Sour Oranges

It is about time we shelved the misconception that the Lebanese Christians are allied with Hezbollah.

On March 8 last year, hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah protesters flooded the streets of Beirut to say “Thank You Syria”. It was a show of force like no other and it caused the fragile types to start wondering whether Hezbollah has become the de-facto dominant power in Lebanese politics.
One man however, was unmoved. He understood the situation very well: The rally was a sham and the Lebanese won’t be fooled by such artificial displays of power. The name of that man was Michel Aoun.

After the Rally, General Aoun had this to tell the World Net Daily:

[..] the protest wasn’t what it appeared to be. It was an elaborately staged affair.
This was not a Lebanese showing, and many of those who actually were Lebanese were not there because they support Syria. We know that at least three Palestinian camps were present. And there are 700,000 Syrian workers inside Lebanon, many of whom are not even supposed to be there. They were urged by Syria to attend so it looks like many Lebanese are protesting. Plus Syria bused in their own citizens from Syria through the border into Lebanon to join the rally.

Fast forward to today, where the previously beloved General appeared in the front row of an event similar to the very one he criticized last year. Surrounded by a handful of orange-clad die-hard followers, General Aoun failed to convince.
The Christians he constantly claims to represent simply didn’t feel at home among people throwing their fists in the air to the chants of Labbayka Nassroullah, let alone to calls to martyrdom and pledges of sacrifice to the last child.

Enter that very under-rated Christian leader, Samir Geagea.
Last Sunday, under his leadership, one of the biggest Christian rallies took place in Harissa. In a stark contrast to the paltry amount of loyalists Aoun tugged with him to the Hezbollah rally, hundreds of thousands of Christians showed up to say NO to Hassan Nassrallah and YES to Lebanese sovereignty. They all cheered a beaming Mr. Geagea who was flanked by a large statue of Virgin Mary on one side and a historic cathedral on the other.

The message couldn’t have been clearer. It is time for western pundits to stop referring to Aoun as the representative of the Lebanese Christians.