The families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion gather to demonstrate on Aug. 8. (Credit: Nada Merhi)
BEIRUT — The families of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion gathered late Sunday afternoon in downtown Beirut before marching towards the site of the disaster to demand justice.
Here’s what we know:
• “This is not the start of the escalation that we announced, but the continuation of the commemorations of Aug. 4,” Ibrahim Hoteit, the spokesperson for the families of the victims, told L’Orient-Le Jour reporter Nada Merhi at the march. Hoteit was referring to the group’s pledge to escalate protests if parliamentary and political immunity is not lifted from sitting MPs and other officials in relation to the official investigation into the blast. Adding that the group is still thinking about what actions to take next, Hoteit explained that Sunday’s March was chosen to pay tribute to the demonstrators who had been victims of state repression when they protested on Aug. 8 last year, just days after the explosion at the port.
• The families are supported by several organizations, including those representing the families of the disappeared during Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War, people with disabilities, environmental activists, bank depositors and legal rights groups. “We are all victims and the criminal is the same: the Lebanese power,” Wadad Halwani said in a speech on behalf of the families of the disappeared in the Civil War.
• To the sound of drums, the demonstration marched towards the port, several people waving torches. Relatives of the victims emerged from the port carrying coffins filled with flowers and plants to symbolize their lost loved ones. The silent march then headed for the stricken neighborhood of Mar Mikhael.
• The families of the victims are demanding justice while the investigation into the catastrophic explosion has so far failed to hold any top-level officials accountable. In a speech on Saturday evening, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who denies any connection with the shipment of ammonium nitrate that detonated in the blast, attacked Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the investigation, asking him to provide evidence to support his decision to summon officials for questioning and claiming that “the investigation is politicized.”
• On Wednesday, a huge crowd gathered at the gates to the port in commemoration of the disaster, which left more than 200 dead and destroyed entire districts of Beirut.