It was on the grapevine-covered terrace of my grandparents’ house on Mount Lebanon where I grew up that I first heard the question: “Are you for getting the grapes or haggling with the watchman?” It is an age-old Lebanese adage that urges the selection of the most effective means to pursue a desired end. Protesters in Lebanon forced their feckless government to resign last month following 13 days of peaceful demonstration. Their movement can gain now by testing the rest of its demands against this sage...
