01-18-2020, 11:42 PM
*** 19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
****
![[Image: g200118b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g200118b.jpg)
Anti-government protesters in Beirut, Lebanon, stand atop a road sign and flash the victory sign along a main highway that has been blocked by hundreds of protesters, on Friday. (AP)
After months of generally peaceful protests that began on October 17
when the government announced tax increases, on Saturday protesters
began throwing rocks, molotov coctails, fireworks and large plant pots
at police blocking the road to the parliament building in Lebanon's
capital city Beirut. Other protesters blocked roads and crippled the
city.
The Internal Security Forces tweeted: "A direct and violent
confrontation is taking place with anti-riot police at one of the
entrances to parliament. We ask peaceful protesters to keep away from
the site of the rioting for their safety."
By the end of the day, the Red Cross reported 80 wounded were taken to
the hospital, while 140 were treated on site.
Lebanon's banking system is near collapse as the country runs out of
dollars, and Lebanon's pound currency has lost 60% of its value.
Banks are setting a withdrawal limit of around $200 per month, and
people are unable to pay their bills. There are fears that the
economy will collapse completely.
****
**** Multi-sectarian rioters protest 'confessional' government
****
There have been street protests in Lebanon in the past, but they've
always been highly sectarian protests by people in just one religious
bloc -- Sunnis, Shias or Christians.
But these new protests are cutting across all sectarian blocs. The
massive protests began after the new taxes were announced on October
17, and by October 29 the entire government collapsed, leaving the
country to be run by a caretaker government since then.
Lebanon (like Iraq) has been governed by a "confessional system of
government," where power is divided based on sectarian affiliation or
confession. The confessional form of government has worked fairly
well in both Iraq and Lebanon, because it's prevented the kind of
massive violence that's been occurring in Iran and Syria.
However, the confessional form of government has failed in a diffeent
way. Lebanon's constitution requires that the three main offices be
occupied by specific sectarian groups:
Because each sect has complete control of one portion of the
government, there are no checks and balances and corruption is
rampant, with the leaders of each sect able to steal as much money as
they like from their own part of the government. Since the government
collapsed on October 29, the three sects have been fighting among
themselves and have been unable to form a new government.
So the protesters have been getting increasingly furious. The economy
gets worse every day, and the people see the sectarian government
leaders as massively corrupt because each one refuses to give up any
power to the others, and so the country is at a stalemate.
The World Bank has warned that the poverty rate in Lebanon could rise
from a third to a half of the population if the political crisis is
not remedied fast.
****
**** Rioters protest Iran's influence
****
Rioters have also been protesting the influence of Iran. The most
powerful sect has been the Shia Muslim sect, led by Iran's puppet
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
As long as Iran was paying Hezbollah enough money, there was little
complaint in Lebanon. But thanks to Iran's own economic crisis,
caused in part by US sanctions, Iran has less money to pay to
Hezbollah. Hezbollah for five years has also yielded to Iran's
demands to send troops to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad's failing
army in Syria, and indeed Syria's army would have collapsed years ago
except for support from Russia and Hezbollah. But all that has taken
an enormous economic toll on Lebanon.
So rioters in Lebanon are demanding an end to Iran's influence,
and that would mean a big reduction in Hezbollah's influence.
Lebanon, Iraq and Iran are all in a generational Awakening era, like
America and Europe in the 1960s-70s. Iraq's government and Lebanon's
government are both in collapse, and Iran's government is dealing with
its own massive anti-government protests.
Violence has been growing in all three countries, and beatings and
violence by police is growing. There's no resolution in sight in any
of these three countries. With all three governments in turmoil, the
chaos is not going to end any time soon, and the street violence is
liable to get worse, as it did in America and Europe in the 1960s-70s.
Sources:
Related articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Lebanon, confessional government system,
Iraq, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah,
Saad al-Hariri, Nabhi Berri, Michel Aoun, Russia
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
- Multi-sectarian rioters protest 'confessional' government
- Rioters protest Iran's influence
****
**** Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses
****
Anti-government protesters in Beirut, Lebanon, stand atop a road sign and flash the victory sign along a main highway that has been blocked by hundreds of protesters, on Friday. (AP)
After months of generally peaceful protests that began on October 17
when the government announced tax increases, on Saturday protesters
began throwing rocks, molotov coctails, fireworks and large plant pots
at police blocking the road to the parliament building in Lebanon's
capital city Beirut. Other protesters blocked roads and crippled the
city.
The Internal Security Forces tweeted: "A direct and violent
confrontation is taking place with anti-riot police at one of the
entrances to parliament. We ask peaceful protesters to keep away from
the site of the rioting for their safety."
By the end of the day, the Red Cross reported 80 wounded were taken to
the hospital, while 140 were treated on site.
Lebanon's banking system is near collapse as the country runs out of
dollars, and Lebanon's pound currency has lost 60% of its value.
Banks are setting a withdrawal limit of around $200 per month, and
people are unable to pay their bills. There are fears that the
economy will collapse completely.
****
**** Multi-sectarian rioters protest 'confessional' government
****
There have been street protests in Lebanon in the past, but they've
always been highly sectarian protests by people in just one religious
bloc -- Sunnis, Shias or Christians.
But these new protests are cutting across all sectarian blocs. The
massive protests began after the new taxes were announced on October
17, and by October 29 the entire government collapsed, leaving the
country to be run by a caretaker government since then.
Lebanon (like Iraq) has been governed by a "confessional system of
government," where power is divided based on sectarian affiliation or
confession. The confessional form of government has worked fairly
well in both Iraq and Lebanon, because it's prevented the kind of
massive violence that's been occurring in Iran and Syria.
However, the confessional form of government has failed in a diffeent
way. Lebanon's constitution requires that the three main offices be
occupied by specific sectarian groups:
- The prime minister, must be a Sunni Muslim. Saad al-Hariri
was the prime minister until he resigned on October 29.
- The president, currently Michel Aoun, must be a Syriac Maronite
Catholic.
- And the speaker of parliament, currently held by Nabhi Berri, must
be a Shia Muslim. The Shia Muslim sect in Lebanon is controlled by
the terrorist militia Hezbollah, which is led by Sayyed Hasan
Nasrallah.
Because each sect has complete control of one portion of the
government, there are no checks and balances and corruption is
rampant, with the leaders of each sect able to steal as much money as
they like from their own part of the government. Since the government
collapsed on October 29, the three sects have been fighting among
themselves and have been unable to form a new government.
So the protesters have been getting increasingly furious. The economy
gets worse every day, and the people see the sectarian government
leaders as massively corrupt because each one refuses to give up any
power to the others, and so the country is at a stalemate.
The World Bank has warned that the poverty rate in Lebanon could rise
from a third to a half of the population if the political crisis is
not remedied fast.
****
**** Rioters protest Iran's influence
****
Rioters have also been protesting the influence of Iran. The most
powerful sect has been the Shia Muslim sect, led by Iran's puppet
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
As long as Iran was paying Hezbollah enough money, there was little
complaint in Lebanon. But thanks to Iran's own economic crisis,
caused in part by US sanctions, Iran has less money to pay to
Hezbollah. Hezbollah for five years has also yielded to Iran's
demands to send troops to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad's failing
army in Syria, and indeed Syria's army would have collapsed years ago
except for support from Russia and Hezbollah. But all that has taken
an enormous economic toll on Lebanon.
So rioters in Lebanon are demanding an end to Iran's influence,
and that would mean a big reduction in Hezbollah's influence.
Lebanon, Iraq and Iran are all in a generational Awakening era, like
America and Europe in the 1960s-70s. Iraq's government and Lebanon's
government are both in collapse, and Iran's government is dealing with
its own massive anti-government protests.
Violence has been growing in all three countries, and beatings and
violence by police is growing. There's no resolution in sight in any
of these three countries. With all three governments in turmoil, the
chaos is not going to end any time soon, and the street violence is
liable to get worse, as it did in America and Europe in the 1960s-70s.
Sources:
- Hundreds wounded as Lebanese protesters clash with security forces (France24, 18-Jan-2020)
- Dozens wounded as Lebanon's anti-gov't protests turn violent (Al-Jazeera, 18-Jan-2020)
- Lebanon police fire tear gas at protesters in violent 'week of rage' (CNN, 18-Jan-2020)
- Lebanon Protests Explained - Mass demonstrations (Amnesty Internatonal, 17-Jan-2020)
- Lebanon / Dozens injured as anti-bank protests rock Beirut for second night (Middle East Eye, 16-Jan-2020)
- Lebanon protesters clash with police, leaving more than 220 people injured (Middle East Eye, 18-Jan-2020)
- Hong Kong / The year in protests: From Chile to Lebanon, what happened next? (BBC, 22-Dec-2019)
- Lebanese demonstrators block roads as protests enter fourth month (AFP, 18-Jan-2020)
Related articles:
- Massive anti-government street protests paralyze Lebanon (21-Oct-2019)
- Anti-Iran, anti-government protests spread across Iraq (03-Nov-2019)
- Riots in Iraq's Basra evoke fault lines of 1980s Iran-Iraq war (09-Sep-2018)
- Saad Hariri shocks Lebanon by resigning as PM while in Saudi Arabia (05-Nov-2017)
- Arab League brands Lebanon's Hezbollah a terrorist organization (12-Mar-2016)
- Paralyzed Lebanon decides to export its garbage to Europe (24-Dec-2015)
- Iraqi Sunnis are turning against al-Qaeda in Iraq (01-Apr-2007)
- Massive Beirut explosion killing Rafiq Hariri puts Lebanon into state of shock (16-Feb-2005)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Lebanon, confessional government system,
Iraq, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah,
Saad al-Hariri, Nabhi Berri, Michel Aoun, Russia
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
