The Cedar Revolution was the month-long series of anti-Syrian street demonstrations sparked by the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister who died along with 22 other people in a massive truck bomb blast on February 14, 2005. The first protest began a week after his death, on February 21, involving a march of some 20,000 people from outside the St Georges Hotel, where Hariri died, to Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut. The street demonstrations intensified in the days that followed and included the establishment of a tent city, dubbed “Camp Freedom,” beside the martyrs’ monument. Other rallies included a human chain linking Martyrs’ Square with the St Georges Hotel. The protestors adopted the colors red and white and the slogan “Independence ’05.”
The term “Cedar Revolution” was coined by a US State Department official as a more “user-friendly” expression to the Western ear than Intifada al-Istaqlal (Independence Uprising), which was the phrase used by the Lebanese.

On February 28, 2005 the government of Prime Minister Omar Karami collapsed under pressure brought on by the Cedar Revolution protests. The month-long campaign culminated in a massive turnout of over one million on March 14 in response to the pro-Syrian rally of March 8. The March 14 demonstration – the largest ever held in Lebanon – persuaded Syria to announce that it would withdraw the remaining 14,000 troops out of Lebanon. The last Syrian soldiers departed on April 26, 2005.