Collective Action
Protesters denounce Trump plan at U.S. embassy
BEIRUT: Dozens of protesters gathered Sunday morning near the U.S. embassy in Awkar to show their anger at President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
Tensions rose between protesters and Internal Security Forces, as some members of the crowd hurled stones at security personnel.
According to local TV channel Al Jadeed, security forces used pepper spray on protesters, injuring six as a result.
The road leading to the embassy, which was filled with protesters waving Palestinian flags, was lined with barbed wire and metal barriers, which some protesters tried to remove at one point.
The reporter and cameraman of the Lebanese broadcaster MTV were attacked by one person, who protesters said did not represent them.
Later Sunday, a small group of protesters briefly blocked the main south Lebanon highway at the town of Khaldeh by stretching a giant Palestinian flag across the road.
The plan, referred to by the Trump administration as the “deal of the century,” was unveiled Tuesday and quickly denounced by countries across the Arab world, including Lebanon.
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have organized strikes, marches and protests against it.
Many aspects of the plan have enraged Palestinians, including that fact that it does not grant refugees the right to return to their lands.