers from unarmed demonstrators will not soon be forgotten. By exposing the Lebanese regime's obsessive embrace of occupying Syrian forces and its inability to cope with peaceful demonstrations, Aoun has seriously called into question the legitimacy of Lebanon's Second Republic. His demand that President Lahoud step down and hold elections under UN supervision no longer seems to be such a radical step.
Notes
1 Murr Television (Beirut), 12 February 2001.
2 The Daily Star (Beirut), 15 February 2001.
3 The Daily Star (Beirut), 15 February 2001.
4 The Daily Star (Beirut), 24 February 2001.
5 Le Soir (Brussels), Aug. 7, 2000.
6 Al-Nahar (Beirut), 27 February 2001.
7 Al-Nahar (Beirut), 13 March 2001.
8 Al-Nahar (Beirut), 15 March 2001.
9 Al-Nahar (Beirut), 15 March 2001.
10 Al-Diyar (Beirut), 15 March 2001.
11 Al-Safir (Beirut), 15 March 2001.