"I Dream of You, O Lebanon"

The second anniversary of the assassination of our courageous Lebanese colleague Gebran Tueni was marked last week... by another assassination in Beirut, of army commander Francois al-Hajj and another deepening of Lebanon's dangerous political vaccuum. Yet, it was also observed with a moving tribute by the wonderful Lebanese singer Majida al-Roumi.

A friend pointed out to me that the speech is on YouTube, where as of this morning more than 100,000 people had viewed it. Majida's words are in Arabic, but I reckon even if you don't understand the language, you can hardly hear them with dry eyes or without feeling the passion Lebanese have for their country and their desperation to live in freedom and peace.

Here's another clip, of Majida's 1975 hit, "I Dream of You, O Lebanon," from the joyous concert of hope that Majida gave in Martyr's Square during the 2005 "Cedar Revolution."

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo