BEIRUT, 15 December 2005 — Hundreds of thousands of mourners packed the streets of Beirut yesterday in a sea of Lebanese flags to bid farewell to slain anti-Syria campaigner Gebran Tueni at a politically and emotionally charged funeral.
Waving flags and portraits of Tueni, 48, the mourners accompanied his remains from the Greek Orthodox hospital to the glass tower of his An-Nahar newspaper and then to the nearby St, George’s Cathedral in downtown Beirut.
The emotion peaked as Tueni was buried at Mar Mitr cemetery in the mostly Christian neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh, where his eldest daughter Nayla collapsed amid the sea of mourners and had to be assisted by the civil defense.
Earlier, the packed 19th century white-stone church rang with Greek Orthodox chants and echoed with the uncontrolled sobs of Tueni’s widow Siham, daughters Nayla and Michelle, family members, colleagues, politicians and supporters.
Only Tueni’s 79-year-old father Ghassan, a veteran diplomat and respected journalist, remained stoic, urging the mourners at the end of the funeral ceremony “to bury with Gebran any sentiment of revenge and your rancor.”
The silver-haired Ghassan Tueni recalled that 58 years earlier, in the same church he attended his father’s funeral. Since then he has lost his wife, a daughter and another son before Gebran was brutally murdered Monday.
“My father died in 1947 of a heart attack as he was delivering a speech in favor of the Palestinian cause. I raised my son according to his teachings and now I ask Gebran’s generation to follow that path, strive for Arab and Lebanese unity,” he said to a thunder of applause.
With a broken voice and swallowing her tears, Tueni’s elder daughter Nayla, 22, read from a prepared text. Calling herself “the daughter of freedom,” she urged the congregation to recite with her a pledge made by her father earlier this year, as he campaigned to drive Syrian troops out of Lebanon.
“I pledge to God, Muslims and Christians, to stand united until eternity, in defense of our great Lebanon,” the mourners chanted in unison.
The day began as people united under a mass of white, red and green Lebanese flags, with their characteristic cedar tree in the center. Many came in buses from distant towns in the north and south of the country, gathering outside the An-Nahar building to bid Tueni farewell.
“Gebran lives in us,” they chanted and broke into wild applause under a huge portrait of the mustachioed and charismatic young journalist who had been elected to parliament in June.
Several people tossed white roses and rice at Tueni’s flag-draped coffin, and at those of his bodyguard Andre Mrad and driver Nicholas Flouti who were killed with him in a massive car bombing outside Beirut.
Many people wept, in a show of emotion not seen in Lebanon since the funeral on Feb. 16 of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Who’s next Bashar?” was the message to Syrian President Bashar Assad daubed on many banners held up by the mourners, many of whom blame Syria for the killing. “Our country is ours to keep. No one will take it from us,” they shouted.
Hundreds of Lebanese Army commandos and policemen were deployed around Beirut. The mourners also vented their wrath at pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, who has repeatedly resisted calls for his resignation since Hariri was murdered in a massive beachfront Beirut car bombing also blamed on Syria.
“Lahoud, shame on you. Resign,” they chanted. “Our president is under the Syrian boot” and “Syria Out.” Others held banners affirming: “The Lebanese media is free, sovereign and independent. The Syrian media is in the service of its masters.” Tueni has been hailed as the latest “martyr” of Lebanon’s regained independence and a champion of freedom.
He was instrumental in campaigning for the withdrawal of Syrian troops, who left the country in April in the face of intense international pressure following Hariri’s killing, ending a presence of nearly three decades.
Before yesterday’s funeral the 128-member assembly gathered in a final homage to Tueni, with many taking to the podium and pledging to increase their resolve to “fight for independence and ... a comprehensive and serious dialogue for national unity.”
Tueni’s uncle, Marwan Hamade, who was wounded in a bomb attack in October 2004, attacked Syria over a string of political assassinations during the past three decades in Lebanon, saying the “dictatorial regime must be stopped.”
