Lebanese Anti-Govt. Protesters Return to Streets, Clash with Hezbollah Supporters

Demonstrators gather as they hold Lebanese flags during a protest against the government performance and worsening economic conditions, in Beirut, Lebanon June 6, 2020. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather as they hold Lebanese flags during a protest against the government performance and worsening economic conditions, in Beirut, Lebanon June 6, 2020. (Reuters)
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Lebanese Anti-Govt. Protesters Return to Streets, Clash with Hezbollah Supporters

Demonstrators gather as they hold Lebanese flags during a protest against the government performance and worsening economic conditions, in Beirut, Lebanon June 6, 2020. (Reuters)
Demonstrators gather as they hold Lebanese flags during a protest against the government performance and worsening economic conditions, in Beirut, Lebanon June 6, 2020. (Reuters)

Hundreds of Lebanese protesters took to the streets on Saturday to voice outrage over the government’s handling of a deep economic crisis, with security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rock-throwing demonstrators. Clashes soon erupted between supporters and opponents of the Hezbollah party.

Hundreds filled the streets in and around the protest hub of Martyrs Square in the center of Beirut, blaming a lack of government reforms for the economic crisis. Some waved banners demanding better living conditions and called for early parliamentary elections and tougher measures to fight corruption.

Debt-burdened Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war, now compounded by a lockdown to stem the novel coronavirus.

"We came on the streets to demand our rights, call for medical care, education, jobs and the basic rights that human beings need to stay alive," said 21-year-old student Christina.

But Saturday's protest turned violent as supporters of Hezbollah clashed with some demonstrators who were demanding that the Iran-backed group disarm.

Hezbollah is the only group to have kept its weapons since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990 and this has deeply divided Lebanon along political lines.

“No to Hezbollah, no to its weapons,” said a sign held up by Sana, a female protester from Nabatiyeh, a city in southern Lebanese, a Hezbollah stronghold.

“Weapons should be only in the hands of the army,” said the 57-year-old.

“As long as there are militias that are stronger than the state, then it (the government) will not be able to fight corruption,” said John Moukarzel, a real estate company owner.

Supporters and opponents of Hebzollah threw stones at each other prompting the army to intervene by forming a human chain to separate them, an AFP photographer said.

Security forces also fired tear gas near a street leading into the parliament building behind Martyrs Square, after some demonstrators pelted them with stones and ransacked shops in the area.

The Lebanese Red Cross said on Twitter 37 people were wounded in Saturday's violence, most of them treated at the scene.

The first big protests since the government rolled back coronavirus lockdown measures come as Beirut negotiates an International Monetary Fund package it hopes will secure billions of dollars in financing to prop up its collapsing economy.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab took office in January with the support of Hezbollah and its allies after the previous government was toppled by the protests that erupted last October.

Lebanon’s economic woes have reached new depths in recent months. The pound currency has lost more than half of its value on the parallel market, prices have soared, and companies dealing with the double blow of the coronavirus have axed jobs.

“You can sense that everyone is tired and the situation is very hard, especially the economy, so you can sense that people no longer want to be festive (in their protests). People are just angry,” said protester Marie-nour Hojaimy, a lawyer.

More than 35 percent of Lebanese are unemployed, while poverty has soared to engulf more than 45 percent of the population, according to official estimates.

Lebanon is also one of the world's most indebted countries with a debt equivalent to more than 170 percent of its GDP. The country defaulted on its debt for the first time in March.



Zaki to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iraq Played its Part, up to Syria to Determine its Participation at Arab Summit

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Hossam Zaki. (Arab League)
Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Hossam Zaki. (Arab League)
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Zaki to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iraq Played its Part, up to Syria to Determine its Participation at Arab Summit

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Hossam Zaki. (Arab League)
Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Hossam Zaki. (Arab League)

Iraq is hosting on May 17 a regular Arab League summit amid complex regional challenges and crises, including Israel’s war on Gaza, the severing of relations between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates and some parties in Baghdad’s wariness of the new rulers in Syria.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Hossam Zaki told Asharq Al-Awsat that efforts are underway to mend ties between Sudan and the UAE.

He also hailed the Iraqi government’s handling of Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's participation at the summit given the tensions between the neighbors following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December.

The is the second Arab League regular summit that is held amid the war on Gaza, which demands that leaders come up with a “cohesive Arab stance that takes into account the developments of the past months and which adopts Arab principles related to the Palestinian cause,” Zaki said.

Since the last summit, US President Donald Trump unveiled his plan to transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” which was vehemently rejected by Arab states. The countries countered by adopting a reconstruction plan for the enclave that ensures that its people remain in place.

Israel has since reignited the war, complicating peace efforts. “Israel is in control of the situation on the ground, making it difficult to challenge it through any means or decisions,” acknowledged Zaki. “All we have is political and diplomatic work.”

He recognized that political efforts are often doubted and dismissed, but they are actually “very important because they allow the Palestinian cause to remain alive, while the other party tries to kill it.”

“Israel’s attempts to mislead the public and distort facts can only be confronted by political and diplomatic work,” Zaki said. “We must continue to forge ahead along this path and hope that time is on our side.”

Several parties are banking on Washington to wield its influence on Israel to pressure it to stop the war. Zaki revealed that bilateral contacts are being held between Arab countries and the American administration in the hopes of achieving some form of breakthrough.

“It remains to be seen whether these contacts are a success,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Tensions between Sudan and the UAE will also weigh heavily on the Baghdad summit. The Sudanese government announced earlier this month that it was severing ties with Abu Dhabi over its support to the Rapid Support Forces in its war against the military.

Zaki described the situation as “difficult and thorny. It may not impact the overall work of the Arab League, but it will certainly impact discussions about the Sudanese crisis given the differences in positions.”

Efforts are underway to help bridge the gap between Sudan and the UAE, but they have yet to yield the desired results, he revealed.

On Syria, Zaki said the summit is significant because it will be the first since Assad’s ouster.

“Syria is an important country, and it plays a traditional role in Arab affairs. At the same time, however, it is facing several challenges that are threatening its unity,” he noted.

The Arab League had reinstated Syria’s membership in May 2023 after it was suspended in 2011 when the Assad regime violently cracked down on peaceful anti-regime protests.

Sharaa had taken part in an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo in March.

His participation at the Baghdad summit has stirred controversy in Iraq given the strained ties between it and the new rulers in Damascus. Some parties in Iraq have openly opposed his participation.

Zaki said that Iraq, as the host, has fulfilled its duty in inviting Syria to the summit. It is now up to Syria to determine who will represent it at the meeting.

He did not reveal which leaders have confirmed their attendance of the summit, saying that the meeting does not gain importance with who shows up, but with what its outcomes are.

It is important, however, that all countries are represented, he added.