On March 14, 2005, shortly after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, the Lebanese rose in a cross-sectarian and cross-political revolutionary movement to expel the Syrian occupation from Lebanon. Today, 19 years after the withdrawal of the occupation, Lebanese politicians commemorate the “Cedar Revolution” as part of its lasting impact on the nation’s collective memory and the ongoing commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.
Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea considers March 14, the anniversary of the Cedar Revolution, as “not just a day but a journey and a path.”
مش بس نهار. مسيرة ومسار.
– ١٤ آذار، ذكرى #ثورة_الأرز pic.twitter.com/7NmITcwjxr
— Samir Geagea (@DrSamirGeagea) March 14, 2024
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri remembers it as a “people’s revolution and a tale of independence which remains in our conscience and awareness.”
١٤ آذار… ثورة شعب وحكاية استقلال. باقية في ضميرنا ووعينا. #لن_ننسى
— Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) March 14, 2024
For his part, Kataeb party leader Samy Gemayel thinks of March 14 as “a very dear memory to my heart.” “It is the culmination of a long struggle undertaken by several generations in the liberation journey of Lebanon and freeing the Lebanese from internal dominance and foreign occupations,” he said on his X account, saluting the martyrs of the second independence, Pierre, Antoine and their comrades.
يوم #١٤_آذار هو ذكرى عزيزة جدًا على قلبي، تمثّل بالنسبة اليّ تتويجًا لنضال طويل تعاقبت عليه أجيال عدة في مسيرة تحرير لبنان وتحرر اللبنانيين من الهيمنة الداخلية والاحتلالات الخارجية.
تحية لكل رفيقاتي ورفاقي في #المقاومة_الطلابية بوجه الاحتلال السوري والنظام الأمني – القضائي الذي… pic.twitter.com/YRHUEWkSf3— Samy Gemayel (@samygemayel) March 14, 2024
Lebanese Forces MP Ghassan Hasbani highlighted the period between February 14 and March 14, “We witnessed events that changed the course of the nation towards sovereignty,” he said on his X (formerly Twitter) account, noting that “anyone leading a campaign pushing for compromises and the election of any president instead of a vacuum must remember that this logic has led us to hell.”
بين ١٤ شباط و #١٤_آذار شهدنا أحداث حوّلت مسار الوطن نحو السيادة.
من يقود حملة يدفع فيها نحو التسويات وانتخاب اي رئيس كان بدل الفراغ يجب ان يذكر ان هذا المنطق أوصلنا إلى جهنم.#غسان_حاصباني#الجمهورية_القوية #القوات_اللبنانية #لبنان pic.twitter.com/0tQtq3GZkx— Ghassan Hasbani (@GhassanHasbani) March 14, 2024
Head of the National Council for Lifting Iran’s Occupation of Lebanon and former MP Fares Souaid saluted Gebran’s oath (former MP and Journalist CEO of Annahar daily Newspaper, who was assassinated on 2005) and the martyrs of the Independence, promising that “their blood is not lost, and that Lebanon is stronger than all and Lebanese people deserve to live.”
اليوم
اكدّ الشعب اللبناني انه يستحق الحياة
تحيّة إلى قسم جبران
تحيّة إلى شهداء انتفاضة الاستقلال الذين سقطوا على طريق لبنان
دماؤكم امانة
لبنان اقوى من الجميع pic.twitter.com/z4A01XH3OR— Fares Souaid (@FaresSouaid) March 14, 2024
MP Marwan Hamadeh, a member of the Democratic Gathering Bloc, considers that March 14 was a genuine response to the assassination of a figure who was symbolic at the time. “The Lebanese people, who reacted on March 14, can rise against the assassination of today’s Lebanon in its institutions, ideology, spirit, mission and demography,” he said in a televised appearance.
For his part, MP Ashraf Rifi affirmed the continuous struggle to reclaim the state.
في ذكرى ١٤ آذار إنتفاضة الإستقلال، نؤكد الإستمرار بالنضال لاسترداد الدولة من براثن الوصاية، فلبنان الوطن أقوى من مشاريع السلاح والإغتيال وسيتحرر ولو طال الزمن.
التحية لشهداء إنتفاضة الإستقلال، وللبنانيين الذين ما زالوا يقدّمون أغلى التضحيات من أجل لبنان. pic.twitter.com/iiR9DWQoMf— General Ashraf Rifi (@Ashraf_Rifi) March 13, 2024
