The port of Beirut and its surrounding suburbs were rocked on Tuesday by the massive explosion, that left at least 135 people dead and nearly 4,000 injured. The death toll is constantly increasing, many people are missing and the hospitals are overcrowded. The blast was the largest in the history of Lebanon. More than 300,000 people have been left homeless with ...
Exclusive interview with Political Scientist and university lecturer from Beirut Marwa Osman How does Lebanon recover from the explosion in the Beirut warehouse, in what condition is the Lebanese nation now? Lebanese capital in state of chaos as people grapple with scale of the blast. Walking down through the east Beirut suburb of Ashrafieh to Gemmayze to Musaitbeh and towards the ...
On August 4, a powerful explosion hit the port of Beirut. The blast wave virtually destroyed the port itself and caused terrible damage throughout Lebanon’s capital. The explosion killed more than 100 people and injured over 4,000, and the death toll is constantly increasing, many people are missing and the hospitals are overcrowded. The blast was the largest in the ...
The World Anti-Imperialist Youth Union (WAYU) is an international youth platform established by 23 youth organizations from 12 countries in Istanbul on 29th October 2014. It aims to unite all the youth of the world under the same roof of anti-imperialism regardless of any differences. The below statement is the joint youth declaration on the new world after COVID-19 pandemic, ...
In early January, Lebanon was rocked by a new wave of protests. While they were not especially numerous, the protesters were aggressive, attacking the offices of private banks and the Central Bank of Lebanon while putting forward demands for a new government. Their slogans targeted Prime Minister Hassan Diab in particular. The new government consists of 20 ministers and is ...
About three months ago, when thousands of Lebanese went into the streets demanding systemic change and opposing corruption, they likely never thought that their move would lead the country into a dead end and bankruptcy. Although many politicians were asking Saad Al-Hariri not to resign from his post as the prime minister, the Americans, French and Saudis convinced him to ...
Although the ongoing protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria began as a result of internal factors, there are many indications of US, Israeli, French and Saudi Arabian involvement. Non-governmental organizations, media forces and lobbies are being used as tools by external forces to take control of and guide the protests in their own interests. Before explaining the precise actions of ...
Two different viewpoints have been prominent in analyzing the weeks of mass protests in Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria: There are “external forces” behind these protests Citizens are legitimately reacting to economic crisis and government corruption. The government is simply using allegations of foreign interference to weaken the protests There is relevant information regarding both viewpoints that should be kept in ...
Around six years ago, in October 2013, I was invited to deliver a speech at an international conference hosted by ICRC and Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. My speech was on “The Pros and Cons of Social Media”. At that time, I warned about the possibility of governments misusing social media resources to spread their influence, point out ...
By now word has spread about the hotly contested $6 tax on WhatsApp calls in Lebanon, but are the mass protests really about a tax hike a social media app? The Lebanese government has already announced that it will not go through with imposing the tax… yet, the people are in the streets. In other words, it is no ...