Why some members of Lebanon's diaspora returned for Independence Day
Following a speech by President Aoun in which he was interpreted as having encouraged demonstrators to leave the country, some members of Lebanon’s diaspora returned home for Independence Day on Nov. 22 to join in the protests.
BEIRUT — In 2018, Lebanese Independence Day was commemorated by the country's top politicians — with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri watching a military parade in downtown Beirut that brought traffic to a halt.
This year, the same politicians held a much more limited event Nov. 22 at the headquarters of the Defense Ministry outside the capital in Baabda.
Still, a parade downtown with military trappings that day did bring traffic to a halt. Retired veterans who headed the parade protested delays in pension payments and austerity measures introduced by the government and were cheered by demonstrators who first took to the streets Oct. 17.
Following the veterans were doctors, lawyers, students, artists, farmers and several other groups.
