A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For October 27-28/2019 Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
October 27-28/2019
Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon/published on October 27-28/2019
Lebanon Protesters Form 170KM Nationwide Human Chain to Symbolize Unity
Popular Protests Tear Apart ‘Strong Lebanon’ Bloc
Protesters form a human chain across Lebanon
Pope Urges Dialogue in Lebanon, Support from Int’l Community
Report: Hariri’s Govt. Change Bid Impeded by Hizbullah’s Protection of Bassil
Jumblat: No Solution without New Govt., Non-Sectarian Electoral Law
Geagea to LF Critics: Listen to What the Lebanese Want
From Beirut to Hong Kong, protests evoke global frustration
From Lebanon to Hong Kong, Protests Evoke Global Frustration
Lebanon Protest Teach-ins Revive Pre-War Landmarks
WhatsApp in Lebanon and Arab World: An Essential but Controversial Tool
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon/published on October 27-28/2019
Lebanon In The News/Sally Farhat/Annahar/October 27/2019
Lebanon’s protesters continue to show united front/James Haines-Young/The Nationmal/October 27/2019
Lebanese protesters successfully form human chain across country/Lauren Holtmeier, Special to Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 27 October 2019
Hezbollah In The Eye Of The Storm/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/October 27/2019
Behind Lebanon’s Crisis Stands Iran/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 27/2019
Time is up for Iraq and Lebanon’s sectarian systems/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 28/2019
Lebanon Revolts: How’s your mental health?/Sandra Abdelbaki /Annahar/October 27/2019
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon/published on October 27-28/2019
Lebanon Protesters Form 170KM Nationwide Human Chain to Symbolize Unity
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 27/2019
Tens of thousands of Lebanese protesters successfully formed a 170-kilometer-long human chain Sunday, stretching the length of the country from Tripoli in the north to Tyre in the south, organizers said. “I can confirm that the human chain was a success,” Julie Tegho Bou Nassif, one of the organizers, told AFP. Tension has mounted in recent days between security forces and protesters, who are blocking roads and bringing the country to a standstill to press their demands for a complete overhaul of the political system. Lebanon’s reviled political elite has been defending a belated package of economic reforms and appeared willing to reshuffle the government, but protesters who have stayed in the streets since October 17 want more. On foot, by bicycle and on motorbikes, demonstrators and volunteers fanned out along the main north-south highway. Volunteers on motorbikes helped organizers identify gaps in the chain. “The idea behind this human chain is to show an image of a Lebanon which, from north to south, rejects any sectarian affiliation,” Bou Nassif, a 31-year-old history professor, told AFP. “There is no political demand today, we only want to send a message by simply holding hands under the Lebanese flag.”The protests have been remarkable for their territorial reach and the absence of political or sectarian banners, in a country often defined by its divisions.
– ‘National unity’ –
The leaderless protest movement, driven mostly by a young generation of men and women born after the 1975-1990 civil war, has even been described by some as the birth of a Lebanese citizen identity. “We want to reinforce this feeling of national unity that has been appearing in Lebanon over the past 10 days,” Bou Nassif said. The army has sought to re-open main roads across the country, where schools and banks have been closed for 11 days. In one of the most serious incidents, the army opened fire on Saturday in a clash with protesters blocking a road in Tripoli, wounding at least six people. An army statement said five soldiers and several civilians were wounded when it intervened to stop a fight between area residents and a group of people blocking the road with their cars. The statement said troops had been attacked with stones and “large fireworks”, prompting them to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. They were ultimately “forced” to fire live and rubber bullets into the air when clashes intensified, the statement added. But the unprecedented protest movement has been relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by party loyalists to stage counter-demonstrations. Protesters have been demanding the removal of the entire ruling class, which has remained largely unchanged in three decades.
Many of the political heavyweights are former warlords seen as representing little beyond their own sectarian or geographical community.
– Brink of collapse –
The protesters see them as corrupt and incompetent and have so far dismissed measures proposed by the political leadership to quell the protests. “We’ve had the same people in charge for 30 years,” said Elie, a 40-year-old demonstrator walking in central Beirut on Sunday morning with a Lebanese flag. Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday announced a package of economic reforms which aims to revive an economy that has been on the brink of collapse for months. His coalition partners have supported the move and warned that a political vacuum in times of economic peril risked chaos. But the protesters have accused the political elite of desperately attempting to save their jobs and have stuck to their demands for deep, systemic change. In a now well-established routine, entire families of volunteers showed up early on the main protest sites Sunday to clean up after another night of protests and parties. After dusk, the central Martyrs Square in Beirut and other protest hubs in Lebanon turn into a vast, open ground where protesters dance, sing or organize political meetings.
Popular Protests Tear Apart ‘Strong Lebanon’ Bloc
Beirut – Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/October 27/2019
The unprecedented anti-government protests in Lebanon have compounded the disputes within the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, headed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. In recent days, MPs Shamel Roukoz and Neemat Frem have made statements that contradict those of the bloc, signaling the possibility that they may be stepping down from the alliance. Since October 17, Lebanon has been swept up in anti-government protests that have been demanding the resignation of the country’s entire political elite, who are accused of corruption and poor policies that have led the country on the edge of economic collapse. The people have vented their frustration against President Michel Aoun, his son-in-law Bassil, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, pleading with him to resign. The protests have been unprecedented because they have brought together people from across the country, overcoming political and sectarian divides that have plagued Lebanon since the days of the 1975-90 civil war. Over a million people have taken to the streets to demand change, but, as of Sunday, no official has yet offered to resign. On Monday, Hariri presented a reform package, which did little to appease the public. Roukoz and Frem have stated in recent days that the government must resign to meet the demands of the people. Their remarks go against their Free Patriotic Movement and President Aoun. Roukoz, another son-in-law of the president, has been boycotting Strong Lebanon meetings for months since the bloc approved the 2019 budget, which targeted the rights of retired officers. Roukoz is a retired officer himself. The MP had recently hosted a meeting of former FPM members, which could be interpreted as the beginning of a new phase of confrontation with the movement’s leader, Bassil. On Saturday, Roukoz stated that some officials within Aoun’s entourage were “negatively” affecting him. “Everyone must listen to the demands of the people,” he declared. Frem took one step further in breaking away from the bloc, by joining the anti-government protests in the Keserouan region. “The Strong Lebanon bloc could not ensure the success of the president’s term,” he was quoted as saying. He also noted that the economic package proposed by the PM was not enough to salvage the situation and that government change was necessary.
Protesters form a human chain across Lebanon
Reuters/Beirut/ October 27/ 2019
Protesters formed a human chain across Lebanon on Sunday, pressing a historic wave of demonstrations against political leaders blamed for corruption and steering the country towards economic collapse. With the crisis in its second week, there was no sign of moves by the government towards a compromise with protesters whose demands include its resignation. Reflecting financial strains unseen since the 1975-90 civil war, the millers association said wheat stocks were enough for just 20 days due to problems making foreign currency payments over the past two months. Lebanon’s banks will remain closed on October 28, 2019. They have been shut for eight working days out of safety concerns.
Pope Urges Dialogue in Lebanon, Support from Int’l Community
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 27/2019
Pope Francis urged dialogue in Lebanon Sunday after days of sweeping protests against the political class, urging the country to respect “dignity and freedom.”Tension has mounted in recent days between security forces and protesters, who are blocking roads and rallying massively in squares, bringing Lebanon to a standstill to press their demands for a complete overhaul of the political system. “I would like to address a special thought to the dear Lebanese people, in particular to the young who… have made their cries heard in the face of the social and economic challenges and problems of the country,” Pope Francis said.
“I urge everyone to seek the right solutions in the way of dialogue,” he said after the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square. He said he hoped that “with the support of the international community, that country may continue to be a space for peaceful coexistence and respect for the dignity and freedom of every person, to benefit of the entire Middle East.” The protesters — who have thronged Lebanese towns and cities since October 17 — are demanding the removal of the entire political class, accusing politicians of all stripes of systematic corruption.
Report: Hariri’s Govt. Change Bid Impeded by Hizbullah’s Protection of Bassil
Naharnet/October 27/2019
Efforts by Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resolve the political crisis sparked by the unprecedented popular revolt have so far been hindered by Hizbullah’s insistence on keeping Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil in the government, ministerial sources said. “The serious attempts that PM Saad Hariri made and is still making have run into Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s rejection of the ouster of President Michel Aoun’s tenure, the government’s resignation or the organization of early parliamentary polls,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted prominent ministerial sources as saying in remarks published Sunday.
“Ever since the popular uprising erupted, Hariri has considered that there is a political crisis that should be resolved and that, accordingly, it cannot have a security solution. President Michel Aoun backed his stance, in his own way, when he recently spoke of a government reshuffle according to the constitutional norms,” the sources added. “But after Hizbullah’s secretary general joined the consultations, a drastic change in priorities occurred, after he completely rejected the political aspect of the protesters’ demands,” the sources went on to say.The sources also noted that Nasrallah’s indirect accusation that the Lebanese Forces party has infiltrated the protest movement at the request of foreign forces has “led to a change in the president’s stance, although he has not said that he has shelved his proposal on carrying out a government reshuffle.”“Hizbullah has indicated that it rejects the formation of a small, independent government or a technocrat government, while sources close to Hariri have said that he supports carrying out a government reshuffle aimed at pacifying the situation,” the newspaper said. “But this can only be achieved through sacking the provocative ministers, including those of al-Mustaqbal Movement,” the sources added, attributing Hizbullah’s rejection of such a move to its insistence on keeping its ally Bassil in the government. The 49-year-old Bassil is arguably the most reviled leader among the protesters, who have launched explicit slogans against him and created the now-famous “Hela Hela Ho” chant that has gone viral on the streets and on social networking websites.
Jumblat: No Solution without New Govt., Non-Sectarian Electoral Law
Naharnet/October 27/2019
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Sunday stressed that there can be no solution to the current standoff in the country without the formation of a “new government.”“Away from conspiracy theories and skepticism whatever side they may come from, the core of the problem in most democracies lies in the flaw in the distribution of wealth, due to the liberal policy that shuns the progressive taxation system and tax on wealth and due to complete privatization,” Jumblat tweeted. “Today there can be no solution without the formation of a new government and the organization of elections under a non-sectarian law,” the PSP leader added. Tension has mounted in recent days between security forces and protesters, who are blocking roads and rallying massively in main squares, bringing Lebanon to a standstill to press their demands for a complete overhaul of the political system. The protesters — who have thronged Lebanese towns and cities since October 17 — are demanding the removal of the entire political class, accusing politicians of all stripes of systematic corruption. The majority of them have agreed that the current government should step down, urging the formation of a technocrat government. They have also called for early parliamentary elections.
Geagea to LF Critics: Listen to What the Lebanese Want
Naharnet/October 27/2019
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday hit back at “those trying to target and attack the LF,” advising them not to “waste their time.”“Instead of wasting your time on attacking the LF, observe the unifying and comprehensive scene from Tripoli to Tyre and from Beirut to Baalbek-Hermel,” Geagea tweeted. “Listen to what the Lebanese want,” he added. Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic Movement and some of their allies and media outlets have suggested that the LF is seeking to politicize the unprecedented popular revolt in Lebanon and of being behind the road-blocking sit-ins in Jal el-Dib, Zouk, Sassine and Zahle. The LF has denied the claims, stressing that its supporters have joined the popular protests to express common grievances and that they are not organizing the sit-ins. Geagea had announced the resignation of the LF’s four ministers in Saad Hariri’s government on October 19, two days after the eruption of the protests.
From Beirut to Hong Kong, protests evoke global frustration
Associated Press/October 27/2019
BEIRUT: Mass protests and clashes are erupting all over the world in recent weeks for a myriad of reasons. The demonstrations are fueled by local grievances, but reflect worldwide frustration at growing inequality, corrupt elites and broken promises. The ongoing protests in Hong Kong started in June after the city passed an extradition bill that put residents at risk of being sent to China’s judicial system. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets after the government proposed a new tax on WhatsApp in response to a fiscal crisis.Unlike previous waves of protests like the 2011 Arab Spring, the latest demonstrations unfolding on three continents are rattling elected governments. The unrest is also raising fresh concerns over whether the liberal international order can still deliver on its promises.
From Lebanon to Hong Kong, Protests Evoke Global Frustration
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 27/2019
In Hong Kong, it was a complicated extradition dispute involving a murder suspect. In Beirut, it was a proposed tax on the popular WhatsApp messenger service. In Chile, it was a 4-cent hike in subway fares.
Recent weeks have seen mass protests and clashes erupt in far-flung places triggered by seemingly minor actions that each came to be seen as the final straw. The demonstrations are fueled by local grievances, but reflect worldwide frustration at growing inequality, corrupt elites and broken promises.
Where past waves of protests, like the 2011 Arab Spring or the rallies that accelerated the breakup of the Soviet Union, took aim at dictatorships, the latest demonstrations are rattling elected governments. The unrest on three continents, coupled with the toxic dysfunction in Washington and London, raises fresh concerns over whether the liberal international order, with free elections and free markets, can still deliver on its promises.
THE PEOPLE STILL WANT THE FALL OF THE REGIME
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese poured into the streets after the government floated a new tax on WhatsApp on the heels of an austerity package that came in response to an increasingly severe fiscal crisis.
The protests rapidly escalated into an indictment of the entire post-civil war order, in which a sectarian power-sharing arrangement has transformed former warlords and other elites into a permanent political class. In the three decades since the war ended, the same leaders have used patronage networks to get themselves re-elected again and again even as the government has failed to reliably provide basic services like electricity, water and trash collection. A similar story has unfolded in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, where a government that distributes power and top offices among Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds has calcified into a corrupt stasis, with parties haggling over ministries as services and infrastructure fall into further ruin despite the country’s considerable oil wealth.
“Thieves! Thieves!” protesters in both countries chanted this week.
“Massive economic mismanagement coupled with spiraling corruption have pauperized large segments of the Arab people,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. “It is no wonder then that millions of Arabs are fed up.”
The protests in both countries target governments that are close to Iran and backed by its heavily armed local allies, raising fears of a violent backlash. Nearly 200 Iraqis have been killed in recent clashes with security forces, and supporters of the Iran-backed Hizbullah have brawled with protesters in Beirut.
“There is no magical bullet or easy answer to the severe crisis of governance in Arab lands,” Gerges said. “The struggle will be fierce and long and costly, but there is no turning back.”
RISING UP AGAINST A RISING CHINA
Hong Kong’s protests erupted in early June after the semiautonomous city passed an extradition bill that put residents at risk of being sent to China’s judicial system. At one point, protesters said they had brought 2 million people into the streets.
Authorities were forced to drop the extradition proposal , which was triggered by the need to resolve the status of a murder suspect wanted for killing his pregnant girlfriend in Taiwan. But by then, the movement had snowballed to include demands for full democracy in the form of direct elections for the city’s top leader.
Since China took control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, the city’s leaders have been selected by an elite committee made up mostly of pro-Beijing tycoons. Local councilors and half of the Asian financial center’s legislature are directly elected, but the other half are chosen by representatives from the finance, tourism, catering, accounting and other industries, which adds to the public discontent over stifled promises of democracy.
Underlying the Hong Kong protest movement are rising fears about China’s tightening grip on the city and worries that Beijing is reneging on promises not to meddle with Hong Kong’s Western-style civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and an independent judiciary.
Protesters also fear China’s technology-powered authoritarianism. Wearing masks to conceal their identities, they have cut down “smart lampposts” and smashed surveillance cameras. They worry about artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition surveillance systems capturing their biometric data and sending it for processing by Chinese technology giants to track and identify them.
UNREST IN WEALTHY, DEMOCRATIC CHILE
On Friday, an estimated 1 million Chileans filled the streets of the capital Santiago, more than ever took to the streets during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet or the democratic governments that came after him.
The protests were sparked by the subway fare hike but soon morphed into a mass movement against inequality in one of Latin America’s wealthiest countries. At least 19 people have been killed as protesters have clashed with police in recent days.
Protesters tried to force their way onto the grounds of Chile’s legislature Friday, provoking an evacuation of the building. Police fired tear gas to fend off hundreds of demonstrators on the perimeter as some lawmakers and administrative staff hurried out of the legislative building, which is in the port city of Valparaiso.
Marta Lagos, head of Latinobarometro, a nonprofit survey group in Chile, said the protests have exposed the shortcomings of the country’s political system. “There is a failure of the system of political parties in its ability to represent society,” Lagos said.
Struggling to contain the strife, President Sebastián Piñera’s administration announced increases in the minimum wage, raised minimum pensions by 20% and rolled back the subway fare increase.
He put a 9.2% increase in electricity prices on hold until the end of next year, but with analysts predicting his resignation and fresh elections, the consequences of that move could fall to his successor.
CATALAN PROTESTS TAKE A VIOLENT TURN
For years, Catalan separatists have held peaceful, festive marches, but the movement took a violent turn last week when protests erupted over the imprisonment of nine leaders who led a bid for independence from Spain in 2017.
That failed attempt left the separatist movement rudderless, with 12 of its leaders arrested and most of the rest fleeing the country, including former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont.
New activist collectives have emerged in their place, including one calling itself the Tsunami Democratic, which uses its own app and encrypted messages to call for “civil disobedience.”
But one of its first calls to protest, after the Oct. 31 Supreme Court ruling jailing the leaders, turned into a massive siege of Barcelona’s international airport, with rioters clashing with police late into the night.
The group has borrowed some of its tactics and rhetoric from the Hong Kong protesters, and protesters in both places have staged demonstrations in support of one another, though most Hong Kong protesters have been careful not to push for independence from China – one of President Xi Jinping’s “red lines.”
That one movement is struggling against domination by one-party China while the other is rising up against a European democracy is a distinction that has been lost in the tear gas.
Lebanon Protest Teach-ins Revive Pre-War Landmarks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 27/2019
The Lebanese capital’s iconic egg-shaped cinema looming large behind him, Jamil Mouawad lectured around 20 students on the politics of public space, as demonstrations swelled in the streets below. “It’s a political act to be able to teach here,” said the professor of political science at the American University of Beirut (AUB), perched on a rectangular base underpinning the bullet-ravaged and long-abandoned building. “This is a place where knowledge and practice can meet,” he said, as chants against the ruling elite echoed upwards — part of a days-long protest that has forced public access to this and other Beirut landmarks.
Built in the 1960s, the Egg was to be part of a multi-use complex, before Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war damaged the building and scuppered development plans. After the conflict ended, it was threatened by a privatized post-war reconstruction process that leveled architectural landmarks in central Beirut, replacing them with glitzy high-rises. Solidere — the controversial company in charge of developing much of the area, including the Egg’s environs — limited public access to the space, although the building briefly hosted underground festivals and parties in the 1990s and 2000s. But since unprecedented, cross-sectarian protests demanding the removal of an entrenched political elite engulfed central Beirut last week, the Egg has been among several pre-war spaces occupied by academics and demonstrators.
They have organized raves and movie screenings inside, injecting new life into the once-dreary center of the capital, which hasn’t seen such a lively social scene since Solidere transformed the area into a luxury zone. “I live 200 meters away from the Egg and I had never stepped foot inside” said Bachar el-Halabi, a researcher at AUB, who moderated a lecture at the site on Friday. “The history of Beirut is inside it, and the capital’s present and future are just outside, on the streets.”
‘Eggupation’ –
One recent afternoon, more than 100 people — mostly students — streamed into the Egg’s hollowed interior as an economist and former minister delivered a lecture on “Capitalism in Crisis,” while heavy rain fell outside. “This space is more important than any university,” Charbel Nahas, an AUB professor, told a cheering crowd of students, the walls around him plastered with slogans demanding the “fall of the regime.” Posters hanging from metal rails announced the “Eggupation” of the concrete edifice, as a coffee vendor walked through the crowd, clinking small cups.
The talk was part of a series of daily lectures, followed by open discussions among students and activists who try to give structure to an otherwise loose protest movement that has yet to deliver a unified set of demands. Less than a hundred meters away, an abandoned theater — fenced off since the end of the war — was also briefly occupied by demonstrators.Protesters poked their heads out of the theater’s windows and lined its roof, and some marveled at its crumbling interior. Mouawad gave his students a tour of the structure, known as ‘The Grande Theater’, just before security forces boarded it up. The moments before the building reverted to its forbidden status were “tense and political,” he said. Under a nearby tent, facing the Mohammad Al-Amin mosque, Mona Fawaz, a professor of urban studies at AUB, moderated a discussion between her students and other demonstrators.
“In the city that Beirut has become, there are no more public spaces, we are confined to the doors of the university,” she said.
“It is time for us to recover these spaces.”
WhatsApp in Lebanon and Arab World: An Essential but Controversial Tool
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 27/2019
From organizing mass protests in Baghdad and Beirut to coordinating rescue missions amid grinding conflict in Syria, WhatsApp has become an indispensable connector for millions across the Arab world. In Lebanon, where telecommunications are highly regulated and expensive, citizens have increasingly relied on WhatsApp for free calls. When the government announced a tax on these calls on October 17, it sparked protests that grew to an unprecedented scale. After 11 days of demonstrations, protesters have rejected the term “WhatsApp revolution”, saying the phrase diminishes what is a demand for drastic political change. But they acknowledge the technology is instrumental in mobilizing rallies that have attracted hundreds of thousands from a population of about six million.
Yasmine Rifaii, 24, a protest organizer from Tripoli in northern Lebanon who works at a local NGO, said WhatsApp was operating as a virtual “backstage for the revolution.””We are connected to all of these WhatsApp groups — Lebanon is a small country, everyone knows someone else from another city. We are reaching out across religions and locations,” she told AFP. Over the border in Syria, WhatsApp can be the difference between life and death.
Mustafa al-Hajj Younes, who heads a group of first responders in Idlib province, said civilians use group chats to appeal for help from rescue teams.
“We coordinate on these groups whenever there is a need for our services,” he said. WhatsApp is especially useful because of weak telecommunications infrastructure in areas under opposition control. “People can only contact us through WhatsApp or cell phones,” he said.
– ‘Most dangerous app’ –
Across the region, digital authoritarianism is increasing, with some governments regularly blocking popular social media applications including WhatsApp, especially its free calls feature. Users in Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates cannot make internet calls without a proxy server. Messages deemed offensive in court have even landed some users in jail in the UAE.
It is a similar story in Morocco, where the government banned free voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls in 2016.
A 26-year-old Moroccan journalist who relies on the app to liaise with officials and sources told AFP it was a “national drama” when the decision came into effect, provoking a swift public backlash. In the wake of small-scale protests in Egypt, police have randomly stopped and frisked people to examine social media content on their phones. Police arrested many on the spot after inspecting their mobiles, AFP witnessed in September. That month, the attorney-general’s office said prosecutors had orders to “inspect the social media accounts and pages of those detained.”
In Iraq, where nearly 200 people have died in protests during October, another battle is being waged online.
When anti-corruption demonstrations broke out in many cities early this month, authorities cut internet services in an attempt to quell unrest — a tactic they have used in the past. “We consider WhatsApp to be the most dangerous application at this stage,” a well-placed security source who preferred to remain anonymous told AFP. “Cutting the connection to WhatsApp was meant to prevent these gatherings from happening”, he bluntly admitted. Yasser al-Joubouri, an Iraqi activist who participated in the protests in Baghdad, said the app was crucial for forming activist groups to disseminate details about protests. “We created (WhatsApp) groups specifically to share information quickly and distribute it on social networks like Facebook and Twitter,” he said. This sharing of information provokes an “existential fear” for governments that were caught off-guard by the Arab Spring uprisings, said Adel Iskandar, a media studies professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada. But governments also see that such apps could be beneficial, he added. “The state sees these platforms not merely as a threat but rather as an opportunity to supplant critical messages with supportive ones,” Iskandar told AFP.
‘Making things easier’
With over 1.5 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp remains the most popular social media program in terms of usage in the youthful, tech-savvy region, according to a recent survey by Northwestern University in Qatar. Aside from sharing harrowing content and connecting protesters from turbulent hotspots via in-built encrypted messages, the app is also used for everyday conversations, like elsewhere in the world. Jordanian officials, as well as other policymakers across the region, regularly communicate with journalists in groups broadcasting statements; they even give sensitive interviews on the freely available instant messaging service.
Jamila Sharaf, a mother-of-two from east Jerusalem, keeps up with activities for her children with the school’s administration informing her and other parents in a group. “The application makes things easier and helps to spread information very quickly,” she said. In Iran, officials banned the more secure app Telegram, saying it was used to fuel unrest during a wave of protests in January 2018. This has driven many young people to WhatsApp. “The ban on Telegram has made me use WhatsApp more,” said Ramin, a 26-year-old from Tehran.
She described the idea of taxing social media to plug budget shortfalls as “ridiculous”.”I would (be prepared to) help my government in that situation, but not by paying for something which is meant to be free.”
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon/published on October 27-28/2019
Lebanon In The News
Sally Farhat/Annahar/October 27/2019
In show of unity, Lebanese form longest human chain
The line quickly connected from Tripoli to Sour. Organizers made sure to move volunteers from one area to another to complete the chain.
BEIRUT: From its far North to its far South, Lebanon witnessed the formation of the longest human chain. A record breaker? Maybe. Nonetheless, the goal was not to enter Guinness World Record, but rather to show the strength of unity of the Lebanese protesters and their insistence on their demands.
“This human chain represents a breath of hope for the Lebanese,” Vivianne Freiha, one of the protesters, said. Souraya Tabet, another protester that has joined in forming the chain, told Annahar that “this initiative is a symbolic representation of people’s unity, which everyone has been seeing among protesters since day one. We will make it, hand in hand.” The line quickly connected from Tripoli to Sour. Organizers made sure to move volunteers from one area to another to complete the chain. This was the case in Jal el-Dib, where protesters were asked to move to Dbayeh.
Protests rattle the postwar order in Lebanon and Iraq. “200,000 people are expected to join us today to form the human chain,” Muriel Aboulrous, one of the Beirut organizers, explained to Annahar. “We have around 40 meeting points along Lebanon’s coastal from Tripoli to Sour.”
Aya Fakih, a mom of two, knew about the human chain from a Facebook post and immediately felt an obligation to join with her children in Martyrs Square. “This human chain is very important, it teaches our children the importance of holding hands and moving forward as a team. It’s the most peaceful and human way to tell the world that no matter how much they will try to break us, we will remain united,” Fakih said. Hussam Shbaro, a pharmacy student at the Lebanese University, heard about the initiative from his friends and ultimately, decided to join. “I think it’s one of the greatest ways to show politicians that we’re stronger than they will ever be. We’re holding hands with people from places we’ve never heard of, from different religions, sects, and backgrounds. We’re all here for one goal.” Sunday marked the 11th day of Lebanon’s demonstrations. Protesters have rejected the proposed government reforms, asking for the resignation of the government, early elections, and the formation of a technocrat government.
*Christy-Belle Geha, Chiri Choukeir, and TK Maloy contributed to this article.
Lebanon’s protesters continue to show united front
James Haines-Young/The Nationmal/October 27/2019
Major highways remain shut heading north of Beirut as protesters keep the country at a standstill
Roadblocks set up by protesters near the centre of Lebanon’s capital Beirut were lifted on Sunday morning.
The move, however, was not a victory for the security forces, who made several unsuccessful attempts throughout Saturday to open the main thoroughfare ring road. It was instead a move by those on the streets to allow more to join their ranks for what activists said was going to be a major rally on the 11th day of nationwide protests.
At the main protest sites around Martyrs and Riad Al Solh squares, community spaces sprang up, running arts and crafts workshops for children. People gathered there to discuss the future of the anti-government movement and the country as traders did brisk business selling water, snacks and food.
On Saturday, police and the army attempted to clear protesters from a stretch of the ring road that connects east and west Beirut, before another group blocked the road further along. After hours going back and forth, the police appeared to give up at around nightfall and cede the highway to the demonstrators.
What appeared to be a new chant sprang up, with protesters modifying an almost-ubiquitous song that insults Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to “Hela Hela Hela Hela Ho, el tariq msakkar ya helo,” meaning “the road is closed, good looking”.By dawn on Sunday, the main highway from Beirut towards Tripoli and the north was still blocked, despite security heads meeting discuss a plan on how to clear roads in a bid to get the country back to work and end the rallies.
Initially sparked by a raft of new taxes, the spontaneous uprising demands an end to years of corruption, inequality, inefficient governance, unemployment and poor service provision.
Among the many issues facing Lebanon is a shortage of US dollars, a currency used interchangeably at a fixed exchange rate in the country.
On Sunday, thousands headed to the main north-south highway in an attempt to create a human chain from northern Lebanon’s Tripoli to southern Lebanon’s Tyre. “We have meeting points set up and people are already joining. We just have started the chain but have no idea how many people are here,” said Ghinwa, who was helping at one of the rally points. She declined to give her full name, saying the organisers were working as Lebanese people, not individuals.
The idea started on Instagram and Ghinwa said that within a few hours Julie had 3,000 people saying they would attend.
“We want to show that Lebanese people are organised without sect or political affiliation. “We’re not trying to tell politicians anything, this is not related to politicians but it’s just to show we’re very united,” she said.
Maronite Patriarchate Bashara Rai used his Sunday sermon to call on politicians to meet protesters demands “before it’s too late”.
“Seek what satisfies the people and do not ignore this uprising … respond to our people’s needs with an act of love that would free you,” Mr Rai said.
It was a continuation on Saturday evening, when tens of thousands gathered on the streets of central Beirut and in towns across the country.
In the Beddawi, near Tripoli, the army appeared to open fire on protesters, leading to several casualties. They said, however, that they had only intervened when an altercation erupted, and that demonstrators had thrown stones and firecrackers.
The incident did not deter tens of thousands from gathering in central Tripoli, with footage on local media showing a raucous crowd chanting and singing, despite efforts by the government to announce new reforms to ease their anger.
State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat said on Sunday that he had ordered a freeze on permits that allow businesses and exchange traders to take large quantities of dollars out of the country.
Throughout the weekend, discussion of which cash machines were still stocking dollars was common at protests and while banks insisted there should be no shortage of the currency, many said they had to try several bank branches to it.
On Saturday, the presidential palace denied reports that President Michel Aoun had blocked a bill to create an anti-corruption commission, saying that he had returned the legislation to parliament for revision.
“The adoption [of anti-corruption measures] must be expedited so that the law meets requirements but does not create areas of weakness or contradiction,” a statement said. The bill returned is not the same as measures the president discussed during his first address to the nation on Thursday, his office added.
Sami Nader, Director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs in Beirut, told The National that it was clear that protesters want a new government, without the main political parties, to solve the acute economic crisis the country faces. They also want to start fixing the country’s fragile infrastructure and to unlock the US$11 billion in grants and loans from the international community that is tied to yet to be implemented political reforms.
“If it was a corrupt administration but provided economic solutions and services, maybe it would work, but [the administration] has led to a bankrupt country, no liquidity and no jobs,” he said.
He said a body of experts and technocrats who are not affiliated with any party was the solution.
“We are in a different situation to Libya, Algeria, [and other Arab states], we have a constitution and we’re happy with it — more or less — we just want a new government,” Mr Nader said.
Lebanese protesters successfully form human chain across country
Lauren Holtmeier, Special to Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 27 October 2019
As the protests in Lebanon moved into their 11th day, tens of thousands of Lebanese protesters successfully formed a 171-kilometer-long human chain throughout the country from Tripoli in the north down to Tyre in the south. Cars whooshed by honking with flags waving. Others handed out water to protesters forming the chain. Videos quickly emerged on social media of people filing in all over the country to participate. Mostly peaceful protests have taken place across the country, with protesters uniting across sectarian and class lines in a country where sectarianism is rooted in its every fiber. The Taif Agreement, put in place at the end of the civil war in 1989, installed a power sharing agreement that mandated that the president be Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim. Today, many in Lebanon have turned away from traditional sectarian lines and have banded together to call for the end of the regime. The revolution’s popular chant kullon yani kullon – all of them means all of them – refers to their call for the entire political ruling class to step down. “The significance of the human chain is honestly to show the sheer number of people who are actually against the regime and what the government has been doing for the last 30 years,” Wael Abifaker, a participant in the Beirut chain link, said. “It needs to be seen by the world, all of Lebanon, and especially by the corrupt government to show that we are all unified.”Following a year of worsening economic conditions, including a dollar shortage and additional taxes imposed, the most recent of which was a WhatsApp tax that would cost users of the otherwise free app up to $6 a month, protesters took to the streets. The WhatsApp tax was quickly reversed, but those in the country pay some of the highest bills in the region for telecommunications. Additionally, citizens already pay dual bills for water and electricity where the state fails to provide potable water and round-the-clock electricity. Living costs are high compared to salaries, and many Lebanese fail to make ends meet. The recent protests, the largest since the 2005 Cedar Revolution, are a marked departure from the old sectarian ways. Organizers estimated that it would take 171,000 people to complete the chain.The human chain, largely organized on social media and through WhatsApp groups, was yet another sign of Lebanese shedding their sectarian identities. “We are not going to be divided the way the government wants us to be, and we’re standing together, and we won’t back down,” Abifaker said.
Hezbollah In The Eye Of The Storm
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/October 27/2019
Following all political forces, Hezbollah has faced the popular protests in Lebanon, and considered them directed against it. Ten days ago, the Lebanese people of all sects with no exception, took to the streets after the situation reached unprecedented levels.
They did not target certain political forces, did not raise slogans against Hezbollah or others, they held only their Lebanese flag, carried only their concerns, and rebelled against their tragedies.
But Nasrallah understood very well that it was his party and his allies who caused the unparalleled protest movement.
With two speeches, Nasrallah rushed to justify his position and to threaten his opponents. He moved from self-defense to the attack, before he finds himself alone in the eye of the storm.
Nasrallah used his political weight to preserve what he called the “present tenure”, calling it a red line. He is in fact the godfather of the political settlement that made the militia leader the first decision-maker in Lebanon. He has engineered the arrival of a pro-Hezbollah president to power; he has also designed the first-time 30-minister-government, including 18 ministers from his own party and allies.
He did not realize that today, he is confronting people whose energy is greater than his – and who are more powerful than his threats. Today, he is facing the Lebanese people of all sects, Christians and Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites, Maronite, Orthodox and Druze.
The problem is more complicated than Hezbollah’s attempts, over the past decades, to buy time under the threat of weapons. Angry Lebanese have recently declared that their country’s sectarian and quota-based system, which is hindering development process, has to change.
It seems that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is convinced that the change of government is coming, albeit delayed, after he became alone, without allies within his government, following the resignation of the Lebanese Forces ministers. But Hezbollah firmly rejects this option.
Not only did Nasrallah regard the present tenure as a red line, threatening everyone not to touch it, as if it were a holy book, but he also mocked the protesters’ demands to form a technocratic government. He is well aware that he is the biggest loser in any future changes to the political system that is currently burdening the Lebanese.
So Nasrallah not only warned the protesters, but threatened them with a “civil war.” He, alone, possesses the tools of this war, not the unarmed people.
The annihilation of political considerations, no matter how necessary for the Lebanese people, is merely an inherent habit of Hassan Nasrallah, who has never been known to consider the interests of the Lebanese, given his continued religious and political subordination to the Supreme Leader who is based in Iran.
However, the Iranian project, which Nasrallah is fighting to adhere to, is contrary to the nature of Lebanon.
Hezbollah and its leader have openly declared that they are confronting everyone and that they continue to use Lebanon, with its people and state, as human and economic shields to protect their interests.
The lie of the present tenure has expired irrevocably. This is no longer a purely Lebanese tenure, but the “Hezbollah era” that Nasrallah defends.
The Lebanese roaring voice cannot be stopped by Hezbollah, neither by threat nor by intimidation, nor by the militias that Nasrallah boasts as the strongest on the ground.
Behind Lebanon’s Crisis Stands Iran
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 27/2019
The Lebanese scene has always been part of the great regional field, and it has been used by the region’s powers. It has become almost monopolized by Iran through its proxy Hezbollah and forces loyal to the Syrian regime.
The US, too, has increased its activity in Lebanon with the imposition of sanctions on Iran. The Americans realized that they have to stifle the routes through which Tehran evades sanctions, and its most prominent route is Lebanon.
Washington has stepped up its crackdown on Hezbollah’s financial resources, tracing them to Latin America, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere. These financial resources are derived from drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, and even selling fake Viagra.
In the past decade, Tehran has used Hezbollah and made it carry out missions beyond Lebanon’s borders. Iran has turned Hezbollah into a military battalion fighting on its behalf in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Tehran has also turned Lebanon into a center that serves its propaganda and legal, political, and financial agendas. To do that, Hezbollah seized almost complete control of the state — the airport, ports, border crossings, telephone networks, security, and service ministries. This is why the US made Lebanon the target of its scrutiny and sanctions, and there might be further pressure.
The anger we see on the streets in Lebanon is partly the result of Hezbollah’s insistence on turning the country into a confrontation line with the West. The consequences are bad and might get worse.
Hezbollah must realize that when it takes the country hostage to the desires of Iran’s supreme leader, it risks a confrontation with all the Lebanese people, including Shiites, their latest victims. As we have seen, the voices that have risen up publicly against Hezbollah are also Shiite. Confrontations against it have taken place in its areas of influence, such as Nabatieh, Baalbek-Hermel, and elsewhere.
Lebanon, without an armed Hezbollah that is loyal to Iran, could be the most prosperous country in the region. But Lebanon, as it is today, is destined to worse days.
It is true that Hezbollah is not the only local player, as it has partners that must also share the blame. The current uprising has raised a slogan rejecting all the leaders in government, and calling for reform of the failing political system because it allows political powers to divide influence and interests at the expense of Lebanon and its people.
It may not seem reasonable to the Lebanese public that they are paying the price for Hezbollah’s intrusion in the region and its threats against Western interests. But this is the reality that has partly caused the economy to deteriorate, and has placed the government between the hammer of the West and the anvil of Hezbollah. Unless the group curtails its services to Iran, it will suffer and make Lebanon and its people suffer more than before.
Time is up for Iraq and Lebanon’s sectarian systems
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 28/2019
When Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah asserted that protests could provoke “chaos” or “civil war,” was this a warning or a threat? Within minutes of his speech, motorbike convoys of Hezbollah supporters fanned out across Beirut, breaking up rallies. Throughout the day, demonstrators were attacked by masked men chanting “Labaik Nasrallah.”
Protesters derisively rejected Nasrallah’s patronizing platitudes, threats and half-baked conspiracies. Rebutting his suggestion that suspicious foreign elements were sponsoring the protests, citizens videoed themselves declaring “I am sponsoring this revolution.” I witnessed tangible examples of this outbreak of national solidarity, with friends of mine purchasing umbrellas and plastic raincoats for fellow demonstrators when it rained. Others distributed food or provided entertainment.
Comparable defiance against foreign interference played out across Iraq this weekend, with posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei torn down in Shiite holy cities, chants against Qassem Soleimani, and attacks against proxy paramilitary offices. More than 63 were killed and 2,500 injured in a single weekend, despite Iraq’s fragmenting administration pledging to avoid lethal force. In towns across the south, ugly clashes between protesters and Iran-backed militants create the impression of a nation perilously close to the brink of civil war.
For those of us who have long despaired of Lebanon’s political direction of travel, this assertion of national identity represents an exhilarating beacon of hope that radical change is possible. Protesters are grimly aware that their demands won’t be achieved overnight. Yet a fresh zeitgeist of collective national unity has been awakened vis-a-vis the corrupt and complicit governing classes, which have conspired to pillage the nation’s wealth — with detested figures like Gebran Bassil the focus of particular ire.
After decades trapped within a sectarianized straitjacket, Lebanon’s sects recognize this poisonous narrative of “divide and conquer” for what it is. They poured on to the streets as a single nation, declaring their common aspirations of “dignity,” jobs, accountability, and protecting Lebanese sovereignty.
For decades it was possible to deny the extent of Iranian interference. Previously, it was the Syrians who sought to micromanage our lives. We meekly accepted Hezbollah’s rhetoric that it was protecting us against Israel’s or, latterly, Daesh’s hostile designs. But was Hezbollah defending Lebanon when it massacred Syrian oppositionists? Or when hard currency is sucked out of the economy to cushion Tehran from the impact of American sanctions? Or when Nasrallah declared that Khamenei is “our imam, our leader, our master… the Islamic Republic of Iran is the heart of the axis, its main center, its strongest supporter?”
How dare Nasrallah accuse patriotic demonstrators of accepting foreign assistance when he is the living embodiment of foreign meddling: Iranian arms, Iranian money, Iranian identity, and Iranian orders.
How dare Nasrallah accuse patriotic demonstrators of accepting foreign assistance when he is the living embodiment of foreign meddling.
The “barrier of fear” has been shattered, with an erosion of the unquestioning loyalty Hezbollah demands from Shiite communities. Mothers mourned children returning from Syria in body bags. With a sharp fall in Iranian salaries for fighters, stipends to the families of “martyrs” and welfare payments, there is growing realization of the downsides of dependence on Tehran, particularly when the cost may ultimately be a ruinous war with Israel.
More than a million Lebanese on the streets, dancing, singing and chanting for revolution, represents a fundamental challenge to everything Hezbollah stands for. This includes aspirations for Lebanon’s cultural and economic renaissance and for a model of governance that is genuinely accountable and representative — as opposed to avaricious factions monopolizing the right to represent us by default due to the sect or community we were born into.
Tehran’s malicious intentions are more glaring in Baghdad, with the government dominated by Iran-backed paramilitaries with Iraqi blood on their hands — including that of dozens of protesters murdered by militia snipers. These paramilitaries control vast areas of Iraq, yet it was in their strongholds that the most significant outbursts of anti-Iranian rage have manifested themselves.
Shiite Arabs are waking up to the realization that the ayatollahs of Tehran aren’t generously donating billions of dollars for the pious causes of protecting pilgrims and refurbishing religious seminaries. This isn’t kinship, it’s a naked power grab. Soleimani would happily forge alliances with Satanist cults or atheist revolutionaries if it served his goal of dominating Arab nations. Last week’s disclosure that an Iranian assassination squad targeted Iranian dissidents in Albania illustrates Tehran’s obsession with spreading terrorism and mayhem around the globe.
Permanent Iranian hegemony over proud Arab nations is impossible. The Islamic Republic itself is imploding, not due to outside pressures but from Iranians themselves courageously emerging year after year to challenge their oppressors. The mullahs’ regime is a fleeting moment in history and, the moment they cease exporting billions of dollars of stolen national wealth to bankroll overseas anarchy, their hated mercenary proxies will vanish in the blink of an eye.
We must take Nasrallah’s civil war threats seriously. Tehran cast Syria into the inferno of civil war to protect its puppet Bashar Assad. The Lebanese are still living the acrimonious ramifications of their previous civil war, which ended 30 years ago.
Infiltrators triggering disturbances and violence at rallies are simply the beginning of coordinated efforts to sow “fitnah” (rebellion) among Lebanese citizens once again; because, when the Lebanese are at one another’s throats, beholden to sectarian lies, they become powerless and easily dominated.
If the entire Lebanese nation can sustain its miraculous unity, all things become possible. There are two stark options: United, Lebanon can again flourish as the “Switzerland of the Middle East;” divided, it will continue its current trajectory as an impoverished, isolated Iranian satellite.
The sectarian, kleptocratic governing bureaucracies of Lebanon and Iraq are like mighty fortresses built of glass. Some of those standing on top of these glass citadels have already realized that their best interests lie in climbing down and uniting with fellow citizens. Woe betide those still posturing atop these glazed follies when the nations ultimately decide that the time has come to shatter them to pieces.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.
Lebanon Revolts: How’s your mental health?
Sandra Abdelbaki /Annahar/October 27/2019
BEIRUT: Lebanon has been revolting for the past 11 days. Among the echoing cheers and radiant hope, protesters need to keep in mind one question: Am I taking good care of my mental health? In this light, a group of called “Bedna Nthour, Bedna Naa’ref,” which translates in English to we want to revolt, we want to know, organized a public teach-in titled “Mental Health during Revolution” on Saturday October 26 at Gibran Khalil Gibran garden. The aim of the discussion was to remind people of the importance of taking care of their mental health. Hosted by Ghina Ismail, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the American University of Beirut and a clinical psychologist, and Mia Atoui, Instructor of Psychology at AUB and a clinical psychologist, the discussion acted as a platform for people to share their thoughts. It might sound controversial, but what we have to know today is our limits,” Atoui said during the discussion. “We have to know how much we can contribute to this revolution.”According to Atoui, the revolution gives the protesters a rush of adrenaline. This rush pushes the protesters to think that they have to do everything and participate in all of the activities at once.
“We have to ask ourselves: Am I able to close a road? Am I capable of doing a sit in? Can I handle pressure during times of danger? Can I do all this at once?” Atoui added.
What people watch on television or see on social media might look easier or simpler than what it is in reality. This is why one should always ask him/herself if he/she is physically or emotionally able to take all this pressure. Any contribution is a good contribution. In other words, there is no contribution greater than another. “You might only be able to take a picture or post a post on social media, and that is a contribution,” Atoui explained. “The moment an individual pushes his limits because he/she feels guilty, there’s a higher risk that he/she will do a burnout.”Another point that was highlighted during the discussion was the feeling of uncertainty. “No one really knows where this revolution is heading which makes us feel anxious,” Ismail explained. “But it’s normal to feel this. You should always remember that you are not alone.”
Aside from the feeling of uncertainty, feelings of anger should also be taken into consideration. Anger in revolutions plays a positive role and helps make the revolt a success. Yet, according to Ismail, some studies have shown that during revolutions, people are most likely to mix between their personal anger and the anger for the revolution.
“We have to know how to differentiate between our personal anger and our anger for this revolution. And what’s even more important is not to think of this revolution as a vacation from our old problems,” Ismail explained. Ismail pointed out that people have definitely had their own personal problems before the revolution started. This is why one should deal with any problem he/she has and not avoid it or forget about it just because there is a revolution. “The revolution will end at some point, and people will be left with their own problems at the end of the day,” Ismail said. Tears and smiles enveloped attendees as they started sharing their personal stories. “I’ve been projecting my anger on everything and everyone for a while,” one of the attendees said. “But, after this discussion, I realized what I’ve been doing is wrong and I decided to take today as a break.”
“I have been sleeping for two hours everyday and I haven’t been eating,” another attendee shared. “Today, I decided to go and get myself a croissant from my favorite place. I realized that I have to take care of myself because if I don’t, then I can’t take care of anything else.”
Atoui and Ismail also stressed on the importance of taking digital breaks from social media and being aware of what is being shared. “Make sure to know what you’re sharing on social media, and always ask yourselves: why am I sharing it in the first place?” Atoui explained. “If it gave you a feeling of anger then think twice before sharing.”Atoui and Ismail reminded the attendees that embrace’s hotline “1564” is always ready to listen to anyone who is going through tough time during this revolution.
*Emotional support and suicide prevention hotline in Lebanon: 1564 | For more information, visit: www.embracelebanon.org
