By Olivia Alabaster
BEIRUT: Around 120 people met Sunday evening at the Samir Kassir Garden in Beirut in support of the popular protesters in Syria.
The vigil came after one of the most violent days yet in the now months-old uprising, when over 80 civilians were killed by security forces in Hama, a city with special significance for the Syrian people after the 1982 massacre there, led by current President Bashar Assad’s father, Hafez.

Sunday’s gathering in Beirut was organized only several hours previously, word of which was spread through social networking websites.

Youssef Bazzi, a writer and journalist, helped to organize the solidarity meeting. “We believe what will happen in Syria, and the future of Syria, also represents the future of Lebanon. Together we have one future.”

Rana Khoury, a copywriter, attended the vigil as, in her words, “I just couldn’t stay at home watching what was happening any longer.”
Khoury believes that the crackdown against protesters in Syria is counterproductive, and will not quiet dissent.
“They are trying to break the protest movement up by killing them. And what the protesters are continuing to do, in the face of this, is simply amazing.
“The hatred of the people is only growing now. It will not fade for ages,” she said.
Khoury also felt that the timing of Sunday’s Hama crackdown, coming on the eve of Ramadan, was crucial. “I think they’re doing this before Ramadan as they know people will become stronger.”

Ayman Mhanna, the Democratic Renewal Movement party’s youth coordinator, said he hoped events in Hama would help attract more international attention for the revolution.