Shane Farrell

Two incidents on Tuesday were, according to Lebanese opposition members, stark evidence of a return of Syrian hegemony over Lebanese affairs.

As the Security Council convened in New York to discuss a decision to condemn the Syrian security forces’ crackdown on the anti-regime uprising, with Lebanon as a non-permanent member, a dramatic incident took place in Hamra, Beirut.

There, outside the Syrian Embassy, some 50 people had gathered to protest against the regime’s violent onslaught that left 130 protesters dead on Sunday in the Syrian city of Hama alone. According to accounts from several demonstrators, they were met by regime supporters who were carrying sticks and pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. After the demonstrators replied to pro-Assad chants with chants of their own, they were attacked with fists, sticks and belts.

“They came from both sides and blocked the road,” one demonstrator told NOW Lebanon on condition of anonymity, as he feared reprisal. “I tried to run away, but I was punched in the face. Then two people beat me with sticks before I managed to run away,” he said. Three other demonstrators were hospitalized. One, Ghassan Makarem, requires surgery for injuries sustained during the attack.

But some of the most vociferous criticism leveled by demonstrators was at Lebanese police officers who were at the scene but who failed to intervene.

“I grabbed [one police officer’s] arm and screamed at him, ‘Can’t you see them hitting? Aren’t you going to do anything?’ He removed my arm and replied, ‘Leave me alone. This has nothing to do with me,’” according to one demonstrator who preferred to remain anonymous, also out of fear of reprisal.

Following the attack, several demonstrators attempted to file a complaint at the Hbeish Police Station in Hamra but were told that the police were unable to handle such complaints.

Instead, several of the demonstrators are taking legal action. Nizar Saghieh, a lawyer representing them, told NOW Lebanon that a claim will be submitted to the prosecutor in Beirut on Thursday, together with photos, video footage and other documentary evidence against the attackers.

“It’s only normal when you have a pro-Syrian government to have pro-Syrian decisions [in Lebanon],” Kataeb spokesperson Serge Dagher told NOW Lebanon. “Lebanon is once again losing its freedom and its way [and has] become a follower of the Syrian regime.”
 
The demonstrators interviewed stated that they are undeterred by yesterday’s violence and will continue to rally in support of the people of Syria.
Witnesses at the demonstration said they recognized some members of the Syrian Socialist National Party among the Assad supporters present, but would not confirm or deny whether they took part in the beatings.

When questioned about these allegations, the director of the SSNP Media Department, Maen Hamieh, denied any party members’ involvement in the attack.  “There is a campaign against the party and our reputation,” he told NOW Lebanon, “and we are the guarantors of people’s safety in Hamra.” Instead, he questioned the intentions of the demonstrators and called on “government security institutions to take serious steps to protect the citizens from these so-called activists.”
 
“Attacking the Syrian Embassy is like attacking the Taif Accord and the special relations between Syria and Lebanon,” he added.

Meanwhile, the only politician to publically condemn the attacks was Future MP Ammar Houri. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, for his part, stressed the need for peaceful demonstrations to take place within legal norms in order to “maintain freedom of expression that preserves Lebanon’s diversity,” and warned against the “transformation of some of Beirut’s neighborhoods into closed security zones.”

Also on Tuesday, in another event that opposition members say symbolizes Syria’s continuing power over Lebanon, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun voiced his support for the Assad regime, stating that Syrian security forces have the right to suppress “chaos on the streets” and that “the intentions of the [Syrian] opposition are not good.”

“This is a shameful [statement], and it is creating internal problems [within the FPM],” said Kamal Yazaji, a former Aounist who is now a March 14 member, in a phone interview with NOW Lebanon. “You can see that in the debates they’re having on Facebook.”

Indeed, in the Orange Room, an online FPM forum, there has been a heated debate raging since the Syrian protests began in earnest in mid-March regarding whether the demonstrators are peaceful citizens legitimately demanding more rights and freedoms, or whether they are “foreign elements” or extremist Sunni Muslims. People writing on the forum, however, are not required to be FPM members.
As for the March 14 alliance’s reaction to the Hamra attack, silence has prevailed. Other than Houri, no one has made any public statements denouncing Tuesday’s events.

In a phone interview, head of the March 14 General Secretariat Fares Soueid said that the General Secretariat will continue focusing on politics and calling for Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government to stop being “a partner in the violence” against the Syrian people. “The coalition’s statement itself did not denounce the attack because it was not officially endorsed by March 14,” he added.

Aline Sara, Amtissal Aboulissan, Nadine Elali and Matt Nash contributed reporting to this article