>Ahmad Sharaa's nice intro about Syria-Lebanon relations before this basketball game, saying we'll consider we have all won regardless which team wins. He is speaking in colloquial Damascene instead of classical Arabic, and he should do this a lot more often.
>I was hesitant to go, and many claimed it was Assadist: I decided to go, telling myself I’d leave if it felt off. At first, the protest was separated, with a far smaller group at the roundabout itself being harassed by counterprotestors. One ripped our posters:
>Another claimed we were regime-era thugs, or shabiha. He was from the Tadamo neighborhood which was massacred by the Assad regime in 2013, the anniversary of which was yesterday. You could feel the immense pain in his voice: but his anger is misdirected.
>One of the main culprits in the Tadamon Massacre was Fadi Sakr, a man who has been allowed to walk free by the Syrian Transitional Government. This is where the lack of transitional justice creates direct tension on the street, robbing this man of his personal dignity.
>Once the two groups joined, there was a sizeable group of 500-1000 protestors calling for unity. The group was diverse in age, gender, and sect. The MOI personnel did an excellent job at protecting us
>The protest was peaceful and diverse. Some distributed flowers to the counterprotestors and the MoI personnel. I thanked them profusely - they were very professional. We were also protected when a man tried ramming his car into the crowd.
>I cannot refute the claims enough: this was an organic protest, and no one in the protest movement to my knowledge was violent. This is how we build a society with competing worldviews peacefully.