On Revolutions, uprisings and resistance: Lebanon, Iraq, Syria
“Tomorrow the revolution will ‘rise up again, clashing its weapons,’ and to your horror it will proclaim with trumpets blazing: I was, I am, I shall be!”
- Rosa Luxemburg -
Since October 1st, 2019 until the present day, mass protests take place both in Lebanon and Iraq. Both movements did not only break out nearly simultaneously, the people on the street express also similar grievances and demands: against the dominant political system and against the dominant political elite, against confessionalism, clientelism and corruption, against political violence and arbitrariness, against neoliberal and capitalist politics, against the established political system and regime, and therefore for a reinvention of political practice and system in both countries. The protest movements in both countries remind us of the protest movement in many countries of the MENA region starting in 2011/2012 as in Syria, Egypt, Tunis, Bahrain and Yemen.
Media coverage in English and German on the current protest movements in Lebanon and Iraq is rather scarce. Events and developments in Syria focus a lot on the ongoing war and violence while revolutionary moments and mobilizations are no longer mentioned. Therefore, we dedicated a special section on revolution on our website which will shed light on past and present protest movements in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
“We've opened possibilities for new ways of relating to each other, of seeing the world, and of being in it” | Interview with Lara Bitar* on the current protest movement in Lebanon
Lebanon witnessed its last big protest movement in 2015. Where do you see continuities and differences between the previous and current movement?
There are many people who are trying to delegitimize the current movement by casting doubt over the "spontaneous" nature of this mobilization, hinting at a variety of conspiracies, including foreign agitation. But there is nothing spontaneous about what we are witnessing. This mass mobilization is a continuity of the 2015
Lebanon’s Revolt Against Elites | The announcement of new taxes sparked unprecedented protests in Lebanon. For weeks, protesters have taken to the streets across the country to demand the resignation of its leaders
At the heart of Beirut’s downtown, ghost-like since the 2005 protests that led to the end of the Syrian occupation, burned tires and wooden planks overshadow the store windows of banks and luxurious boutiques. Making their way through the smoke, middle-aged men pull pieces of metal out of the ashes, hoping to sell them later for a couple of dollars.
With the country on the verge of a major economic and financial crisis, one quarter of the Lebanese population lives under the poverty