Lebanese and Syrian people in Lebanon rejoiced on Sunday at the news of the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with celebrations sweeping the majority of the country, most notably in Sunni regions.
Jubilant people took to the streets of the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Tarik al-Jdide in Beirut and northern city of Tripoli. Similar scenes of joy erupted in the northern region of Akkar and Beirut’s Hamra district.
Songs of the Syrian revolution were played and people rushed to buy sweets to celebrate and handing them out in the streets.
In Tripoli’s Al-Nour Square, locals flocked to chant revolution slogans and hoisted Syrian revolution flags. Gunshots were also fired in the air in celebration.
Similar scenes were reported in the Khaldeh region south of Beirut.
Christian regions also erupted in celebration.
“We have been awaiting this moment of joy. We never thought we were so close to it,” said Miriam Majed Jubeili, describing her happiness at Assad’s ouster.
Miriam’s father was imprisoned for six years in Syria’s notorious Sednaya prison.
She told Asharq Al-Awsat that she shared the jubilation of all of the detainees who were freed by the opposition from Syrian prisons on Sunday.
“Every image of a released detainee reminded me of when I was a child who awaited the release of her father from captivity. I felt that I avenged my father who experienced the oppression of this regime like so many others,” she added.
She wished that her father, who passed away three years ago, could have been alive to witness the downfall of the regime.
The demise of regime revived hopes of Lebanese families whose loved ones have been held in Syrian jails for several years with no news throughout that time of whether they were still alive or not.
Hassan said his father was jailed when he was just five years old. “He has been held in regime jails for 40 years. I will head to Damascus to search for him. Perhaps some of the detainees met him and know something about him,” he said.
In Akkar, people rejoiced by storming the office of the Baath Party. Videos circulated on social media showed youths tearing down a poster of Assad.
Political parties joined in the celebrations. Parties opposed to the regime in Lebanon held a small gathering in Downtown Beirut to remember the Lebanese figures who are widely believed to have been assassinated by Damascus.
In the Chouf region, the Druze heartland in Lebanon, people flocked to slain Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt’s grave to pay their respects. The regime is widely accused of assassinating him.
The Kataeb party called for a gathering in Bikfaya where a march will be held towards the graves of its founder Pierre Gemayel and slain President Bashir Gemayel and minister Pierre Gemayel, both believed to be assassinated by the regime.
