“But They Are Just Poor People Demonstrating Against Economic Hardship”

Arguments that today’s demonstrations have nothing to do with politics are misguided.

A protester takes the car keys of a taxi driver to prevent him from working (AFP)

On the face of it, today’s demonstrations seem like a rightful act of activism against economic hardship. Inflation is high and business is obviously slow for many of the farmers and public transport syndicates. Indeed, many of the people demonstrating believe that they’re not doing it for political reasons. The border pressures from Syria against farmers and haulers are not helping matters either.

But a quick look at the geography of the demonstrations today reveals how superficial that assessment is. Opposition areas like the south, Dahieh and Bikaa have a lot of angry youths and empty streets, while Majority areas are leading normal lives with normal business activity.

In a country where soccer games are closed to fans in fear of clashes, it can only be prudent not to unleash angry masses of one party in the neighborhoods of the other party. No matter what the driving force is, the outcome would be disastrous. March 14 MP Ammar Houry put it well: With such high levels of tension, dancing around the brink cannot remain peaceful forever.

It is also not a coincidence that the “economic” demonstrations are taking place at the same time opposition leaders like Michel Aoun and Sayyed Hassan Nassrallah are asking for street actions against the government. Let alone that today marks the anniversary of last year’s infamous “demonstrations”, which violently forced the country into a standstill.

There are many ways to solve economic problems. But forcing the economy into a standstill is not one of them.