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Gebran Tueni, R.I.P.

(Wall Street Journal) Claudia Rosett - At a rally of the terrorist group Hizballah in Lebanon this past March, among the chants of "Death to America" and the banners lauding Syria, some of the demonstrators brandished posters that threatened, in Arabic: "We are going to sweep Gebran Tueni from Lebanon." A car-bombing Monday in Beirut murdered Tueni, 48, who was Lebanon's leading newspaperman in the struggle for a free and democratic society. Tueni's assassination comes not only as a loss to the Lebanese, but a hideous affront to the free world. Tueni himself spent years telling us what the problem was, and the direction he pointed was not only Syria, but Iran. Tueni described Hizballah as "an imported product from Iran. It has nothing to do with Lebanese identity." He explained that Hizballah is "a direct threat, acting in Lebanon like a state within a state," with "weapons everywhere." Hizballah's strategy, he said, "is to transform us into an Islamic republic." This March I asked him if his own life was in danger. He said he expected a wave of Syrian-backed "assassinations, booby-trapped cars," but did not think that could stop Lebanon's democratic movement. "They can kill one, two, three of us" he said, but then they are "finished." He paused and smiled, "Better," he said, if they stop at "one."
2005-12-14 00:00:00
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