The Lebanese See The World With Different Lenses

Joseph El-Khoury explains that even in events like those of Tunisia, the Lebanese look at the world in different ways:

Those excitable elements within the March 14th forces that still believe in a democratic offensive led by the US department of State […] twinned it with their Cedar revolution. In their enthusiasm they omitted to mention the admiration that French and American administrations held for the Ben Ali regime […] . Their counterparts in the pro-Resistance camp saw it as an extension of their anti-imperialist struggle against all things foreign while happily gathering support from other undemocratic Middle Eastern regimes in Iran, Syria and Qatar

I think he underestimates the large swaths of “grey opinions” that the Lebanese have. There are many people in Lebanon who are doubtful of their political leaders’ choices. The problem is that whenever a crisis takes hold, people are whipped in line as politicians tell them to set their doubts aside because they are facing “existential” threats..