01-22-2020, 11:08 PM
** 22-Jan-2020 World View: Lebanon riots continue as Hezbollah ministers form new government
Thick, grey smoki hung over the center of Lebanon's capital city
Beirut on Wednesday, as another day of rioting near the Parliament
building and the shopping mall. This was another day of violent
confrontations between protesters and police that began on October 17,
causing the prime minister to resign and the government to collapse on
October 29.
** 19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e200119
The new riots follow the selection of a new acting prime minister,
Hassan Diab, and Diab's selection of a new Cabinet. The selections
were driven by Hezbollah, and Diab and the 20 Cabinet ministers are
all thought to be aligned with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, led by Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, is a puppet of Iran and
Syria. The US, Israel, Canada and the Arab League consider Hezbollah
a terrorist organization. However, Australia and most of the European
Union differentiate between its legitimate political activities and
its militant wing.
This represents a historic change in the structure of Lebanon's
government. As I described in the article referenced above, Lebanon
has a "confessional" system of government, where power is divided
based on sectarian affiliation or confession, where the functions of
the government are to be split equally among Sunni Muslim, Shia
Muslim, and Christian factions. But now politicians in other factions
are saying that "Hezbollah is now completing its takeover of Lebanon
through the new government."
This is only enraging the protesters. One 40-year-old protester is
quoted as saying, "We are here to say this government doesn't
represent the revolutionaries as the prime minister Hassan Diab
says. ... They are the same parties, the same corrupt political
elite."
A 62-year-old engineer said, "This is an anti-people government, it is
a sectarian government which is not representative of the social and
demographic terrain of the Lebanese population."
Many of the protesters are coming from the impoverished city of
Tripoli in northern Lebanon. They are quoted as saying that the new
cabinet is just a rubber stamp of the existing government. They
insist that the protests and riots will continue indefinitedly,
saying, "We have nothing to lose."
---- Sources:
-- New government shows Hezbollah ‘takeover of Lebanon is complete’
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1616716/middle-east
(Arab News, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanon announces new 'expert' government
https://www.dw.com/en/lebanon-announces-...a-52102252
(Deutsche Welle, 21-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanese Cabinet faces multiple challenges, growing unrest
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east...t-1.615766
(Stars and Stripes, AP, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanon protests are dividing the country’s struggling media
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/p...media.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 5-Dec-2019)
-- Protesters condemn Hassan Diab’s new government in Lebanon
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi...itics.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Rich Lebanese hoarding cash despite capital controls
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/feature...trols.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 21-Jan-2020)
Thick, grey smoki hung over the center of Lebanon's capital city
Beirut on Wednesday, as another day of rioting near the Parliament
building and the shopping mall. This was another day of violent
confrontations between protesters and police that began on October 17,
causing the prime minister to resign and the government to collapse on
October 29.
** 19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e200119
The new riots follow the selection of a new acting prime minister,
Hassan Diab, and Diab's selection of a new Cabinet. The selections
were driven by Hezbollah, and Diab and the 20 Cabinet ministers are
all thought to be aligned with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, led by Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, is a puppet of Iran and
Syria. The US, Israel, Canada and the Arab League consider Hezbollah
a terrorist organization. However, Australia and most of the European
Union differentiate between its legitimate political activities and
its militant wing.
This represents a historic change in the structure of Lebanon's
government. As I described in the article referenced above, Lebanon
has a "confessional" system of government, where power is divided
based on sectarian affiliation or confession, where the functions of
the government are to be split equally among Sunni Muslim, Shia
Muslim, and Christian factions. But now politicians in other factions
are saying that "Hezbollah is now completing its takeover of Lebanon
through the new government."
This is only enraging the protesters. One 40-year-old protester is
quoted as saying, "We are here to say this government doesn't
represent the revolutionaries as the prime minister Hassan Diab
says. ... They are the same parties, the same corrupt political
elite."
A 62-year-old engineer said, "This is an anti-people government, it is
a sectarian government which is not representative of the social and
demographic terrain of the Lebanese population."
Many of the protesters are coming from the impoverished city of
Tripoli in northern Lebanon. They are quoted as saying that the new
cabinet is just a rubber stamp of the existing government. They
insist that the protests and riots will continue indefinitedly,
saying, "We have nothing to lose."
---- Sources:
-- New government shows Hezbollah ‘takeover of Lebanon is complete’
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1616716/middle-east
(Arab News, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanon announces new 'expert' government
https://www.dw.com/en/lebanon-announces-...a-52102252
(Deutsche Welle, 21-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanese Cabinet faces multiple challenges, growing unrest
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east...t-1.615766
(Stars and Stripes, AP, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Lebanon protests are dividing the country’s struggling media
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/p...media.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 5-Dec-2019)
-- Protesters condemn Hassan Diab’s new government in Lebanon
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi...itics.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 22-Jan-2020)
-- Rich Lebanese hoarding cash despite capital controls
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/feature...trols.html
(Al Arabiya, Riyadh, 21-Jan-2020)
