With very little celebration, late at night a Syrian flag is raised on top of a building downtown Beirut starting a new era. Quite an achievement for the separatists, as for the first time in over 30 years there were happy to see a Syrian flag flying high in the heart of Beirut. I did not feel the Syrian occupation to Lebanon nor I can speak for those who had to take the heat of 30 years of military presence in their homes and neighborhoods but I am still can't draw a smile on my face celebrating the separation of the true twins as a.
I still can not tell the difference between a Syrian and Lebanese, not that many people can. It is true that Syrians don't have many French names of themselves and their buildings, but I do not believe that French names made Lebanon more "Lebanese".
Fifty years of closed politics in Syria made Syrians less aware of the world around them but it never made them strangers in Lebanon. Lebanon has always been the voice of the muted Syrians, the place for us to express our anger, romance, rights, and ideas. Lebanese are proud of Nizar and Majida Roumi. Majida's father came from Jerusalem, lived in Damascus, then moved to Lebanon.
The creation of the Arabism and Syrianism ideas came from the small villages of Mount Lebanon. St Maroun (Mar Maroun) who gave the Chtistian of Lebanon the Maronite Church came from Homs and died in Aleppo, I don't think he would be happy to see his followers condemning his birth and death places.
This flag is not like any flag. this flag means to me that I have to feel a stranger in Lebanon, and I just can not feel that. Will I be able to adapt? Will I accept to stand in line one day so i can obtain a visa to see Kesserwan,or will I be cool to request a special permission to walk around the citadel of Tyr? This day may be coming but I will never be prepared for it.
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