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U.S. Officials and Lebanese-Americans Gather in Congress to Commemorate Seventh Anniversary of Lebanon's Cedar Revolution
On the 7 th anniversary of Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman called on all Lebanese in the United States and the millions back home to once again “show the world “how they can transcend fear,” and use “the 2013 elections to defeat the remnants of the Syrian occupation and reject the apologists of Assad’s butchery.” He also asked the Lebanese “to join together to tell Hezbollah and its allies that the Lebanese state will no longer be hijacked for an Iranian-Assad agenda.”
Ambassador Feltman was speaking at the event held by Lebanese- American Organizations on Capitol Hill to commemorate the 7 th anniversary of the Cedar Revolution. Among the attendance at the event were Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East Steve Chabot, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Darrell Issa, Ranking Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Nick Rahall, Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Charles Boustany, , and Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Eliot Engel.
Al-Arabyia bureau chief Hisham Melhem introduced the speakers and after reaffirming “the Lebanese-Americans’ commitment to Lebanon” and emphasized that “a positive outcome in Syria will definitely reverberate in Lebanon.”
Assistant Secretary Feltman, who had served as the American Ambassador to Lebanon during the Cedar Revolution, identified two elements that are constant across the board in the Arab Spring countries: Yearning for dignity and a triumph over fear. He said that “in 2011 Arabs across the region vanquished their fear. And it was the Lebanese people who had shown the way earlier.”
He placed the Lebanese people’s uprising in 2005 “among the great and historic movements showing the world true resolve in the face of tyranny,” and added “who could have imagined that six years later Arabs across the region would attempt to realize for themselves those same universal values that brought the Lebanese people to the streets in March of 2005?”
Feltman went on to talk about the Syrian people “who today are rejecting the Assad regime’s campaigns of arrest and torture… all of us who care deeply about Lebanon have a moral as well as political obligation to stand firmly on the side of those Syrians trying to wrest their country out of the hands of a murderous mafia.” “No one outside of Syria has more of a stake in the outcome than the Lebanese,” he added.
Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, remembered “with heavy heart,” that “the fragile democracy that emerged in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution had been all but destroyed by outside factions trying to eliminate Lebanon’s independence and stability.”
She went on to say “the Syrian regime’s continued infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and affairs was a chilling precursor to the violence that would be inflicted on Syrian protestors, eager for the same sovereignty and freedom that the Lebanese people pursued through the Cedar Revolution.”
Furthermore, she reassured the Lebanese “reformers,” who “bravely risk their lives to stand up for Lebanon, the United States and all responsible nations must stand with them. And the Congress still stands by them.” She concluded by voicing her support for the STL when she said “we have worked to ensure that the necessary funding for the operation of the Special Tribunal For Lebanon is provided.”
Congressman Charles Boustany said that he was “100 percent committed to Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence and to making sure Lebanon military has enough funding that can protect the sovereignty of the country.” He added that the “military relations [between the US and Lebanon] remain intact here” and that “Lebanon is an important ally to the U.S.”
Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Steve Chabot, called the Cedar Revolution the “precursor to the Arab Spring” but that “tonight’s celebration is bitter sweet. Seven years since the revolution Syria and Iran still arm Hezbollah and continue to meddle in Lebanon.” He added that while the Lebanese suffered recent setbacks, he had no doubt that they have better days ahead.
On Syria Chabot insisted that “responsible nations have the moral imperative to ensure that Assad is removed from power as soon as possible.”
Ranking Member Howard Berman remembered how the Cedar Revolution “was born in the blood of terrorism and assassination, this time with the brutal murder of Rafik Hariri chose to risk it all for the sake of service to his nation.”
He said “Lebanon’s march to true freedom and democracy has not been easy or smooth. We all know the primary cause of the difficulties: Hezbollah, a fundamentalist militia and US-designated terrorist group that is more loyal to Khamenei and Assad than to its own nation.”
Berman went on to say that he is convinced that the “Lebanese patriots will not let up, that they will persevere, that they will remain a shining example for the region, and that Lebanon’s future will be the ideals of the Cedar Revolution.”
Chairman Darrell Issa hailed Lebanon as the “first democracy in the Arab World,” and that Late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will “always be the best well known face and symbol for all the Lebanese.”
Congressman Nick Rahall said that the “people of Lebanon as strong as they are and as peaceful as they are they will continue to weather whatever happens in Syria in order to stress their sovereignty.” He quoted Gibran Khalil Gibran and said “let us pray that the truth in the rebellions now being waged by just people in the Arab world and elsewhere truly allow freedom to blossom and be fruitful.”
Congressman Eliot Engel pledged to continue supporting Lebanon and affirmed that “we will not stop till Lebanon is free.”
Secretary LaHood gave the closing remarks and said that he does not know a better friend of Lebanon than Jeffrey Feltman. He also expressed his pride in being “the only Lebanese American in President Obama’s cabinet,” and said “I am very proud because from time to time we can have something to say on Lebanon and it will be heard in the halls of the White House.”