Protestors gathered at Nejmeh Square today to oppose the extension of parliament’s mandate, but shorty after took things a bit further by throwing tomatoes at the MP’s cars as they were getting out of the area.
One of the protestors, Marwan Maalouf, even tried to set up a tent next to the parliament but was immediately arrested by the Lebanese army.
Below are also some photos taken by Habib Battah.
I wonder which MP was in that Mercedes which apparently took the biggest share of tomatoes!
Make sure to read Habib Battah’s story on how he got physically assaulted yesterday for trying to take photos of the ruins at District S construction site in Beirut downtown.
My chest and wrists still hurt from the arms of the men who tackled me, twisted my hands behind my back, and tried to rip my phone out of my hands this afternoon.
They were enraged because I refused to delete a photo of ancient ruins I shot on their construction site.
“Lock the door,” one of the foreman said earlier today, and moments later the giant doors of the site were sealed. I was surrounded by 5 to 6 men looking at me menacingly–prepared it seemed–to do anything to shut me up.
Unfortunately he was told to just forget about it when he tried to report the incident to the police station, so I hope his post reaches some good people who can take action about it!
Habib Battah has some nice photos over at his blog Beirut Report showing the interior of Amin Maalouf’s house in Badaro which is currently being demolished by Kettaneh Group after getting the necessary approval from minster Gaby Layoun.
I personally have mixed over this whole thing. As much as I hate to see such old houses going, I also feel for their owners who probably can no longer maintain them and could really make use of the money after selling them to some real estate development company, regardless of how ugly the resulting tower will be, and how affordable the apartments will be to the average Lebanese.
