« Democrats Shooting Selves in Foot | Main | Steps on the Roadmap to Peace »

March 14, 2005

Syrians Give Hizb Allah the Finger

Hizb Allah tried its best to make itself look like the poeple's choice last week. It failed:

Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators chanted "Freedom, sovereignty, independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in Beirut on Monday, the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of the Damascus-backed government.

Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed the roads into Beirut responding to an opposition call to demonstrate for the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Monday's protest easily topped a pro-government rally of hundreds of thousands of people last week by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah.

Today's protest was certainly more diverse than Hizb Allah's last week. One can bet they were not bussing participants in from other countries, either. These were true Lebanese.

Reinstating Karami as Prime Minister after he had resigned proved to be a rallying point for the opposition:

Many were also particularly offended by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's reinstatement last week of Prime Minister Omar Karami, who was forced to resign on Feb. 28 by a giant opposition protest.

"They are challenging us, and we are here to show them that we will not accept," said banker Farid Samaha as he joined the demonstration. "We are determined to liberate our country and we will not stop."

Update: Here is more evidence of diversity:

Crowds of Druse, Christians and Sunni Muslims flooded Martyrs’ Square and spilled over into nearby streets – responding to an opposition call to turn out for the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Update: Morrisey:

They may have miscalculated by putting Karami back in charge. It tipped their hand, showing their loyalty to Damascus over Beirut, and the protestors in the streets tell them that without Damascus, their days in power are numbered.

Numbered and counting.

Posted by bubba138 at March 14, 2005 10:11 AM