In Praise of the Aounists

Many followers of Michel Aoun are in soul-searching mode. The biggest mistake the Lebanese opposition can make is to isolate them. In fact, we have a lot to learn from them.

The members of the Free Patriotic Movement, also known as Aounists, are by all standards an admirable bunch: When the Syrians were busy telling the rest of the Lebanese what to do, they were brave enough to say “no”. Many of them have been imprisoned, humiliated and tortured. They know very well what it means for a group of armed men to break into your house at night and drag you in your pajamas for interrogation. Many of the Aounists have flunked their studies because they were put in prisons, carefully timed to coincide with their midterms and finals.

Unlike in other Lebanese parties, it is hard to find someone who is Aounist simply because someone told him/her to be one. In other words, to be a Aounist, you have to be a person of conviction, someone who really believes in activism to make a difference.
This is why the Aounists have no “hired” crowds, clappers, chanters and supporters. You either have a cause or you don’t.

The Aounists are also known for being secular. A lot of Lebanese talk about how the Aounists don’t differentiate between Christians and Moslems (although many say it’s because their anti-Syrian cause is a truly unifying one).

With all the above qualities mentioned, why are the Aounists becoming the Bête noire of Lebanese politics today? Why is everyone, from the venerable Annahar (who until just a few weeks ago was very supportive) to people like Nassib Lahhoud, Bassem al Sabee and Samir Franjieh attacking them?

It’s because their leader has deceived them. They are too good for him, and they deserve better than someone who speaks in the language of war and allies with people who are going to be convicted eventually in the killing of Hariri.

This post is not concerned with the hard-core Aounists who would vote for basshar Al Assad if Aoun told them to. This goes to the people who are thinking: I didn’t get beaten up, thrown into jails, demonstrate day and night, so that I end up voting for michel el Murr, talal Arselan or Sleimen Franjiyeh. I was doing all of this for a united and free Lebanon, not for a few seats in parliament.

You Aounists embody the spirit of March 14: young, secular, disciplined, patriotic, united and productive. You are “The Youth” everyone is talking about. We have a lot to learn from you, but please, please, don’t be just a heard of sheep to a man who seems to have lost his sanity.

To Paraphrase Samir Atallah from Today’s Annahar: (sorry for my bad translation)
“In Beirut, the Tayyar’s youth were transformed: from men who used to resist powerful and dark intelligence forces, to boys blowing their car horns and screaming emptily[...] This never happened when the tayyar was prosecuted. Now that it has achieved its freedom, it should take other people’s freedom in account.”