Sects vs Sects in Lebanon: The Sunni Urban Uprising in Lebanon. One can look at the events in Lebanon as being partly (there are always multiple dimensions to Lebanese events and upheavals) a Sunni Beirut uprising. Today, I was told that Sunni Beirut families (that I know and are related to my mother's family) are planning to show up with their Sri Lankan maids in the opposition demonstration in Beirut. This is surprising as these are middle class families that have never ever demonstrated in their lives (no matter how many times Israel invaded Lebanon), but this time they feel provoked. This is partly Syria's doing, regardless whether Syria is behind the assassination of Hariri or not. You see: since the 1980s, Syria has marginalized and excluded major Sunni figures in Beirut. The Sunni militia (the murabitun) was smashed by pro-Syrian militias (Druze and Shi`ite) and the leader, Ibrahim Qulaylat, was chased out of the country (he is now in Geneva). Sa'ib Salam was also sent into exile in Switzerland, and Kamal Shatila spent time (after a phone call by former Syrian defense minister the buffoon Mustafa Tlas) in Egypt and France. Mufti Hasan Khalid was assassinated but I think that Lebanese Army intelligence (loyal to Gemmayel and `Awn at the time) was behind his murder. All this created a power vacuum among Sunnis of Beirut (and Israel tried to kill Mustafa Sa`d in Sidon and Syria also fought Tawhid movement in Tripoli for a while). And while Syria allowed the Warlords of the civil war to rule after Ta'if, that did not apply to Sunni or Maronite warlords (except for Israel tool turned Syria tool, Elie Hubayqah). This also explains Maronite resentment. I still believe that ALL sectarian warlords should be excluded and put on trial for war crimes. It was not fair (or just) to promote some sectarian warlords, and punish others, along sectarian lines. Hariri (through his corrupt practices, fraud, Syrian manipulation, and bribery) became a symbol for Sunni Beirut families, and that is why his assassination caused this outrage. Syria is dealing with the consequences of its own actions in Lebanon. This coming Lebanese election will be fair, and will be "representative." Instead of "representative" exclusively pro-Syrian warlords, warlords of the Maronites and Sunnis will come back, and will rule along with the pro-Syrian warlords. That is your real homeland, fellow Lebanese. I used to express dismay at the jingoistic and vulgar manifestations of patriotism in US, and now the Lebanese have outdone everybody. The refuge of scoundrels cannot accommodate all those aspirants anymore. And so many of the Lebanese writers, journalists, politicians, and artists were on Hariri's payroll. When you watch the press, media, and public hagiographic references to Hariri you realize that it paid off. That was a good investment by Hariri. The Lebanese Communist Party today organized its own demonstration: they were opposed to the opposition and to the government, and their slogans were quite consistent (more consistent than all the other demonstrators). I never was a fan of the Lebanese Communist Party, but was impressed with the demonstration, and with the speech by its secretary-general. There are leftist and secular Lebanese, you know. But they were suppressed behind layers of sectarian leaders, clergy from all sides, history, fake patriotic folklore, and Syrian manipulation. But the opposition coalition is very precarious; I dare say that they are united only in their opposition to and fear of..Shi`ites. My friend Ahmad believes that the conflict in Lebanon can now be explained in terms of a Maronite-Shi`ite conflict. But in such a conflict, the Maronites do not stand a chance. But historically, Maronite right-wing leaders have taken the community along self-destructive paths. Let us hope that the conflict in Lebanon does not generate into civil strife and armed confrontation. If Syria wants to make points, Syria outside of Lebanon maybe freer to act in Lebanon than Syria inside Lebanon. Syrian behavior, and the willingness to make successive concessions in Lebanon, and Syrian unwillingness to invite an international investigation of the crime, make the Syrian government look guilty in the assassination of Hariri. This is where the famous saying by Talleyrand ("it is worse than a crime; it is a blunder") may apply to Syrian political behavior in Lebanon. Guess who is now joining the opposition? Syria's chief puppet in Lebanon for much of the 1990s. Former Lebanese president Ilyas Hrawi. It is good that his memoirs are already published, and you can read his pathetically fawning pro-Asad statements. They are still there to read, including the account of his "election" as president by ONE VOTER (Hafidh Al-Asad), and he tells the story how Hafidh Al-Asad picked his son-in-law as foreign minister. Now, he also wants "freedom, sovereignty, and independence." (Like the opposition, he defines those terms very idiosyncratically). And this president once slapped a journalist (Hasan Sabra) because he wrote an article that he did not like. Today, I was told that the Hariri family is not pleased with the style of the opposition, especially the way Jumblat is leading the movement. I am very disgusted with the absence of Lebanese condemnation of rising Lebanese racism against Syrians--the people, not the government of Syria (not to mention rising Lebanese sectarian prejudice against Shi`ites, best publicly expressed by right-wing fanatical journalist Jubran Tuwayni who recently compared Shi`ites to "sheep"). I sincerely believe that some people in the Lebanese opposition are in favor of the withdrawal of Shi`ite babies from Lebanon. But that is Lebanon: a Tabbulah of hatred, prejudices, and suspicions. And yet, the only solution (full secularization and elimination of sectarianism) is not championed by any side. The right-wing LBC-TV hosted a silly Lebanese psychoanalyst today. Somebody in the audience asked about Lebanese racism against Syrians. You know what he said? He said that Lebanese racism against Syrians is no more than "Lebanese sense of humor." It is all joke. I bet that this psychoanalyst does not know of Freud's 1905 book Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious. The law of unintended consequences that applied in Iraq after the American invasion, will soon surprise the US in Lebanon. I always doubted whether the Lebanese wanted to live together, and my doubts have only increased. The more the Lebanese wave their silly flags, and the more they stress how much they love one another, the more I doubt their motives, especially when I see posters with the cross and crescent united. Typical Lebanese dissimulation. I am suffocating. I still see a strong Saudi hand behind the oppostion. Saudi Arabia is motived by 1) strong fear of the Shi`ite factor (which also explains their strong and generous endorsement of `Allawi in Iraq); 2) a strong desire to please the US.