I stumbled upon a very interesting article online yesterday, written by Robert Fisk, that discussed mainly how the “Arab Awakening” did not start with Tunisia in December 2010 but with Lebanon in March 2005.

So I shared this article via my twitter page with my friend Ali, whom I knew believed in the idea the article discussed.

Soon enough, I started to receive tweets about how we, as Lebanese, have a false sense of grandeur, how we are “insecure buffoons”, how our pride blinds us, how we claim fake glory, how Lebanon inspires no one, etc…

I wouldn’t naturally reply to such things, but I did reply, only to get even worse tweets about how we, as Lebanese, are basically nothing.

Even some of the comments on some YouTube videos online basically say how ridiculous Lebanon is to run a show like Star Academy while the region is busy running revolutions.

Let me say this, because some Arabs have gotten a newly acquired taste to a still newborn form of freedom doesn’t give them the right to bash us left and right. Lebanon is the beacon of the Middle East, like it or not. If it weren’t for us, the whole region would still be in their dark ages. Why? because we have the region’s strongest media, again, like it or not, since freedom in our country is part of the way we live and not just a new commodity.

Moreover, the Lebanese 2005 Revolution often goes unnoticed because of the way things went down in the country in the last six years. However, do Tunisians really think they can preach about the conflict Lebanon has when they haven’t formed a government, when people are still rioting and when their revolution was met with theft and mass prison breakouts?

Can the Egyptians really preach when the only tangible thing their revolution has done so far is bring Mubarak down?

2 months after the Lebanese Revolution in 2005, the majority of the parliament had changed to one that does not follow the Syrian regime, which for a country that was controlled for over 30 years by that regime is a milestone.

The Lebanese Revolution stood against a massive foreign influence. What foreign influence did these new revolutions stand against?

Besides, Lebanon is a country that has over 18 sects, all of which have some sort of representation in the government. Have these people accusing us of sectarianism and whatnot tried to run a country with as much diversity? Or do they only know how to preach while their country has 1/18 the diversity Lebanon has?

Lebanon is not a perfect country – it’s far from it, actually. But credit is to be given where due. And Lebanon deserves some credit for the massive role this tiny country has in a region of geographical giants but mental midgets.