Beirut protests over rubbish turn violent for a second day

At least 20 protesters injured as police use water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades in clashes around prime minister's offices.

Demonstrators clash with riot police during a second day of protests in Beirut on August 23, 2015. AFP

BEIRUT // Thousands of people demonstrated in central Beirut for a second day on Sunday to voice growing public anger against politicians triggered by the Lebanese capital’s recent rubbish crisis.

Protesters chanting for the government to quit gathered in front of the prime minister offices just hours after Tamam Salam promised to hold security forces accountable for using “excessive force” during demonstrations on Saturday and to tackle the waste disposal issue on a priority basis.

Police used water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas again on Sunday after protesters threw stones and water bottles across security barricades set up around the building.

The Lebanese Red Cross said 20 protesters were injured, including 13 who were taken to hospital.

Earlier, Mr Salam pledged that solving the rubbish crisis would be the first item on the agenda at the cabinet meeting on Thursday. If no progress was made, “then there is no need for the council of ministers”, he said, hinting that he could resign.

Referring to the country’s political gridlock, with parties failing repeatedly to elect a new president for more than a year, Mr Salam said the rubbish crisis was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.

“But the story is bigger than this straw. This is about the political trash in this country,” he said.

Many other politicians also issued statements sympathising with the protesters, including Saad Hariri of the Future Movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party led by Michel Aoun. The protesters however blame the entire political spectrum for a failure to address problems faced by ordinary citizens.

The government has so far been unable to find an alternative disposal site for waste produced by Beirut and surrounding towns after the country’s largest landfill was closed on July 17.

Refuse piled up in the streets of the capital for nearly two weeks last month before it was cleared from most areas and taken to makeshift dumps, but the absence of a permanent solution has continued to cause anger.

Activists calling their movement You Stink began holding protests over the rubbish crisis last month, although the one on Saturday evening was the largest and most violent so far.

Shouts of “revolution” and the cracks of automatic rifles rang out in Beirut’s glitzy downtown district on Saturday as the protesters clashed with security forces trying to keep them from marching on the prime minister’s offices.

Police sprayed water cannon, launched volleys of tear gas and fired in the air as some of the protesters hurled rocks, bottles and other objects at security forces. Dozens of protesters were injured, some displaying wounds that appeared to be inflicted by rubber bullets.

Videos from earlier on Saturday showed protesters clashing with the army, though the most of the clashes later in the evening were with the police.

A Red Cross official said at least 16 people were wounded in the clashes on Saturday, while Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces said more than 35 of its members were injured.

The violence subsided at about 10pm after riot police retreated and allowed protesters to advance to the gates of the Grand Serail, the prime minister’s headquarters. The atmosphere among protesters turned jovial as some activists erected tents, vowing to stay put until their demands were met.

But solving the rubbish problem alone is no longer likely to be enough to assuage public anger. The protest movement launched to attack the government’s failure to address the rubbish crisis has evolved into something more.

Protesters say the movement now is about tackling all of Lebanon’s ills and the rubbish crisis was only the catalyst. They rail against a laundry list of problems, from corruption to the sectarian former warlords who dominate politics and the government’s failure to provide basic services such as electricity and water.

Many at Saturday’s protest were joining the movement for the first time and were pushed to action after seeing images of violence perpetrated by security forces.

Kassem Nurideen, an engineer, came from the Hizbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.

“I was watching TV. I didn’t want to be here. But when I was watching I saw some soldiers hitting a woman. I told my friends we had to go,” he said.

Protester Elie Bouchebel said he had long been upset by Lebanon’s problems and government failures, but the sight of protesters being attacked prompted him to the streets.

“We are in 2015, things should be better,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re fighting for garbage?”

Protesting in the heart of Lebanon’s capital – a clean, upscale enclave where few Lebanese can afford to dine or shop – was symbolic for many of those gathered.

Protesters ripped down advertisements for luxury apartment blocks and set them on fire. Potted plants lining the wide pavements – a rarity in Lebanon – were overturned. Broken glass and stones littered the streets.

Streets leading to Nejmeh Square – home to Beirut’s iconic clock tower and expensive restaurants that thrived before Lebanon’s last few years of crises – were blocked off by fences set up by the police. On a concrete traffic barrier in front of one fence somebody spray-painted “Beirut Wall.”

“They’re living large while we’re paying the price,” Mr Bouchebel said of politicians and their beneficiaries.

Mr Nurideen said he wanted to see a state where politicians worked in the interest of their citizens.

“In my mind there is no government,” he said. “It is full of garbage. This is not a government.”

Mr Nurideen said he also hoped the Lebanese people could break free of their sectarian leaders – called the “zuama” and often former warlords, who head the country’s political parties and command fanatical support among those of their religion.

These are the people that stoke intra-Lebanese conflicts and divide the nation, he said.

“If we want to live together, we have to fight together,” he said.