Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Tripoli Protests in Lebanon

Abstract

As the “October Revolution” of 2019 spread throughout Lebanon, the northern city of Tripoli soon became a veritable hotbed of protests. Over several weeks, the city saw a string of the largest anti-government protests in the country, thus earning the moniker “Bride of Revolution” ( ‘Arus al-Thawrah ). However, it did not take long for things to begin to fall apart. Tripoli would soon give a picture of a not-so-glorious protest movement, penetrated by a potpourri of scheming elements of the Lebanese kleptocracy and business elites and geopolitical interests. The revolutionary slogans and bonds that connected the city’s sectarian mosaic proved ephemeral. The ontological vibrancy, multiplicity, and heterogeneity of the protest movement gave way to political monotony, sameness, and ideological harmony. This paper provides an explanation of how the revolution coexisted, and often perilously so, with its nemesis – counterrevolution – in the protest movement in Tripoli.