What was once ‘Paris du Moyen Orient’

Beirut explosion was sheer incompetence by a corrupt and broken state

On August 4, a powerful explosion in Beirut’s port left the world dumbstruck. The blast was so powerful that people in Cyprus (240km away) thought there was an earthquake. The blast has so far resulted in 200 confirmed deaths and over 5,000 injuries and has left almost 300,000 people homeless. Added to this, Lebanon’s main granary was amongst the casualties of the explosion. The country now has less than a month’s supply of wheat.

Not surprisingly, soon after the blast, conspiracy theorists posited logical explanations involving Lebanon’s frequent antagonists: Israel and Hezbollah. The former because of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s polemical tweet six hours prior to the blast in lieu of the recent flareups on the Golan Heights border. And the latter because of speculations that the blast was a diversionary tactic from the (then upcoming) August 7 verdict announcement on the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005. Even a Lebanese bride, who fell to the floor exclaiming Allah hu Akbar, was not spared.

However, this time it was not fighting or foreign occupation that destroyed a large part of Beirut. It was sheer incompetence by a corrupt and broken state.

The explosion was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which had been confiscated in 2013 from an abandoned Russian-owned cargo ship heading towards Mozambique. For years, custom officials had been trying to get the judiciary’s licence to dispose of the material. Their requests for authorisation had been met with silence as the material sat in a warehouse at the port.

From colony to couture, Beirut had since its independence become an embodiment of East-West fusion, a cross between tradition and modernity, earning it the nickname, Paris du Moyen Orient (Paris of the Middle East).

Under the guise of communal power-sharing, the country’s leadership has plundered every institution, which has ultimately resulted in a bankrupt state. According to the World Bank, the various sect-based patronage schemes have cost Lebanon, 9% of its GDP each year. The aversion of the political leaders of placing their country’s needs before theirs has resulted in a dependence on remittances and loans and the classic Hail Mary pass in the form of Ponzi schemes.

Since October 2019, it seems the Lebanese citizenry has only taken to the streets, on the off chance that its voice would be heard. With the new government in place at the start of 2020, it seemed its prayers had been answered. However, the successors achieved little. In the midst of renewed protests and the mounting resignations following the Beirut explosion, PM Hassan Diab stepped down on August 10.

Lebanese frustrations can also be evinced in the petition to put Lebanon under the mandate of its former colonial-era protectorate, France, garnered more than 50,000 signatures within 24 hours. Apart from the international aid that has been flying in, on August 10, France and the UN led a virtual donor conference where it promised that all proceeds would be “directly delivered to the Lebanese population”. Turkey has offered to re-build Beirut port and offered its own Port of Mersin for Lebanon to use.

However, all these efforts are short-term. What happened in Beirut was nothing short of criminal. Mere resignations will not alleviate the profound pain and loss from which countless families are still reeling. It will instead amount to revenge and misplaced anger. Throughout its 5,000-year history, Beirut has been destroyed and rebuilt seven times. But this time the phoenix will not be able rise from the ashes on its own. Critical steps from the international community are needed to get the country’s economic cycle rolling again.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2020.

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