Lebanese around the world are rebelling against the corruption in their country that led to Lebanon’s downfall and the Beirut explosion that caused massive destruction and displacement.
The revelation that the president and the prime minister knew about the stored explosives and didn’t act in that regard has brought many to express their “disownment” of the president.
In Paris, two young Lebanese women stormed into the Lebanese Embassy in Paris on Friday, only to take down President Aoun’s photo and smash it.
The move was so decisive that the staff was late to react to stop them, yet freaked out, screaming “no, no” and “you have no right, please” and tried to kick the rebellious team out.
The act of defiance of these young women was not just directed towards the president.
Before entering the embassy, they hung up at the embassy’s entrance posters of several Lebanese politicians marked by the word “assassin,” blaming them for the explosion of August 4.
In a sign they plastered to the wall, they wrote, “at least, when the Chilean dog knew, he alerted.”
The statement concluded with the hashtag “he knew”, which has been trending on Lebanon social media nowadays, highlighting the fact that the president and many officials knew about the dangerous inflammable ammonium nitrate in Beirut’s port, and did nothing about it.
The reactions towards that act of rebellion were conflicting. Some applauded them for their courage in making a strong statement, and some considered it vandalism and a pointless act that doesn’t solve Lebanon’s issues.
Surely, these young Lebanese in Paris like those who did the same in Los Angeles and in some ministerial buildings in Lebanon after the explosion, are fully aware that such action won’t solve the country’s too many issues and won’t certainly take down the president and all the party leaders they deem responsible.
However, the Lebanese people are angry and in pain and desperate for justice which they don’t see coming.
They are still grieving. The capital is still massively destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are still displaced. Some are still missing. Many got disfigured or maimed. Thousands are still injured in hospitals. And volunteers and NGOs are still the ones taking care of the victims and the repairs, thanks to external support.
People’s frustration has been mounting as they see only more neglect and more disregard from the state.
