This Christmas, the Lebanese village of Kartaba is deeply mourning its fallen heroes, tragically taken in the heart-shattering Beirut blast.
Najib Hitti, Charbel Hitti, and Charbel Karam were among the brave firefighters who ran in the direction of grave danger in order to put out a fire at the Beirut port.
They, like all bystanders who perished or were severely injured, were dreadfully unaware of the ill-fated events that were about to unfold.
Months after the explosion, there is no sense of closure. The investigation has yet to come to major conclusions.
To prompt people to keep talking about Lebanon, never forget the tragedy, and to keep pushing for the truth, family members of the heroes took part in a Christmas video.
But it was Karlen Hitti Karam – who lost her husband, brother, and cousin in the blast – and her daughter who all our broke hearts with their scene.
Lebanese film director, Gilbert Karam, who wrote and directed the video, captioned the video on Instagram: “Christmas this year is stolen, there is no holiday. The truth is lost and the hearts are burned. We cannot forget, it is forbidden to forget. How nice would it be if the Christmas gift were to know the truth?”
“I’m humbled to be able to film this tribute campaign to the heroes of my hometown village Kartaba, with the full support, trust, and sponsoring of @kartabafestivals.”
We shall never forget…
