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Beirut braced for protests as Lebanese demand answers and justice Beirut braced for protests as Lebanese demand answers and justice
(about 2 hours later)
With recovery and rescue under way after huge port explosion, attention turns to political accountabilityWith recovery and rescue under way after huge port explosion, attention turns to political accountability
Protests are expected in Beirut on Saturday amid growing anger at the corruption and incompetence that appears to have paved the way for one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions the world has ever seen. Major protests are expected in Beirut on Saturday amid growing anger at the corruption and incompetence that appears to have paved the way for one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions the world has ever seen.
Now the dust from the explosion has settled, the injured are being treated, professional rescue teams have taken over the grim search for survivors and remains, and cleanup operations are under way. Moreover, Beirut’s battered residents are demanding answers and accountability for their city’s tragedy. Beirut’s battered residents are demanding answers and accountability for their city’s tragedy. More than 150 people died in the blast, around 5,000 were injured and at least 60 are still missing, according to the health ministry.
Demonstrations are planned for Saturday afternoon, and there are fears violence could break out. On Thursday security forces fired teargas at a small crowd protesting against the political elite, some of them hurling stones. “After three days of cleaning, removing rubble and licking our wounds … it is time to let our anger explode and punish them,” said Fares Halabi, a 28-year-old activist who planned to join an afternoon protest.
There is growing anger against the country’s ruling elite, who were seen as corrupt and incompetent even before Wednesday’s tragedy. Over the last year they have presided over a rapid economic collapse that cratered the value of the national currency and destroyed citizens’ life savings virtually overnight. The wife of the Dutch ambassador to Lebanon was named as the latest victim. Hedwig Waltmans-Molier, 55, died on Saturday after being seriously injured by the explosion as she stood in her Beirut home, the Dutch foreign ministry said.
Four days on from the blast, the chances of finding anyone else alive under the rubble are fading, even though professional search and rescue teams have taken over the grim search for survivors.
As the dust from the explosion settles, its political fallout is only just beginning to be felt. Lebanon has been roiled for months by popular anger over the country’s rapid economic collapse, which cratered the value of the national currency and destroyed citizens’ life savings virtually overnight.
Mass protests last year eventually toppled the prime minister, but the system that he presided over survived almost intact, and in the face of economic pressure and the coronavirus the movement faded.
Now frustrations with the ruling elite have once again been turbo-charged by fury over the blast. Turnout is expected to be high at Saturday afternoon’s demonstrations and there are concerns about how security forces will police them. On Thursday they were widely condemned for firing teargas at a small protest.
Some protesters erected a mock gallows for Lebanon’s top politicians on Martyr’s Square, the epicentre of the protest movement.
“Today is the first demonstration since the explosion, an explosion in which any one of us could have died,” said Hayat Nazer, an activist who has contributed to solidarity initiatives for blast victims.
“This is the biggest warning for everyone now that we don’t have anything to lose anymore. Everyone should be in the streets today, everyone,” she told AFP.
Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, vowed on Friday that all officials responsible for the explosion would be brought to justice regardless of their positions.Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, vowed on Friday that all officials responsible for the explosion would be brought to justice regardless of their positions.
Yet few in Beirut have any confidence that a government that allowed an enormous stockpile of deadly explosive to sit for years in flimsy sheds in the heart of Beirut can be trusted to investigate the accident.Yet few in Beirut have any confidence that a government that allowed an enormous stockpile of deadly explosive to sit for years in flimsy sheds in the heart of Beirut can be trusted to investigate the accident.
In one sign of disgust with the entire political class, one of the country’s leading broadcasters, LBC, announced it would no longer broadcast any political speeches or statements by leaders about a promised probe into the catastrophe.In one sign of disgust with the entire political class, one of the country’s leading broadcasters, LBC, announced it would no longer broadcast any political speeches or statements by leaders about a promised probe into the catastrophe.
The unprecedented boycott of Lebanese leaders and officials meant neither speeches by Aoun, or the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, were broadcast on LBC on Friday.The unprecedented boycott of Lebanese leaders and officials meant neither speeches by Aoun, or the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, were broadcast on LBC on Friday.
France called for an international inquiry into the catastrophe, already regarded as one of the biggest industrial accidents in history.France called for an international inquiry into the catastrophe, already regarded as one of the biggest industrial accidents in history.
The site of the explosion is also likely to exacerbate its economic impact, and hamper reconstruction, because it destroyed Lebanon’s only functional grain silos and dramatically limited its ability to receive imports by sea.The site of the explosion is also likely to exacerbate its economic impact, and hamper reconstruction, because it destroyed Lebanon’s only functional grain silos and dramatically limited its ability to receive imports by sea.
But Aoun has already rejected widespread calls for an international probe, telling a reporter he saw it as an attempt to “dilute the truth”. He also suggested that “foreign interference” may have been to blame – something many Lebanese see as laying the groundwork for powerful players to avoid justice.But Aoun has already rejected widespread calls for an international probe, telling a reporter he saw it as an attempt to “dilute the truth”. He also suggested that “foreign interference” may have been to blame – something many Lebanese see as laying the groundwork for powerful players to avoid justice.