The right to public protest is fundamental in a democracy — citizens need to be able to demonstrate when they judge certain situations to be unacceptable in order to pressure those responsible to remedy the situation. There are ways to protest effectively, however, and then there are ways to be an obnoxious, self-defeating disturbance; Lebanon of late has been rife with the latter. The infamous Tariq Al Matar, the road leading to the airport, has been blocked with burning tires more times, and for more reasons, than is sensible to count over the past month and more. Pissed off about electricity cuts? Yallah, let’s burn tires on Tariq Al Matar! Upset over Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria? More tires for the airport road! There are so many protests happening that they are blurring together, with many protesters unsure which cause they are supposed to be angry about that day. Besides
