Amtissal Aboulissan

“As a Syrian, I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of support by Lebanese here,” said a 22 year-old Syrian woman who lives in Lebanon. “I chose to participate today because unfortunately I am unable to take part in protests back home in Syria. I want to thank the Lebanese because it shows they truly feel and understand the pain and suffering of the Syrian people.” The woman, who did not give her name for fear of reprisal, hasn’t been able to see her family back home for three months.

Around 800 Lebanese intellectuals, journalists and activists gathered in Beirut’s Martyrs Square on Monday night to voice solidarity with the Syrian opposition, which has faced a bloody crackdown by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which over 2,000 protesters are reported to have been killed since the uprising began in March.
 
The rally was organized through a Facebook group called “Lebanese intellectuals call for a stand of solidarity with the Syrian people in their revolution.”

“As Lebanese, we can relate because we experienced the same type of rule and oppression that they are facing now,” said Hazem Saghieh, a Lebanese writer and one of the rally’s organizers. “It’s the same regime that used to govern Lebanon in a very arbitrary and harsh way, and is still in one way or another influencing the situation,” he added, stressing that the demonstration was not political.

“It’s important that Beirut sends a message of support to the Syrian people so that they know that not everyone in Lebanon supports the regime,” said 30-year-old Doreen Khoury.

“As a Lebanese, I can’t just sit and watch tanks storm the cities of Syria as the regime continues to brutally slaughter the Syrian people,” said 27-year-old Hashem Adnan. “We’re here to support the need for change in Syria. We are more than neighbors. We are brothers and sisters.”
 
For the most part, the demonstration was peaceful. Participants gathered and lit candles near the Martyrs Monument and held signs reading “No to silence in Lebanon,” and “He who supports the Syrian regime is immoral.”
Nearby another group of around 50 demonstrators who support the Syrian regime gathered and shouted pro-Assad slogans and held posters of the Syrian president. Police in riot gear separated them from the anti-regime protesters. 

There were no physical confrontations between the two groups, unlike a rally that took place outside the Syrian Embassy in Hamra last week that ended in violence, when anti-regime protesters were assaulted by Assad supporters with sticks and belts. Five of the activists ended up in the hospital with broken bones.
Some anti-regime protestors, however, reported that on their way to Monday night’s rally that they were stopped and questioned by individuals who advised them not to attend, claiming clashes would start.

NOW Lebanon attempted to contact Maen Hamieh, Media Department director of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, members of which were present at Monday night’s and last week’s rallies, but was unable to reach him as of press time.
 
Future MP Ahmed Fatfat was the only politician to take part in Monday night’s rally, though prominent Lebanese composer and singer Marcel Khalife participated along with Lebanese journalist May Chidiac.

While the Lebanese ambassador to the UN did not block the adoption last week of a Security Council condemnation of the Syrian regime’s crackdown, it disavowed the document. The decision has angered some Lebanese. “It doesn’t represent us; it represents their own political interests,” 28-year-old Abdallah Sawda told NOW Lebanon. “As a Lebanese, I am ashamed on my country’s position on the Syrian crisis.”

“I refuse to see the continued slaughter of Syrians take place and just stand by and do nothing,” said 47-year-old Reem Jundi, who is half Lebanese and half Syrian. “I want to tell our fellow Syrians: Continue to raise your voices high; we hear you.”