In his study located in the center of Tripoli, Fehmi Karamé, lawyer and committed actor in the popular uprising of 2019, is stunned by the chaos that has gripped his city. Daily protests, denouncing the ongoing containment and the economic collapse, degenerated into nightly clashes with the security forces. “Real scenes of war, on several occasions. “ A young man died of gunshot wounds. “It is unacceptable that live ammunition was fired by the police. “
More than 250 wounded were recorded in four days. Friday morning, January 29, Mr. Karamé was trying to identify the number of people arrested by the army since the start of the outbreak of anger. He had a heavy heart, too, after the fire by protesters, the day before, of the building of the municipality of Tripoli, near his office. ” That makes me sad. This place is a symbol of our history. “
Under the shock, Tripolitans note the damage: inside, after the steps, the walls are black, the electric wires hang down, the material has been reduced to ashes. Other public buildings have been targeted by Molotov cocktails since Monday. Tripoli feels groggy. Are these days of riots the prelude to more chaos, against the backdrop of a serious socio-economic crisis?
Dignity
That anger erupts little surprise. Tensions have grown in the city: thus, snags had multiplied between the police and residents fined for not having respected the strict confinement – on paper – established since Thursday, January 14: obligation to obtain an authorization to leave home, reduce activity to a minimum. Measures deemed unbearable: the economic collapse, which affects the whole country, is fierce in the city, the poorest in Lebanon, long neglected by the authorities. Tripoli had already resisted the first confinements, out of necessity and fatalism at the same time: there are many daily workers. This Friday, street vendors resumed their activity. Shops are open in the center. It’s that or feel the hunger in the stomach, we hear.
A short distance away, on Al-Nour Square, the epicenter of the Tripoli protests, a new rally takes place at the end of the afternoon, but the demonstrators are few. Most of them young men, sometimes teenagers. Groups are seeking face-to-face contact with the security forces. Firecrackers, stones. Tear gas fire. Others stay away. Moussa, 19, came with his friends from a working-class neighborhood, shouts his rage: “I can’t stand it any longer that the life of the sons of politicians is so easy while ours is a struggle. “
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