Anti government protests if you already joining us on you cheap you have something to add to this you have a question for i guess jumping to the chat and you can be part of this conversation i want to introduce our guest there be dealing with a lot of your questions and your concerns hi there karim its good to have you here on the stream tell everybody who you are. Hi thanks for having me im a journalist for the public source and im a nonresident fellow that i didnt suit. Welcome to the stream raft good to see you tell everybody who you are as in my name is jennifer and been an active protesters. 17 and im very but speaking in organizing defense put us over the past 2 years a story that is just and off thank you for joining us and tomorrow it is good to have you back in the sting remind people who you are. Im the. Online correspondent based in beirut basically covering all things lebanon from the streets to you know politics and finance and business you know lets get this conversation started chemo was on the screen back in october 2019 this is how we look time and cant my laptop i just screen grabs. And you know he leapt. To mystique even a slight smile that made me happy printing so happening you when he asked. How do you make the right signal. Well yeah i mean that was i think after a week of sort of exhaustively covering protests on the streets but as you said i mean it was an extremely sort of a mistake moment. And i think its not you know that was about 6 or 7 months ago and i think its worth sort of having a small account of whats happened since weve gone from that you know explosive moments of unity on the streets and the man on really unprecedented you know over a 1000000 people together across the country which very quickly however was sort of tainted by the economic crisis people really being pushed to focus on their basic needs and then of course in the you know february we had our 1st coronavirus case and went into a lockdown on march 15th im so i mean its been an incredible 6 months in this country for everybody here normal life has been completely upturns whether it be you know whether its protests economic crisis or or coronavirus and and so its a day i mean where and where in a very different place id say a lot of that positivity a lot of that feeling of were really going to somewhere you know were going to to change i think today we see that it wasnt really we havent gotten to the change that we want yet if you talk to the people on the streets thats what ill tell you. Im going to Say Something rich im sure youve seen already but for the benefit of our audience in video that went. Iroh 11 on have a look here on my laptop i want you to see who posted it 1st of all abashed new dean a one of the people who shared the video and i just want you to look here so the lady and the gentleman the lady is pregnant the gentleman and the lady are eating out of the dustbin and this was circulated widely because in lebanon. Trying to eat and getting food for a big chunk of the population is very very serious right now can you explain why anyone would need to do that in lebanon today. Yeah you know i see i think that this video speaks volumes about the extent of the economic crisis and lebanon lebanon is generally considered to be a middle income country and when we reach a point where food is no longer afford a moat and that we have a Food Security crisis on our hands this really sounds some serious alarm bells let on imports a lot and a nice u. S. Dollars to do so but the u. S. Dollar shortage has caused an import crisis which has been going on since october and the lebanese government has struggled to resolve it is the International Community regional countries European Countries the United States and china if they could help out and there has been no help whatsoever and you know you factor in the fact that all these borders are closed and because of the covert 1000 outbreak and things are successful food prices have skyrocketed the government has struggled to maintain the extent of the inflation ive spoken to people who have said thats off by about 60 percent and some of us about these even in tripoli which is our 2nd largest city is distributing coupons for supermarkets if you can buy food and i remember a Government Official and the municipal government there said that people are fighting over these coupons this is a serious concern which really indicates the extent of our you know our poverty unemployment that is only going to get worse especially in the short term unless are significant structural changes to our economy to make sure that they kind of you know theres a uter for for this kind of development. You are protesting the gang. You out in the streets who are in if i was not down youre out protesting. In the streets why why you out again. I think people just like with this position especially that the government right now is that they can get any serious. Serious action whether to economic crisis or to even phased out on a crisis. The government has to be there. Because even right now were talking about getting a lot from i am increasing the left as well so i think people are on the street saying that the danger of going or not is not serious and is not safer than the danger of actually starving to death so this is like on the streets again because if you dont die ill just go on over again ive been dying out of like access to health care out of having access to floored. By being kicked out of our houses because people are losing their jobs because the they threatened. Their the government is talking about. Getting more laws and not actually destructuring the debt or making serious investments in the news economy to be like more productive and sustainable to really face this crisis better. Deal i know youve got some really want to let me go viacom and get his assistant professor of Public Administration to the American University of beirut when a player comment on the streaming just come off the back of it tomorrow. Weve seen a definite return to the streets to protest also to organizing new political platforms in the north because the structural problems havent changed since before the call it out of a kind of the not corruption rampant clan to this him in a deteriorating socio economic. Conditions its pushing people to take back to the streets i think the only hope that lebanon has is that the revolution continues and is able to institutionalize a new political channels that really can change the existing political elite who have fielded since the civil war to make any demands to meet citizens needs. Like an its not a gates all around imo you could say. He had left so i think its very important here to set a few things straight 1st of all we had a Political Class that has been in power for 30 years since the end of the civil war all the years unsustainable all this to use mismanagement and corruption have led us to where we are today and where are we today if youre the average lebanese person today in the past 6 months youve seen your salary either completely vanished because youve been laid off tens of thousands have been laid off or your salary has been slashed in half because business just cant sustain you know the same level of employment what does that mean that if you have you know hostile or its you would think thats pretty bad but she has also depreciated by 60 percent salary you know say 50. 00 on 100. 00 and affectively today its worth about. That salary to the store things have increased in price by 30 to 50 percent so its a complete nightmare scenario and theres no social safety net because for years that when the state has been all about you know theres no health care or theres no unemployment compensation. People used. To loyalty to parties but even parties today are struggling to do that and so i mean that has very real affects the murder has gone up by over 100 percent in the 1st 4 months of this year. You know shafts of cars and other burglaries are between 20 and 50 percent off and the 1st 4 months and basically the point is that the new government that has come into power has shown over the past 3 or 4 months that it is unable to take independent technocratic decisions even though it calls itself in the next government because i mean time and again we see whether the independence of the judiciary whether it be capital controls whether it be very simple things they are polled away from the cabinets table by the 5 or 6 men and that is why this new government that the old who went away you know that the same government you know basically the government from the government as an affront for political or economic to improve politics much change and thats what youre hearing on the streets. Shell have this is the government that promised so much this is the nominee came on the back of the october revolution im also looking at you out here in the streets look at the half protesting here this is corona virus pandemic new have a lot down and you hear look youve got the monsoon some people you are not social distancing you simply so important that you willing to risk your house from the house of commons. Yes because one of the government was that using the lockdown and our inability. To pass some laws our own. To endure a gate out to 1st to do aides over the house of activist and jaded them that have been torturing of different activists. So this is not something that we should. Let go and this picture actually it was they are the killing of. Of oil for was who was watching who was killed by the army in egypt because they were protesting against. An economy so when you have someone who is skilled. Of course youre not going to say that that afraid of many people but its either we die out of hunger or we just like. Not making over there right in our hands and not to also mention that the banks just like going on with their measures that. People have deposits and that we dont have access to our money was on. A thing that weve been working on with our salaries we dont have lots of the dollars anymore or people were attacking the banks they were burning them down so of course were going to be in the streets because that increasing violence even of just technocrat government that we do not believe and this stigma grad government just believe that they are going to do it at the end because they have destroyed that sense of that but thats the reason as you can see right now they have been at tacking. So being on the streets not much what is important in mind that the revolution is going on there now or later were not going to stop. Karim what is the Current Administration doing to try and get out of that economic recession knowing that the coronavirus pandemic is happening i know lots of people cant work. No safety net for people who are extremely vulnerable what are you seeing with us and what i see were doing here theyve got a Financial Strategy. So when. I miss a sunday up scott and it you know 1st was you know 1st came to be they presented you know sort of a policy statement where they paid a lot of lip service to the op price alone to the different protesters and their demands at the moment according to go shooting with the i. M. s they have requested 10000000000. 00 over the next 5 years since the economy and they are sort of promised significant economic restructuring and they have come up with a an economic rescue plan which includes a ref restructuring of almost everything one could think of from restructuring the banks even and to a city sector to implement a whole new wide range of taxes and even at the crux of legislation of course the question is that can they deliver on these from us and what is this legislation and what are these reforms look like as well at the moment there seems to be a bit of a tense or a ship right now in between lead on the i. M. F. And how these negotiations are going but lebanon is also really relying on a pledged 11100000000. 00 in loans from their National Community which they hope can be used to rebuild its entire infrastructure from the highways and Sewage Treatment plants power plants and the like so levels having to rely on International Support for their economic rescue plan is you know rather ambitious whether they can you know whether the same Political Parties that got the country to this mess can actually implement all these reforms which in a way with harmed them it is also very questionable and of course the banks are not happy with the you know the economic plan of all the banks want the government to bail them out the banks have called in government to sell state assets to help them recover because the banks are struggling to meet them themselves have this tweet coming in from syria what do the desk think of the claims then i. M. F. A well bank bailout would be a need and you know imperialist mandate so lucian. Well i well i mean i could i could just say that in term what it really what really matters is the reforms that the live the government does in order to get this a you know we had a Donor Conference 2 years ago and paris france where the International Community pledged 11000000000. 00 and they said if you guys you know fight corruption if you do some judicial reform if you give us transparent public procurement processes then we can actually give this money. There and some of those reforms are really very connected to what the average of the news person wants they they want corruption to be fought they want public to understand be carried out transparently they want judicial reform they want structural reform and so i think that you know the lebanese state and the lebanese people could benefit a lot from the conditions of certain kinds of aid there is also the issue of you know the i. M. F. You know traditionally ask for. The value added tax or or. Ending you know. Which i think not go with the. Or do you want just am i going to im going with it i suspect youre talking to im getting youre breaking up a little bit so im just going to jump in to you chief the moment so that we can just we sample that audio and review some cynicism on you tube karim. Kevin neo said that no one should count on the government as they design a freedom twilight 15 again getting debt to pay more debt that seems logical null loves us its the system that a committee. That cynicism is completely warranted at the end of the day no matter what sweeping reforms that matter how positive or negative they may be from the mail the ruling Political Parties of business not in its an ex warlords and so on right about how these reforms could be the question is you know could do you implement corruption measures or judicial reform on on yourselves right the idea is that these are people who have profited from from from corruption mismanagement of public funds they have benefited from these really messy policies so are these the people to legislate and implement an effective way these kinds of reforms to ensure that the lebanese economy comes i believe so it completely makes sense that there is a lack of trust in government and as seymour said earlier it is treated as a facade government many of these ministers or most of them were not involved in government at all before but they were appointed by the Political Parties in the 1st place and there are power structures outside of the cabinet and part of them up on what people call the shots they might be explanations or x. Warlords or is this not its that house quite a big say in how things are all up and so he takes the consideration the cynicism is absolutely worth it. So let me discussing this in terms of the Financial Strategy of the government in lebanon there is no safety net for the people who are at the very. Bottom of. Even having any kind of income for instance Domestic Workers and she hear a story that the agent plus at team day this is an all female with the Domestic Workers on a mission to deliver food to fellow Domestic Workers in need in the coronavirus pandemic in lebanon people who are doing their own social services for each other i want to introduce you to banshee who is actually in this video and she explains how shes helping other people who really need help or to be Domestic Workers similar. In medicine that is asia and has been a seemingly mystical rest of us are here so that one of them now because of the core not hers and financial crisis thousands of them are sick or wheres laid off and or any are forced to work for free and me are even treated on the return to a country and for not received any help from their embassy because all this is not any of us a good. Harmony and we are providing the food for the cows and sort of a sequel person that i dont. Know half the president actually said at a very recently that he was afraid that people were going to stuff that there was they may not even be bread for them to buy what are you hearing what are you seeing on the streets. So when you mean when you say that people are starving return to that were not talking on people when you talk about people who have been living with talking about sid and have to do is about but its the talking about Migrant Workers and like in the most the quarters and there are the most marginalized groups and they are the most affected by the crisis right now so it happens that im working with the miners community center. With many Migrant Workers and seen sense of. Kicked out of the house there are thousands of people who dont have access to food for days as well and theyre camping on initiatives and whats even shocking is that when the quote is a started the government of course the one do anything for the people even if people are starving doing initiatives that were to do support to collect money to support the benes on this as well but what was shocking is that even it is initiatives refused to. Support Migrant Workers because they wanted to play out when is 1st and this is what. One she and her group that are an Amazing Group to actually do that on initiatives for the thousands like in lima that are more than 250000 migrant Domestic Workers at least. So this is what we mean i just want to jump to the idea that economic plan to say that its not just like a problem off a death. Like getting a death sure. Its more than that i think greenland or that its more like a class struggle and that we have to really change the Economic System and you have a fight against the lungs that are in conspiracy was that it was a government as well so when you have one percent of the lebanese who hold more than half of the deposits in the all the deficit and the wind gets really show you that any deaths from that i am is actually like the weights and the. But of the of the losses the and the corruption and the budget and for the past 30 years will be on on all the lies and on the were. Going to bring you into this conversation we spoke to her earlier and she said you were its just time to rethink how lebanon works so listen to. What we should do or we should do really in mansion levanon. 2 reemerging the country and economy does not rest on the exploitation of informal workers of Migrant Workers. We imagine just fear our society we have reached a point where the injustice is just not longer bearable. I remember a day when you were an optimist smiling abby a kid can you really imagine 11. Well i think that thats sort of the fight today. If you if you talk to protesters you talk to people involved as you talk to you know opposition politicians the fight today is what kind of lebanon comes out of this crisis because crisis do you know for all of their horror present opportunities and so will lebanon be a more accountable more just less corrupt more inclusive less sectarian state at the other end of this economic crisis or will we continue as sort of a zombie states where we have these you know arties in power who continue to divide spoils among each other in the name of power sharing and you know we have increased instability you know lack of security isolation and equality and emigration i think that there is sort of there was a point a few weeks ago at the protest in tripoli which kind of stuck to my and my mind where there was actually a protester in tripoli who was killed by the army during the protests there a very sort of angry protests and that protester was then basically you know a march was organized in tripoli to his familys home and so people came up to tripoli from across the country they marched to outside the home and in this alleyway outside his home you basically had pictures of all of these dead men and you know these martyrs who had died in successive rounds of fighting over the years in the country basically you know fighting for this or that warlords interests and so my my question that came to mind there was did this person if i was a man die for a new cause and you let a new law but im not and i think that thats what most people would hope that that the people who have sacrificed so much over the past 6 months and who will be sacrificing into the future as this country continues to collapse that they are actually sacrificing for a better country and for more accountability and for a one on that really reflects what people took to the streets for 6 months. I mean a half thank you so much for talking to us about lebanons economic crisis right now and and what you feel is the coolest behind that any human should be concerned about and really appreciate you being on the string today. You feel comments thank you for being part of the program im going to wrap up this Company Conversation on lebanon but i want to show you here what we often do sunday through wednesday extinct 30 g. M. T. We take you behind the scenes of the. A. J. English and also t. V. He can join us then 1630 g. M. T. In sunday through wednesday see on instagram like seen extern thanks for watching take care of a good. Frank assessments tourism but income stream is dead in the water whats been the result in poaching parts of north america informed opinions there has been a very aggressive political rhetoric that has become very normal in Israeli Society indepth analysis of the days global headlines its time for new policy needs a country politically to see integrating retaining their stability we all continue inside story on aljazeera. Coronavirus maintains its stranglehold on the us campaigning on the election trail has been forced to take a back seat but with so much at stake when will the president ial candidates get the opportunity to hit the road and so their brand of american politics follow the u. S. Elections on a. Bank short films of hope and inspiration. A series of short stories that highlight the human triumph against the odds. Aljazeera selects. The u. S. Is always of interest to people all around the world this is been going on for a number of them but you cant be used to fight back. You know reports stories through an International Perspective to try to win your blue ball audience why its important how does it impact your life at the height of the storm the one who would do a high that would be above my head this is an important part of the world people pick a team to work on here now does it is very good bringing the news to the world from here. The. Protests for Racial Justice continue across the United States as the Police Officer at the center of the george freud case is charged with 2nd degree murder. Angry and appalled former defense secretary jim abscessed accuses donald trump of trying to divide america and announces what he calls a militarized response to the protests. Playing. Hello again and the says al jazeera live from also coming up
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