Rally Rages Against Syria...

To compliment the photos below, the Washington Times reports from Beirut:

"Published estimates put the size of the anti-Syrian crowd at between 800,000 and 1 million -- roughly twice the size of a pro-Syrian rally organized a week ago by the radical movement Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist group."

And this group represents a cross-section of groups united against the Syrian occupation.

"Yesterday's rally was the latest and largest in a series of protests by a coalition of Christians, Druze and Sunni Muslims sparked by Mr. Hariri's death. Hezbollah -- the largest Shi'ite Muslim party -- and Syria have countered with three huge pro-Syrian demonstrations...

...After a week in which the pro-Syrian forces had seized the momentum, yesterday's massive turnout seems to have re-energized the opposition movement. "The Hezbollah rally and reappointment of Karami were a slap in our faces," said one protest organizer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "But we needed to show the government and the world that we can put as many people on the street to demand freedom and independence as they can to defend the status quo of corruption, occupation and humiliation," he said."

The democracy genie is out of the bottle with the pressure building up to elections scheduled in May. The anti-occupation movement is a legitimate grassroots phenomena, unlike the rent-a-thug pro-Syria rally earlier this week.

"One marcher, Khalid, a Sunni from a wealthy family, tried to explain the dynamic behind the increasingly large demonstrations and counterdemonstrations.

"When we were protesting before, we sent our young people and university students against the government," he said. "When Hezbollah does a protest, everyone is ordered to go, given rides, and brings the whole family," he said. "So today ... we brought our families. "My pregnant wife marched. My old mother marched, and now you see who has the biggest demonstration."

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