Candles and Killings

Around three thousand mourners held a candlelight vigil in downtown Beirut last night in memory of one of the victims of last month's car bombing, which killed a member of parliament, along with five other people. The family of the murdered young man, 28-year-old bystander named Charles Shikhani, asked everyone to refrain from carrying sectarian or political symbols ( I didn't even notice any Lebanese flags) and instead to wear white. The effect was a soothing change from the increasingly polarized and hysterical demonstrations that have taken place recently, and for a moment made Charles himself -- known personally to probably just a fraction of the marchers -- something of an Everyman. Could have been me, could have been you standing in the wrong pace that day. We could be next.

The procession was mean to stop in the center of downtown, at the Place d'Etole in front of Parliament, but because of police barricades, the crowd circled back to where it started, and slowly dispersed, a sense of futility in the air.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut