Lebanese against Foreign Intervention Burn US, ‘Israeli’ Flags in Awkar

By Staff, Agencies

Hundreds of Lebanese people rallied near the US embassy in Lebanon to slam Washington's intervention in their country's domestic affairs in the wake of mass protests demanding departure of the ruling elite.

Protesters burned both ‘Israeli’ and American flags on Sunday while holding signs, criticizing any intervention by foreign embassies.

“We will not give up our country for ‘Israel’,” one sign read.

Most recently, former US Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, who is currently the undersecretary of the US State Department, had spoken about a possible civil war if the Lebanese Armed Forces resorted to disarming Hezbollah by force.

Relatively, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem told Reuters on Friday that the United States is the most prominent obstacle lying in the way of formation of a government in Lebanon.

“The first obstruction in the formation of the government is America, because it wants a government that resembles it and we want a government that resembles the Lebanese people,” Sheikh Qassem said.

US officials had been in direct contact with Lebanese politicians and officials, Sheikh Qassem noted, saying, “Let them leave us alone so we can reach an understanding among ourselves. The more they intervene the more they delay the solution.”

The protests began on October 17, when the government proposed imposing a tax on Whatsapp calls, along with other austerity measures.

Growth in Lebanon has plummeted in the wake of endless political deadlocks and an economic crisis in recent years.

The country hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and their presence is often blamed for putting pressure on the already struggling economy.

Unemployment stands at more than 20 percent, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, the country’s national debt is hovering around $85 billion, which accounts for more than 150 percent of Gross Domestic Product [GDP], according to the Lebanese Finance Ministry.

Successive governments have failed to address a waste management crisis or improve the electricity grid, which is plagued by daily power cuts.