Instead of celebrating Independence Day, students across the country chose to mourn it.

More than 5,000 supporters of the Free National Current (FNC) and various leftist groups assembled near the National Museum on November 22, claiming that the country's sovereignty and independence were being abused by Syria and its cronies.

Lebanese students demonstrating on November 22

Chanting anti-Syrian slogans, university and high school students descended onto the Museum Road amid stringent security measures and a massive presence of security forces, including intelligence agents who were easily discernible with cellular phones glued to their ears, to report on demonstrators. But no clashes took place, possibly as a result of Interior Minister Elias Murr's strict instructions to the Internal Security Forces to "treat the students with respect, and avoid the use of force, except if there's a threat to the security of citizens."

Fady Abou-Jamra, student activities coordinator for the FNC, said that pressure was not restricted to the several checkpoints that were erected along the roads leading to the Museum Road. "University and school administrators were threatened against shutting down their schools," he said. "They were also forced to keep their students within campuses, thus preventing them from taking part in the protest."

Indeed, the pressure did reap some results: while student groups in the Lebanese Forces (LF), the National Liberal Party and the Progressive Socialist Party had all joined forces with the FNC and leftist groups in calling for the demonstration, they all refrained from actively participating the day of the event. Sources close to the LF explained the last-minute pull-out as a response to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir's requests to restrict the protests to university campuses away from the streets.

But Abou-Jamra remained optimistic. "Everyone offered their support according to their circumstances," he said. "Whether it was active support or moral support, it proves one thing: that the Lebanese are capable of uniting under one theme of dialogue and independence."

The turn-out remained impressive, however, with students heading towards the meeting point as early as 10:00 AM, three hours ahead of the scheduled time of 1:00 PM.

And while the proclaimed aim of the demonstration was a call for dialogue, that did not prevent protesters from voicing their views about Syria's role in Lebanon. "Syria out", "We only want the Lebanese Army", and "Let the truth be out: we can't stand Syria", were among the slogans expressing the bitterness towards Damascus that has been brewing among Lebanon's youth for some time.

Other banners that were raised demanded the implementation of UN Resolution 520 which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. The mood was one of excitement and patriotism. Vocal chords were stretched to the limit with demonstrators singing rebellious songs that hailed freedom and hope for a better future.

Elsewhere, students at the Saint-Coeur School in Sioufi, Ashrafieh, dressed in black to express their "sadness about the state of Lebanon's independence," during a question-and-answer session with An-Nahar's editor-in-chief, Gibran Tueini, and political analyst Samir Franjieh.

In response to a student's question on the role of Syria in helping the Lebanese Army fight Israel, Tueini's answer was blunt. "The Syrians have done absolutely nothing to help the Lebanese against Israel," he said. Tueini also categorically rejected the argument that Syria was needed to prevent another sectarian flare-up. "Are they trying to convince us that if the Syrians leave, every Christian will pull out their Kalashinkov rifle and go searching for a Muslim to kill and vice versa? What a bunch of lies," he said. "If that were true, then Lebanon's unity is a lie and that's a dangerous thing to say."