Thousands of protesters planned to form a human chain across Lebanon on Sunday as tensions mounted between protesters and security forces, according to an AFP report.
The country has been largely shut down as roads are blocked and banks and schools have been closed for more than a week, after demonstrations broke out on Oct. 17. Protesters are angry about corruption among the country’s political elite and the state of the Lebanese economy.
“The idea behind this human chain is to show an image of a Lebanon which, from north to south, rejects any sectarian affiliation,” Julie Tegho Bou Nassif, one of the organizers, a 31-year-old history professor, told AFP. “We want to reinforce this feeling of national unity that has been appearing in Lebanon over the past 10 days,” Bou Nassif said.
The human chain would stretch from Tripoli to Tyre, a distance of around 105 miles.
Soldiers fired on protesters Friday blocking a road in Tripoli, injuring six, according to the report.
Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that protesters are also angry at Hezbollah.
“The overwhelming majority of Shi’ites have been accusing [Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih] Berri, Amal [Movement] leader, of a lot of corruption and of stealing public funds. His wife is extremely wealthy, as wealthy as [Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad] Hariri,” Amal Saad, a professor at Lebanese University, told Al Jazeera.