Paul’s voice cuts when talking about Alexandra. Under the stage, on the highway that separates the port from the city of Beirut, hundreds of Lebanese get rid of applause to occupy their silences. “We are all victims of the system”bram. Alexandra is one of the most of 200 victims that the explosion in the port of the capital of Lebanon caused a year ago. “It cannot be a commemoration if the crime continues to occur,” denounces the journalist Dalal will lose.
“Where was humanity When we had to run with our children to the hospital, when our houses broke into pieces? Rabies and pain It is Beirut’s lament a year later. 365 days have passed since the Lebanese capital was the victim of one of the worst non -nuclear explosions in history. “365 days and zero apologies”it is read in the shop windows of the businesses closed on this national mourning day.
But not only the frustration enlivens the speeches against the Lebanese political class, they also support them arguments. A informe de Human Rights Watch (HRW) has confirmed that the Ministries of Public Works and Transport They had knowledge of the presence of the almost 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in the port and its danger. When the fire was declared in warehouse 12, they had between 25 and 45 minutes to evacuate the city. They did not.
“Hostages of a murderous state”
“Everyone means all”repeat the crowd as if the October 2019 revolution resumes the streets. The population “hostage of a murderous state”, as a sign in front of the port, has reoccupied the squares in One of the most massive marches of the last year. With several acts in different parts of the capital, they wanted to honor the victims and demand justice before an investigation without results. “And they have them,” concludes Paul pointing to the finger towards the center of the city.
Meanwhile, below in the port, at the foot of the silos, the minute of silence for the victims has lasted much more than a minute. A minute transformed into three. Three minutes are needed to name around 200 names, although The exact number of dead is unknown. Within the enclosure where everything turned on, a misa with a large number of priests and bishops of different religions. The echoes of rabies expressed in front of the crime scene sneak between the holes of prayer in a scenario that a year later, is still bleak.
310 million for Lebanon
“I thought it was fine, but Today many emotions have come to have buried”, Jeff acknowledges. This young doctor has a hard time remembering the hours following the explosion.“ There are parts of my memory I think they have been erased, ”explains unintentionally details. Saint George hospital, where he works, in Gemmayze, next to the port, was one of the most affected health centers between the hundred clinics and hospitals that suffered damage. Decimated by pandemic, Coronavirus patients connected to a respirator died immediately while health professionals tried to treat 6,500 injured.
Some 300,000 people were homeless as an immediate result of the explosion. But although windows and doors have been replaced, many of the Lebanese look unable to return to the place of danger and terroR In which they turned their homes. “The hopelessness This is always present, ”adds Jeff. During the International Conference for Lebanon on Wednesday, donors have raised, animated by the French president Emmanuel Macron, about 310 million euros of help for Lebanon.
Revolution in alleyways
With red eyes for tear gas thrown by the police, the Lebanese youth stands. They are dressed in antigás and submarine glasses, as experts in the art of the revolution. Gathered in the Plaza de los Mártires Where the historical Autumn protests of 2019 took place, they have used their hands to express their anger during this tragic day. Hundreds of young people have resisted for hours the SECURITY FORCES EMBISTES in his cry for justice.
Finally, the square has emptied. The last indefatigable have ran before the continuous launch of the tear gas that Macron sells to the Lebanese agents. On the ground, the remains of the banned banners are left in the race with the faces that are no longer there. But on the wall, their faces remain next to Their names. After the smoke of the tires burned by the protesters, Your memory persists, And the fight for those who kill them yield accounts continue in the alleys.
