Snapped Shot

Lebanese students raise their hands as they chant the Lebanese anthem during a demonstration organized by activists from the anti-war movement called 'Joy of Giving' in Beirut, Lebanon Thursday, May 10, 2007. From all of Lebanon, organizations and schools gathered to call for peace and reject sectarian tensions. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Hey Brian,

Those guys are "Offre-Joie", one of the few bright spots in Lebanon, if not the world. Initially, many of its founders were Christians, but they have always been committed to being a very secular/multi-confessional charity. They are truly committed to peace; I think that, when God mentioned the righteous, he had in mind a few people like those. I am partial to them; I volunteered with them for a while, but the Lebanese Red Cross gives more of an adrenaline rush...

Pledge of Allegiance, 1892.

For many in Lebanon, the hand raised is not necessarily a fascist thing, BTW. While it is true that we have more than our share of fascist tendencies, this is far from the case. When a Lebanese raises his hand like that, he has in mind the Roman salute, and it has something we do when we pledge allegiance or make an oath. A grand gesture of commitment, if you will...

In this case, they are making Gebran Tueni's
pledge, which we all made on March 14. The pledge is as follows;

"In the name of God
We, Muslims and Christians,
Pledge that united we shall remain
To the end of time
To better defend our Lebanon"

It was recited by Gebran Tueni, during the famous March 14, 2005, at Martyrs' Square. Gebran Tueni was assassinated by the Syrians by a car bomb, but his legacy lives on in this pledge, and many other good ideas... He is sorely missed at this juncture of our history... Note that all the more than 1.2 million of us who were present that day repeated it, and we all had our hands extended like that. The March 14 demo was really huge; Syria's Quislings were still in charge then, and tried to make it hard for people to go, but still, out of a population of less than 4 Million, more than half the population tried to show up on that day, and traffic jams extended to 30 km on all roads leading downtown...

You make a great point, however, in mentioning that this could be exploited by a few sinister people. And it looks like our politcal leaders either did not take the pledge, or are choosing to ignore it. But I fear the real danger comes from the "realists" in the United States, who appear hell-bent on selling us to the Syrians (again); they forget that Bin Laden, when he planned 9/11, had in mind the Marines' debacle in Beirut, in the 1980's. This is of his own admission, actually, but too many US politicians have the attention span on Homer Simpson. In any case, I hope no war will be visited on us, but we can only react to outside events, with little control of our own...