Lubnan Pula Terbakar Lebanon Is Burning

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Beirut (AFP) - Hundreds protested in capital Sunday over increasingly difficult living conditionsdollar shortage, price hikesskirmish as protesters break through security barriers anti-riot forces pushed them back with shields and batons
Demonstrators cut off Beirut thoroughfareswith burning tyres emitting billowing black smoke
"Revolution, revolution," cried the protesters"Government, parliament... Thieves, thieves!" they chanted."The people want the fall of the regime".
"We toil day and night just to live," said 52-year-old woman
"They've starved us, stolen from us. Enough is enough"




economy crumbling under massive debt fears of dollar shortage anxiety over devaluation of Lebanese pound, price hikes
banks, money changers rationing sales of dollarswhich are used in daily transactions


'High cost of living' 
become very difficult to withdraw dollars from ATMs in Beirut
real problem with high cost of living
Lebanese pound getting weaker 
Petrol station strike over banks refusing them US dollars needed to pay imports
Economic growth in Lebanon has plummeted repeated political deadlocks, compounded by eight years war in SyriaLebanon's public debt US$86b -- more than 150% of GDP


My comments :  
Lebanese Arabs greet each other slightly differently from other Arabs.  They reply the 'Khaif al-hal' (how are you) with a distinct ''mneeh" (amneeha) which means 'I am in peace'  or 'I am well'.   
Another reply is 'quwaiyis'. I have forgotten what that means exactly. It is an instant recognition that the person is from Lebanon.
A long time ago I knew the Lebanese folks very well on campus in the US. That's why I know a bit about the Arabs as well.
In the 1970s and 1980s the Lebanese fought a major civil war - slaughtering each other like sheep and goats. One day (early 1980s) I was at a pizza parlour near my campus. Suddenly a car exhaust backfired with a loud sound. A group of Lebanese students who were there instantly dived under the tables. They thought someone was shooting a gun. 
Apparently that was common behaviour in Beirut. People would shoot at each other. My Lebanese  friends would share stories (young students of my age at that time 20 - 23 years old) about having pistols and rifles under their beds in Beirut.
Well Lebanon is in deep shit again. Or rather Lebanon has been in deep shit. There has been no effective government in Lebanon. There is no real national army. Neither is there any real Police force.
The Shiahs enforce their own rules and laws through the Hezbollah and the Amal groups. The Hezbollah is much more powerful than the official Lebanese Army.
The Druzes have their own government in the mountains.
The Sunnis and the Christians also take care of their own.
There is no united Lebanon.
Hence the so called coalition that sort of rules Lebanon spends time lining its own pockets. Because they do not know what will happen tomorrow. 
No country can endure this type of 'non existence'.
At last the young people are saying we don't care about shiah, sunni, muslim, Christian, druze.  We just want good honest government.
Between the young and the old, always choose the young. The young are more honest. Err  . . or less dishonest.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali 

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