It’s gone from Sunnis versus Shiites across the board to Sunnis and Shiites at the bottom locking arms together against all their leaders at the top. Iraqi flags are everywhere. Independent civil society groups, youth and women’s organizations have made major headway.”And here’s a young Lebanese lawyer friend describing to me what’s been happening in Beirut:“This is Lebanon’s ‘We the People’ moment. Only Lebanese flags are raised at the demonstrations — no partisan flags or sectarian symbols. The slogan ‘The people want a civil state’ is one of the top slogans of the protests.”

Source: New York Times December 04, 2019 00:00 UTC