Lebanon: people rally in support of Syrian martyrs

Finally Beirut speaks out.

The Qatar-based media group Al-Jazeera reports that "Hundreds of people have rallied in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, in solidarity with the Syrian people, as the Syrian government intensified its crackdown on protesters. Monday's demonstration, which included prominent Lebanese intellectuals, writers, journalists and activists, was held in the symbolic Martyr's Square to honour the estimated 2,000 Syrians who activists say have been killed by security forces since the uprising began in March.  The protesters also called on the Lebanese government to finally speak out against the bloodshed."

The Syrian people have used restraint and the force of peaceful protest against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the Ba'athists.  And the effect has been to draw the praise and support of Russians, Saudis, and the Arab League to add to condemation from the US and EU of Assad's tactic of slaughter and retribution.

How this will play out in Lebanon, a volatile cocktail of competing philosophies, only time will tell.  Yet the rally in Beirut is a great omen for potential future stability.  Hopefully the intellectuals and pacifists in The Lebanon will hold sway.

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