Nothing undermines the powerful quite like making them look silly. You’d struggle to find a better example of this maxim than a group of Lebanese protesters splitting their sides laughing during a daft duel with a water cannon.
The amusing incident unfolded Tuesday, as clashes broke out during demonstrations near the parliament building in the capital Beirut. It saw an audacious person, decked out in rain gear and a helmet, taunting riot police into repeatedly blasting water in their direction.
The daring heckler successfully ducked away several times just before the jet of water could soak them. Freelance journalist Luna Safwan shared the footage of the incident on Twitter after receiving it on Whatsapp.
“I can’t stop laughing,” she wrote. “This video literally reflects how we — Lebanese — usually react to crisis, we tend to always find a fun way to work around things!”
Ruptly captured another angle of demonstrators using the gap in the slab of concrete as a safe haven from the security forces’ spray.
Tuesday’s clashes saw hundreds of people injured as demonstrators held a rally against Lebanon’s new government while it sought to win a parliamentary vote of confidence. The Lebanese Red Cross said it treated 373 people for injuries, taking 45 of them to hospital.
With Lebanon gripped in financial crisis, the protesters have been calling for an end to the current political class, accusing them of being corrupt and incompetent.
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