The names of streets and memorials of the ousted Assad regime in Lebanon represent a heavy legacy that reflects an era of political dominance. Some streets, squares and memorials immortalized the names of figures such as Hafez al-Assad and his sons Basil and Bashar al-Assad.
After the fall of the ousted regime, some Lebanese municipalities began removing and changing names and symbols that recall the symbols of Syrian guardianship after the overthrow of the Assad regime, and getting rid of its remnants, especially after the revelation of the crimes that affected the Syrian people and extended to the Lebanese during his guardianship.
According to Lebanese media, these changes were represented in changing the names of main roads, streets and squares that bore the names of symbols of the former Syrian regime, especially the name of the late President Hafez al-Assad.
This step came in parallel with calls to remove any remnants that symbolize Syrian dominance over Lebanon, including landmarks, branches of Syrian political parties, and treaties and mechanisms that established this patronage, accompanied by calls to prosecute former officials in the Assad regime on charges of assassinating Lebanese officials, including "Rafik Hariri", "George Hawi" and "Bashir Gemayel".
This campaign began last month with changing the name of the road linking the town of Mudayrij-Hammana to the town of Bzebdine in Upper Metn (Mount Lebanon), and this applies to every landmark that symbolizes the Syrian era.
In this context, Nawal Berro, a columnist for the Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan, known for its opposition to the Assad regime, called on the Lebanese government to “remove all branches of the Syrian regime that still remain” in the country, including branches of the Syrian Baath Party, “so that we can say that the era of Syrian occupation, in all its forms, has ended.”
While there is growing momentum to remove names and symbols associated with the Syrian regime, legal procedures must be followed for these changes to come into effect, as Mount Lebanon Governor Judge Mohammad Makkawi pointed out in press statements.
He added that “any change in the names of streets and roads must come at the initiative of the municipalities within whose geographical scope these roads fall, and after approval, it is signed and referred to the Ministry of Interior, which ratifies this decision so that it becomes effective.”
The name change is expected to apply to all sites and streets that bear the names of figures associated with the Syrian regime; in an initiative to sever ties with the legacy of Syrian guardianship. However, removing the name “Hafez al-Assad Avenue” from the highway that connects Beirut International Airport to the center of the capital and replacing it with another name is rejected by the municipalities of the southern suburb, especially the towns of Ghobeiry and Burj al-Barajneh; because these municipalities are subject to the influence of “Hezbollah”, and they take into account the close alliance between the “party” and the defunct Syrian regime.
Perhaps the objection to the Syrian guardianship and calls to erase all its legacy is not a new phenomenon, but rather began in conjunction with the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon on April 26, 2005, and following the assassination of Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005, many Lebanese blamed Syria for his death. In response, demonstrators toppled and vandalized a statue of Hafez al-Assad in the southern town of Qana.
A bust of Basil al-Assad, brother of the ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was also destroyed in the town of al-Marj in the central Bekaa, and another statue of him was destroyed in the square of the city of Halba in Akkar, northern Lebanon. Then the Lebanese army proceeded to dismantle two bronze statues of Bashar al-Assad and his late father Hafez al-Assad in the city of Halba before they were destroyed.
Dropping the Past
A call was made on social media in the name of the Lebanese people last December following the fall of the ousted regime calling for the removal of the statue of Hafez al-Assad near the Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut and the statue of Bashar al-Assad in Chtaura.
The call stated: "Out of respect for the will of the Syrian people and all those missing in the dungeons of the ousted regime's prisons and in memory of the Lebanese martyrs who fell as victims of the injustice of the tyrannical Assad family, and to consolidate Lebanon's sovereignty, we demand that the Lebanese authorities remove the memorial to Hafez al-Assad near the Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut and the statue of Bashar al-Assad in Chtaura."
Fares al-Rifai - Zaman al-Wasl
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