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An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle

Significantly, Young avoids sanitizing Lebanon's political system, which he admits needs reform. But in the throes of anti-Syrian demonstrations launched by Lebanese convinced - as Young is - that Syria ordered Hariri's assassination, hope took hold among some that Lebanon could suddenly transcend sectarianism. This, the author maintains, was bound to prove illusory. Indeed, writing about Sunnis, Druze and Christians, Young notes that "each community, for reasons of its own - reasons based principally on their sectarian reading of Lebanese politics and society - shared a desire to end Syrian hegemony.

Another major theme here is "Beirut's … perennial inability to come to grips with truth and guilt," particularly concerning political crimes. The United Nations' subsequent establishment of the currently foundering Special Tribunal for Lebanon is a project that Syria, forced out of the country in the wake of the assassination, and Shiite militant Hezbollah, fearful of its future in an independent Lebanon, have striven assiduously to undermine. Though Young doesn't deny that Hezbollah successfully fought an Israeli invasion and provided social services for previously marginalized Shiites, he recognizes the danger posed by the self-proclaimed "Party of God," whose vision of a state based on permanent "resistance" is antithetical to cosmopolitan and quasi-liberal Lebanon.

Hezbollah's alliance with Michel Aoun's largely Christian Free Patriotic Movement has lent a measure of verisimilitude to its recent claim to be part of the country's compromise-based political system, but Young reveals the specious nature of the enterprise by demonstrating that Hezbollah remains more beholden than ever to Iran and Syria. Crucially, he also makes clear that the problem lies not so much with Hezbollah's sectarian character as with its leader Hassan Nasrallah's disdain for a sectarian political system that guarantees pluralism. It is a strange and disturbing feature of Lebanese political culture that the principle of Occam's Razor functions in reverse, so that the more convoluted and conspiracy-laden a theory, the more plausible it becomes.

That a seasoned journalist such as Young eschews even the least-farfetched scenarios in his analysis is unsurprising. But he could have easily explored the much-discussed possibility that in May, , an overzealous U.

There is little else to complain about in Young's book, save perhaps for a surfeit of humility, a quality the author otherwise wisely admonishes the more self-aggrandizing Lebanese politicians - such as Nasrallah and Aoun - to cultivate. For while Young judiciously warns readers to remain chary of presumptuous leaders wanting to scrap Lebanon's political system in favour of whatever ideology they're peddling, it is somewhat frustrating that he refrains from proffering even potential solutions to his country's myriad problems.

Nevertheless, his conclusion regarding this pressing issue bears emphasizing: This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way.

The Ghosts of Martyrs Square

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Read our community guidelines here. African and Mideast Business. ETFs Up and Down. Letters to the Editor. The Real Estate Market. Quick links Horoscopes Puzzles Customer service My account. Article text size A. Open this photo in gallery: Reviewed by Rayyan Al-Shawaf. Do you want to learn about Suleiman the Magnificent? But don't have the time or patience for a page book? You don't want to miss this! The Way To Lasting Success: What if you are able to master your inner state on consistent basis? Accelerate your thinking abilities through mental models used by super-achievers.

Conquer Your Fear of Failure: Rewire your belief system. Befriend your fear of failure and catapult it into fuel for success. Jump-start action and reclaim your dream. About the Author Michael Young was opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut,and is today a senior editor at the Carnegie Center in Beirut, as wellas editor of its blog Diwan. Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers.

Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. While I typically enjoy Michael Young's writing this was a little too philosophical for my taste. The book provided for a good historical recap of the last 5 years but it came with a side of bias and preconceptions. In my opinion I could have had less opinion and the book would have been shorter and more enjoyable. This felt like a long essay that no one bothered to edit. Though I will give Mr. Young credit for being open with his opinions and blame while still living in Beirut and seeing many of his peers assassinated.

That has to count for a lot. Overall good book if you can look past the prose. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. If your ancestry is Lebanese like mine, you will find this book extremely provocative and interesting. My grandparents came to the US from Lebanon over years ago. Although I have never been to Lebanon I have tried to go several times, unfortunately stopped by wars I am very proud and have been immersed in the Lebanese heritage, food and culture.

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The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle [Michael Young] on donnsboatshop.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Find out more about The Ghosts of Martyrs Square by Michael Young at Simon & Schuster. Read book An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle.

One person found this helpful. I admit some may find it more about Lebanon than they really want to know, but I lived there, very happily, some years ago and returned for a visit in I maintain a strong affection for the country and its people, mourn for their suffering. It is probably still Phoenician, pragmatic, and determined to outlast its neighbors. I have read Michael Young for years on the Daily Star where he has been an editorial writer. He has the unique perspective on Lebanon of being half American and half Lebanese and for having lived in the country during the Civil War years, the years of occupation and now the post Cedar Revolution period that has continued since March 14, Most people see Lebanon, if at all, as a blip on a radar screen.

Young knows the history and knows the players and this gives him excellent insight into where the country is going since many of the civil war players are now players in this chapter of the country's life. The sectarianism, which many see as a hinderance to the eventual evolution of Lebanon into modernity, Young sees as a possible path toward that future. Lebanon is the barometer of the entire region. Change Lebanon and change the region.

Both sides know this, Iran and the US. Iran has been in the game much longer than has the US. Young touches on this and on the efforts of the US to catch up and to bring Lebanon more toward its natural Western orientation.

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For years known as the Western window into the East. Young tells us of a future Lebanon as an Eastern Window into the West. A place where the East ever fearful of the ability of the West to swallow them whole, can experience the West and find ways to accommodate their Eastern Ways to the Western culture. This is Lebanon's mission and Young writes it so well. A Chance for Democracy Squandered. The front page picture showed Lebanese columnist Samir Kassir in front of Beirut's Martyrs' Statue, the site of the Independence Uprising that forced an end to 30 years of Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

On June 2, Kassir was assassinated and became the second victim, after former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri whose murder, in February, proved to be the spark that started an uprising.

An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle

Here is the author on coming of age in s Beirut: How to write a great review Do Say what you liked best and least Describe the author's style Explain the rating you gave Don't Use rude and profane language Include any personal information Mention spoilers or the book's price Recap the plot. I maintain a strong affection for the country and its people, mourn for their suffering. Michael Young, who was taken to Lebanon at age seven by his Lebanese mother after the death of his American father and who has worked most of his career as a journalist there for American publications, brings to life a country in the crossfire of invasions, war, domestic division, incessant sectarian scheming, and often living in fear of its neighbors. On June 2, Kassir was assassinated and became the second victim, after former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri whose murder, in February, proved to be the spark that started an uprising. Lebanon's diversity was its weakness too.

Young is the opinion page editor at Beirut's The Daily Star. He was born in the United States to an American father and a Lebanese mother. The father prematurely died when Young was seven, and the mother took the boy back to Lebanon where Michael was raised.

In The Ghosts of Martyrs Square, Young does not follow any particular chronological order, which adds to the book's allure. He opens with a story about his friendship with Kassir, an outspoken pro-democracy intellectual whose face later became the uprising's poster. Young then sums up his understanding of Lebanon, until recently the only Arab country with an elected parliament and government. Young reasons - and rightly so - that unlike other Arab countries where one group muscled its way to power, Lebanon's diverse population of 18 ethno-religious groups resulted in a zero-sum game.

Lebanon's diversity was its weakness too. Because no group could dominate, the system lingered in paralysis. And while Lebanon's diversity allowed the growth of liberal thought, it also made the country an easy prey for its only neighbor Syria. They co-opted the older leaders, promoted new ones entirely dependent on Damascus In , Syrian autocrat Hafez Assad died and his son Bashar succeeded him. Unlike his cunning father, who ruled Lebanon through his balancing game, Bashar Assad imposed his will through coercion, which he practiced both directly and through Lebanese army officers loyal to him.

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The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle by Michael Young.

It was only a matter of time before the Lebanese establishment, created by the end of the civil war in , revolted in the face of Assad and his Lebanese cronies. In summer , Assad twisted arms to force the extension of the term of his loyalist Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, much to the explicit opposition of veteran politician Walid Jumblatt and implicit resistance of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.