The families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion organized a sit-in, on Sunday, under the title of No to the reconstruction of the port before the truth is cleared.
The protest, which was carried out on the Charles Helou bridge in Beirut, comes after Economy Minister Amin Salam announced last week his decision to demolish the grain silos inside the Beirut port and choose a company to carry out the project.
For the families of the victims, and thousands of Lebanese as well, the silos are witnesses to the unsolved massive crime of the Beirut Blast. They had also stood as a protective shield to the western part of Beirut, sparing it devastation and deaths.
The association of the families issued a statement addressed to the Lebanese ministers and state, accusing them of ignoring and disregarding them and their demands for justice.
“If you do not hear our objections, you are not following our movements and do not care about our cause.”
They also accused them of aiming to hide the truth and destroy the crime scene. They charged that “all transactions, meetings, and conferences for the reconstruction of the port of Beirut” that are being held, including the destruction of the silos “are to hide and obliterate the crime scene, the crime of August 4th.”
“All the talk that the silos will collapse is a slander to pass the deals. We, the families of the victims and martyrs will not accept this before the truth comes out,” they warned in their statement.
The families commented that the “reconstruction” of human beings is more important than the reconstruction of the stones, saying that their wounds will not be sealed until the truth comes out and reaches justice.
Activist William Noun, the brother of fire brigade Joe Noun who was killed by the blast, launched an attack against the deal on Instagram:
“The government and the Ministry of Economy said that the demolishing of the silos is a national priority, meaning with all the ‘garbage’ people are living in, this is the priority. Here, of course, they know that the demolition is their goal to let people forget everything about the explosion.”
Paul Naggear, the father of the youngest victim of the Beirut Blast, Alexandra Naggear, commented via Twitter, that the Lebanese authorities intend to “erase landmarks” and “destroy memories” after every crime to let no one demand accountability.
