From a narrow angle, Beirut looks a picture of elegance and success, its French boutiques, luxury hotels and imported cars blending into Mediterranean skies.
For Salem, the protests, which she calls a revolution and which have drawn hundreds of thousands of Lebanese onto the streets, will have failed unless the ruling elite is entirely swept from power and replaced by a new political leadership.
Since the country's 15-year Civil War ended in 1990, the names and faces of those who run the country have barely changed, she says.
According to the World Inequality Database, Lebanon is one of the most unequal countries, with the wealthiest 1 percent accounting for almost a quarter of the national income and the bottom half just 10 percent.
The economy is contracting, debt stands at 150 percent of GDP and unemployment among under 35s is nearing 40 percent.
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