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Lebanese citizens continue to protest in the street against a government that they say cannot run the nation.
Lebanese police fired water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas in response on Sunday as thousands of anti-government protesters gathered outside Lebanon’s pseudo-parliament. The protests, often descending to riots, began in October.
Reports from the Red Cross and pro-democracy factions say that over 1,000 protesters have been injured injured in the last week. Most of the injuries are from rubber bullets and, according to an Associated Press reporter, injuries were particularly severe to the faces of protesters.
Lebanon, which is ruled by power-sharing agreements between numerous factions, has a hugely unpopular coalition government with widespread mismanagement and corruption at every level. Lebanese citizens, among other issues, are furious that the government cannot maintain basic services such as trash pick-up while leaders live steal money from the treasury in a country that has accumulated one of the largest debt ratios in the world.
Security forces fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets in clashes Sunday with hundreds of anti-government protesters outside Lebanon’s Parliament, as violence continued to escalate in a week of rioting.
The demonstrations began on Oct. 17. At one point, the scuffles reached the headquarters of one of the main Lebanese political parties, the Kataeb, where many protesters were taking cover. The head of the party, Samy Gemayel, appeared on local TV stations as he tried to separate the protesters from advancing security forces.
