Profile: From rubbish to revolution? Protests in Lebanon

This is following two smaller protests this week, aimed at reviving a protest movement that many believe has run out of steam.

The first, outside the Justice Palace on Wednesday, was aimed at pressurising financial prosecutors to investigate corruption cases.

The second, outside the ministries of finance and telecommunications on Thursday, called for the release of hundreds of millions of dollars owed to municipalities and the decentralisation of waste management.

HOW DID IT START?

Lebanon has been without a head of state for over a year. Its Parliament has extended its mandate twice, postponing elections, due, they say, to the security situation.

On Wednesday its Parliament failed in its 34th attempt to elect a new president, and political infighting has paralysed the government.

With the political situation in stalemate, water and electricity shortages, high levels of corruption and the equivalent of almost a third of its population in Syrian refugees, Lebanese citizens have a lot to be concerned about.

However, the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to the formation of You Stink was none of the above – it had a more pungent genesis.

NAAMEH LANDFILL CLOSES

On July 17, forced to keep their promise to nearby residents, the government closed the main landfill site at Naameh.

It had been opened in 1998 on a temporary basis, with a capacity of two million tonnes.

By the time of its closure 17 years later, after years of protests from residents, it had taken in 15 million.

Two days later, faced with overflowing storage, Sukleen, Lebanon’s waste management contractor, ceased rubbish collection in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

In the height of the summer, tonnes of rubbish began piling up on the streets.

YOU STINK

A group of activists came together on July 25 to launch the You Stink movement. Its stated goals were an end to the trash crisis and the implementation of “sustainable solutions provided by several environmental experts and centred around going back to a municipality-level system while implementing nationwide recycling.”

The You Stink group started holding protests in Downtown Beirut, as the rubbish crisis sparked growing public anger.

FROM RUBBISH TO REVOLUTION

August 19 brought the first violence against the movement, when a group of protesters outside the Parliament were attacked by baton-wielding police.

Three days later, on Saturday August 22, a mass protest called by You Stink drew upwards of 4000 into Riad al-Solh in Downtown Beirut.

Faced with unarmed and peaceful protesters, security forces used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.

15 protesters were injured, one critically, while police claimed 35 officers had been hurt.

What had begun as a protest movement against rubbish began to splinter off into wider calls for the government to resign.

A larger protest the next day heard chants made famous in the Arab Spring, calling for revolution and the fall of the government.

That protest descended into chaos, when young men – later accused of being government infiltrators – provoked a police crackdown.

The You Stink movement disassociated itself from the violence, moving its protest out of the focal point – Riad al Solh square – as rioters trashed Downtown Beirut.

The Lebanese Red Cross said 402 were injured.

THE WALL CAME TUMBLING DOWN

On August 25 the government built a massive concrete wall separating the Parliament from Riad al-Solh Square. Protesters made a mockery of it – painting political slogans across it including: “I’d rather keep the garbage and throw you OUT”.

It was taken down later that day on the orders of Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE?

The public anger stoked by the crackdown was hard to contain and You Stink began to lose control over the nature, time and location of protests.

Groups such as We Want Accountability began to emerge.

Smaller rallies have been taking place almost weekly in Beirut with occasional flare ups in violence and other staged protests taking place, including marches and hunger strikes.

A sit-in at the Environment ministry at the start of September drew further criticism over a heavy handed police response, and a violent flare up occurred during a protest called by You Stink in mid-October, since when protests have slowed down.

AND THE RUBBISH?

Various government-led initiatives to come up with a solution to the rubbish crisis have failed – the Cabinet itself rejected new tenders to remove the refuse on accusations of rampant corruption.

Government-proposed sites for new landfills have also fallen through after popular protests.

The government and municipalities have taken to “storing” the rubbish – in empty riverbanks, underneath bridges, in valleys and near the port in Karantina.

Some municipalities have even taken to illegally burning the trash – blaming the government for not proposing any other solutions.

Repeated warnings that the country could be faced with a health crisis if the rubbish was not removed before the rainy season went unheeded.

WHAT’S NEXT?

You Stink co-founder Assad Thebian has dismissed suggestions that the movement is splintered.

He announced after Wednesday’s protest that the results of an investigation into government corruption over refuse tenders will be released in the next 10 days.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has announced the Cabinet will meet on Monday to discuss a third proposal to end the rubbish crisis.

Ministers have been working on a plan to export the country’s waste, at a rumoured cost of $250 per tonne.

But many argue it will be prohibitively costly for the state.