Some background : the new budget had a tax on WhatsApp calls and similar services (6 $ / month). This was the straw that broke the camel's back. People started protesting. They scaled back on the tax but that didn't stop people from flocking to the streets. The main demands are fuzzy but the takeaway is people want the government to resign its powers.
The protests have been mainly peaceful except for the raiding of a few stores in downtown owned by politicians.
Police detained a few people (peaceful and otherwise) unlawfully. One casualty so far, shot dead by an ex-minister's bodyguard.
Edit: copied the text for the lazy like me, and here are some pics
-half of the country's population is out of work, and the other half is barely making any living
-youth are leaving the country after graduation
-taxes are always rising (with no improvement!), and most can't afford to live
-there's no clean water accessible for all
-electricity is only available for a few hours during the day. So you either pay for a generator company, or you make do without electricity
-politicians have been caught on multiple occasions using taxpayers money for their personal gain
-country is run by corrupt officials and thieves, who each basically have their own militia and blind followers that suppress anyone who dares speak against them
-it's only an an illusion of democracy, it's more of a sectoral dynasty and the same people have been in power for years
-the healthcare is expensive as hell
-incredible pollution all over the country
-economy is basically destroyed, country faces huge debt burdens (one of the largest in the world)
-the infrastructure is crumbling
-the country's currency is as low as ever and probably gone for good, so if you don't have usd you're fucked (due to the officials stealing)
-banks are not letting anyone withdraw their money, most probably because there isn't any money in the vaults
-this isn't new, it's been getting worse for years now, but yesterday was the last straw when they decided to tax whatsapp, a usually free service
-thousands of Lebanese are protesting all over the country, with closed down roads: the whole country is basically shut down
-we demand the resignation of every single politician, every single one
-this isn't just a protest, this is a revolution. After a long deafening silence, the prime minister and minister of affairs went on tv today to address what's happening, and they basically spat out straight bullshit and the ministry of affairs threatened us in a passive aggressive way. He said that he "supports" us but gave us two options: 1. he's not gonna resign and he will try to fix things (note: he's been saying this for over a decade). 2. we don't comply and try to make him resign which he will not do, but he promised an even worse state for the country
There's a lot more shit I didn't cover, but I think this should do so you can understand why we're doing this. As you can see, it's pretty bad. We know it's hard to give a shit because we're a 3rd world country, but please try and spread the word. That's all we ask for.
mushi90 on October 19th, 2019 at 16:13 UTC »
so what do you guys want from the government?
khodor2012 on October 19th, 2019 at 16:30 UTC »
Some background : the new budget had a tax on WhatsApp calls and similar services (6 $ / month). This was the straw that broke the camel's back. People started protesting. They scaled back on the tax but that didn't stop people from flocking to the streets. The main demands are fuzzy but the takeaway is people want the government to resign its powers.
The protests have been mainly peaceful except for the raiding of a few stores in downtown owned by politicians.
Police detained a few people (peaceful and otherwise) unlawfully. One casualty so far, shot dead by an ex-minister's bodyguard.
Ralph_1987 on October 19th, 2019 at 17:16 UTC »
I made this to summarize what triggered the revolution. Thank you for your time!
Edit: copied the text for the lazy like me, and here are some pics
-half of the country's population is out of work, and the other half is barely making any living
-youth are leaving the country after graduation
-taxes are always rising (with no improvement!), and most can't afford to live
-there's no clean water accessible for all
-electricity is only available for a few hours during the day. So you either pay for a generator company, or you make do without electricity
-politicians have been caught on multiple occasions using taxpayers money for their personal gain
-country is run by corrupt officials and thieves, who each basically have their own militia and blind followers that suppress anyone who dares speak against them
-it's only an an illusion of democracy, it's more of a sectoral dynasty and the same people have been in power for years
-the healthcare is expensive as hell
-incredible pollution all over the country
-economy is basically destroyed, country faces huge debt burdens (one of the largest in the world)
-the infrastructure is crumbling
-the country's currency is as low as ever and probably gone for good, so if you don't have usd you're fucked (due to the officials stealing)
-banks are not letting anyone withdraw their money, most probably because there isn't any money in the vaults
-this isn't new, it's been getting worse for years now, but yesterday was the last straw when they decided to tax whatsapp, a usually free service
-thousands of Lebanese are protesting all over the country, with closed down roads: the whole country is basically shut down
-we demand the resignation of every single politician, every single one
-this isn't just a protest, this is a revolution. After a long deafening silence, the prime minister and minister of affairs went on tv today to address what's happening, and they basically spat out straight bullshit and the ministry of affairs threatened us in a passive aggressive way. He said that he "supports" us but gave us two options: 1. he's not gonna resign and he will try to fix things (note: he's been saying this for over a decade). 2. we don't comply and try to make him resign which he will not do, but he promised an even worse state for the country
There's a lot more shit I didn't cover, but I think this should do so you can understand why we're doing this. As you can see, it's pretty bad. We know it's hard to give a shit because we're a 3rd world country, but please try and spread the word. That's all we ask for.