After the Lebanese revolt started in October 2019, the first roadblocks were put up by the Christian Lebanese Forces of Samir Geagea (photo) and the Phalange of the Gemayel family. [1]

The top officials of these two organizations had learned from King Abdullah II of Jordan that US President Trump’s special adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, submitted to Lebanese Prime Minister (Sunni Muslim), Saad Hariri, the idea of granting Lebanese nationality not only to Palestinian refugees in Syria but also to Palestinians in the West Bank. Naturalization is the pivotal element of the "Deal of the Century." Announced by the White House over a year ago and repeatedly postponed, this plan would radically modify Lebanon’s demographics to the detriment of Christians and Shiites, stoking fears of the 1975-90 civil war.

Samir Geagea and officials of the Lebanese Forces were the first MPs to resign when the revolt broke out. They appealed to the entire political class to follow suit, in particular Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who then also resigned without, however, previously advising either his Christian allies of the Free Patriotic Movement (headed by President Michel Aoun) or his Shia Islamist allies of Hezbollah. [2]

Although US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently called for a return to calm in Lebanon, there are other US actors who are implicated in the ongoing unrest.

In a recent article written for the Brookings Institution in Doha, Jeffrey Feltman (former US ambassador to Beirut, then Assistant Secretary of State under Hillary Clinton, and finally UN Under Secretary-General) asserts that for an "American" (sic) the worst coalition that could occur would be between Hezbollah and the White House. [3] He deplored the suspension of US aid to the Lebanese army and hinted at a military coup in favor of General Joseph Aoun.

Agitators affiliated to the Doha branch of Canvas (trained by Gene Sharp to foment "color revolutions") were spotted in the midst of the Lebanese demonstrations. [4]

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[1] The Phalange or Kataeb were created in 1936 on the model of the phalanxes of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera of Spain. It is the only surviving fascist political party of the Second World War.

[2] After having claimed for years that Hezbollah had been behind the murder of his father, then Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Saad Hariri became an ally of Hezbollah following his kidnapping in Saudi Arabia.

[3] «With Lebanon making fragile progress, now is the wrong time to pull US assistance», Jeffrey Feltman, Brooking Institution, November “, 2019.

[4] “The Albert Einstein Institution: non-violence according to the CIA”, by Thierry Meyssan, 4 January 2005.