On December 27th, different socialist and leftist organizations gathered in an open Sit-In facing the ESCWA office in Beirut. The Sit-In grew by the hours. On Sunday, a demonstration was organized against the Egyptian embassy in Beirut, gathering around 800 demonstrators, calling on the Egyptian regime to open the borders with Gaza and the end of all relations with the Israeli state. The demonstration quickly drew in people from around the Egyptian embassy, and fights started off with the police. Protesters chanted for the fall of Husni Moubarak and the Arab regimes, calling for the full support of the resistance in Gaza.
The same day witnessed small demonstrations and Sit-Ins around the country, in Saida, Tripoli and around Beirut. On Monday and Tuesday the Sit-In organized mobile demos and gatherings and leafleting around Beirut. Hizbollah called a gathering in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, which drew tens of thousands of people.
On Wednesday, the Sit-in organized a demonstration at the offices of the Arab League in Beirut, where we forced the anti-riot police to withdraw some hundred meters to the back. The Police official said to the press: “This is the first time we march backwards”, hopefully the first of many. More than 10 Protests and Sit-Ins were held all over the country during the day, and at night, a big gathering was organized on new year's eve in central Beirut, where chants against the Arab regimes and against the Israeli aggression were loudly heard till the early hours of the morning.
On Thursday, a direct action was organized against the Egyptian embassy, which now has around a one square kilometer of barbed wire encircling it, along with heavy presence of military forces, armed vehicles, and anti-riot police.
On Friday, a second direct action was organized against the Egyptian embassy at 11:00 am, followed by a big march and demonstration from Hamra towards the embassy.
The general mood is building up, and more protests and demonstrations are being organized. In the coming days, the Open Sit-In will be building up, calling for the streets to start moving in support of the resistance in Gaza, and building against the collaborating regimes.
The Lebanese regime is not innocent from this assault as it is still imposing a firm security and economic siege on the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The Sit-In has called for the lifting of all security and economic blockades of the camps, for full civil rights for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, calling for resistance and struggle against the Arab regimes, and for solidarity with the resistance in Gaza.
The demonstrations that kicked off in Egypt facing harsh attacks from the regime are giving spirit and resilience to the protests in Lebanon. The anti-war movement is building up in the world, we are stepping the first few steady steps towards rebuilding that movement.
Today, the initiative is being done by workers and students. From the Open Sit-In in Beirut that was called by students and young unorganized workers in different leftist and socialist groups, to the different actions and demonstrations called by Trade Unions around the country, Doctors and Nurses, including municipality workers, and industrial workers of north Lebanon. A Demonstration will take place tomorrow (Saturday) in Tripoli. The same is happening in Egypt, where the last aid caravan to Gaza was organized by the Mahalla strike leaders.
The movement is growing. It is the time to build it and push further that the struggle for resistance and against the occupation can only be built through resistance against the oppressive ruling regimes.
The Liberation of Palestine can only happen through the resistance of ordinary people and workers, throughout the Arab world, against the oppressive regimes and against the massive exploitation of the Arab masses. Capitalism is in crisis, as well as the Arab regimes and world regimes, either on the question of the economy or on the question of war and occupation.
The Lebanese government as well as all Arab governments being tested. Voices who call for peace with the state of Israel are now swimming in mud. Any further step towards any peace treaty with the Israeli State will only build more anger and more resilience and resistance from the masses against the ruling classes of the Arab world.
Our fight for the support of resistance in Gaza, is our fight against the oppressive regimes; against the police states of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya; the monstrous and harsh rulers of Egypt; the dictatorships of the Gulf Kingdoms; against the oil kings and princes, against the police state in Syria, and the 'National Unity Regime' in Lebanon. They are all partners in the aggression on Gaza, to varying degrees. They are all participating in the destruction, the killing, and the siege on the resistance in Gaza.
We choose resistance, the streets, the resistance of ordinary people and workers against occupation and the regimes that directly or indirectly support the occupation. We choose resistance hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in Gaza, our comrades in struggle. The streets are ours to claim back.
What we build today on the streets of Beirut and Cairo and all the other cities of the world is a firm and confident step towards reaching a larger movement. We need to start to be a real threat to these regimes, because the Israeli state would not be able to fire a bullet if it feels threatened by the surrounding countries and masses.
The one that is blocking us from actively supporting the Palestinian resistance is the numbers of 'special bodies of armed men' that are thrown by these ruling classes against the angry masses. It is the rotting political regimes, the bats and sticks and gas bombs of the anti-riot police, and the bosses who threaten their workers to lay them off if they participate in demos and protests.
We choose resistance.
Bassem Chit
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