❊ Hezbollah’s Weapons Are Now March 14’s Central Political Message

Judging by the recent public statements by March 14’s leaders and officials, there seems to be a strong trend to bring back Hezbollah’s weapons as the party’s central message, with a decided edge in tone and a clear lack of the equivocation that characterized the previous period.

Why now? For two reasons:

1- Politically, this is a stronger message than the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which for various unfortunate reasons became a source of unease to many Lebanese (a testimony to the success of Hezbollah’s relentless campaign to sow doubts in people’s minds). The weapons message is especially effective with Christians sitting on the fence who don’t care much for the primacy of the STL.

2- Mr. Hariri and his allies have actually felt the sting of Hezbollah’s weapons. It is now common knowledge that Walid Jumblat was intimidated into supporting Hezbollah, effectively pushing out the Majority from the leadership of the executive branch and driving them into the opposition.

This is why in the upcoming March 14 (13?) demonstration, I’m expecting a strong focus on Hezbollah’s weapons in the speeches. There is even talk that Marwan Hmadeh — Jumblat’s ex ally — will be making one. That would be very interesting to watch..

Update: I just found out that Elias over at Qifa Nabki reached a similar conclusion in a post dated yesterday..