Well, we all thought how stunning it was that Lebanon was united over the past few weeks. We all thought that the Lebanese were in agreement in their distaste for the Syrian government and in their need to leave the country. We thought that all spectrums of the Lebanese society joined in the demonstrations over the last few days. Well, think again.

Not to be outgunned, Hizbullah and other pro-Syrian factions have organized a massive demonstration today in Beirut (figures put at 500,000), easily dwarfing any of the oppositions' demonstrations. This occured while Syria started its pullback of troops from Southern and Northern Lebanon. The stated goal of the demonstration was to voice opposition to UN resolution 1559 and "thank Syria, which has stayed by our side for many years."

We represent Lebanon

No, we represent Lebanon

The purpose was to send a clear message to the U.S. and France. To the U.S., Nasrallah's words were "We have defeated them in the past and if they come again we will defeat them again," in the midst of chants of "Death to America" from demonstrators. To Jacques Chirac, "If you wanted Democracy in Lebanon then the majority of Lebanese people reject 1559. Isn't this Democracy?"

Obviously, the other goal of the demonstration was to show that the demonstrations of the past few days do not reflect the viewpoint of all, or maybe even the majority, of the Lebanese.

One thing that it also brings to the fore is that Lebanon is not as united as we may have recently believed, and that divisions and tensions still remain. As is always in the Arab World, things are not always what they seem at first glance.

pro-Syrian girl

opposition girls

¶ 12:04 AM