A Brief History of People Power
The Cedar Revolution, Lebanon, 2005
On Feb. 14, 2005, bombs ripped through the motorcade of the influential, two-time Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The assassination convulsed Lebanon, a nation divided by a mosaic of ethnic, religious and political factions, into crisis. In the immediate aftermath, tens of thousands of protesters who saw a Syrian hand in the attacks massed in Beirut against the pro-Syrian President, Emile Lahoud, as well as against the continued presence of Syrian troops on Lebanese soil. The upheaval was branded the "Cedar Revolution" by U.S. officials in the Bush Administration who were eager to cash in on the wave of seemingly pro-Western, pro-democracy uprisings around the world. While the events of the Cedar Revolution compelled Syrian troops to leave Lebanon and eventually ushered Hariri's son into power, they did little to undermine the strength and influence of those likely behind Hariri's assassination — namely the radical Shi'ite group Hizballah, which still commands significant popular support. (In early 2011 it collapsed the government in Beirut over the imminent indictment of some Hizballah members in connection with Hariri's murder.) In this photo, demonstrators hold portraits of Hariri (in coat and tie) and relatives who they say disappeared in Syrian jails.