For the youth by Lebanons youth

[Music]

i’m going to give you a few scenarios to

imagine to set the sage

i want you to imagine living in a

country with inflation of more than 133

percent

in a year picture arbitrary capital

controls

forbidding you from sending your money

outside even if it is to pay for your

children’s university tuition

or medical bills picture more than 50

of the population around you living

below the poverty line

imagine your politicians being in power

for 30 years

yet making money off your back and none

have ever tried

so by now you’re probably wondering who

i am and why i’m here

i’m a first year student studying

international social and public policy

at the london school of economics where

i’m studying towards a degree

to one day make the world a better place

as almost every other person in my

course would say

my degree is not what this is about

though so if you just bear with me while

i bring in our imaginary scenarios one

more time you’ll understand

imagine all the scenarios i mentioned

and that all of them are real and

happening at the same time

you get lebanon and while i’m asking you

to picture this grim story

for lebanese people this is their

everyday life which they would do

anything to stop picturing

let alone living i’m not here to tell

you the facts of what happened

but to put a face and personify this

story and hopefully

leave you with something to act upon my

senior year began just like any other

teenagers

worrying about college acceptances and

prom dresses

i expected these worries to subside as

the year went along

but instead a pandemic struck putting

the health

lives and livelihoods of myself my loved

ones and

all those around me at risk now my

worries shifted

to the potential of the first year of

university being online

and the council prom little did i know

however that the worst was yet ahead

the story begins on october 17 2019

in my last year of high school when a

government proposal to put a tax on

whatsapp

caused nationwide anger six dollars is

not a lot for you or for me

but just imagine being a syrian or

palestinian refugee

who can’t even afford a toothbrush

imagine whatsapp being the only way you

can keep in touch with your loved

ones who fled to europe against all odds

or imagine being a lebanese father who

can no longer afford to feed his

children

i know these faces these faces left the

youth no choice but to act

rallying together students like me and

across the country

realized that being part of history

bested attending history class

altogether and together students driven

by the youth

made our voices heard marching into the

epicenter of a revolution

i heard the west buried accent the heavy

southern accent and many more all

demanding change

the whatever attacks was the straw

breaking the cannons back but the

populist rallied because of decades of

corruption

sectarianism nepotism and injustice

singing our anthem we carried signs and

marched across beirut

standing hand in hand with members from

26 different religious communities

differences disappeared we were standing

on the deadly green demarcation line

once dividing christian and muslim

territories in the civil war of 1975.

the war predated me yet buddhist-rooted

buildings were a salient reminder of

sectarian division

beru was strong so i had to be too

wearing my flag like a superhero cape

filled me with as much joy as the

thought of wearing my cap and gun when

graduating

i knew that we could not give up but

following several weeks of peaceful

protests

corrupt politicians spread unrest with

many even sending their thugs to harass

protesters

the violent event unfolding of what

started as a peaceful revolution

motivated me to want to advocate for

change even more

the experience was empowering i was part

of a noble cause

hoping to improve the lives of lebanon’s

most vulnerable

over the following days as protests for

resilient

i among the rest of the youth initiated

a taboo dialogue

my generation was hardwired to shun

political discussion as incendiary

no more though on social media our

discussion game

threats gained traction mobilizing

support

beirut streets were now more than a site

of peaceful protest supporting those in

need

but they became the place where i began

to see the value of strength

they became the place where i was

learning how together we can be powerful

overlook differences and ultimately make

the world a better place especially

since we

the youth are the leaders of the future

together

i believed we could be the rays of

sunshine the seeds of the revolution

needed to bloom

not long after my epiphany a big dark

cloud loomed over the city

that taught me bravery and inspired me

to believe that the youth are powerful

enough to instigate change

this is a picture of my beloved

grandmother the woman who taught me

my mother and all my family the true

meaning of love

hospitality and tolerance and today i’m

standing in her photo gallery room

remembering all the memories with her my

grandmother survived bladder cancer

a list of other diseases the iraqi

invasion of kuwait

and many more hardships but on august

15th of this summer

she died from the shocks she sustained

from august 4th

when lebanon was rocked by an explosion

of more than 200 tons of ammonium

nitrate stored

unsafely and illegally in maryland’s

port exploded

causing at least 204 deaths 6 500

injuries 15 billion dollars in property

damage

and leaving an estimated 300 000 people

homeless

my mother and i were two of the three

hundred thousand people homeless

she was one of the 6500 injured and my

beloved grandmother was one of the 204

deaths

and from that day there will always be

an empty seat at the table

where my grandmother used to sit because

of the negligence

mismanagement and corruption of

lebanon’s political system

that allowed for such an atrocity to

occur this is the story

of how the 200 tons of ammonium nitrate

that was felt more than 200 kilometers

away

was less than one kilometer away from my

house less than three kilometers away

from where my friends and i were

and i sent five kilometers away from

where i had my first date

in a city that was already bleeding due

to economic and political injustices

so how was i lucky enough to escape an

explosion with approximately 10 percent

the explosive power

that the atomic bomb that was dropped on

hiroshima had

on august 4th my friends picked me up

and that day we drove past the port a

few times

passing by for the last time within just

half an hour

of the explosion going for a dessert so

just imagine i woke up half an hour

later that day

or even decided to stay home i wouldn’t

be here today telling you the story

at 607 we heard an explosion

and the three of us went under the table

i think so eight another sound

but this time the glass shattered sirens

went off

people were screaming and blood was

started everywhere

looking around us we were somehow the

only ones unhurt

i wasn’t as worried as i should have

been because as sad as it is to admit

growing up in lebanon no one ever felt

too safe we assumed it was a political

bombing near the houses of parliament

so i did not presume anything near my

house until

i was bombarded with phone calls from

friends and family from all over the

world

asking if i was okay at this point i

realized something was terribly off

and that i should be concerned i called

my house phone and the frightened

voice of an unfamiliar man responded my

first question to him was

how are you in my house to which he

replied

you no longer have a house dear hearing

those words send shivers down my spine

especially as the feeling of

helplessness came over

just imagine you didn’t know where you

were sleeping that night and not only

was i worried about myself

but my community the man explained to me

how our domestic workers were fine

as they were helping my grandmother who

was visiting us in the bathroom

which happened to be the one part of the

house with no damage

what next i wonder my mother was not

answering

and i had no idea where she was let

alone if she was dead or alive

and i had no other family members in

lebanon to help

after relentlessly calling my mom she

finally picked up

hearing her voice almost brought me to

tears but i knew that now is not the

right time to be weak

she told me she was at the gym when the

glass window fell onto her

raking her arm in two places and

puncturing her in several places with

glass shorts

hospitals and barrett were either

already overflowing

or they had been blown up so my mom had

to go outside their route

so what is an 18 year old men to do when

her mother is in hospital her dad lives

abroad

and the country is absolutely destructed

just sit tight not only did i sit tight

but i made sure to keep a strong face

from my family

we needed me now more than ever to be

strong from the age of four when the

israelis bombed the lighthouse one

kilometer away from my house at the time

i have been routinely living with

political assassinations

and terrorist attacks haunting lebanon

this environment

instilled fearlessness in me evacuating

my grandmother out of the house was

another obstacle because of the lack of

electricity and all the fallen items

imagine your worries changing within the

span of one minute

from what instagram filters to use to

the safety of your family and country

it was hard being responsible and acting

like a grown up when i was still just 18

years old

it was hard sleeping that night in my

friend’s house knowing my mother had

injured herself

my grandmother lived through that and

the house was completely ruined and

exposed to looting and robbery

the coming days did not get easier but i

did not give up

the first day after the blast i went to

my home alone and climbed over piles of

glass

aluminum wood and so many other things

it was heartbreaking looking at all our

memorable items

all shattered or outside of the window

it was even more painful going into my

room

and looking at my bed where i would have

been sitting had i been home

removing five bags worth of glass from

my windows that excluded onto my bed

created an eerie feeling in me that made

me think if i was there

those five bags worth of glass would

have needed to be removed from my body

and not the bed the next days were full

of hardships

supporting my mother through

physiotherapy comforting each other

through the loss of my grandmother

and working on fixing our home the home

where i studied for all my exam

the home where i hosted all my parties

with friends over the years

is it fair that i had to live this

experience is it fair that i have to go

abroad

just to feel safe and pursue good

education

is it fair that 15 year olds had to bury

their friend because he was a victim of

this explosion

these should not be concerned the pain i

and every other lebanese person felt on

august 4th

when they picked up the phone and

checked on their loved ones and had to

listen

and wait in acne to those one two or

however many rings it took

before they were able to hear the voices

of their loved ones is a feeling

no one should ever feel the feeling of

no longer being able to sleep at night

when there is thunder

or freaking out when there is any loud

noise is a feeling no one should ever

feel

the feeling of having friends scattered

all across the world because any

lebanese who could afford to leave the

country

left there’s one inside but one must

continue to fight and move forward

a month later i packed on my things i

moved to london where until today i find

tiny fragments of blast and dust in my

clothes

as hard as horrible as the experience

was for me i have to admit that it was

nowhere nearly as bad as others

because of the economic situation in

lebanon many no longer have the means to

pay for their medical bills or to repair

their homes

this is why i strongly believe that

change needs to happen and at many

levels

such as people abroad voting for foreign

policies that will put pressure on

corrupt lebanese politicians to resign

and make room for qualified politicians

to come and restructure

non-nominees can even do actions as

simple as educating themselves

about the importance of what’s happening

in abnormal in the meantime the lebanese

will continue to protest

and we will continue to work on small

projects like making elections at

universities

an example for national elections by

freeing them from religious and party

shackles that have tied us back

and we will continue to push away from

ideological myopia

through community building activities

and a more open-minded mentality that we

will build together

as a student i cannot take full credit

for the resilience i have built

and i must proudly give an ode to

student and youth-led movements that i

am witnessing

these movements such as biella have

created a fire in me

and keeps this far alive and never want

to give up

yes our dream of making the world a

better place might be a cliche

but i like to think of it as we’re all

doing what we can in our own communities

to do better

so if you’re waiting for a sign to act

this is it

i’m on the face of fridays for future

overcoming aspergers fighting for a

cause against some of the world’s

wealthiest

whose business and affluence are

threatened by climate considerate

actions

however i do believe that my experiences

have enlightened me in several

dimensions

and have allowed me to take these

experiences beyond face value

for example job shadowing in the

lebanese ministry of education

gave me insight into dealing with issues

of catering to the educational needs of

poor lebanese students

while also accommodating for refugees

i’ve also put the effort and gone the

extra mile

to understand lebanon in the context of

international organizations

and humanitarian aid by shadowing the

executive director of unicef

and the un high commissioner for

refugees furthermore my volunteering

experiences with syrian refugees

complemented by volunteering across the

world such as in nalos

have pushed me towards a proactive and

activist path

that encourages me to go beyond my

comfort zone

simply growing up in lebanon and

traveling across the middle east

with headlines of refugees the israeli

occupation of palestine

and many more have also been key in

shaping my understanding

of how it is we can work together to

improve lebanon

when you tell any lebanese the date

august 4th they will forever remember it

as the day they lost a loved one

a home a source of income a favorite

restaurant

whatever faith they had left in the

government or a piece of their country

but i want to work so that i remember it

as more than just that

and hopefully one day my work can also

change the way others see it

to a day where we honor all the victims

of the government’s negligence

but also a turning point in lebanese

history that makes the youth more

committed to work for lebanon

i am determined to make it the start of

my work for justice

despite my grandmother’s passing i

cannot give up

and i still have a responsibility to my

community i’m moving forward by working

with a social enterprise that collects

sorts and redistributes clothes to

disadvantaged communities

to donate my grandmother’s clothes and

support lebanon’s most vulnerable

we also documented this process in a

short documentary to honor her

raise awareness about the blast and to

prove to others how they can be

proactive in their communities

i cannot fix the economic situation

overnight and single-handedly

nor can i be the one to trial

politicians but i can’t make my voice

heard

something rare in many middle eastern

countries reaching out to independent

and student-run

newspapers has been the first step for

me and writing political commentaries

has been the start

working on this talk is another step

that i have taken to amplify the voices

and suffering of the lebanese because

unlike many i

am fortunate enough to go abroad and

have these opportunities

so it is my duty to advocate for those

whose voices cannot be heard

additionally i’ve also been working in

lsc as a student representative

to learn more about the nuances of being

a leader to one day implement change on

a greater scale

looking ahead i have also been

coordinating with international

organizations

to organize a virtual vehicle to

fundraise for victims of the blast

through these experiences i learned more

and more about activism

and by sharing these experiences i hope

others can learn too

i lost a lot in the very blast it left

my street smashed

my grandmother and my country crying but

equally important the blasphemy

front frontlined a citarian system and

decades of corruption

and i gained a feeling of excitement to

start my journey at lse

so i can apply my knowledge to help

lebanon recover and rebuild

i was born in the us to a greek father

and a lebanese egyptian syrian mother

with long styles in the uk

and greece however lebanon is my home

and was broken along with my heart

but i keep going my experiences have

made me want to never give up

i know that almost anyone can give a

talk about resilience in one form or

another

but i strongly believe that my global

upbringing work

volunteering and personal experiences

have given me valuable insights on

resilience as

a team telling this story i hope that

brought a youthful face to headlines

that people hear and read about lebanon

and challenge stereotypes i hope i have

motivated people to think

that change starts small i hope to

inspire teenagers

globally to be resilient in the face of

disaster and to keep fighting to be

happy

and work hard to ensure social political

and economic justice

in whichever form they may be because

effort does matter and it can go a long

way

thank you