Collective Action
Protesters gather at Justice Palace, march towards Martyrs' Square where they demonstrate, and lit the revolution torch in front of the Port to mark the second anniversary of the October 17 social movement
وطنية - وصلت قرابة السادسة من مساء اليوم، مسيرات "ثورة 17 تشرين" التي انطلقت من ساحة الشهداء ومن ساحات أخرى الى مجسم شعلة الثورة قرب تمثال المغترب في منطقة مرفأ بيروت، وذلك تضامنا مع أهالي شهداء المرفأ، حيث تمت إضاءة الشعلة عند السادسة وسبع دقائق تماما وسط تصفيق الحشد وتحت شعار "استعادة الوطن وبناء الدولة". ورفعت لافتات منددة بالسلطة، ومطالبة "بحماية التحقيق وبدعم القاضي طارق البيطار، وباسترداد حقوق المواطنين المسلوبة". وقد تم وضع هذا الرمز في الذكرى السنوية الاولى لانطلاق ثورة 17 تشرين، وسيتم اضاءة هذه الشعلة يوم 17 تشرين الاول من كل عام وبتوقيت وقوع انفجار مرفأ بيروت عند الساعة السادسة وسبع دقائق مساء.
Hundreds rallied at Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the October 17th, 2019 uprising and then marched to the Beirut port to light the so-called revolution torch. Just days after sectarian strife upended Beirut’s Tayyouneh area, the protesters gathered to mark two years since hundreds of thousands of Lebanese of all sects took to the streets to denounce the country’s rulers and demand a wholesale change of the political status quo. They gathered at several locations across Beirut (Sassine Square, Justice Palace, The Ring, Sodeco, Karantina) and marched to Martyrs’ Square where they listened to speeches and chanted revolutionary slogans, many of which were adapted from their 2019 forms to incorporate more recent demands, such as protection for Judge Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation into the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion. Just after 6 p.m., around the time of the Beirut port explosion, which took place less than a year after the revolution began, demonstrators lit the revolution torch in front of the port. The symbolic gesture was joined by the swell of the Lebanese national anthem, followed by calls from those gathered for Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe into the blast to be allowed to take place without political interference.