(Picture by Nasser Nouri, via Hamalawy )

Ammar, when he saw this picture, had one comment to make : Hopefully one day we will have this too in Syria.

Yeah, I hope so too Ammar.

The Mhalla riots are going into their second strong day. 50,000 people are rioting. The police is shooting tear gas, rubber bullets, you name it, and IT'S NOT WORKING. The demonstrators were originally only like 2000-3000, but the government crackdown forced the people on the street. And until today, it's a War Zone.

Here is a picture of one of the feared State Security trucks, commandeered and smashed by the people.

For impeccable coverage of the riots, check Hossam's blog.

Update: Another picture that makes my hearts swell, by James Buck.

Sea of people. Makes my skin tingle!

My friend R. from the US just sent me a message : "I'm proud of the people of ma7alla but so scared about what's coming to them. actually terrified"

We shall see R. , I am keeping my fingers crossed!

All I know is this though, for the first time in over 50 years, yesterday AlMahalla was a free city!

Update: This is response to some people in the comments section, you can ignore this if you want to:

Okay, both of you are acting like idiots. First of all, Mahalla is not a MB stronghold, no more than any other city is. The MB's power is greatly exaggerated and hyped, and they are too chicken to be behind this revolt. If anything they are distancing themselves from it and criticizing the actions of the Mahalla people. So no, that's not what's going on. What's happening is that the people there are ignored and fed up, and refsue to shut up while their family members and friends get arrested. They have a semblance of diginity that has somehow eluded the rest of the population. So, yes, we should encourage this.

Secondly, if you are following what's happening there as much as I am, here is something you might not know: The people are not the ones burning stores and cars; the police is. It's being done to be used as pretext to arresting people, The people are setting tires on fire and throwing rocks at the police who are unlawfully arresting their friends, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at them and have killed so far 4 people, the last of which is a 15 year old boy, who got shot in the head. The people are finally pushing back against a regime you both know is autocratic and tyrannical, and yet you only take issues with them refusing to eat shit. That, on its own, says volumes about you.

Thirdly, and most importantly, allow yourselves to enjoy those brief moments of joy before the get crushed, as they're going to. If this spreads, then the regime will spare no expense to squash it, especially with the visible absence of the western media and their coverage. Without international cover, this won;t survive, and the government will fuckin air bomb the demonstrators if they truly became a threat to the regime. The point isn't the overthrow of the government, not yet. It's a warning shot, letting them know that they can't get away with this shit much longer, that the corruption must stop, that political liberties must be respected and that the mismanagement of the economy can not continue. That the people won't just bend over and take it anymore. That they better change or this might breed the revolution you so rightly fear. But that won;t happen today, or next week, so please, quit your whining, worrying and bitching about the protesters, and start fearing for their lives. Those people have almost nothing and are risking what little they have for a chance for a better life. Nobody asked you to act like them, nobody asked you to support them, but at least try to respect them. They earned that much!