Collective Action
Banks and Touch under pressure on 75th day of protests
Protesters targeted financial institutions across Lebanon Monday, marking the 75th day of nationwide anti-state protests. In one incident, protesters held a sit-in at the Sofil branch of Bank Audi in Beirut, chanting against banking policies. According to the Associated Press, protesters forced the tellers to cash a $ 5,000 check for one protester and two others were able to withdraw $1,000 and $2,000.
Pictures of protesters holding dollar bills were widely circulated on social media afterward.
Meanwhile, a group gathered in front of the Central Bank in Beirut’s Hamra district Monday afternoon, protesting against national financial policies and practices adopted by banks. They later marched to the Association of Banks in Saifi and blocked the chunk of road between the Saifi intersection near Gemmayzeh and the “Ring Bridge.”
Protesters also took over Beirut Souks in the capital’s Downtown area later in the evening.
Dozens of demonstrators had massed in front of the Central Bank in Zahle. According to local media, they held signs and chanted, “We want our money.”
Protesters also entered banks in Sidon, according to the state-run National News Agency. They demanded the release of money to small depositors, who have been struggling to withdraw cash from banks in the face of recent informal capital controls.
A similar protest took place at the Central Bank in the northern city of Tripoli. Meanwhile, in the Aley town of Qabr Shmoun, crowds also stood in front of banks, chanting against current financial policies.
Protesters gathered in front the offices of the state-owned mobile operator Touch in Downtown Beirut, calling on caretaker Telecoms Minister Mohamed Choucair to not renew its contract.