Mohamad Bazzi on DN, “Lebanon protest not only Hezballah”

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Speaking to Amy Goodman, Newsday Middle East bureau chief Mohamad Bazzi explains who is involved in the ongoing protest in Beirut. The protest has been mostly framed in the US as a pro-Syrian Hezballah sponsored attempt to bring down the government of Fouad Siniora. At one point the Bush administration charged that Iran and Syria were planning a coup.

Bazzi makes clear that the crowd, estimated by some to be over 800,000, included Shia, Sunni, and Christian Lebanese. It is not a solely Hezbollah sponsored demonstration.

Author Amal Saab Ghorayeb describes the conflict as a pro versus anti-American political divide in Lebanon rather than pro versus anti-Syrian political divide. As she points out, many people and groups involved in the current protest, including Maronite Christian General Michel Aoun, have fought a lengthy war to drive Syria out of Lebanon in the past.