When Camels Fly - Thomas Friedman

Friedman writes,

There is still, throughout the Arab world, a very weak notion of statehood and citizenship. And there are still very few civil society institutions outside the mosque, and little historical experience with a free press, free markets or real parliamentary democracy to build upon when the walls fall.

Overcoming that challenge was what Rafik Hariri, an imperfect but progressive soul, stood for. And that is why so many people, particularly young Arabs, are so upset by his murder. He represented a break from the wasteland that has been Arab politics for the last 50 years, and if you want to know how much many Arabs want a break read just one editorial - the essay last Friday in Lebanon's leading newspaper, An Nahar, by Samir Kassir. Tell me when you've read something like this in an Arab newspaper under Syrian occupation:

Throughout history, Beirut's streets have been reserved for the "defense of pan-Arab causes," wrote Mr. Kassir. But with the funeral for Rafik Hariri, Arab nationalism has taken on a new aim, he declared: "Today, the nationalist cause has shrunk into the single aim of getting rid of the regimes of terrorism and coups, and regaining the peoples' freedom as a prelude to a new Arab renaissance."