This is a sad day for Lebanon, a country that is no stranger to anniversaries marking tragic events. However, it is on this day in particular that thousands of Lebanese families of all sects remember the horrific massacre that destroyed half of Beirut, killing and injuring their loved ones. Despite the three years having gone by, the victims’ families continue their search for the perpetrators and negligent officials responsible.
The blast has been compared to the non-atomic version of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Nonetheless, nothing has happened as the years have gone by. It is business as usual. Only the victims’ families remember. Everyone else is carrying on with their lives, unfazed by the fact that they live in a country where no one is held accountable after such a crime.
Here, there is no room for justice, state authority, or the law. If you’re looking for the embodiment of a country governed by the “law of the jungle” we hear so much about, look no further - Lebanon is a living, breathing example. Here, the law has no place. Of course, there is a constitution, and the country does have laws, but here, they are not ratified to be implemented. Rather, they are there simply because they are a necessary part of state architecture.
Here, the “powerful” do as they please. “Excess strength” has become a catchphrase used to justify actions that others are prohibited from taking, or do not dare to take. Those who can deploy their “excess strength” (through their immense arsenal) can break the law. They can storm the so-called “Palace of Justice.” They threaten to “remove” judges who are not to their liking and then go to their homes, or to their “suburb,” as though nothing had happened. They obstruct elections if victory is not in the bag!
Despite the immense pain and sorrow, and the tears that will pour from the eyes of the families of the victims who lost their lives near the port of Beirut, some will gloat and rejoice. No one has managed to ask any of them a question over the three years that have passed - not even one simple question like “Where were you on that day? Why did you neglect your responsibility to take action despite knowing about this ticking time bomb by the port’s silos - about this Nitrate capable of blowing up the entire capital?
They appointed a judge to conduct what they called a “judicial investigation.” However, these very heroes went on to threaten him. They used every intimidation and terror trick in the book to prevent him from doing his job. The man yielded. He put his files and secluded himself in his room. Meanwhile, the accused roam the dark streets of the country freely after “arrest warrants” were issued against them, which ordinarily implies that security agencies must and will “arrest them.” Instead, they attend public events, run in the elections... and win uncontested. In fact, a “Minister of Culture” obnoxiously volunteered that he was willing to take a stroll on the beach with one of the fugitives, challenging anyone to dare to arrest him!
These are some of the questions that have been raised over the past three years: who brought all of this Ammonium Nitrate to the port of Beirut? Who is responsible for concealing it all this time? An even more dangerous question; where did the bulk of those explosive materials go? Indeed, three-quarters of the Nitrate unloaded onto the port’s Hangar 12 years ago had been removed. The report written by a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), found that if all the Nitrate that had been placed in the port in 2013 (estimated at 2,754 tons) had detonated, it would have destroyed the entire capital.
The FBI estimates that 500 tons exploded on August 4, 2020. The facts about what exactly happened with the rest, which was smuggled out of the port over seven years, could explain the guilty party’s insistence on obstructing the investigation and the issuance of the judicial investigator’s report. Where did the tons of Nitrate that disappeared go? How was it smuggled out of the port of Beirut? And who used it?
Certain officials are in charge of the port of Beirut. Some of them were negligent, some were complicit, and some were unaware that this much Nitrate had been there or were not directly responsible for this matter. The conclusion of the investigation that is being obstructed was supposed to answer these questions, not just charge defendants. That is what the families of the victims of the port explosion are demanding.
When justice collapses, and the law is not applied, everything becomes permissible. Crimes are committed. The capital’s port is blown up. People’s bank deposits are stolen. When the time comes for parliament to vote for a president, it simply does not. This is an exemplary model for ensuring state collapse.
