Click to see full-size image
On October 24th, protests in Lebanon continued for a week, with no sign of slowing down. The large-scale protests began on October 17th, but they were simmering for a few weeks prior.
Protests started taking place in small numbers around Beirut towards the end of September. On October 1st, the Central Bank of Lebanon announced an economic strategy that promised to provide dollars to all those companies in the business of importing wheat, gasoline and pharmaceuticals, so that they could continue their imports. This was considered a short-term solution by economic analysts.
In a cabinet session held on 17 October, the government proposed strategies to increase state budget for 2020. There were 36 items to be discussed, including the increase of Value Added Tax (VAT) by 2% by 2021 and an additional 2% by 2022, making it reach a total of 15%.
Additionally, the media reported there were plans of a $0.20 charge on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, such as ones made on FaceTime, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Protests broke out, and the final session on the budget draft was cancelled upon the agreement of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun.
On October 24th, Lebanese president Michel Aoun gave a televised address in which he invited protesters to talks.
The video was supposedly a live broadcast, but it very clearly wasn’t. With each camera change, Aoun’s tie changed positions, he miraculously swapped between leaning back and forward, his left hand kept changing positions without any movement being shown on a live broadcast, and there are numerous weird pauses.
Notably, around 33 seconds in the video, the camera changes angles and it can be seen that the books in the background are differently arranged, with some tilting, which is quite suspect.
Regardless, in the address Aoun said he was willing to meet demonstrators who have been taking to the streets for eight straight days calling for Lebanon’s post-civil war leadership to be held accountable for years of corruption and economic mismanagement.
The president insisted the government could not be toppled from the streets, but mooted a government reshuffle and pledged to back new legislation aimed at clamping down on corruption, saying the issue had “eaten us (Lebanon) to the bone”.
Aoun announced his support of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s recently unveiled reform package – which had left protesters’ unimpressed – calling the measures “the first step to save Lebanon and remove the spectre of financial and economic collapse.”
He expressed solidarity with protest grievances and he said corruption had “eaten us to the bone”. He pledged to exert every effort to implement radical reform, but also said that change can only come from within state institutions.
“I heard lots of calls for bringing down the regime,” he said. “The regime cannot be changed in the squares… this can only happen through state institutions.”
Both Hariri and Aoun have warned that a government resignation would lead to another vacuum, at a time the country desperately needs a government to enact reforms to help the struggling economy. Protesters, however, continued calling for the entire government to resign, so that new faces could be elected.
One of the most repeated chants, “All of them means all of them!” (Kilon Ya3ne Kilon) means that the protest isn’t against the president or prime minister. But rather that the entire political elite in Lebanon has to go, from the 81-year-old speaker of Parliament, who has been in office for close to 30 years, to Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose billionaire father previously held the post.
MSM reports claim that the protests are also against Hezbollah, with claims there is a chant that says “All of them means all of them, and Nasrallah is one of them.” Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of the Hezbollah movement and he is quite popular in the country, as somebody who has long opposed Israel.
During the protests, there seems to be little heavy violence, but there were clashes, specifically between Hezbollah supporters and protesters.
Protesters even cleaned the streets every morning after the protests.
And the difference between the situation, for example, in Hong Kong is obvious.
Protesters even sang Baby Shark for a child, which was sleeping while his mother drove her car, trying to get through the protest. The mother asked protesters to be quiet, and not to wake the toddler.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
The most fun and beautiful demonstrations i have ever seen :D
Send some Rials for pay pr view. The best discount helpis sending a pair of shoes because so many from Hisbollah only has one leg…
Dont think that just because some people protestes are not genuine, most of them are, the problems starts with where, as much as why, we all know HK is an 5 Eye Psy-op, period, since the initial protest reson is really obscure, since its based upon an murder case where the Male killed wacked His grilfriend in Taiwan and fled to HK, where He is in safe from persecution of justice, based upon an killing, and what did Taiwan do, if anything, since both have issues with mainland China, fasinating stuf huh. That is the initital starting point, and have since we are dealing with western eh…. intellegence orgs morphed to be what we have to day, an eh….. fight for democrasy and uh…. freedom. They think we are idiots, americans are idiots, but dont think most of us are, the rest of the world, compared to the high presurized water flsuhed and teflon coated inside the scul Moronikans, whom I consider to be the most brain washed idiots walking on the heap of rock. They belive everything, incl what Trumps says and what Hitlary carfes up.
Lebanon isnt run by Hezb, as some of our MSM thinks or writes, Hezb is just an part of the Gov, aka parliament, while others have had the prime minister and other posts, where corruption have been rampant, because of the last decades of western presure etc, also to ram Hezb. since it is/was an part of the coalition against the Happy western backed head choppers whom is friends of the Trump adm. and hailed as heroes by the European shitheads.
I agrees with those that have seen the light, as Escobar wrote it, burn neolinerlaism burn, if you stil dont get that, the same reason for Yellow vests, you have been blinded or is just an ignorant Mofo like the Moronikans in general. And I hope the Lebanes as others are, that they must never trust the MSM, never ever, since its easy to notice their agenda, this days, where in HK they are heroes, in other nations protestores, like in Equador and Chile, etc, the protesters are just criminal violent scums, the YV are even violent criminals, scumbags, facists, racists and spiced with been neo-nazis, hehe the whole nine yards of bollocks, and since Lebanon is the homeland of Hezb, they write exlusivly because of having something negative to write about Hezb otherwise they dont give an rats ass about you, the same uh…. whorespondents and prestitutes write regarding Yemen genoicde, only if the can squice Iran somehow into an article, other wise we hear nor read anything, and since its the same MSM and western Gov that have made the problem in the first place, and then we have Saudi-barbarians, ISISrael, UAE and finaly the Imperial banana republic Moronistan formely known as UssA aka ZATO/5eyes.
And I suport them all, your fights are legitimate, we all know that, just fight for you country, people and home, and you have my hart and soul with you all the way, because the enemy of man is western banking system, the tools of mass destruction, crimes against humanity, and should be hanged where ever you find them.
Free Assagne, and again, not an single f…. word in our MSM.
The scumbags in charge have no shame, never forget that, next time it may be us. Then what, coward creeps, they will come, sooner or later, the purge will come, this are beta tests, to see how far can they push us, and right now, they are winning. I dont like this at all, infact, we are crossing an line right now and we/you do nothing, we should burn down the cort house, jail the judge and fire the proecuters and give the parliament an warning, next time we burn them down and hang em. Because, if not, we are walking deads, its just a matter of time before that becomes are reality, are you idiots blind.
peace
Pathetic funny and version.
We know You Sunni. Any protest against any stupid and ancient tradition is strictly forbidden.
mossad and cia at work – israel needs permission from the lebanese government to build the pipeline across lebanon’s seabed so the gas the squatters are about to steal from the palestinians can be transported to europa rather than to egypt and liquefaction processing and moved forward by ship ( a much more expensive way to transport gas than pipeline). pompeo visited lebanon say 6 to 8 weeks ago to discuss the subject. once there and a clear no was imparted on him israel started the troubles along the lebanon border and now has arranged the demonstrations – busy these thieves and murderers, lebanon today and iraq also today.
It’s not a secret that Israel wants Lebanese coastal gas.
Israel has long coveted south Lebanese territorial resources – the Litani River, and offshore coastal energy assets.
pompeo was there to propose an israeli pipeline over the seabed and the gas would come from the gasfind outside palestine and which really is palestine’s gas. the alternative is to build a pipeline to egypt and their liquefaction installation, which economically is a lot worse.
So Hesbollah dont control the southern parts of lebanon anymore ? I would be nice to have a link about it.
What you are on about?
consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek are already engaged even no gas is found yet.
The disputed area is far from Lebanon. Others wants it too.
https://www.rcem.eu/views-on-energy-news/lebanon/
Hey, hey – its Jens the Dutch/Kurd/Whatever identity suits this week. And surprise, Jens is defender of Israel!
Much læike Yopu have a ppipeline direct to a beer production facility.
Lebanon are used to money from the Saudis. Now its stopped, because Hesbollah still are in the Governess.
Hesbollahs for years has produced nothing and even has made minus by their expensive adventures in Syria.
The refugees does it too. Even well helped by UN and fx Red Crescent those are minus and have taken jobs from the Lebanese.
Thats how it is Miss Verner von Braun.
Facts seemes not to bother You or more like You have succes avoiding most of them.
Zionists will try to abuse this, count on it.
I have simple solution, use bitcoin.
These protests are not fake like the ones in HK or the ones that started the war in Syria and Libya. How we know? Well we see people walking over israeli flags and burning them. +1 for that. People actually have real grievances with the government. The same government which is too scared to do anything about Israeli violations of their airspace when attacking Syria.
israel is hated but do not for,one second think that israel can’t be behind these demonstrations, because they are and the purpose is to get another government in place, displace hezbollahs military arm and get permission from the government to build a pipeline for gas over the lebanese seabed (as pompeo requested of the government a couple of months ago and the answer was nooooo.)
Again pure crap about the situation in Lebanon.
How do you know what is going on in Lebanon Jens. You were clueless about Syria, why would you be right on this?
Most of that is only lie. Its mainly about hard corruption and high unimplyment with low income.
As long as We and Israeliens are allowed to pee on Yor dirty flags too , its ok for me.
Looks like Israels color revolution has launched against the Lebanese people. Perhaps nations need to grow brains and launch color revolutions on US soil. Let the US experience Balkanization and break up into smaller separate countries. https://dailystormer.name/
texas and california could think a break from the federation – possibly louisiana as well.
Neo nazis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Stormer
The white alternative to Niqabs and Hijabs.