Last Wednesday's pageantry in Beirut celebrating the return of Samir Kuntar marked a black day for Lebanon. It is hardly the first time an Arab terror outfit has held a street party for murderers - sweets were handed out in plenty of Arab capitals on 9/11. Still, it was surprising to see the participation of many members of Lebanon's pro-democracy March 14 movement, like Prime Minister Fouad Siniora who has become a significant US ally over the last three years. Now, Lebanon's friends in the international community, especially in Washington, who backed March 14's struggle and looked to it as a model alternative to the bin Laden version of the Middle East, must re-evaluate their continued support.

Still, not all Lebanese took part in the festival for a child-murderer.

"The celebrations caught me by surprise," says Jana, a 26-year-old Shia woman raised in the Hezbollah cantons of south Beirut. "I don't understand how we are celebrating the achievements of such a person. It is Lebanese schizophrenia. Anyone who attacks us we call a criminal, but when one of ours does the same, we call that person a hero. We don't apply the same standards to ourselves as we do to the Israelis."

Much of Lebanon was ashamed to see fellow countrymen cheering the return of Kuntar, and few observed the national "holiday." In the largely Christian eastern sector of Beirut, Ashrafiyeh, stores stayed open. It was the same in Sunni areas of West Beirut, where merchants were openly disdainful of the Sunni Prime Minister's decision to honor the resistance.

"I assure you there are even lots of Shia who are depressed about the celebrations," says Jana. "They're certainly not in the majority, but you won't hear them at all because they would be identified as traitors. What kind of support is there for them if even the government is welcoming the prisoners?"

Wadih, a 40-year-old Christian businessman agrees. "Yes, it's shameful. But if Israel is satisfied with it, then at the end of the day I'm ok with it. The Israelis made the deal. Why should I be more royalist than the king?"