"Lebanon is a failed state. Lebanon is currently under the occupation of a terrorist government that opened fire at unarmed, peaceful civilians who were protesting against corruption and against the failure to forge solutions to the crippling garbage management crisis grappling the country for the second month," protesters said in the wake of the manifestation that took place on August 22, 2015 in downtown Beirut.
The remarks were made after live tracer rounds and rubber bullets, tear gas bombs, and water cannons targeted families, men, women, and children indiscriminately; who, for the first time in a very long time gathered under no religious or political context to make their voices heard against "corrupt rulers who have hijacked the country," and "who are playing musical chairs with one another in a never-ending revolving door of power acquisition." The security forces knowingly threw tear gas and opened water cannons on a crowd where there were scores of children, many of them in their strollers.
The political class is opaque and exclusive, comprised of oligarchs, war criminals and supposed populists who stoke religious divisions of the population to reinforce their own political clout.
But, today was different. Today, citizens from all walks of life from all over Lebanon gathered to exercise their democratic right to peaceful assembly. It wasn’t about religion, March 8, or March 14—the demand was clear. The government has to resign. Perhaps, this is why the situation was made to escalate, because this protest was moving the discussion away from the usual political discourse that always ends at an impasse. The peaceful demonstration was called for by a grassroots organization called #YouStink or Tol3it Re7etkom.
This was the scene before the situation escalated, after citizens attempted to gather and move forward on streets that were illegally blocked by security forces. It’s worth remembering that this occurred in opposition to an illegal parliament that unconstitutionally extended its term—not once, but twice.
Hundreds of protesters remained at a standoff with security forces following the attacks. They erected tents and refused to leave the scene until the entire government resigns, the parliament is dissolved, and all protesters who have been detained are released. There have also been reports of citizens who were severely injured, and dozens of others have been hospitalized. The original purpose of the protest was to call for sustainable, long-term solutions to the waste management crisis, but has now evolved into a standoff, with the protesters refusing to enter into any negotiations with any government entity.
While standing with the protesters as a Lebanese citizen and journalist, I witnessed the sheer brutality by the same men who are supposed to protect this nation’s citizens. Riot police pulled one unarmed citizen out of the crowd and began clubbing him relentlessly, until protesters created a diversion and were able to pull him out of the jack-booted thugs’ clutches. Another female protester, who I had to keep from hysterically running back into the crowd, told me that while they were peacefully marching toward Nejmeh Square, a fellow protester shielded her from riot police with his body, only to be shot with a rubber bullet.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Prior to going down to the streets, everything had been carefully planned and organized—protesters even brought garbage bags with them in order to clean up behind them. Instead, they were made to stampede like cattle in sheer panic, while restaurants, shops, and hotels barricaded their privileged patrons inside and refused to offer shelter from the nonstop barrage of tear gas and brutality, with a few exceptions. The saddest part is that citizens were calling to soldiers from the Lebanese Army who were standing by and witnessing everything, but doing nothing. Some were even smiling at protesters who were reminding them that their own comrades have been abandoned to Daesh.
Official statements refuse to allocate responsibility or clarify where the orders to attack protesters originated. The Minister of Environment, Mohammad Machnouq, has yet to comment on the situation; his cousin, the Minister of Interior, Nouhad Machnouq, is currently outside of the country.
"The world needs to know that the Lebanese people aren’t apathetic, and that we have been taken hostage. They are poisoning our food, our water, and are pushing the nation to the brink of an ecological disaster, but in their eyes, WE are the danger, WE are the problem."