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
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