Middle East News
Mass crowd joins protestors in Beirut for third consecutive day
Dec 3, 2006, 12:15 GMT
Beirut - Thousands of pro-Syrian protestors joined some 5,000 people holding a sit-in in downtown Beirut Sunday in what they described as a 'popular movement to overthrow the anti-Syrian government' of Premier Fouad Seniora.
Meanwhile, Seniora was taking part in prayers for assassinated anti-Syrian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel.
A mass was held inside the governmental palace, where the offices of Seniora are located and where all the anti-Syrian ministers have taken refuge following the assassination of Gemayel on November 21.
The service was attended by Seniora, several cabinet ministers and deputies from the anti-Syrian parliament majority and members of Gemayel's family.
Gemayel, the son of former president Amin Gemayel, was the sixth critic of Syria to be assassinated in Lebanon over the past two years.
Thousands of opposition protesters led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah have been holding an open-ended rally since Friday near the governmental building. The protests are aimed at toppling the anti-Syrian government.
According to Hezbollah organizers, the number of protestors was expected to reach hundreds of thousands Sunday as it is a day off in Lebanon.
Hezbollah organizer Ghassan Darwich told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that 'they will escalate their sit-in and they have other escalatory steps in the coming days if Seniora remains in power.'
Christian followers of retired general Michel Aoun, who is a close ally of Hezbollah, were also among the protestors along with the Lebanese Syrian Baath Party, the National Syrian Social Party, and the Lebanese Communist Party.
Among the crowd were followers of pro-Syrian Christian former minister Suleiman Franjiyeh.
A mass was also scheduled to be held by Aoun's followers in a nearby church.
Following Gemayel's killing on November 21, hundreds of thousands of government supporters also took the streets chanting angry slogans against Syria and its Lebanese allies, as many accused Damascus of being behind the murder.
The opposition is demanding a greater share in the government, while the anti-Syrian majority sees their demand as a way to return Syria, once Lebanon's powerbroker, to its former role.
Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa was scheduled to start talks with Lebanese leaders Sunday sfternoon in a move aimed at easing tensions among the political factions in Lebanon.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Well said, gh.
I'm also sick of the way Hizbollah is called pro-Syrian and rarely as anti-west, while the government is called anti-syrian but NOT pro-west!
It is true the West portrays what it wants us to believe.Contrary to what we believe the so called Free Western Media is a farce.
you're all absolutely correct! i don't think american's have any idea how poorly their media treats them. everything is pre-digested and biased to paint american interests as 'good' and everything else as 'evil'. its a disgrace and foments the hate and war that is currently taking place around the world. america, and americans, are responsible for this. do they realize it? no, because they are told they are 'good'. and that's too bad ..
goldi
www.livefrombeirut.com
THE WEST STANDS FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND FREE-MARKETS. WHAT DOES HEZBOLLAH, SYRIA, AND THE ISMALIST WORLD STAND FOR? OPPRESSION, POVERTY AND BACKWARDNESS. THEREFORE, THE U.S. IS GOOD AND THE SYRIAN/HEZBOLLAH/COMMUNISTS/RADICAL ISLAMISTS ARE EVIL.
Josh,
You should try getting information from around the world instead of relying just on the American media. The American new channels grossly mis-represent facts.
To the peoples of the world, I was born in colonized North America. Yes, my birth certificate says that I was born in the U.S.A, but my country remains one of the oldest U.S. colonies in the world. I want you all to know that most U.S. citizens with enough brains to do a little research know how our media is corrupted and I personally prefer to read newspapers from other countries and regions to get the politics down right. There are many individuals that live within the belly of this beast that have solidarity with the struggles of people all over the world. We are with you awaiting the date when North America will actually uphold what it stands for, but that date has yet to arrive. I can almost assure you that the only North Americans that believe that the U.S. is good and gracious are those interested in economic gain. The proletariat, the people of the streets, the people who find themselves living in urban slums, and those that struggle in this capitalist mad world, realize how corrupt and unjust American Foreign policy has been in the world.
On one hand we have a elected goverment whose purpose is peace and the interest of the people put first, on the other, we have a murderous bunch of hate full men intent on killing for the sake of killing and obsesed with power trying to cause the downfall of said goverment, its very clear to me, support god or satan.
Of course Hizballah is pro-Syrian. Where is the debate here? Why are they opposed to the Hariri tribunal? The people in custody who will testify when the tribunal resumes will bring Syria and it's allies in Lebanon down. Hizballah and Syria know that and that is why they are trying to illegitimize the current democratically elected government of Mr. Saniora. They don't want the truth to come out because they are the guilty party. Who does Hizballah hold allegiance to? I definitely say Syria. Also, who killed Pierre Gemayel? Hello!
As for Mr. Aoun, he is the biggest traiter in recent Lebanese history. He let many people down.
1- Let us see who benefits most from all the assassinations, especially that of Gemayel's, which, btw, contrary to the other killings, happened with guns, and not bombs which take more time to be orchestrated. Why guns, i wonder... because the Aoun and Hizbollah and allies had decised to hit the streets, and in my, and many many others' opinions, gemayel's killing was an attempt to stop it. But, Syria would be blamed (not that I back syria, but i back NO other authority that is not LEBANESE). So the government would benefit. And also, the US would benefit, so in eventually Israel would also benefit.
2- Everyone has a right to protest against what they see as wrong or unjust. Isn't that how the last government came down in the first place?
3- Fanatacism and extremism breeds contempt. And it's not just the islam (or Hizbollah) is who is that way...
and one more thing, we live in a multireligious country, and if love it, we should try to live with the other instead of hating them. That's what democracy is. I'm a christian too, but it doesn't mean i'm always right or a saint. and i'm no Aounist, and no Hizbollan. I'm lebanese.
Kudos to monstersandcritics.com for providing an anonymous login talkback/discussion forum on its website. Mass audiences' past dependance on a single point of view (via news agencies) has too often been taken advantage of by those in media, govt, and business who wish to control and potentially twist the facts of an mass-communicated message.
Discussion forums such as these give the reader the ability to instantaneous gather differing opinions on any subject. Choice > unilateralism
Genral Michel Aoun was at first anti-syria...but now he's sleeping with Hezbollah and Syria..guess they 'dictated' how he is to live his life..like they dictate to all the other puppets of Lebanon..who are too stupid to think for themselves...these people have no life and nothing better to do than run outside 'yelling and whining' to the world....DROP A NAPALM AMONGST THESE MORONS.
Seems the problem for most of the pro Hez faction here is that the western media will not print their 'spin' on the situation. Heres some facts that just wont go away though.
1. Hez did attack Israel last year with out any clear goal except to cause a war for Syria.
2. Syria has been killing off elected Lebanese officals for some time now, and regardless of if you choose to call these people pro-this or anti-that, it still adds up to an attack by a foriegn power (Syria) against an internationally recognised state (Leb) and therefore is an act of war.
3. Hez IS bought and paid for by Iran and Syria who use it to push their own agenda at the expense of the Lebanese.
Now tell me again how the western media is spinning the situation?
page: 1
ghDec 3rd, 2006 - 13:18:27
The groups demonstrating in Beirut are not pro-Syrien, and it is not something first called for by Hizbollah. Genral Michel Aoun was the first to call for the masses to take their demands to the streets.(who by the way, fought the Syrian army for the last 3 years of our 'civil war' and was one of the orchestrators of resolution 1559.)
I am sick of the western media and its reporting on that subject, please go down to beirut, look around closely and then draw conclusions on who is who and definitly, read some more about the conflict.
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