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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Jan-2020
19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses

Web Log - January, 2020

19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses

Multi-sectarian rioters protest 'confessional' government

by John J. Xenakis

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)

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:

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(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the Generational Dynamics World View News thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (19-Jan-2020) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Jan-2020 19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses

Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses

Multi-sectarian rioters protest 'confessional' government

Rioters protest Iran's influence

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Jan-2020
19-Jan-20 World View -- Violence surges in street protests in Lebanon as economy collapses