LEBANON Anger and bitterness on the second anniversary of the massacre in the port of Beirut

There were two religious ceremonies: one by the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan at Geitaoui Hospital, the second by the Maronite Patriarch at Saint George’s Cathedral. Thousands of Lebanese participated in a protest march in the direction of the area where the accident occurred. Cardinal Raï once again denounced the obstruction of the investigations. He does not rule out a new request for international participation in the investigation.

Beirut () – Lebanon experienced a day of anger and bitterness yesterday on the second anniversary of the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. Ironically, a new section of the port’s silos collapsed to coincide with the anniversary that contain cereals and that were damaged. They are located in the immediate vicinity of the hangar where the devastating explosion occurred, caused by hundreds of bags of enriched ammonium nitrate.

Symbolic marches to the port were held throughout the day, attended by thousands of angry Lebanese from all walks of life. In addition, two religious services were held: the first presided over by the Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Elias Audeh inside the Geitaoui hospital, destroyed by the explosion, and the second by the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Raï.

For the suffrage mass for the victims, the cardinal resorted to the liturgy of the martyrs. The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Saint George in Beirut, in the center of the capital and in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends of the victims. The latter wore black clothes as a sign of mourning and carried portraits and gigantographs of their loved ones pressed against their chests, their faces marked by pain and exhaustion.

The entire liturgy was characterized by a moving accent of sincerity, especially at the time of prayer intentions. Read by relatives of the victims, they not only prayed for their loved ones but also for all those who lost their homes or places of work in this disaster, and especially for those who have been left with a permanent disability. The requests were also addressed to the local Church and to the political and institutional leaders of a Lebanon that seems increasingly weak, defenseless and despondent.

According to the families of the victims, the current figure is 224 dead and 150 seriously injured and permanently disabled. The patriarch did not deliver a homily after reading the Gospel, but rather made “a very strong appeal” highlighting “the meaning” of the day”. His words insisted above all on the persistent denial of justice to families, in the context of a “national drama”.

two crimes

“We are here in the presence of two crimes”, the Maronite patriarch began: that of “the explosion in the port, which is the crime of the century, and the paralysis of the investigation, which is as serious as the first”. In this sense, the patriarch denounced the multiplication of the resources destined to revoke the mandate of the judges and the responsibilities of the State for “serious negligence” that some ministers raised summoned by the titular magistrate of the investigation Tarek Bitar. Experts have warned that these maneuvers have the sole purpose of obstructing the path of justice.

“This paralysis is a deliberate and premeditated action that has ended up sowing discord and divisions among the victims themselves,” the cardinal added with indignation. It refers to a group led by Ibrahim Hoteit and a group of victims of the explosion who, overnight, demanded the dismissal of Judge Tarek Bitar, supporting a request to that effect that had been presented by the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, a few days before

“Without accusing, but at the same time without exonerating anyone”, the patriarch then called for the investigations to be resumed, which have been paralyzed for almost a year, denouncing in particular “those who caused the tragedy, those who have sinned through negligence or indecision, those who kept silent, those who covered up the facts and those who showed cowardice and, lastly, those who hindered the judicial process”.

“At first, and with full knowledge of the facts, we asked that an international investigation be opened,” said the patriarch, knowing that this catastrophe could well be classified as “a crime against humanity” in the event that the investigation ends up showing that what happened was a “premeditated” act. “The obstacles that have been placed in the way of research [para ralentizar su avance] -he concluded- if they were maintained, they could justify the renewal of this request”, in order to involve the international community.