“Not peaceful, not peaceful. This is a revolution, not a song,” the protesters chanted in downtown Beirut — pointedly contradicting the “peaceful, peaceful” slogan of the uprising’s early days, when huge demonstrations against the government turned into dance parties. “Lebanon is being pushed to the brink of chaos and anarchy,” said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “People have reached a point of no return,” said Bachar el-Halabi, a lecturer at the American University of Beirut who supports the demonstrators. The shift toward more confrontational tactics was accompanied by a noticeable fall in the numbers showing up to the demonstrations.

Source: Washington Post January 19, 2020 21:48 UTC