What’s Happening In Lebanon?

I don’t know; I’m not there. Most of us have the impression that things are going quite well, but as soon as the world stops paying attention, the forces of evil–Syria, Hizbollah, et al.–will undoubtedly reassert themselves.
Jim Hake, founder (I think) of Spirit of America, is in Beirut. He writes from there:

I’m in Beirut, Lebanon to kick off a project to support the pro-democracy demonstrators at the “tent city” in Martyrs’ Square. Their goals are independence (i.e., Syria out of Lebanon) and free and fair elections. The tent city demonstrators are the center of gravity for Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement. They are leading the charge. They put together the massive demonstrations 3 weeks ago. As they go, so goes Lebanon’s independence. And so goes a great opportunity for democratic transformation of the Middle East and Arab world.
They need our help to sustain their struggle. Our project is raising support for them (food, shelter, water, etc.) While I’m here we’re looking into other things to help (e.g., Internet access at tent city)
People can go here to help . 100% of all donations go directly to the things that will help the pro-democracy demonstrators.
Syria is publicly acting like it is playing nice and withdrawing. Behind the scenes they are destabilizing the country, delaying the elections and intimidating the opposition. The good guys in Lebanon need our support.

Spirit of America has a terrific track record, and we heartily endorse this project. A final word from Claudia Rosett, who has as much credibility as any journalist in America:

People at the rally were saying, ‘Please ask the Americans not to forget us. We want democracy. We need help.’ They are asking over and over, keep the spotlight on this place.

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UPDATE: Spirit of America’s blog is here.

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