An estimated 70,000 people marched down Montevideo's Avenida18. In Brazil, a protest led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was attended by 1,500 marchers (Police estimate). In Buenos Aires, Argentina, an estimate of 50,000 protesters attended which included some veterans of the Falkland War of 1982. Areas in Asia with large Muslim populations, in particular the countries of the West Asia, had the highest levels of opposition to the proposed Iraq war, however demonstrations in many of these countries were relatively small. One United Arab Emirates newspaper "Al Bayan" led with the statement: "The people of the world and more than one million Europeans demonstrate against an attack on Iraq while the Arab people and their leaders are in a deep coma." The reasons for this are no doubt complex, but one factor that is commonly cited is the suppression of protest movements by the conservative leaders of those countries. A report by Asef Bayat in the Middle East Report suggests that "the Arab governments allow little room for independent dissent" as is shown by the fact that "Since 2000, demands for collective protests against the US and Israel have been ignored by the authorities" and "unofficial street actions have faced intimidation and assault, with activists being harassed or detained". In Iraq, the country in which the war would take place, protesters marched down Palestine Street in Baghdad where several thousand Iraqis—many carrying Kalashnikov rifles—joined in the global protests. Unlike the vast majority of protests across the world the protest in Baghdad was also in support of the Baathist regime; it was called by Saddam Hussein as "World Anger Day". Protesters carried posters of Saddam and burned US flags. A large protest also took place on the streets of Damascus in Syria, which borders Iraq. Protesters chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans while marching to the "People's Assembly" in a demonstration of between 10,000 (GLW estimate) to 200,000 protesters (CBS estimate and "USA Today" estimate). In Lebanon, 10,000 protesters (CBS, GLW estimate) took part in a demonstration in Beirut. However, the protest ended early when it rained heavily. There were also demonstrations of 5,000 people (GLW estimate) in Amman, Jordan. In Israel there was a demonstration in Tel Aviv of approximately 2,000 ("USA Today" estimate) to 3,000 people (GLW and WSWS estimate). The demonstration contained both Arabs and Jews. It was organized by a wide range of organizations including the Communist Party of Israel, the National Democratic Assembly, the Arab Democratic Party, the Independent Media Center, the Alternative Information Center, Ta'ayush, the Gush Shalom movement, and the Organization for Democratic Action.