The right to speak!
No right is more fundamental than freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech you can't communicate your ideas and feelings, decry a social injustice, pursue an artistic vision, investigate scientific truth, practice a religion, or criticize government. If freedom of speech is destroyed, self-development is crippled, social progress grinds to a halt, and official lies become the only "truth."
Although freedom of speech can be inhibited by intolerant people, it can only be destroyed by brute force; particularly government forces such the Syrian occupation army and its cronies the Lebanese secret police. In occupied Lebanon, street stands get seized by Lebanese police and in some cases the students that man them they get arrested for selling and promoting Lebanese national products.
For the last 30 years, Syrian assaults on freedom of speech in Lebanon have grown to the point that few people dared to publicly proclaim there earnest opinions. On the 14 of December the newly formed opposition requested political reforms in the Bristol Hotel in Beirut, not one of the speakers could demand what the majority of the Lebanese people are motivated to hear or determined to have; FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE and above all SOVEREINGTY the basic rights of any Lebanese citizen in his own country.
Today, The Baathist regime in Syria not just they continued the intimidation tactics, car bombs making a return to the streets of Beirut and we all know what happen to the MP Mr. Marwan Hemadeh; critical news reports, and even political expression are being watched and promptly been answered by a government mouth piece with a strong tones such the one Adoum ‘effendi’ have, and the so called Justice Minister, he gets on TV and he reminds you of the possibility of having your file opened, in case you don’t have one undoubtedly they’ll create one specifically for you. People, whose only crime is that they hold unpopular ideas about the strategic alliance with sisterly Syria, or the desire to expose government lies about, been on the same distance of all people in the country.
To preserve our freedom of speech, we must fight for it and for us to win our duty to support the true opposition groups in Lebanon, the one demanding unconditional withdrawals of all foreign troops from Lebanon, principally the Syrian occupation army, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as well as the armed Palestinian. Supporting the student movements is the answer since they are fighting for our freedom! Not only for the reason they are standing to the occupation but since they attentively challenging the university systems on campuses in Lebanon in which, they are bowing to the threats of the Syrian and the Lebanese Security agencies. Universities that suppose to teach our future generation to be great thinker more or less free thinkers.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say
it."
Voltaire
Free Lebanon…Lebanon is Freedom.