Collective Action
Education and public bodies are the focus of protests on the 22nd day
Thousands of secondary school and university students across the country marked the 22nd day of nationwide protests Thursday morning, marching through the streets and gathering in front of state institutions. “We want free education and to be able to work,” said one protester who had joined a group of hundreds more in front of the Education Ministry in Beirut. Demands from protesters – whether on the streets of Ashrafieh or Nabatieh, or gathered in front of the Lebanese University campus in Sidon – centred around ending corruption, making education affordable and creating jobs. Other protesters targeted state electricity institutions, calling for an end to pollution and corruption in the sector. Hundreds assembled in front of the Zouq Mosbeh power plant, preventing employees from entering, and in their dozens in front of Electricite du Liban in Corniche Al Nahr. Several dozen protesters marched from the Murr Tower to The Court of Audit in Verdun, which was forced to close its doors upon their arrival. Lines of police prevented the protesters from entering the building.