ANSD : Protests triumph over violence on seventh day

SUN 24 - 11 - 2024

Date: Oct 24, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Protests triumph over violence on seventh day

_{Timour Azhari & Mohammed Zaatari| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Protesters across Lebanon Wednesday pushed back against attempts to forcefully remove them from the streets, whether by the hand of the Army following official orders or local police under the influence of Hezbollah.

The countrywide demonstrations demanding the downfall of the current political class entered their seventh day with many roads blocked by protesters, from Tripoli to the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon. Pressure has, however, increased for roads to be reopened.

In the morning hours, the Army attempted to clear roads from Ghazir, Zouk Mosbeh, Jal al-Dib and Nahr al-Kalb in the north, to Sidon in the south, and in the capital Beirut.

Several people were wounded. Tensions were high. But the Army stood down in the end, and the road-clearing attempts were mostly unsuccessful, with the Sidon road being the only one to reopen by nightfall.

The Army released a statement, saying it stood with the protesters, but asked them not to block streets or vandalize property.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri has similarly said that he supports the right to protest, but added that the streets should be reopened.

But for those attempting to pressure the government into resigning by crippling the country’s road network, that is not an option.

“We are not here to hang out or to party, we are here to revolt. It’s serious. I’m a married man with four children. I haven’t seen them in days,” Sami Attieh, a 33-year-old hairdresser, told The Daily Star from the roadblock in Jal al-Dib. “We will be here until this regime falls.”

Meanwhile, at least 15 protesters in Nabatieh were wounded Wednesday when they were attacked by municipal police and Hezbollah supporters.

Local police had prohibited demonstrators from being near the city’s Serail and the streets around it, in an effort to reopen blocked roads.

After being pushed away from there, approximately 1,000 then gathered at the nearby Kfar Roummane roundabout, about 1 kilometer away.

Army personnel were stationed in the area in order to prevent Hezbollah supporters from further harming protesters. The Army has previously stopped Hezbollah and Amal supporters from reaching large protests in Downtown Beirut. A source from the Amal Movement denied that the group was involved in any events in Nabatieh.

But an ominous warning came from security officials and representatives of political parties in the south, who announced to protesters in Sidon, Tyre, Nabatieh and Marjayoun that the roads between Naqoura and Sidon, and from Zahrani to Marjayoun in the east had to be cleared by Friday morning. Anyone who wants to express their views should do so in public squares, they said, and blocking roads would not be tolerated.

School and university students also took to the streets across Lebanon Wednesday. “What our students are learning today through these mass demonstrations are lessons our outdated curriculums do not provide,” said Kamel Kaspar, the principal of Sidon’s Al-Iman School. “Our kids are learning how to say no to corruption, how to be agents of change. ... These streets are the real schools.”

In Beirut, several university professors decided to hold discussions in public places, including the old cinema in Downtown that is locally known as the Egg. An image circulated on Twitter showed a school math lesson being taught on the stairs of the Mohammad al-Amine Mosque in the city’s Downtown area.

And across the country, protesters came out, despite the beginning of the rain, which is set to continue throughout the week. To deal with the downpours, tents have been set up, giving the demonstrations a greater air of permanence across the country, including on main highways.

In Riad al-Solh Square, amid chants of “Revolution” and “The people demand the fall of the regime,” protesters sang in support of Nabatieh, where crowds had swelled by the end of the night despite the violence against them.

The Lebanese Red Cross announced it had treated 900 people for injuries sustained in the protests since they began - 676 on the scene while another 224 were transported to hospitals.

Despite scuffles with Army, protesters in Jal al-Dib said they maintained a positive overall image of the security force, with some handing out flowers to them as others made conversation and traded jokes.

“If you go home, I promise we’ll leave right after you, we haven’t slept in days,” one man said, eliciting laughter from a soldier.

Soldiers also showed other signs of sympathy toward protesters, with at least two seen crying - one as he held the line with other Army personnel, another as he sat in a vehicle.

Others asked the soldiers to join the protests. “Soldier put your gun away, come and join your brothers,” protesters in Jal al-Dib chanted.

Above all, there was a spirit of defiance in the streets Wednesday. The protests have hit the one-week mark, they have won concessions from the government, and the weekend is fast approaching, which will give those who have to work more freedom to join the movement. Earlier in the day protesters in Jal al-Dib rallied under the chant, “We either get justice or we die.”

Readers Comments (0)

Add your comment

Enter the security code below*


Can't read this? Try Another.