The post-Syrian era has begun

last updated 8 January 2015

Lebanon

Congratulations to Lebanon! said Cengiz Çandar in Istanbul’s Tercüman. With the election of an anti-Syrian majority in its new parliament, Lebanon has finally broken free of its oppressive neighbor. True, the Syrian-backed militant party Hezbollah will have some seats in the legislature, but the new government will be formed by the anti-Syrian groups that backed Saad Hariri. We anticipate a secular government that will weigh the needs of all Lebanese, whatever their religion. This is “a very happy result for all who want to see democracy spread in the Middle East.”

The U.S. must be suffering, said M. Al-Bittar in Damascus’ Syria Times. It tried its hardest “to take Lebanon back to the edge of a big conflagration.” But its “hostile plot” to “throw Lebanon and the whole region in a pool of blood” by stirring up a civil war has utterly failed. The brave Lebanese people showed their support for Hezbollah and the resistance against Israel. So now the U.S. is resorting to “slander” and “baseless accusations” against Syria, falsely claiming that Syria still has agents in Lebanon. The truth is that the Lebanese consider the Syrians their “twin people.”

“Thank God” we are rid of Syria, said Issa Goraieb in Beirut’s L’Orient-Le Jour. It took the combined efforts of many Lebanese, marching together “without regard for party or religion,” to successfully throw off foreign interference. Such unity, however, proved short-lived. Now that the common enemy is gone, we are already fragmenting into factionalism and sectarianism. Gen. Michel Aoun, who leads a largely Christian bloc, has bitterly declared his inability to work with Hariri’s group. We need to rise above such pettiness and act “in good faith yet without excessive naiveté.” Hariri, at least, has pledged that his followers will negotiate with everyone to form a government we all can live with. “May the victors keep their promises.”