Zoom Out

I know this is a few days late... but I really wanted to note how I saw things on Monday.

You got to admit that the Lebanese have a sense of humor!

Hope
I was watching today's demonstration in Lebanon and again I got tingles. I got all hyped up again, felt some hope once again by seeing the masses of people that showed up today.

Zoom Out
On Saturday, Bashar Al Assad made this comment in his speech about how they are not as many people demonstrating as people think since the camera is always zoomed in. He stated that if the cameras would zoom out people would notice that there only is a small crowd demonstrating at the Martyr's Square. I was surprised when none of the opposition "leaders" replied to that comment. Well, the people replied today... several people were holding banners saying "Zoom Out" or Media Zoom Out.... it really made me smile to see that... I also heard some people chanting "Bashar ma3ambeshoof... 3emloolo zoom out!" ... in loose translation, that means bashar can't see, zoom out for him. The camera man joined this sense of humor... they would be zoomed into one of the banners that say "zoom out" and go to extreme zoom out for people to witness the masses of people who did show up today.

Faja2nekon Mooooo
Another humorous banner people have been carrying this past week is "faja2nekon mooooooooo." This phrase is derived from a joke about syrians and it simply means in we suprised you ... right? in a syrian accent... the lebanese population have surprised everyone by sustaining their position the past 3 weeks... they have surprised me and impressed me as well making me feel really proud.

There were some nice banners I saw today such as "leave us in peace, not in pieces."

I think the most popular banner around the world is SYRIAl Killers.

Unity
It still astonishes me to see people of all ages demonstrating together instead of only college students. There was this one family I noticed today, the man was probably around 60 years old, dressed in a suit, looked real formal, his wife also dressed up in a suit, and their daughter was in the latest "European" chic clothing. These demonstrations are not just uniting different political parties and religions, it also is uniting generations of Lebanese people and the different classes of society. These are key things to look at as well.

Shiites
The international community seem to think that Shiites are not demonstrating with the "opposition" and that they will demonstrate tomorrow. I would like to say that there are shiites demonstrating with the "opposition" ... don't get me wrong, I'm positive there will be a huge turn out tomorrow at hizbullahs rally that will take place at the Riad Al Solh square not too far from the Martyr's Square. Also, people have asked me what freedom square is... Freedom Square is the Martyr's Square but the media has been calling it Freedom Square the past few weeks due to the demonstrations that have been taken place there.