Free Lebanon - Rally in San Francisco

I have an on-the-ground blog report of today's "Free Lebanon" rally at City Hall in San Francisco. Truth be told, I came across it on accident as I was heading to the Asian Art Museum with a friend. As I passed the backside of City Hall, I heard some chanting from the steps and, being that this is San Francisco, I figured it to be another "US out of Iraq" type event; so imagine my shock when I turned around and saw about a hundred people joyfully waving American and Lebannese flags right side up. I walked over and heard them shouting "Syria Out of Lebannon" and "Down with Syria." The Lebanese that gathered had pictures of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri pasted to their flags and banners. In general it was an upbeat event.

As we stood watching, a man around his 40's was standing behind me smoking a cigarrette with a "Free Lebanon - Syria Out" t-shirt tied around his neck. I introduced myself to him and we chatted for a bit about where we were from and how the rally was going. I expressed my support for Lebanese independence and he smiled, thanked me and told me to get the word out. I asked him what he thought about similarities of this situation to what happened in the Ukraine recently and he simply said, "Just like them, we want to be free--just like everyone else that is free."

Shame on all those people that, even to this day, don't think the people of the Middle East are ready for democracy. Shame on them.