Protesters break into Lebanese ministry as crisis deepens

 Children search for valuables in the garbage next to a market in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, April 12, 2021. Lebanon's severe economic crisis that threw much of the population into poverty is dramatically affecting children leaving some go to bed hungry, lack good medial care and drop out of school to help their families, UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency said Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)


BEIRUT (AP) — A small group of protesters broke into a ministry building in Beirut early on Friday and removed a photo of the president from one of its main rooms, as the Lebanese pound hit a new low amid a worsening economic and political stalemate.

The protesters who entered the Ministry of Social Affairs said conditions in crisis-hit Lebanon have become unbearable as a result of the rapid economic collapse and ongoing crash of the pound, which reached 25,100 to the dollar. The previous record was 25,000.

Prices have been skyrocketing in recent weeks as the government lifted subsidies on fuel and some medicines, making them out of reach for many in Lebanon. Some three quarters of the population of 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty. The minimum monthly wage is now worth about $27.

Protesters have blamed the ministry for sluggishness in issuing ration cards that are supposed to give poor families monthly financial aid.

The protesters broke into the meeting room at the ministry and turned a framed picture of President Michel Aoun upside down before removing it. They replaced it with a banner in Arabic that read “revolutionaries of October 17.”

The protesters were referring to the start of nationwide protests in October 2019 against the country’s ruling class. They are blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement that threw the small nation into the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

“Those who usurped public money cannot conduct reforms,” shouted one of the protesters before leaving the building following police intervention. “We have hit rock bottom. Things cannot get worse.”

The crisis has been made worse by the coronavirus and the August 2020 explosion in Beirut’s port that killed 216 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed parts of the capital.

The Cabinet, formed in September after a 13-month vacuum, has not met in more than six weeks amid deep divisions between rival groups over the judge leading the investigation into the port blast. Comments by a government minister that triggered a diplomatic row with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations have added to the acrimony.

In other parts of the country, protesters placed posters that read “the mafia that destroyed the Lebanese pound” outside some branches of local banks, the state-run National News Agency said.

For the past two years, local lenders have imposed informal capital controls that prevent many people from accessing their savings.

 

Arab states admit to Syria's victory in war: Nasrallah

TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (MNA) – Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said Thur. that the rapprochement of Arab states to the Syrian government shows that they have been defeated in their war on the country.

According to Al-Manar, Hezbollah marks Martyr’s Day yearly on November eleventh. The day is considered an opportunity to recall the great martyr, Ahmad Kassir, who blew himself up in November 11, 1982, targeting the center of the Israeli military governor in the southern city of Tyre, and killing dozens of Zionist officers and soldiers.

At the start of his speech, Nasrallah hailed the role the martyrs played in the history of Islam and Resistance.

"Hezbollah has selected November 11 as Martyr Day because it refers to the date of the first martyrdom bombing operation carried out by the martyr Ahmad Kassir against the Israeli occupation forces in 1982," he said.

"Our Islamic values call on us to glorify the martyrs," he said.

The Hezbollah leader pointed to the visit of officials of Arab states to Damascus and said, "In recent days, it has been reported that the leaders of several Arab countries have contacted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad... An Emirati official traveled to Syria. These are achieved by the martyrs."

According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah martyrs liberated the prisoners as well as the occupied territories, deterred the enemy’s aggression, prevented the civil war in Lebanon, and defeated the takfiri terror in Syria.

Israeli enemy is periodically carrying out military drills for fear of Hezbollah capabilities, he said, adding that ‘Israel’ is worried about Hezbollah infantry’s ability to invade Galilee and fire precision-guided missiles.

He pointed to the US plots to create unrest in Lebanon and said that Hezbollah has foiled the US attempt to fully dominate Lebanon.

However, he said that Washington has influence over the Lebanese political factions while the country is standing on its feet and is still an independent entity thanks to Hezbollah's efforts.

Hezbollah will rely on the martyrs’ legacy and military power to deter any Israeli aggression on Lebanon, Nasrallah added.

Referring to the current dispute with Saudi Arabia, the Hezbollah leader said that he disagreed with the resignation of the Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi.

He noted that Riyadh has problems with Hezbollah rather than the information minister.

Nasrallah added that Saudi Arabia's demands from Lebanon will not end after the resignation of Kordahi.

"The crisis that Saudi Arabia has started is part of a struggle against the Resistance," he said.

Nasrallah added that Riyadh serves the interest of Washington and Tel Aviv in Lebanon. 

He rejected Saudi Arabia's claim on Hezbollah's control over Lebanon, while he acknowledged that the Resistance group is the biggest political force in the country.

He pointed to the Saudi war on Yemen, saying that "Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in Yemen over the past seven years. Today, the Saudis know very well that the defeat in Ma'rib would mean their total defeat in Yemen."

He also called for an impartial investigation on the blast in Beirut Port.

KI/Live

Beirut port blast investigator forced to suspend probe for third time

The August 4, 2020, blast at the Beirut port killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed swathes of the Lebanese capital. © Dylan Collins, AFP/File

Issued on: 04/11/2021 

Text by: NEWS WIRES

The Lebanese judge leading investigations into last year's Beirut port blast was forced to stop work Thursday over a lawsuit filed by an ex-minister he had summoned for interrogation.

Tarek Bitar was informed of a "lawsuit submitted by former public works minister Youssef Fenianos... which forced him to pause the probe until a ruling is issued", a court official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

It is the third time that Bitar has had to suspend his probe in the face of lawsuits filed by former ministers suspected of negligence over the August 2020 explosion.

The total number of lawsuits filed against Bitar now stands at 15, according to judicial sources.

The latest comes amid a campaign led by the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah demanding Bitar's replacement over allegations of "bias" that have been widely dismissed by rights groups and families of blast victims.

The Shiite group's representatives in government have said they will boycott cabinet meetings until it takes a clear stand on demands to replace Bitar.

The cabinet, as a result, has failed to hold a single session in three weeks.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday condemned attempts to force his government to intervene in judicial affairs, in a thinly veiled criticism of Hezbollah.

"We have tried as much as possible to keep the Beirut blast probe under the purview of the judiciary and we have rejected any kind of (political) interference," Mikati told a news conference.

Human rights groups and victims' relatives fear the repeated suspensions are a prelude to Bitar's removal, which would further derail the official inquiry into Lebanon's worst peace-time tragedy.

Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was forced to suspend his probe for the same reason before he was finally removed in February, in a move widely condemned as political interference.

(AFP)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

US sanctions Lebanese MP, tycoons for 'profiting from pervasive corruption'

Lebanon's former Major General Jamil Sayyed gestures in the court room at the special international tribunal for Lebanon in Leidschendam on January 14, 2011. 

© Jerry Lampen, AFP

Issued on: 28/10/2021 - 
Text by: NEWS WIRES

The US Treasury slapped sanctions on prominent Lebanese tycoons Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury and lawmaker Jamil Sayyed for allegedly benefitting from corruption and adding to the breakdown of the rule of law in the country.

The three "have each personally profited from the pervasive corruption and cronyism in Lebanon, enriching themselves at the expense of the Lebanese people and state institutions," the US Treasury said.

"While the Lebanese people face daily struggles to access basic public goods, including medicine, electricity, and food, during a historic and devastating economic crisis, members of the Lebanese political class and their cronies operate with impunity to enrich themselves and hide their wealth," the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury said al-Arab has used close political connections and kickback payments to win important public contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in which he overbilled the government and, in an emergency deal to address Beirut's 2016 garbage crisis, did not resolve the problem.

The Treasury also said he won two government contracts worth $200 million after brokering a political deal in 2014 ahead of elections.

>> Hezbollah’s campaign against Beirut blast judge paralyses Lebanon’s government

Khoury, it said, used his ties to already-sanctioned politician Gibran Bassil to reap lucrative contracts "while failing to meaningfully fulfill the terms of those contracts."

"Khoury and his company have been accused of dumping toxic waste and refuse into the Mediterranean Sea, poisoning fisheries, and polluting Lebanon's beaches, all while failing to remedy the garbage crisis," it said.

Sayyed, meanwhile, was accused of skirting banking regulations to move $120 million offshore.

"During the 2019 protests, when demonstrators protested outside his home demanding his resignation and calling him corrupt, Sayyed called on officials to shoot and kill the protesters," the Treasury said.

The sanctions order the seizure of any property the three have under US jurisdiction, whether bank accounts or real estate or other assets.

>> Who is out to get the judge in charge of Lebanon port explosion probe?

They also forbid US individuals or businesses -- including financial institutions with a US presence -- from transactions with the three, effectively restricting their access to global financial and trade networks.

The Treasury justified the sanctions by saying that corruption has undermined the rule of law and governance in Lebanon, which is currently mired in a deep political and economic crisis.

Its currency has plummeted in value and people are struggling day to day, their savings locked in banks and inflation soaring. Even the central bank has come under suspicion for corruption that has fed the crisis.

Washington and global organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are pressing for across-the-board reforms, but political wrangling continues to stall progress.

In June, the World Bank said Lebanon's economic collapse is likely to rank among the world's worst financial crises since the mid-19th century.

>> Lebanon’s political class ‘squabbling over a field of ruins’ as economic crisis rages

(AFP)

Beirut port explosion probe: Lebanese PM facing 'Shakespearean dilemma'


Issued on: 19/10/2021 - 


A Shiite rally against port blast judge Tarek Bitar escalated into deadly clashes, turning parts of Beirut into a war zone and sparking memories of the 1975-1990 civil war. And so now the Lebanese people will have to choose, explains Joseph Bahout, IFI Director and Professor at American University of Beirut (AUB), 'between stability, peace, etc. which is something dear and valuable, and truth on the harbor explosion that have left, in fact, the city completely destroyed and people's minds completely destroyed.' Offering historical perspective, Professor Bahout adds, 'If you think of it historically and retrospectively, this is a choice that Lebanon is always confronting.' Both during the civil war, and following the assassination of Rafic Hariri, Lebanon 'had to confront this choice between truth and reconciliation, on the one hand, and stability on the other.' Despite assurances of Prime Minister Najib Mikati that the page will be turned, Professor Bahout warns that the prime minister is facing a 'Shakespearean dilemma.' And so, he fears that the government of Lebanon will ultimately follow the model of authoritarian regimes in the region by making 'the choice of preserving civil peace and squandering, and maybe dropping, the case of Judge Bitar and the entire inquiry on the port explosion.'

Lebanon elite united against probe seen as survival threat

Issued on: 19/10/2021 - 

Lebanese bury their dead after the official inquiry into last year's Beirut port explosion sparked bloodshed on the streets of the capital

 IBRAHIM AMRO AFP/File

Beirut (AFP)

They may often squabble but Lebanon's political parties seem united in rejecting an investigation into Beirut's massive port explosion that they fear could threaten their survival, analysts say.

The explosion of a huge stockpile of poorly stored fertiliser on the dockside on August 4, 2020 killed more than 210 people, wounded thousands and ravaged half the capital.

In the aftermath of mass protests in late 2019 demanding the ouster of the traditional ruling class, many said the disaster was just the latest example of official incompetence and corruption.

But months into a domestic investigation, no one has been held accountable.

Politicians have repeatedly obstructed the work of judge Tarek Bitar by refusing to show up for questioning, filing legal complaints against him or calling for his dismissal, which last week sparked deadly violence in the heart of Beirut.

Analyst Lina Khatib said hopes were fading of holding those responsible for the port blast accountable.

"The ruling class in Lebanon is in agreement about wanting the port probe to be abandoned and they will use all available means to derail it," said Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House think tank.

The country's powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah has spearheaded a campaign to remove Bitar, accusing him of political bias.

The debate over his future, which comes after the previous investigator was removed in February, has already triggered the postponement of one cabinet meeting despite the urgency of addressing Lebanon's acute economic crisis.

- 'Battle for the rule of law' -

Nadim Houry, executive director at the Arab Reform Initiative, said that the whole ruling class felt under threat in what he described as "an essential battle in Lebanon for rule of law".

Last week's bloodshed and the funerals of those killed brought armed militiamen onto the streets of Beirut in scenes reminiscent of Lebanon's 1975 to 1990 civil war

 IBRAHIM AMRO AFP/File

"A section of society has decided that they want to go all the way and ask for truth," but they face "a political class that is willing to use threats, use violence, use even launching into another civil war to prevent that quest for truth from leading to a result," he said.

It emerged after the port blast that officials had known that hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate had for years been left to linger in a warehouse near residential neighbourhoods.

Families of the victims see in Bitar the only hope for justice in a country where impunity has long been the norm.

After the 1975 to 1990 civil war, Lebanon issued a broad amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become political leaders.

"Regardless of what Bitar finds, it's the idea itself that any of them can somehow be held accountable that they are resisting," Houry said.

Any success in the blast probe would set a precedent and unravel a "impunity regime" under which each party agrees not to pursue the other for its crimes, as long as it is not targeted itself.

Tensions came to a boil last week after a rally against Bitar organised by Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal descended into violence that killed seven of their supporters.

- 'Price too high' -

The sound of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades trapped residents indoors for hours, reviving memories of the civil war.

The inquiry's chief, judge Tarek Bitar, has become a bugbear not just for the Shiite parties pushing for his replacement but for the whole political elite, analysts say - AFP/File

Hezbollah accused snipers of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, of causing the bloodshed, but the latter has denied this.

The army, meanwhile, is investigating a video circulated on social media that appears to show a soldier shooting at protesters.

"Hezbollah is increasingly acting as the praetorian guard of the regime that has come into place since the 1990s," Houry said.

The Iran-backed movement, the only one not to have disarmed after the civil war, is at least partly blacklisted by most Western governments but holds seats in parliament.

While political parties have publicly supported an investigation, analysts say they ultimately wish to protect their own interests.

"Lebanon's ruling class may be political opponents but they are united in profiteering from the system... and they therefore oppose any steps to reform it or to instil accountability within it," Khatib said.

A spokesman for the families of blast victims quit on Saturday, after many feared he had been intimidated into toeing the Hezbollah line and calling for Bitar to step down.

Ibrahim Hoteit, who lost his brother in the explosion, lives in a Shiite-majority neighbourhood.

The following day, many refrained from taking part in a protest to mark the second anniversary of the now-defunct 2019 protest movement, fearing further violence.

"Ultimately, the ruling class want to push the Lebanese to conclude that the price of accountability is too high," Khatib said.

© 2021 AFP

Social unrest threatens Mideast economic recovery: IMF

Issued on: 19/10/2021

A protester holds a flag during clashes with armed forces in Lebanon, whose economy is in a tailspin PATRICK BAZ AFP/File

Dubai (AFP)

The Middle East and North Africa is on track for a recovery, but rising social unrest is threatening the "fragile" progress of low-income economies, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

The MENA region, which includes Arab countries and Iran, saw real GDP growth shrink by 3.2 percent in 2020 due to weak oil prices and sweeping lockdowns to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

But with rapid vaccination campaigns, especially in oil-rich Gulf nations, the IMF predicted GDP growth would rise to 4.1 percent this year, up 0.1 of a percentage point from its last projection in April.

"The region is going through recovery in 2021. Since the beginning of the year, we see progress in the economic performance," said Jihad Azour, director for the Middle East and Central Asia at the IMF.

But "this recovery is not the same in all countries. It is uncertain and uneven because of the divergence in vaccination... and geopolitical developments", he told AFP.

The IMF said in a report that while the prospects for oil-exporting economies improved with higher oil prices, low-income and crisis-hit countries were witnessing "fragile" recoveries.

It warned of "a rise in social unrest" in 2021 that "could pick up further due to repeated infection waves, dire economic conditions, high unemployment and food prices".

Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan other countries have been witnessing protests in recent months by thousands of angry citizens demanding better jobs and services.

Unemployment increased in MENA last year by 1.4 percent to reach 11.6 percent, a rise exceeding that seen during the global financial crisis and the 2014-15 oil price shock, the IMF said.

- Increasing inequities -

The IMF warned of the longer-term risk of an uneven recovery, which could lead to a "permanent widening of existing wealth, income, and social gaps and, ultimately, weaker growth and less inclusive societies".

About seven million more people in the region are estimated to have entered extreme poverty during 2020-21 compared with pre-crisis projections, according to the IMF.

Meanwhile, inflation in the region is projected to increase to 12.9 percent in 2021 from 10.4 last year, with higher food and energy prices in some countries, before subsiding to 8.8 percent in 2022.

"Inequities are increasing. The low-skilled, the young, women, and migrant workers have been affected the most by the pandemic, as have smaller firms, particularly those in contact-sensitive sectors," said the report.

According to the international lender, the corporate sector has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but smaller firms and those in "contact-sensitive sectors" are lagging behind.

"Fifteen to 25 percent of firms may need to be restructured or liquidated," it added.

In Lebanon, the continuing drop in the value of the currency has dashed hopes that the government formed last month can stem an economic crisis that the World Bank brands as one of the worst since the mid-19th century.

Nearly 80 percent of Lebanon's population lives below the poverty line.

"The Fund has already started technical discussions with the authorities... to develop what would be in fact that the framework within which the fund can help Lebanon," said Azour, a former Lebanese finance minister.

© 2021 AFP

The Beirut blast probe needs to go on – and the world can help

Iranian-backed elements trying to scuttle the Beirut blast probe must be held to account

RAGHIDA DERGHAM
Published: October 16th 2021


Demonstrators wave Lebanese flags during protests near the site of a blast at Beirut's port area. Reuters

It is welcome news that Iran wants to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, and that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are reaching out to Tehran to urge it to play a constructive role in ending the war in Yemen. The Saudi-Iranian talks in Iraq must also continue beyond the recent fourth round, with the aim being to begin a new chapter in Arab-Iran relations. One can only hope that these developments mark a serious and positive shift for the region.

However, the policy being pursued by the world’s major powers of separating the start-stop Vienna talks to strike a new nuclear deal with Iran from its destabilising activities in the Arab world will continue to have profound implications for the region. Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen are all run by weak governments, with Tehran-sponsored proxies wielding outsized influence in all three countries.

Last week’s parliamentary election in Iraq produced a surprising outcome, with Iran-backed political parties faring poorly – and, therefore, revealing the resentment ordinary Iraqis bear towards the neighbouring country’s influence in their affairs. The announcement of the results was followed by threats from Tehran’s allies to undo the results, thereby risking a security crisis in the country. It also proved that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in charge of Tehran’s overseas military activities – and which has been emboldened by the global powers’ decision to isolate the nuclear talks from Iran’s regional activities – does not have a stomach for genuine elections.

MORE FROM RAGHIDA DERGHAM
Why Russia is treading on tricky terrain in the Middle East

It is a similar story in Lebanon. Believing that it doesn't need to account for its destabilising activities there, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, is working hard to undermine the judiciary’s remit to deliver justice, in cases in which the group is implicated. It is currently trying to derail the investigation into last year’s Beirut Port explosion that left more than 200 people dead and over 7,000 injured. It has even threatened to topple the newly installed federal government if the latter refuses to give in to its diktats. Such an outcome could lead to street battles in a country that continues to have strong memories of its 15-year civil war, even though it ended more than three decades ago.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement party, its ally in Parliament, are targeting Tarek Bitar, the judge probing the port blast by accusing him of politicising the investigation, simply because he has refused to tolerate their interference. Both parties have targeted other officials in similar fashion before, but this time, they are doing so feeling confident that no foreign power will do anything to intervene, beyond making denunciations.

It is increasingly evident that Hezbollah wants to shut down the probe into the August 2020 blast, which has a complicated backstory allegedly involving corrupt politicians, international shell companies and – most crucially – Hezbollah, which controlled the port at the time of the explosion.

Many questions over the explosion remain unanswered: was it an act of terror or simply an accident? Either way, how did it happen and who was responsible for it? The investigation has yet to arrive at any conclusions, because the judiciary has so far been hamstrung by Hezbollah’s politicking and, allegedly, due to a lack co-operation from other countries. Again, the question is why.

One theory is that illicit imports and exports were transiting through the Beirut Port to and from Syria and Iran. Could these products have included chemicals, spare parts, chips and electronics, or any sensitive material that Tehran would need for its nuclear and missile development programmes? Any evidence to back such claims would set not only the Vienna talks back but also the prospect of the US lifting its sanctions on Iran. Mr Bitar’s investigation, it seems, has been a source of great discomfort to Hezbollah and its patrons in Tehran.

What gives Hezbollah some of its clout, which it uses to try and push officials around, is its alliance with Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement party. Mr Aoun currently finds himself having to choose between yielding to Hezbollah's demands and listening to his own political base, which seems increasingly impatient with the slow pace of the investigation.

Michel Aoun is not a victim who lacks agency. He can act in Lebanon’s interest

Mr Aoun, however, is not a victim who lacks agency. He can act in Lebanon’s interest by upholding the principle of the separation of powers. He must show wisdom and courage based on a profound reading of the outcome of his party’s alliance with Hezbollah, which has allowed the latter to seize key levers of the Lebanese state, put the presidency in an awkward spot, and threaten to pull down the government.

The president can take positive action by permitting Mr Bitar to question Maj Gen Tony Saliba, the head of state security. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, meanwhile, can ask the interior ministry to allow Mr Bitar to question Maj Gen Abbas Ibrahim, the head of general security. By doing so, both the president and prime minister can prove they are protectors of the judiciary and can, thereby, set a positive example for other leaders.

The current crisis in Lebanon is one involving the purportedly independent judiciary on the one side and the political class that considers itself above the law on the other. Internal matter or not, however, the international community must throw its support behind the judiciary. For, this branch of the government is in grave danger and its officials need international backing and protection. The US and the European powers, led by France, can move to deploy sanctions against those mutinying against the judiciary, as the Lebanese security services fail to act fearing political recriminations.

Failing to do so will give Hezbollah – with support from Tehran – and Amal the space to do what they can to foil the investigation. The fate of the court case could prove consequential for Lebanese politics and the stakes Hezbollah, and by extension Iran, will continue to have in it.

Raghida Dergham  is the founder and executive chairwoman of

the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National (UAE)

LEBANESE CHRISTIANS REMEMBER PORT BLAST

Two years after October 17 protests, Lebanon's economic crisis worse than ever

FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin interviews Lynn Harfoush, an executive committee member of Lebanon's secular National Bloc party, in Beirut on October 17, 2021.

Issued on: 17/10/2021 - 

Text by :FRANCE 24Follow|

Video by: Claire PACCALIN

Two years after Lebanon's so-called October 17 movement began with major nationwide protests, disillusionment and fear prevail in the country. Several prime ministers have come and gone since 2019, but the protesters’ demands have not been met. FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin speaks with Lynn Harfoush, an executive committee member of the National Bloc political party, who remains undeterred.

Turnout was small at the October 17 demonstration this year, but Harfoush, an executive committee member of Lebanon's secular National Bloc party said there was still reason for hope.

“It is a bit disappointing, but at the same time, it’s something we understand,” Harfoush said of the low turnout. “The crisis has grown much bigger. Some people are even unable to commute to come here. But what we are sure of, and the reason that we still believe in the October 17 revolution, is that it did light this flame of change in a lot of people’s hearts.”

Harfoush said the economic situation was worse than ever. “We’ve moved from worrying about how we were going to spend our days to worrying about whether we would find any gas, electricity, water … we’ve moved to worrying about our minimum needs. Gas has become very expensive, while the minimum wage is still very low,” she said, adding that many Lebanese have lost their jobs and were worried about the inflation crisis.

Harfoush said the protest movement was also demanding progress in the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut Port. “It is a very big date for us, because it proved to the people that the political class is not only unable to provide for their needs but it is also unable to protect them.” Bringing those responsible for the blast, which claimed the lives of more than 217 people and destroyed the port and a large part of the city “has become a top demand of all the October 17 revolution movements", she said.

Harfoush said it might take a long time, but her party and other participants in the protest movement would continue working. “There’s a lot for us to do. There’s this whole political class that we need to overcome,” she said.

Click on the video player to watch the full report.

Low turnout as Lebanese mark two years of protests

Issued on: 17/10/2021 - 

Dozens of protesters marched in the Lebanese capital Beirut on October 17, 2021 to mark the second anniversary of the start of the now defunct protest movement 

ANWAR AMRO AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Lebanon marked the second anniversary of its defunct protest movement with a low-key demonstration in Beirut Sunday, while many stayed away amid grinding economic woes and deadly tensions over a port blast probe.

Dozens marched under rain clouds towards Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, an AFP photographer said.

Mass protests bringing together Lebanese from all backgrounds erupted on October 17, 2019, denouncing deteriorating living conditions as well as alleged official graft and mismanagement, after the government announced a plan to tax phone calls made over messaging service WhatsApp.

Cross-sectarian demonstrations swept the country, demanding the overthrow of political barons in power since at least the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Two years on, Lebanon is mired in a ballooning financial crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, and battered by a devastating explosion at Beirut's port on August 4 last year.

Draconian banking restrictions have prevented many Lebanese from accessing their savings, while the local currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value to the dollar on the black market.

Almost 80 percent of the population live in poverty, struggling to put food on the table in the face of endless price hikes, fuel shortages and power cuts.

One who did protest on Sunday, Rabih Zein, said it was not just previous police crackdowns that had kept demonstrators away.

"If anyone is wondering why there are not many people, it's because they've deprived us of petrol, electricity and the money we put in banks," he said.

Each person marching represented many more who were forced to stay at home, Zein claimed.

"Today is a symbolic stand. God willing, we will move towards change at the parliamentary elections" next spring, said the 37-year-old television producer from the northern city of Tripoli.

The protest movement has given birth to a flurry of new political groups, which many hope will run in the upcoming polls.

The port blast killed more than 210 people and wrecked swathes of Beirut. But no one has yet been held accountable in a domestic investigation which top politicians have tried to hamper at every turn.

On Thursday, seven people were killed in central Beirut during gunfire following a rally by supporters of the country's two main Shiite parties calling for the dismissal of the lead investigator in the case.

Fatima Mahyu, a protester from Beirut, said some people were likely too scared to come out on Sunday.

"There is fear and weariness," said the mother of two, both of whom have emigrated. "People are exhausted."

Another protester, Micheline Abu Khater, a history teacher, said she was staying in Lebanon for the upcoming elections.

"I am full of hope for change," she said.

© 2021 AFP

Analysis: How Judge Bitar’s probe shook Lebanon leaders

Experts say judge leading investigation into last year’s explosion at Beirut’s port rattled the country simply by challenging systemic impunity.

Supporters of Lebanese groups Hezbollah and Amal take part in a protest against Tarek Bitar, the lead judge of the port blast investigation 

[File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
By Kareem Chehayeb
16 Oct 2021

Beirut, Lebanon – When the Lebanese government announced more than a year ago that the probe into the devastating explosion in Beirut’s port would be conducted domestically, few expected that senior officials would be charged.

But even fewer expected that the lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, could rattle the country’s entrenched leadership, which for decades has reigned with impunity and routinely quashed legal investigations that may hold it accountable.

More than 200 people were killed and some 6,500 wounded when hundreds of tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate fertiliser stored in the port for years ignited on August 4, 2020. The explosion wrecked large parts of Beirut and continues to haunt Lebanon, as the country struggles with an economic meltdown that plunged three-quarters of its population into poverty. No officials have been convicted yet.

Bitar’s persistence to pursue senior political and security officials, despite their attempts to delegitimise and remove him, has put the country on notice.

“Judge Bitar is giving the Lebanese hope in the domestic judiciary after many people have totally given up on justice and accountability locally,” Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher, told Al Jazeera. “He is single-handedly facing off with the entire political establishment that is implicated in the Beirut blast.”

On Thursday, a protest in Beirut by Hezbollah and Amal supporters calling for Bitar’s removal turned into a bloodbath when unidentified snipers fired at the crowd from rooftops, triggering a gun battle that last for more than four hours. Seven civilians and combatants died.

Families of the explosion victims, activists and human rights organisations continue to back Bitar. However, several political and religious leaders from across the country’s sectarian spectrum continue to call for his removal and accuse him of bias, accusations dismissed by legal experts and rights groups.

Bitar was appointed to lead the investigation in February following the dismissal of his predecessor, Judge Fadi Sawan, who had shockingly charged former ministers Ali Hasan Khalil, Ghazi Zeiter, Youssef Finianos, and Lebanon’s then-caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab with criminal negligence.

Over the past seven months, Bitar has continued to pursue the same individuals and also charged former minister Nohad Machnouk. He has also repeatedly requested to summon two senior security officials, General Security chief Major-General Abbas Ibrahim and State Security head Major-General Tony Saliba – but the Ministry of Interior and Higher Defence Council would reject the requests.

The charged politicians have declined to show up to the interrogations. They have also continuously tried to remove the judge by filing legal complaints, which have sometimes temporarily suspended the investigation. Though the judiciary has so far dismissed these complaints, legal experts say this has been a tactic to stall the investigation, while major political parties have now also begun calling for Bitar’s removal.

The most vociferous has been Hezbollah, even though Bitar has not charged anyone from the party. Just three days before Thursday’s clashes, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused the judge of politically targeting officials and called for an “honest and transparent judge”. Last month, a senior Hezbollah security official reportedly threatened Judge Bitar in his office.

“It’s clear that Bitar has hit too close to home, but we don’t know why Hezbollah, in particular, is leading this campaign against him,” Majzoub said. “They keep saying they’re singled out, but none of the officials Bitar has called for investigation are Hezbollah officials.”

Lebanon’s troubled history is littered with conflict, including a vicious 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, followed by decades of assassinations and sporadic armed clashes. But the perpetrators of even the gravest crimes were never held to account. Many say this is an extension of rampant corruption in Lebanon, where the judiciary is not independent of the government.

Now, political leaders have accused Bitar and the judiciary of being politicised.

Families and experts told Al Jazeera that Bitar set a new precedent in the port explosion investigation and shocked Lebanon’s leadership.

Bachar El-Halabi, a political analyst, said Bitar “decided to go as far as possible”.

“Sawan’s removal also shocked [the public] and garnered support in the public sphere which transcended sectarian fault lines,” El-Halabi noted. “It’s not just about ending the impunity that continues to reign supreme in Lebanon, but a fear of any kind of repercussion of change that could come through the judiciary.”

Two years ago, mass nationwide protests demanded accountability for rampant corruption and financial mismanagement, as well as an end to decades of rule at the hands of the country’s sectarian leadership. A common call among protesters at the time was an independent judiciary to investigate corrupt politicians and business people.

“Bitar has also started a wider discussion around the country around [legal] immunities, and the really corrupt political and legal system that essentially shields these high-level officials from accountability,” Majzoub said.

“He brought this issue to the forefront of public debate in Lebanon, and put a lot of pressure to reform this system designed by the powerful to protect the powerful.”

KEEP READING

Beirut blast probe suspended again as judge issues arrest warrant

Court allows Judge Bitar to resume Beirut blast investigation

Mother continues daughter’s art after losing her to Beirut blast

How an investigation into Beirut's port explosion is rattling Lebanon's elite, stirring memories of civil war

Analysis by Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
Sat October 16, 2021

(CNN)For many in Lebanon, Thursday's scenes from central Beirut brought a sense of deja vu.

Snipers shot people from rooftops. Masked gunmen fired back with rocket-propelled grenades and B7 rockets. Terrified schoolchildren took cover in corridors. And to top it all off, the violence was all playing out along the capital's former "Green Line," a major battle front that divided Beirut's Christian east from the predominantly Muslim west during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

It was enough to send shivers down the spine of a people still reeling from collective traumas both fresh -- such as last summer's Beirut port blast -- and old. The wounds of the civil war continue to fester, and to watch smoke billowing from buildings covered in pockmarks from battles long past was almost too much for ordinary people to bear.
Yet for all the harrowingly familiar optics of Thursday's fighting, the political environment is new. The violence did not pit Muslim against Christian. Nor are the motivations sectarian. Instead, the violence has emerged from a fault-line that is divorced from those terrible realities.

Men help evacuate an elderly woman after gunfire erupted, in Beirut, Lebanon October 14, 2021.

The probe into the port explosion that killed more than 200 people is at the heart of Thursday's tumult. The investigation -- the biggest ever legal challenge to Lebanon's ruling elite, who are also a holdover from the civil war -- is widely seen as a potential milestone, a tool through which the country can begin to shed its blood-drenched past.
Neither the masked gunmen who emerged from a Hezbollah-organized protest against the port probe, nor the unknown snipers who appeared to be posturing as defenders of the investigation, have a vested interest in Lebanon moving forward or finding answers from the devastation of August 2020. Hezbollah and its ally Amal have accused the Christian right-wing party and former militia, the Lebanese Forces (LF), of being behind the sniping -- an allegation the LF has rejected.

Thursday's fighters appear keen to keep the tiny Mediterranean country stuck in the past, just when the population has overwhelmingly voiced support for a better future. The judge leading the investigation into the probe, Tarek Bitar, has emerged as a champion of those people. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has positioned itself as Bitar's most vociferous opponent.

People of all religious stripes were casualties of the August 2020 explosion. Across Lebanon's religious spectrum, people want justice. In that same vein, Hezbollah — which has not been prosecuted in the probe so far — has led a political offensive on behalf of a multi-religious elite.

Bitar has sought to question top officials across the board, and has recently issued arrest warrants against three former ministers — a Sunni Muslim, a Shia Muslim and a Maronite Christian.

The divisions therefore do not play out along Lebanon's age-old confessional lines. Instead some say observers ought to be looking at the implications of the probe itself. The investigation into the Beirut blast has rattled the political elite in a way that the blast itself, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, could not.

The ruling class appears to be shaking in its boots, after having unsuccessfully petitioned to remove Bitar from his position. This is the same elite that survived a civil war, thanks to an amnesty law that marked the end of the conflict, and was largely unfazed by the October 2019 nationwide popular uprising and the devastating economic catastrophe that followed.

The ramifications of the probe could extend beyond Lebanon and to the Arab world at large. This is a region well-known for brazenly undermining its judiciary, even as the appetite for accountability among an increasingly frustrated Arab youth continues to grow.

If, against all odds, Bitar can see his investigation through, then he could be setting a precedent for the entire region. Arab leaders should take note.


A man runs for cover as gunfire breaks out at a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, October 14.

How an investigation into Beirut's port explosion is rattling Lebanon's elite, stirring memories of civil war


Analysis by Tamara Qiblawi, CNN

Updated  Sat October 16, 2021

Lebanon in crisis after worst violence in years 

(CNN)For many in Lebanon, Thursday's scenes from central Beirut brought a sense of deja vu.
Snipers shot people from rooftops. Masked gunmen fired back with rocket-propelled grenades and B7 rockets. Terrified schoolchildren took cover in corridors. And to top it all off, the violence was all playing out along the capital's former "Green Line," a major battle front that divided Beirut's Christian east from the predominantly Muslim west during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

It was enough to send shivers down the spine of a people still reeling from collective traumas both fresh -- such as last summer's Beirut port blast -- and old. The wounds of the civil war continue to fester, and to watch smoke billowing from buildings covered in pockmarks from battles long past was almost too much for ordinary people to bear.

Yet for all the harrowingly familiar optics of Thursday's fighting, the political environment is new. The violence did not pit Muslim against Christian. Nor are the motivations sectarian. Instead, the violence has emerged from a fault-line that is divorced from those terrible realities.

Men help evacuate an elderly woman after gunfire erupted, in Beirut, Lebanon October 14, 2021.

The probe into the port explosion that killed more than 200 people is at the heart of Thursday's tumult. The investigation -- the biggest ever legal challenge to Lebanon's ruling elite, who are also a holdover from the civil war -- is widely seen as a potential milestone, a tool through which the country can begin to shed its blood-drenched past.

Neither the masked gunmen who emerged from a Hezbollah-organized protest against the port probe, nor the unknown snipers who appeared to be posturing as defenders of the investigation, have a vested interest in Lebanon moving forward or finding answers from the devastation of August 2020. Hezbollah and its ally Amal have accused the Christian right-wing party and former militia, the Lebanese Forces (LF), of being behind the sniping -- an allegation the LF has rejected.

Thursday's fighters appear keen to keep the tiny Mediterranean country stuck in the past, just when the population has overwhelmingly voiced support for a better future. The judge leading the investigation into the probe, Tarek Bitar, has emerged as a champion of those people. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has positioned itself as Bitar's most vociferous opponent.

People of all religious stripes were casualties of the August 2020 explosion. Across Lebanon's religious spectrum, people want justice. In that same vein, Hezbollah — which has not been prosecuted in the probe so far — has led a political offensive on behalf of a multi-religious elite.

Bitar has sought to question top officials across the board, and has recently issued arrest warrants against three former ministers — a Sunni Muslim, a Shia Muslim and a Maronite Christian.

The divisions therefore do not play out along Lebanon's age-old confessional lines. Instead some say observers ought to be looking at the implications of the probe itself. The investigation into the Beirut blast has rattled the political elite in a way that the blast itself, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, could not.


Photos: Gunfire erupts during protest in Beirut
A man runs for cover as gunfire breaks out at a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, October 14.

The ruling class appears to be shaking in its boots, after having unsuccessfully petitioned to remove Bitar from his position. This is the same elite that survived a civil war, thanks to an amnesty law that marked the end of the conflict, and was largely unfazed by the October 2019 nationwide popular uprising and the devastating economic catastrophe that followed.

The ramifications of the probe could extend beyond Lebanon and to the Arab world at large. This is a region well-known for brazenly undermining its judiciary, even as the appetite for accountability among an increasingly frustrated Arab youth continues to grow.

If, against all odds, Bitar can see his investigation through, then he could be setting a precedent for the entire region. Arab leaders should take note.