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That is all.
When I see people doing this, I always wonder if they're screwing the system or if they're sincerely trying to be model drivers. Maybe a bit of both!
We had a really hard time parking, but otherwise it was relatively quiet, as the concert had started. We walked down to the sea from outside the medieval wall, and when we turned inside the old port the sound hit us clear as crystal: Loreena McKennit was singing under the stars. We could glimpse her on the temporary stage that was installed over the ruins, between the Crusader fortress and the sea. The nearest restaurant, the historical "chez Pepe Abed" gave us a table with an eye and ear on the concert and we had a simply fantastic evening. Only when the concert was done and the audience walked out were we able to make out the seats, which had previously been completely black with people, and did we realize what a huge audience it was. Eventually we followed them, up the inside of the roman-medieval area this time, to find the place transformed. I've been going to Byblos all my life and I know it very well, but there was always a neglected part of the ancient alleyways off the souk that we couldn't or didn't wander in. This part has been restored and expanded into a maze of restaurants and pubs that spill onto the flagstones. They're so well done I can't tell if the venues had always been there or if they were built recently. It was a heck of an ambiance. We just sat on the ground for a while just enjoying, before driving back to our parts.
While wandering around the old, narrow alleyways of Deir el-Qamar last weekend we chanced upon this magnificent mandaloun...
"This video, which aired recently on OTV and which compares Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to the greatest figures of the past three centuries, would be funny, were it not so sad."
If you can't play it on the NOWLebanon site, you can find it on youtube. Just type [aoun megalomania] in the search box :|
All but the most physically impeding devices implanted by the authorities to regulate parking are routinely ignored*. No Parking signs might as well not exist, concrete blocks, after a while, seem to be not si problematic after all, and as for those ugly metal bars planted in sidewalks to prevent cars from climbing on the sidewalk to park – well, I've seen cars hoist themselves on the 20 centimeters margin between the bars and the edge of the sidewalk**. On the other hand, if a shopkeeper puts a mere plastic chair or a carboard box outside his shop to keep an open spot, no driver would violate it. It would be uncivilized... It's like government imposed parking restrictions are considered arbitrary and senseless ("How am I bothering anyone if I park there??") whereas a citizen marking his rightful spot has a valid reason others can sympathize with.
The parking meters are a completely new addition to the culture and the adaptation process is visible to the eye: people are still studying the best ways to deal with them. They do scrupulously put money in for extended parking (otherwise they'd get fined), but for those favored 5-minute stops they still use the blinkers to signify "I won't be long!" Likewise, double-parking is still legit when waiting in the car... I don't think I'll run out of "Lebanese driver manual" anytime soon. Speaking of which, I seem to be behind on posting them here (scroll down).
* With some subtleties. Every Lebanese seems to have an in-built sensory device that allows him or her to perceive whether a no-parking measure is serious (as in you'll actually get fined or your car will be towed) or can be safely ignored.
** The perhaps prophetically named Rue du Liban was one where it was very convenient to park on the right-side sidewalk as most of its businesses had been shut for decades. When the big roadworks of the past few years began, the authorities made it impossible by the most radical expedient I heard of – they redid the street and sunk its level by half a meter. We got the message – but little old ladies may have a hard time climbing onto that sidewalk now...
( Leb. driver manual 6 and 7 )
He came up to me a few days later saying "Do you know what you've done?"
"What have I done??"
"The guy whose number you gave me... His father's the landowner!"
Bloody hell!
The right to pass on citizenship from mother to children is one of the main fighting grounds for Lebanese women today – there'd been signs that it wouldn't be long before authorities turn their attention to it, and this is a great precedent.
( What the heck is that? )
I can't even begin to translate, this is so long, but basically this is a live show dedicated to shed light on corruption practices, and they are known for their integrity, investigating everyone equally when evidence comes to their attention. No sides taken except that of transparency. Here, they've just finished interviewing someone (not seen here, he just left the studio) who testified that he received bribes from aouni MPs, notably Ibrahim Kanaan who was one of the big losers of the elections. The madman hollering on the phone like a rabid animal, accusing the anchor of being a filthy liar bought and paid for, and threatening that he knows things about her, among a whole 10 minutes of other things, is Ibrahim Kanaan. The anchor doesn't stoop to his level btw, she makes sure her voice is louder than his but she's perfectly rational and factual.
As she says towards the end, now we know just what we were spared, and all of the audience can see what kind of people head this party.
A glorious day if ever there was one. In 12 hours of polling, the majority of Lebanese said “no” to violence, “no” to obstruction and “no” to the presence of Hezbollah’s autonomous private army. They said “yes” to respecting state institutions, “yes” to the rule of law, “yes” to sovereignty and “yes” to economic prosperity.
The slate has been wiped clean, and the democratic ducks are in a row. There is a new parliament, there is an incumbent president and there will be a new government, the make-up of which still remains to be decided. But one thing there should not be is the outrageous, not to mention unconstitutional, “obstructing third” vote, spawned by coercion at the May 2008 Doha Conference, the mandate of which has expired. The effect of this disastrous device was one year of virtual governmental stalemate.
The new Lebanese government must be allowed to govern if it is to be held accountable for its policies by the electorate. Debate must be restricted to the proper forum. That means there must be no more gun battles, no more sit-ins and even no more burning tires on the nation’s roads.
But nothing is ever simple, and the storm clouds began to gather on Monday night, when into this era of shaky promise was beamed – for these days he is always “beamed” – a softly spoken Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who declared that he accepted the election results, “with sportsmanship and democratic spirit.” But – and there is always a “but” with Hezbollah – he also said that “the arms of the Resistance are not up for discussion. They are present because of the peoples’ will, and will be left for the dialogue table.”
It is an old refrain and one that is no doubt paving the way for negotiations on the immediate future status of Hezbollah’s vast arsenal, its “biggest since 1982”according to Nasrallah. The nation is aware that the good health of any government will depend on it having a free hand, and that means no obstructing third.
It is entirely likely that Hezbollah will seek a deal whereby it waives its demand for a cabinet veto if the ministerial statement ensures the perpetuity of its weapons, leaving the party free to do Iran’s bidding in the South. For as Nasrallah pointed out, stooping to separate what he calls the “popular” from the “parliamentary” majority, “the people who voted for us have shown that supporting the Resistance is a popular choice, especially in the regions that are under constant threat.”
But the truth remains that, while Hezbollah is militarily at an all-time high and sees the sizeable Shia turnout at the polls as an endorsement of its weapons, it is running out of metaphorical bullets. Not only were there huge shockwaves among the party’s rank and file at the result of Sunday’s vote, there are also strategic limitations on its leadership. Realistically, the party can’t fight another war on its electorate’s doorstep, and there is no way it will get away with another May 7, 2008, when it sent its gunmen onto the streets of Beirut. Similarly, without a pliant president to back it, it can’t stage another mass cabinet walk out.
Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, the man tipped to be the next prime minister, has much to do. On Sunday evening he did his best to put a democratic gloss on what will surely be a series of protracted negotiations. Talking to the opposition voters he said, “Our duty is to hear your voices firstly and before anything else, based on the deep wish of all the Lebanese people to extend their hands to each other.”
He knows that the first showdown cannot be far off.
It's funny to hear the sighs of relief on a global scale as everyone from here to the US now dares admit that they thought the opposition would sweep the elections. The opposition itself was sure of it, which is why they insisted on having elections and they insisted that the results of the elections should be accepted no matter what. This is returning to bite them in the ass now. The hizb was quickest to break the stunned silence, but with nothing new to say, just immediate defensiveness about their arsenal and some dissonances between nasrallah and raad's speeches because they were caugh toff guard. The FPM still hasn't reacted, not a peep. I swear aoun must be in the hospital. Nabih Berri's speech was suspiciously unaligned: it may bear no significance in another's mouth, but Berri is well-known to casually side with whomever he thinks has the upper hand. He also wants the majority to bring him back as president of the Chamber, so he has to play nice, and he and aoun just don't like each other, especially since their electoral battle for Jezzine. Did I mention Amal and Hezbollah used to hate each other before they joined forces to form the opposition, and that their respective supporters clash frequently? As for Tashnag, who had always stood by the Lebanese government by principle since the Armenian refugees arrived in the 1920's, and whose joining the opposition had come as a nasty surprise, they made a statement yesterday evoking a "new direction" and a realignment with the presidency... Read: "We thought we would get more seats out of this but we were screwed; since things don't look so good for the opposition, we're going to slowly creep out of the way and go stand by the president like we used to."
I am of course speculating and maybe this won't come to pass, but right now it's really looking like this alliance of parties each having its own distinct agenda (they even campaigned separately, which was a mistake) is not going to endure much more pressure. For one thing, the hizb indulged aoun because they believed, as did he, as a lot of people dreaded, that he did represent the majority of Christians. He was a necessary embarrassment, now he's a useless embarrassment. And the FPM is going to keep on eroding. Why? Let's see. As I mentioned previously, aoun won in the Metn thanks to the Armenian votes that went to the Tashnag party, in Jbeil and Baabda thanks to Shia votes, and in Kesrouan with a very small margin. I already spoke of the Tashnag above. As for Kesrouan, it is home to the most sectarian among christians, likely to see themselves as the "pure" christians in the country, and there's little doubt that many of them voted for aoun because they really thought he was THE christian leader of our times. Now they know his supporters are in the minority, and worse, he won because the Shia chose him. FUCK.
And I'm not making guesses here. We're getting wind of the state of shock that region is in now. Here's something priceless from someone who voted aoun there: "We thought things were going to change! Not only are they the same, we're stuck with aouni deputies!"
What has my sense of schadenfreude most tickled, though, are the mistakes they made during their campaign. Drunken no doubt with his own importance, nasrallah recently called May 7 a "glorious day for the Resistance". You know, the day the hizb's allies closed the airport, turned their weapons against Beirut, occupied the city for a few days while they destroyed the tv stations and newspapers of their political opponents, and tried to take the Mountain, bloodying their hands with the blood of the countrymen they claimed to want to protect. I know for a fact, from my friends who live far from Beirut and never really realized what happened, that this might not have shocked them much, but for the Beirutis? That was the surest way of guaranteeing the opposition would get zero seat in Beirut, which is indeed what happened – the reason they have 2 is that the Doha agreement guaranteed Beirut 2 would be split evenly between both blocs.
As for aoun, his fuck-ups will one day be collected in a DVD, I'm sure. It's not enough that he continuously dissed the Patriarch of the church whose protector he made himself out to be. What kind of idiot banks on the attachment of a segment of society to their faiths while publically disrespecting the head of their church? He also went after Nayla Tueni, insulting both her and her father in the most shocking, gratuitous way. Gibran Tueni, from an eminent family of intellectuals unblemished by any armed involvement or political corruption, was universally respected and he died assassinated for his involvement in the Cedar Revolution. Nayla, his daughter, who is around my age, is taking up after him, her first run in the elections. Another son of an assassinated leader, Nadim Gemayel, presented himself as well. Aoun attacked them all rabidly, displaying outrageous disrespect for the dead, and for their children. When I bring this up with people, they instantly take that shocked expression that shows they haven't gotten over this behavior.
Finally, his attitude towards Achrafieh (Beirut I) showed blindness that was nothing short of incredible. Achrafieh was martyred by the Syrians during the war, pounded ceaselessly for months – I remember, I was there – and then aoun's army took over and pounded it all over again to dislodge the Forces. And now aoun allied to the syrians expects to win it over? But here are extracts from that article I posted earlier in french, titled "Achrafieh celebrates victory", to show exactly why the inhabitants said No to the opposition:
[...]
A man passes by, looks at Charles and his friends, and makes signs with both hands: "5-0". the gesture is relative to the number of seats won by 14 march in Achrafieh.
A young blond woman walks by, maes the same gesture towards the group. Lili is a writer. She is from Jbeil but grew up in Achrafieh. "Zahle and Achrafieh showed they belong to the christian resistance. They are cities that held fast against the syrians. We cannot betray our martyrs. We are faithful to the blood that was spent," she says in perfect French.
Paul is a dentist in Brussels, he came to Lebanon specially to take part in the elections. "I paid for my plane ticket, while the Armenians of Tashnag got free tickets to come vote against us. Some were on the same flight I was on", he says.
[...]
Paul, like all the orthodox voters in Achrafieh who voted for march 14, speaks of michel aoun's candidate for the comunity's seta in the district, Issam Abou Jamra, and repeats with irony aoun's words in this context: "Abou Jamra is the greek-orthodox nerve of Achrafieh." He also evokes all the insults uttered by the general against Gibran Tueni and his daughter Nayla.
In an old bodega, men are chatting. "Thank God, we won, Achrafieh won", says Khalil, dedicating this victory to deputy Michekl Pharaon. "We proved that Achrafieh is faithful and that she votes for her children, not for strangers parachuted on a list, like aoun's greek-orthodox candidate who can't even be moukhtar [mayor of the neighborhood] here. We proved that when the real inhabitants of Achrafieh vote, nobody can break them."
[...]
Dany says: "At one point, before the elections, I thought of voting for Massoud Achkar [FPM candidate], then general aoun came to Achrafieh. In his speech, he called the Lebanese Forces mercenaries, he said he saw no sign of syrian destruction in Achrafieh, and he dared defend the SNNP, the assassins of Beshir Gemayel, in our home, a few hundred meters away from the place he was killed. So I quickly changed my mind. I will never vote for anyone on aoun's list, even though at one moment he had defended Achrafieh."
those sentences, reminiscent of various speeches of Michel aoun, are repeated by most of the questioned people. AMong them, Elie adds: "General Aoun must also know that Achrafieh will never vote for the one who forced her to drink rain water in 1990[during his war against the Lebanese Forces."
"Can you imagine, after the elections michel aoun wanted to liberate Achrafieh, I never understood form what! Now, happily, he lost. We voted against hezbollah's weapons and we won."
[...]
The article speaks also of the Syriac and Assyrian communities, who are concentrated in 2 sectors of Achrafieh and massively voted for March 14
Here, the inhabitants always speak together in Aramaic or Assyrian. And here, they have fought on the barricades since 1976. Syriacs and Assyrians are part of the oldest christian communities of the Orient. They arrived in Lebanon, like the Chaldeans and Armenians, startign from the 20's, fleeing persecution from Turkey or Iraq.
[...] "We are 3000 syriacs on the electoral lists of Achrafieh. We are not all present in Lebanon but we voted like one man for the 14 march list. We are ready to spill blood for Nayla Tueni", says Georges, who condemns michel aoun's campaigns against "a young girl who lost her father."
"We voted for the state, for the disarmament of militias, for March 14", underlines Ibrahim. "Do you want me to have another choice, for instance to vote for michel aoun who will bring the Iranians here?" asks the sexagenarian.
"The observers of general aoun were enraged when they knew we were voting en masse for the march 14 list. Aoun then attacked our eveque Georges Saliba".
[...] "I was young, I fought on the barricades. My friends have died in this neighborhood." he points to a street corner: "Here, in 1978, during the 100-day war, my little sister died from shrapnel. She was 7. Her name was Sophie. It is impossible for me to vote for an ally of syria and iran."
If Achrafieh wished to remember, each of its streets could bear testimony of the death of one of its children by bullet, shrapnel or carbomb with the syrian signature. Last sunday, Achrafieh showed it had never forgotten the blood that was spent to pay for its freedom.
Après la proclamation des résultats, Achrafieh savoure sa victoire
Par Patricia KHODER | 09/06/2009
Dans la journée d'hier, Achrafieh était vide, calme et tranquille. Les habitants de ce secteur de Beyrouth avaient fait la fête jusqu'aux premières lueurs de l'aube, célébrant ainsi la victoire de la liste entière du 14 Mars à Beyrouth I. Hier soir également, pour la seconde soirée consécutive, Achrafieh a fait la fête jusqu'à l'aube à la place Sassine.
Ce n'était pas un lundi ordinaire hier à Achrafieh. Vers 15 heures, ce secteur de Beyrouth était encore assoupi. Ce lundi, à Achrafieh, ressemblait étrangement à un dimanche ou plus simplement à un jour férié. Les habitants qui avaient passé leur nuit à faire la fête jusqu'à l'aube se sont reposés dans la matinée, savourant leur victoire.
C'est que la veille, champagne et alcool avaient coulé à flot à la place Sassine. Les habitants d'Achrafieh ont dansé sur les rythmes de chants partisans, ont brûlé des feux d'artifice et ont acclamé leurs députés Michel Pharaon (grec-catholique) Nayla Tuéni (grecque-orthodoxe), Nadim Gemayel, (maronite), Jean Oghassabian (arménien-orthodoxe) et Serge Ter Sarkissian, (arménien-catholique).
Hier donc, la plupart des magasins étaient fermés, les restaurants étaient quasiment vides et ceux qui s'étaient installés dans les cafés-trottoirs de la place Sassine étaient des étrangers, notamment des touristes et des journalistes. Achrafieh était calme ; de temps à autre, le silence était entrecoupé par des voitures roulant en diffusant des chants partisans ou des discours du président assassiné Béchir Gemayel.
À la place Sassine, ornée des portraits de Nayla Tuéni et de Nadim Gemayel, le marchand ambulant de drapeaux et de foulards partisans a retiré dès dimanche soir les étoffes de couleur orange frappées à l'effigie du CPL. Depuis dimanche soir, il n'y avait plus de place à Sassine que pour les drapeaux du Liban, des Forces libanaises et des Kataëb.
Dans une épicerie, Marcel indique qu'il est heureux pour « le mouvement du 14 Mars et pour les jeunes. Les jeunes députés d'Achrafieh ont l'âge de mes enfants. Je suis originaire de Zghorta, mais j'habite ici. C'est dommage que chez nous, Michel Moawad (qui se présentait à l'un des sièges maronites du caza) n'ait pas été élu ».
Dans un parking non loin de là, des hommes sont assis à l'ombre. Charles met l'accent sur « les excellents résultats à Achrafieh et dans d'autres cazas du Liban ». « Michel Aoun et ses alliés nous ont accusés d'être "une majorité fictive", que nous avions remporté les élections de 2005 grâce à l'alliance quadripartite et tout le baratin. Mais voilà, aujourd'hui, sans cette alliance, le 14 Mars a encore une fois gagné les élections », dit-il.
Ibrahim qui vient du Metn est un peu triste pour les résultats de son caza, mais il qualifie également les élections d'excellentes, les deux hommes affirmant que « si le Tachnag n'avait pas voté en masse pour Michel Aoun, le 14 Mars aurait remporté haut la main les élections ».
« Il fallait voir hier les bus et les taxis du Tachnag à Achrafieh, soupire Charles. Vous vous rendez compte qu'à part dans le Kesrouan, le général Aoun a remporté ses sièges grâce au vote chiite et du Tachnag », dit-il en souriant. Mes amis arméniens, partisans du Tachnag, m'ont téléphoné hier. Je leur ai dit que je ne veux pas les voir cette semaine, le temps de me calmer », dit Charles, ne comprenant pas pourquoi « ce parti arménien est en train de voter contre la volonté de la majorité de la rue chrétienne». Hier, ce discours critique envers le Tachnag était tenu par la plupart des personnes interrogées à Achrafieh.
Zahlé et Achrafieh, fiefs de la résistance
Un homme passe, regarde Charles et ses amis, et fait des signes avec les deux mains. De l'une, il montre ses cinq doigts, et de l'autre, il tient le pouce et l'index pour former un cercle : « 5-0 » ; le geste est relatif au nombre des sièges remportés par le 14 Mars à Achrafieh.
Une jeune femme blonde passe, fait le même signe en direction du groupe. Lili est écrivaine. Elle est originaire de Jbeil mais elle a grandi à Achrafieh. « Zahlé et Achrafieh ont montré leur appartenance à la résistance chrétienne. Ce sont des villes qui ont tenu tête aux Syriens. Nous ne pouvons pas trahir nos martyrs. Nous sommes fidèles à tout le sang versé », dit-elle dans un français parfait.
Paul est dentiste à Bruxelles, il est venu au Liban spécialement pour prendre part aux élections. « J'ai payé mon billet d'avion, alors que les Arméniens du Tachnag ont reçu des billets gratuits pour venir voter contre nous. Certains étaient à bord du même vol que moi », raconte-t-il.
« Je suis content des résultats, mais j'aurais voulu que le 14 Mars remporte plus de sièges au Parlement. Notre but est de réduire le bloc de Michel Aoun qui a vraiment cru que le 14 Mars était une majorité fictive. Il fallait le remettre à sa place, et maintenant, c'est fait », dit-il.
Paul, à l'instar de tous les électeurs orthodoxes d'Achrafieh qui ont voté pour le 14 Mars, parle du candidat de Michel Aoun au siège de la communauté dans le secteur, Issam Abou Jamra, et répète ironiquement des propos de Michel Aoun dans ce cadre : « Abou Jamra est le nerf grec-orthodoxe d'Achrafieh. » Il évoque aussi toutes les insultes que le général Aoun avait proférées contre Gebran Tuéni et sa fille Nayla.
Dans une vieille épicerie, des hommes font la conversation. « Grâce à Dieu, nous avons gagné, Achrafieh a gagné », indique Khalil, dédiant cette victoire au député Michel Pharaon. « Nous avons prouvé qu'Achrafieh est fidèle et qu'elle vote pour ses enfants, et non pour des étrangers parachutés sur une liste, comme c'est le cas du candidat grec-orthodoxe de la liste de Aoun, qui ne peut même pas être élu moukhtar chez nous, dit-il. Nous avons aussi prouvé que lorsque les vrais habitants d'Achrafieh votent, personne ne peut les casser », ajoute-t-il.
Dans son vote, Dany, architecte d'intérieur, a voulu diminuer le poids de Michel Aoun dans tout le Liban. « J'aurais voulu pourtant qu'il perde aussi au Metn et dans le Kesrouan », dit-il, qualifiant cependant les résultats des élections « d'excellents ». « Aoun, qui a remporté ses sièges grâce au vote chiite et arménien, sait désormais que nous ne sommes pas une "majorité fictive"», martèle-t-il.
Les discours de Aoun
Dany raconte : « À un moment, avant les élections, j'ai pensé voter pour Massoud Achkar, et puis le général Aoun est venu à Achrafieh. Dans son discours, il a qualifié les Forces libanaises de mercenaires, il a dit qu'il n'a pas vu les séquelles de la destruction syrienne à Achrafieh et il a osé défendre le PSNS, les assassins de Bachir Gemayel, chez nous, à quelques centaines de mètres de l'endroit où il avait été assassiné. J'ai donc très vite changé d'avis. Je ne voterai jamais pour quelqu'un qui figure sur la liste de Michel Aoun, même si, à un moment, il avait défendu Achrafieh. »
Ces phrases, rappelant divers discours de Michel Aoun, sont répétées par la plupart des personnes interrogées hier. Parmi elles, Élie, qui ajoute : « Il faut aussi que le général Aoun sache qu'Achrafieh ne votera jamais pour celui qui l'a obligée à boire de l'eau de pluie en 1990 (lors de sa guerre contre les Forces libanaises). »
« Vous vous rendez compte, après les élections, Michel Aoun voulait libérer Achrafieh, je n'ai jamais compris de quoi. Maintenant, heureusement, il a perdu », dit-il.
« Nous avons voté contre les armes du Hezbollah et nous avons gagné », ajoute-t-il, soulignant : « Je suis le fils d'Achrafieh et je suis aussi content pour Zahlé. C'est une preuve que les chrétiens sont fidèles à leur résistance ».
Syriaques et assyriens
La fidélité à cette résistance est visible notamment dans deux quartiers populaires d'Achrafieh : Hay el-Siriane (le quartier des Syriaques) et Hay el-Achouriyé (le quartier des Assyriens), situés à proximité de l'hôpital de l'Hôtel-Dieu. Ici sur chaque immeuble, à chaque balcon, on voit des portraits de Bachir Gemayel et de son fils Nadim, de Nayla Gebran Tuéni ainsi que des drapeaux des FL, des Kataëb et du Liban.
Ici, les habitants se parlent toujours entre eux en araméen ou en assyrien. Et ici, on s'est battu sur les barricades depuis 1976. Syriaques et assyriens font partie des plus anciennes communautés chrétiennes d'Orient. Elles sont arrivées au Liban, à l'instar des chaldéens et des Arméniens, à partir des années vingt, fuyant les persécutions. Elles sont notamment originaires de Turquie et d'Irak.
À Hay el-Siriane, des enfants jouent au ballon en clamant « Allah, Ouwète, Hakim w'bass. » Un peu plus loin, des hommes sont assis à la terrasse d'un vieux club. « Nous sommes 3 000 syriaques sur les listes électorales d'Achrafieh. Nous ne sommes pas tous présents au Liban, mais nous avons voté comme un seul homme pour la liste du 14 Mars. Nous sommes prêts à verser notre sang pour Nayla Tuéni », indique Georges, qui dénonce les campagnes de Michel Aoun contre « une jeune fille qui a perdu son père », mettant l'accent sur le bon déroulement du scrutin.
« Nous avons voté pour l'État, pour le désarmement des milices, pour le 14 Mars, souligne Ibrahim. Voulez-vous que j'aie un autre choix, voulez-vous par exemple que je vote pour Michel Aoun qui amènera les Iraniens chez nous ? » demande ce sexagénaire.
« Les scrutateurs du général Aoun étaient fous furieux quand ils ont su que nous étions en train de voter en masse pour la liste du 14 Mars. Aoun s'en est alors pris à notre évêque Georges Saliba », explique-t-il.
Jean roule dans le quartier assyrien dans une 4x4 où des sigles, des drapeaux et des posters des FL ont été collés. « Les assyriens ont donné plus de 500 votes à la liste du 14 Mars. Nous avons voulu mettre les points sur les "i". Maintenant que nous avons remporté les élections, nous pourrons parler du désarmement du Hezbollah », indique-t-il.
« Si le général Aoun avait gagné, nos femmes auraient été obligées de porter le tchador. Je pense qu'il a compris qu'il n'y a pas de la place pour des gens comme lui à Achrafieh », ajoute-t-il.
« J'étais jeune, je me suis battu sur les barricades. Mes camarades sont morts dans ce quartier », dit-il. Du doigt, Jean montre un coin de rue et conclut : « Là, en 1978, lors de la guerre des cent jours, ma petite sœur est morte par l'éclat d'un obus. Elle avait 7 ans. Elle s'appelait Sophie. Il m'est impossible de voter pour un allié de la Syrie et de l'Iran. »
Si Achrafieh voulait se souvenir, chacune de ses rues pourrait témoigner de la mort de l'un de ses enfants par une balle, un éclat d'obus ou une voiture piégée portant la signature syrienne. Dimanche dernier, Achrafieh a bien montré qu'elle n'a jamais oublié le sang qui a été versé pour payer le prix de sa liberté.
