Beirut burns as Lebanon protests new taxes
Protests in Lebanon over new taxes continued despite the use of force by politicians' bodyguards.
BEIRUT — Calls for revolution echoed throughout the night in Beirut Oct. 17, as thousands of protesters descended upon the city’s central district.
“Whoever is still at home, come down!” protester Samer Richa told Al-Monitor in front of the Grand Serail, the headquarters of Lebanon’s prime minister, where police and soldiers blocked the protesters’ path. “See what these people are doing, go ahead!”
Although the largest protest was in front of the Grand Serail, related demonstrations took place across Beirut, blocking major roads and highways and paralyzing the city. The night’s events were sparked by a tax of up to $6 a month on internet phone calls made via WhatsApp and other applications that had been approved the same day. News that Minister of Telecommunications Mohammed Choucair had revoked the tax did little to sap protesters’ energy.
Mohammad Ziahim, an unemployed civil engineer, told Al-Monitor that the withdrawal of the tax changed nothing for him.
