Collective Action

A video of an Internal Security Forces officer slapping an Electricite du Liban worker went viral over the weekend, sparking outrage and prompting the ISF to promise to open an investigation. The incident took place Friday when EDL contract workers held a protest at the state-run company’s headquarters in Beirut’s Mar Mikhael. ISF personnel and riot police, led by an ISF brigadier general identified as H.Kh., were dispatched to end the demonstration. The video shared on social media Saturday showed H.Kh. slapping EDL worker Hasan Akel and telling him to “shut up.” Akel told local media that the protest was peaceful and claimed he “placed his hand on the officer’s knee” to explain the situation. The ISF said Akel “held the officer’s leg and spoke to him in an unethical way,” prompting the reaction.