He was speaking May 24 outside the Lebanese-American Heritage Club here, with Lebanese music blasting over loudspeakers as 2,000 people celebrated with traditional dance and food, many wearing T-shirts with the Lebanese flag and words in Arabic declaring, "This is the wedding of the independent Lebanon."

The celebration began the night before as news spread of the collapse of the Israeli occupation. Thousands of people, mainly Lebanese, but joined by neighbors, Arab and non-Arab alike, poured into the streets, waving Lebanese flags and banners of Hezbollah, the main Lebanese organization that fought the Israeli army and SLA forces. Many decorated their cars with flags and signs and drove around with horns blaring.

Thousands gathered again May 25 at the Bint Jbail Cultural Center, which is named for a town in southern Lebanon.

This suburban Detroit city is the center of the Lebanese population, estimated at 60,000 in the metropolitan area. Thousands of refugees from Israeli aggression have immigrated here since 1978.

Celebrations and other events are planned for the coming days and weeks in response to the new situation in Lebanon. Some businesspeople and religious figures in the area have launched fund-raising for the reconstruction of southern Lebanon, much of which has been destroyed under the Israeli occupation, and the resettlement of refugees still in Lebanon.

The mood of many on the street was captured by an auto assembly worker and United Auto Workers member, Ali, who asked that his last name not be used because he had missed work to take part in the events. "I danced so much last night that I could barely move this morning, but I had to come back because my brothers and sisters in Lebanon proved that anyone, even Israel, can be beaten. And that is worth celebrating."  
 
 
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