Civil campaigners will be staging a peaceful demonstration today against the presence of weapons in Tripoli. But this is just one part of the story.

Posters from the “Tripoli Arms free” Facebook page

If I were in Lebanon I would surely join the demonstration for a Tripoli free of arms. If you are in Lebanon, you too should try to join. But there’s an important point that needs to be made: This is very much a middle-class and elite backlash against what they claim is being done by “outsiders” to their city. Unfortunately things are a bit more complicated than that. Continue reading →