Daily Scope: Surprise Protest in Environment Ministry, Escalation and Grand Rally on Sep. 9th

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES

AS-SAFIR:

Popular Demonstration on September 9th

AL-AKHBAR:

Dialogue Answer Most Dangerous to Demands

AL-BINAA:

Escalation May Lead to Chaos

AN-NAHAR:

Will Escalation of Movement Affect Stability?

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Street Escalation Races Dialogue

Lebanese newspapers on Wednesday focused on domestic issues, particularly the latest developments regarding the demonstrations taking place in downtown Beirut, as protestors barged into the Environment Ministry yesterday, demanding the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammad al-Machnouq, and were subsequently kicked out by Internal Security Forces.

Popular Demonstration on September 9th...Environment Minister: I am not the Weakest Link --- As-Safir

As-Safir explained that a few hours prior to the end of the 72 hour notice given by the civil movement to the government to execute their demands, and in the absence of any indications that their demands would be met, the movement caught minister al-Mashnouq off-guard by barging into the ministry building in downtown Beirut. A number of youth from the "You Stink" campaign organized a sit-in thereat, demanding the minister's resignation, whereupon ISF [Internal Security Forces] violently interfered, which led to some injuries among the protestors.

The paper saw that what happened yesterday in the Environment Ministry goes much farther than the minister's responsibility or the movement's leadership. It is the natural result of the state's "sustained corruption", and of the constant weakening of constitutional institution, the voiding the constitution and laws of meaning, the hindering of Parliamentary elections, and the weakening of chances for democratic change.

As-Safir also considered that this pressure was bound to explode somewhere, beginning in Riyadh al-Solh, then in Martyrs Square, then the surprise in the headquarters of the Environment Ministry, up to the grand demonstration on September 9th, coinciding with the date set for the national dialogue.

As-Safir goes on to say that although it is not unlikely that internal and external influence has affected the movement so as to take control of it or invest it contradictorily to the good intentions of most of the protestors, but this "Trojan Horse" must not be indicative of the civil protest as a whole, but must motivate its protection and strengthening.

Escalation May Lead to Chaos --- Al-Binaa

For its part, al-Binaa daily saw that the demonstrators in downtown Beirut escalated their movement as they promised last week, and raised the tone of their slogans, which resembled the slogans at the beginning of the Syrian Crisis in Deraa in 2011. But what is more interesting is the demonstrators' occupation of the Environment Ministry and the "surrounding" of Environment Minister Mohammad al-Mashnouq inside his office, demanding his resignation, and refusing all negotiation attempts, luring the ISF into forcibly removing them from a public institution.

Sources for al-Binaa noticed the similarity of the slogans at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, such as "Peaceful Peaceful" [in reference to the protest], and accusing security forces of extreme violence against the protestors, which eventually snowballed into calling "the people want the fall of the system," whereupon the sources affirmed their point of view on the snowballing of political demands.

The sources added that they do not say this with intent to question the movements or the demonstrators, but to say that foreign intelligence agencies, especially "Israelis", may use the crisis to make matters worse, all to weaken the country and preserve "Israel's" security.

August 29th Movement Follow-up Committee: Dialogue Answer Most Dangerous to Demands --- Al-Akhbar

Al-Akhbar, related that the "You Stink" campaign was successful in stealing the limelight by barging into the Environment Ministry in a surprise escalatory step, whereas the other movements participating in last Saturday's protests were announcing the formation of the "August 29th Movement Follow-up Committee", an organizational framework that will lead the escalatory movements that will lead up to the central movement on September 9th, which coincides with the dialogue.

The daily went on to say that the awaited escalation began its first steps yesterday, surprising everyone. Close to 50 people from the "You Stink", "We Want Accountability", and "Get Lost" campaigns barged into the Environment Ministry and announced "its return to the people", seeing it as the beginning of a "civil unrest". Sources within the campaign say that this step was agreed upon within a very limited group of people to preserve the element of surprise.

The movement's components are now operating under the August 29th Movement Follow-up Committee, which aims to lay out a general plan for the movement. The committee has outlined a number of targets for the escalation, which include closing public facilities, such as the airport, the port, and will include movements in other regions. It also called for participation in the most prominent escalation, to take place on September 9th, at the same time as the dialogue, in a time and place to be later determined.

The committee considered that the most dangerous response came from House Speaker Nabih Berri, who "took advantage of an important national ceremony to restructure the political class and the partners in distribution. Thus was his call for the heads of House Committees, from without the organizational institutional framework to call for unity against citizens, especially since the dialogue is not scheduled to tackle any social concerns or demands."

Source: al-Ahed News, Edited by website team