March 14th Is Only A Date Again

Like any other spontaneous demonstration or uprising, when ordinary people descended on Martyr’s Square they did not know for sure the extent of their power. Nor did they know whether they will be effective or successful. They braved the Syrian tyranny and its repressive Lebanese sister regime and shouted at the top of their lungs, “We want the truth of who killed Rafik Hariri!”

The demand was genuine, organic and powerful. It led to the end of Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, the fall of the Syrian-appointed puppet government and  the defeated exit of all Syrian troops from Lebanon. For those of us who have always dreamed of a sovereign Lebanon, the events of that day will be etched in our memory forever.

The fact that March 14 became a movement symbolizing the first official revolution of what will later become the “Arab Spring,” is a feat for many of us and it will remain so despite all the changes and the losses that occurred since.

Does the March 14 Movement as a political outfit today represent much of those who marched on Martyr’s Square ten years ago? Of course not. What is now known as March 14 is nothing but a political group trying to score points against other groups in the arena. What started as a popular uprising that refused to compromise, ended up being just another group of people in suits playing the game of politics as usual.

Are the doctors who walked in their white robes on March 14, 2005 represented in today’s March 14 Movement? How about the Lebanese youth groups who were ecstatic that day as they were finally helping write the history of their times? Many heroes of that revolution were assassinated since that historic day. The real voices are missing.

It is no surprise then that March 14th is back to being just another day in our life. The memory of that day a decade ago still conjures up  images of elation, peaceful revolution and the ultimate kind of  people power in the hearts and minds of those who believed in change, freedom and the search for truth. But the randomness of the present day irks us as we long for bygone days and bygone heroes and a bygone times when, even if only for a few weeks, freedom seemed to be so close we could almost reach it with our hands.