MP Mohammad Raad affirmed on Sunday that such actions are criminal since they may lead to civil strife, and the responsibility is borne by the individuals who participate, and the leaders of the groups that call for such gatherings.

Hezbollah's newfound aversion to such freedoms would've been truly startling had Raad been referring to his own party's actions on Black Tuesday, which by all measures transcended legal demonstrations, or had he been addressing the ongoing tent-city carnival near the Grand Serail, where paid Hezbollah mercenaries continue to occupy public land and block private businesses.

Instead, he was referring to the upcoming second anniversary of the assassination of ex-prime minister Rafik Harriri on February 14th, and the expected gathering by the faithful near his grave on that day.

Alas, Raad wasn't having an awakening of the conscience. He was merely being a hypocrite: "do as I say, not as I do." Or, even more ominously: he was promising violence for any peaceful gathering near Harrir's grave.

The events are still fresh in our memories to interpret sincerity in his call. It was only a few days ago that the opposition militias of Hezbollah, Aoun, and other minor players unsuccessfully hid behind "democracy" in their futile coup d'etat attempt. In scenes reminiscent of the dark days of the civil war, they blocked roads with burning tires and truck loads of dirt and rock. They unleashed their thugs to dump oil, nails on public roads and intimidate ordinary citizens from reaching their workplaces. They closed airport roads and created a virtual siege on Beirut. They dismembered Lebanon's major thorough fares ... replicating the strategy used by Israel during the summer war.

Ordinary citizens refused to allow these militias to intimidate them and deprive them of their freedoms. They forced the opening of these roads and we nearly fell into the abyss again.

Back then, Hezbollah and Aoun saw nothing wrong with their terror. Even worse, using a bizarre and twisted logic, they decried the attempts to liberate the roads as an assault on their rights to hijack the country. Of course, everyone saw right through this warped understanding of democracy, and it became clear to civilized people everywhere that Hezbollah and Aoun are bankrupt.

With these events so near and fresh, you'd think the instigators would be reticent to ask of others what they themselves have exceeded by orders of magnitude.

I truly want to find the sincerity in Raad's statement, and maybe even accept his pronouncement as an honest attempt to prevent hostilities. But I can't ... the events are just too fresh.

Perhaps if Mr. Raad's statement had been something like this, he may have had a chance at legitimacy:

"We in the opposition have learned a valuable lesson from the Black Tuesday events. We have learned that our incessant fanning of the flames of sectarianism among our Shiaa supporters, such as telling them, among other things, the government wants to "ship" them outside Lebanon, have created an uncontrollable monster. We have learned that in this tinder-box, any situation that causes friction between the opposing parties is dangerous and can flare up into full blown armed conflict. We have learned that closing roads, holding illegal sit-ins, and threatening our fellow citizens is counterproductive and will cause civil war. We, Hezbollah, have made a mistake, and ask the all parties to learn from our mistake. As a gesture of our good-will, we are ending the sit-in near the Grand Serail to permit the peaceful observance of Rafik Harriri's commemoration on February 14."

Of course, I'm not holding my breath.