A country that is collapsing, will it make noise? No, not so much. Day after day, Lebanon has fallen into political powerlessness and economic difficulties. silently. Even during the war (1975-1990), Lebanon never reached the level of homelessness that affects it today. “We are sinking”, An old friend from Beirut said.
Lebanese public opinion blames the entire ruling class. She condemned the corrupt and incompetent political system. She condemned the distortion of institutional confessionalism, which produced patronage and corruption. The tragedy of Lebanon and its four to five million inhabitants is that the ongoing complex regional development is also putting pressure on its situation.
The explosion on the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020-220 deaths, 5,500 serious injuries, massive destruction-attacked a country that was already in a bad state. The political, economic and social crises that existed before that day gradually disappeared. The logical black series, a country that was once a small middle class and a few wealth, is today eroded, destroyed and overwhelmed by rampant poverty.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that in less than two years, GDP had fallen by 40%. The Lebanese pound has depreciated by 80%. Unemployment, shortage, health and education system damage, desperate youth: Lebanon has paid a heavy price. Although the entire elite adheres to the status quo and refuses reforms that open the door to generous international aid, one party, and only one party, is more particularly accused of this deadly blockade: Shia fundamentalist Hezbollah.
On the defensive end
The Party of God was established by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1982 and is an important participant in Lebanese political life. It is rooted in the Shia community, which represents one-third of the population, with at least as many people as other Sunni Muslims in the country—the last one-third are Christians. However, Hezbollah, which has experienced militias and is stronger than the national army, is also the main tool of Iran’s policy in Lebanon. It is a tool for Tehran to exercise its advantage in Beirut. Therefore, this partisan militia funded and armed by Iran, a country within a country, defended its favorable political status quo.
Its control of port activities puts it at the forefront of the chain of responsibility for the suspected bombing on August 4. The frightening thing is that Hezbollah, armed with a private army, is carrying out activities with most other parties to undermine the investigation of the port tragedy. But there is a “little judge” on the road, opposing everyone alone. The impeccable professional judge Tarek Bitar played this role in a magnificent way-and took all risks.
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