Young Lebanese activists challenge old political class

A Lebanese man photographs a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building Tuesday in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. On Saturday and Sunday nights, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, battling them in the streets of Beirut in dramatic clashes, wounding dozens.
A Lebanese man photographs a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building Tuesday in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. On Saturday and Sunday nights, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, battling them in the streets of Beirut in dramatic clashes, wounding dozens.

BEIRUT (AP) - First they egged the prime minister's building. Then they dumped some of the garbage piling up on Beirut's streets outside the home of the environment minister, furious the government couldn't get its act together to find a solution when Lebanon's main landfill shut down.

But perhaps the most electrifying move by the young, tech-savvy group of activists was when they spread their catchy slogan "You Stink" across social media. It helped turn the trash crisis into a popular uprising against a political class that has dominated Lebanon since its civil war ended in 1990.

The core founders of "You Stink" include one of the Middle East's most influential bloggers, as well as a creative media strategist, a rights lawyer, journalists and an actress whose film was banned by authorities for addressing touchy sexual issues. The group quickly picked up supporters from across the spectrum of Lebanon's divisive politics and sects.

"We are the future of this country and the agents of change. If the youth didn't do this, no one will do it," said Nadyn Jouny, a 25-year-old freelance journalist who is among the group's founding members.

She said the movement was a reflection of the growing frustration with an aging and corrupt political class that has failed to even show concern for people's woes. She called it "the regime of the warlords."

"You Stink" claims to have set aside ideology in its effort to mobilize support for an uprising against the political establishment. It says it seeks to ditch a patronage system that divvies up power to each of Lebanon's multiple communities - Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Druze and more - in favor of a non-sectarian culture.

That system has been the center of Lebanese politics for decades and helped fuel the 15-year civil war - and critics say it leads politicians to spend more time cultivating their sectarian fiefdoms than actually governing.

"You Stink" is up against aging warlords and oligarchs who have passed power on to their sons and relatives for generations - and continue to hold the country's top positions with expansive business interests and powerful militias that helped them survive the war. Consecutive governments neglected to improve the country's infrastructure, leading to chronic water shortages and electricity cuts that continue 25 years after the war ended.

"The corruption has been around for so long. But the people have also now smelled it," said Tarek Sarhan, a 17-year-old "You Stink" supporter.

Jouny said the stench from the mounds of trash that blocked Beirut streets was a wake-up call to residents who took pride in their beautiful city. Two major rallies over the weekend brought some 20,000 people into the streets of the capital, numbers rarely seen in a country wary of the chaos in neighboring Syria.

The last time large numbers took to the streets was a decade ago, after the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hundreds of thousands of people from all sects demonstrated in peaceful rallies that were dubbed the "Cedar Revolution." Those protests eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a decades-old presence - but sectarian politics quickly returned.

The idea for "You Stink" began on Facebook, and the group has tried to avoid the mistakes of other Arab protest movements by reaching out to existing youth organizations to help coordinate, Jouny said.