Corruption: The Epidemic that Destroyed Lebanon
BEIRUT — On the evening of August 4th 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history shattered Beirut, leaving at least 200 people dead, 6,500 injured, and 300,000 displaced in what was a tremendous example of 30 years of pervasive corruption, insatiable greed, and systemic mismanagement.
Three months out of the explosion, in the city laid waste, destitution and despair is palpable. Winter’s darkness is growing; electricity cuts have soared to 22 hours a day and impending thunderstorms threaten those who are still living in roofless and windowless homes, who jump at every loud sound, unable to sleep from their resurfacing PTSD.
It feels as though Beirut is stuck in an on-going nightmare. A dire financial and economic collapse, exacerbated by a worsening global health crisis, ongoing environmental damage, failing public service infrastructure, and an ever-widening trust gap between citizens and sectarian leaders, have effectively driven the country to a tipping point.
This is far from the first time that Lebanese blood has been spilled. In the 70s and 80s, my parent’s generation endured a grueling 15-year civil war leaving more than 120,000 people dead. The country has been invaded by neighboring Israel and occupied by Syrian troops for some 29 years. Lebanon has been plagued by political assassination, destroyed by bombing and terrorist campaigns, and has continuously been pulled into regional unrest in the form of sectarian strife.
Throughout it all, the same gang of feudal warlords and their families have commanded the seats of power, keeping the fractious system of sectarian power sharing alive until it was embedded into the fabric of Lebanon. The power-sharing system of governance was first introduced during the post-World War I French Mandate. Lebanese elites preserved the complicated power-sharing agreement when the country gained independence in 1943, and again at the end of the civil war in 1990; reaffirming that the President must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the Parliament. a Shi’a Muslim.
A political system based on consensus- meaning no decision can be made in Parliament without the consent of all parties-, sectarianism hinders decision making and creates a never-ending loop of competition, taking its base in antagonistic religious identities. The result is a state of complete political gridlock, once again, underscoring the Lebanese tendency to uphold elite and sectarian interests above all else.
Lebanon is now sitting in an economic calamity, and the consensus on the country’s staggering debt is one that can no longer wait. The acceleration of the monumental economic collapse, so famously manufactured by the corruption and cronyism of the warlords, coincided with last year’s protests. Since October, over 50% of the population lives underneath the poverty line. Prices have soared as our currency has devalued over 85%. The unemployment rate has surpassed 40%. The banking crisis forbids people to withdraw from the banks the money they have worked their whole lives for. Food prices have doubled and tripled and there is a shortage of imported goods.
Since June, members of the Lebanese leadership have been in talked with the IMF in order to receive relief from its crushing $92 billion- or more than 160% of gross domestic product- public debt burden, but rather than tackle any necessary reform to its grossly mismanaged economy, bankers and politicians are squabbling over who to blame, bickering among themselves when they are all complicit.
Unwilling to step aside, the ruling class grows more hated by the day. After the civil war, former militia leaders and their malign ambitions- among them sitting President Michel Aoun and the Speaker of the Parliament House Nabih Berri- took over multiple government ministries and public institutions and extended their patronage networks into the core of the state. Time after time, they have failed to provide basic government services. They continuously partake in the blame game -a true Lebanese specialty- blaming outside actors and fooling themselves into believing they are champions of change, victims, being thwarted by a corrupt structure… and there begins the vicious cycle. A game of hot potato, but instead of throwing around a vegetable, they are playing with accountability.
Since the wake of the explosion, not a single one of Lebanon’s leaders ventured into the devastated neighborhoods where grieving families buried their loved ones. Instead, they looked down from their palaces, guarded by their vultures, unable to face the obvious backlash they would receive from the people who curse their names in united chants. It is clear to us that the intransigent old-guard does not care if the economy collapses or the country is destroyed, so long as their yachts stay afloat and their cronies employed.
2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was stored in a hangar at the port since 2014 without proper safety measures and they turned a blind eye. International port guidelines suggest explosives and hazardous material be removed from vicinity as soon as they arrive on site (usually taking between 2 hours and 2 weeks). Any kind of temporary shipment of highly flammable goods are meant to be stored safely in a controlled environment and specialized warehouse. In the Beirut port, which proved to be an extension of the government’s mismanagement, explosives and hazardous materials were being stored for years in volatile conditions. All political parties had interest and control over the port. The blast was in no way an inevitable accident. It was a bloody crime.
In spite of the state of emergency that has engulfed Lebanon, President Aoun has adopted his characteristic nonchalant attitude and demonstrated no sense of urgency in initiating parliamentary consultations aimed at ensuring the future of the government.
In Beirut, exhaustion is heavy. The destruction of the mind, the spirit, and body is heavy. The people of Lebanon have been abandoned, left to fend for themselves. Hours after the dust settled from the blast, crowds of young Lebanese armed with mops and determination provided each other with shelter and health assistance; picking up the pieces of the mess they had no part in creating. Once again finding private solutions to issues that should be solved by the state.
On the ground, the NGO and volunteer efforts were the first to respond to the blast. Grassroot groups are spearheading the reconstruction effort, distributing food boxes, and rescuing our old heritage homes. They are holding the country up, driving the most effective, responsible, and sustainable response possible; working to get their fair share of foreign aid. These are the same local groups who were present during Lebanon’s October 2019 revolution that swept the nation in a beautiful and unprecedented display of unity. They showed up every day for 5 months straight, protesting decades of the broken system of sectarianism that favors kleptocracy and denies democracy, that allows corruption to destroy the livelihoods of millions of Lebanese, both abroad and at home. In a year, the Lebanese spirit has been pushed from invigorating hope to unconceivable despair.
We often hear the trope of resilience used to describe the Lebanese people. But this is not resilience; it’s survival. The true resilience lies within the ancient warlords and their inability to yield. Will the ever-spreading shock waves launched by the murderous explosion of August 4th in the port of Beirut blow out the power that sits pretty in the hands of the political mafia conglomerate holding the country by its throat?
For those in Beirut, the sad reality shows that many can no longer afford to stick around and wait for change. Lebanon, long a destination for over a million Palestinian and Syrian refugees, is increasingly becoming an exporter of people. For this country, whether you manage to flee, or choose to remain; it will break your heart.
In the land of the sacred cedar tree, rocked in between the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the inspiring mountains of Mount Liban, where the great Phoenician seafarers of the ancient word invented the alphabet and the first Roman law school was born, corruption has robbed us of the luxury of choice and dreams. It is our country, but no one recognizes it anymore, neither those who left, nor those who stayed, nor those who have returned.
Sources
The writer of this article is the primary source for all the data and information provided as she has been living in Beirut, Lebanon, where she has been working for the NGO Beit el Baraka.