Van Hung Da: Multi-faceted Lebanon refracted by the Big Bang in Beirut
Author: Fan Hongda, Zhiyuan Outstanding Scholar and Professor of Middle East Research Institute, Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese
Source: Volkswagen Global Forum
WeChat platform editor: Zhou Yue
An explosion occurred in the port area of the Lebanese capital
A helicopter extinguishes fires at the site of an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4. Xinhua News Agency/AFP
Executive Summary
The explosion in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, could have been avoided, and in the face of continuous warnings issued by the security services, the relevant Lebanese agencies and departments still ignored the 2,750 tons of hazardous chemicals in the port of Beirut, which is a serious dereliction of duty by the relevant agencies and personnel, a true manifestation of the mismanagement of the country, and to a large extent reflects the current political reality in Lebanon.
In recent years, Lebanon has been experiencing serious economic development difficulties and is currently one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world. With an influx of some 1.5 million Syrian refugees since 2011 and the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon's national development has indeed reached a very critical juncture, and the explosion in Beirut on August 4 has made lebanon even worse.
Life in Beirut is gradually resuming
Condolences were given to a loved one who was killed in an explosion at a hospital in Beirut, lebanon, on 6 August. At present, the search and rescue operation at the explosion site in the port area of The Lebanese capital Beirut is still continuing, and the local people's lives are gradually recovering. A violent explosion occurred in the port area of Beirut on the evening of the 4th, causing a large number of casualties. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Bilal Javich)
The explosion in Beirut refracted the multifaceted Lebanon
Fan Hongda, Zhiyuan Outstanding Scholar and Professor of Middle East Studies at Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese
In the evening of August 4, Local time in Lebanon, a series of violent explosions occurred at the port of the capital Beirut, which has so far killed 135 people, injured about 5,000 people, and left dozens of people unaccounted for, and more than 300,000 people were left homeless. The bombing was a catastrophe for Beirut, a population of 2 million, and a national tragedy for Lebanon, with a population of 6.1 million.
Lebanese officials have confirmed that the main body of the Beirut explosion was ammonium nitrate, a 2,750-ton hazardous chemical stored in a port warehouse for several years, which has not been properly disposed of since 2014. It is deeply regrettable that this disaster could have been avoided, according to Lebanese media reports, the Lebanese National Security Agency issued three warning reports on explosives in the port of Beirut on December 10, 2019, June 4, 2020, and July 20, 2020, but unfortunately did not attract the attention of the relevant responsible parties, which eventually led to the tragedy of the big explosion on August 4.
Lebanon is a small country of just 10,452 square kilometers, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, sandwiched between Syria and Israel. Although it is small in size and small in population, Lebanon has long appeared frequently in the international media, whether it is foreign relations or internal politics, which is quite interesting.
After World War I, the Syrian Arab region became the mandated territory of France in April 1920, and in order to weaken the confrontational power of the Syrian people, the French mandated ruling authorities dismembered Syria and split a Lebanon from it. Before Lebanon declared its independence on November 22, 1943, it was controlled by France, Germany, Italy and other Western countries. From mandated rule to de facto control, France is the Western power with the greatest influence on Lebanon. To this day, France and Lebanon maintain close political and economic relations. After the beirut explosion, France not only announced that it would provide assistance to Lebanon in terms of rescue personnel and materials, medical treatment, etc., but president Macron also visited Lebanon on the 6th to show support for this suffering country.
After the explosion in Beirut on August 4, U.S. President Donald Trump announced at a press conference that U.S. "military personnel" told him that the explosion may have been a "man-made attack" and the work of "some kind of bomb." But according to CNN, Defense Department officials immediately clarified President Trump's claims, saying that the so-called man-made attack was inaccurate because there was no evidence that it was a man-made incident, and the U.S. Department of Defense did not know why President Trump said that.
Immediately after the explosion, Israel became a suspicious target for some, which is related to Israel's poor relations with Lebanon. In 1970, palestine liberation organization headquarters were forced from Jordan to Lebanon, and lebanon has since become the base camp for Palestinian liberation organizations to launch attacks against Israel, especially in southern Lebanon, which borders Israel. The move by Palestinian militants drew Israeli retaliation against Lebanon, culminating in a massive Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, also known as the "Fifth Middle East War." Against the backdrop of this war, Muslim forces in southern Lebanon formed the "Allah Party" that resisted the Israeli invasion.
So far, the "Allah Party" has become a powerful force in lebanese politics, and the "Allah Party" that resolutely opposes Israel has always been a major problem in Israel's heart, and Israel has also dealt many blows to the "Allah Party". It is precisely because of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon that many people doubted that it was caused by an Israeli attack after the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, which forced Israeli officials to publicly declare that lebanon had nothing to do with themselves at the first time. With the Lebanese Government's explanation of the cause of the bombing, the suspicions faced by Israel have faded.
After the Beirut explosion, Iran also behaved very kindly and positively. Iranian state media reported that Iran had delivered more than 15 tons of medicines and medical equipment worth $150,000 and 55 tons of various foodstuffs to Lebanon, in addition to a field hospital and a medical team of 30 members. At present, Iran is regarded as the most powerful external supporter of Lebanon's "Allah Party", and at the critical moment when Lebanon is facing a national disaster, Iran's real help is not only a manifestation of international morality, but also a driving force for the "Allah Party" to win more domestic support.
International assistance and assistance are of course necessary for Lebanon at present, but in the long run, lebanon needs more than the improvement of public management and the steady progress of the country's political and economic development. In the face of continuous warnings issued by the security services, the relevant Lebanese agencies and departments still ignore the 2,750 tons of hazardous chemicals in the port of Beirut, which is a serious dereliction of duty by the relevant agencies and personnel, a true manifestation of the mismanagement of the country, and to a large extent reflects the current political reality in Lebanon.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Lebanon was known as the "Switzerland of the Middle East", which shows the charm of Lebanon at that time. But more than a decade of civil war and Israeli incursions from 1975 to 1990 devastated the country's healthy development. The political struggle between the three forces of Christians, Islamic Shiites and Sunnis in the country continues to this day, and lebanon's label of "Middle Eastern Switzerland" has long been blurred, replaced by national turmoil.
In February 2005, Lebanon's then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a bombing; in November 2017, Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri (the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri) abruptly announced his resignation during his visit to Saudi Arabia; after the Beirut explosion, three former prime ministers still called for the establishment of an "international or Arab commission of inquiry" to investigate the Beirut port bombing, with the establishment of an administrative investigation commission chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, All such reflect the complexity of Lebanese politics.
Political turmoil will inevitably affect the good operation of the country's economy and society. In fact, Lebanon has been experiencing serious economic development difficulties in recent years and is currently one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world. In March 2020, the Lebanese prime minister announced the repayment of the $1.2 billion Eurobonds due, and in May formally requested the IMF to provide Lebanon with a $10 billion loan over the next five years, the first such request from the Lebanese government to the IMF. With an already difficult country, with an influx of some 1.5 million Syrian refugees since 2011 and the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon's national development has indeed reached a very critical juncture, and the explosion in Beirut on August 4 has made Lebanon even worse.
About the Author
Dr. Fan Hongda, Zhiyuan Outstanding Scholar and Professor of Middle East Research Institute, Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese, joined the company in March 2020. Previously, he served at Xiamen University for nearly 16 years. He is mainly engaged in the research of the Middle East region, especially Iran and Israel, and also pays close attention to the discussion of China's diplomacy. In the past ten years, he has continued to conduct in-depth research in Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, and paid attention to research and writing on this basis. He has been a visiting scholar at Tel Aviv University in Israel for one year, a teacher at isfahan University in Iran for one year, and a temporary post to aid Tibet for one year. He has published 4 monographs and dozens of papers. Xiamen Satellite TV, Shenzhen Satellite TV, Shanghai Satellite TV, Oriental Satellite TV, Phoenix Satellite TV and other TV stations current political program guests.
Related testimonials
After the catastrophe, the Lebanese people joined hands to tide over the difficulties
"The storefront is almost cleaned up, and then clean up and try to open for business today, but this broken door and window glass does not know when it will be reinstalled." On the 6th, in a block near the center of The Lebanese capital Beirut, a fast food restaurant owner Husselm Hassan told Xinhua News Agency.
On the 6th, the second day after the violent explosion in the port area of Beirut, the mood of the beirut people gradually calmed down. Except for the area around the port and some roads that are still closed, urban traffic has basically returned to normal.
Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan said earlier in the day that the blast had killed 137 people, injured about 5,000 and left dozens unaccounted for.
Rescue operations at the blast site in Beirut's port area continue. The reporter saw at the gate of the port area that from time to time there were military vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks entering and leaving. Near the gate, dozens of people are anxiously awaiting news of their missing loved ones, hoping that the rescue operation will bring miracles.
Ali Mushari's nephew works in the port and his life and death are still unknown. He told reporters that his last call with his nephew was around 5 p.m. on the 4th, and he could not be contacted since the explosion. Subsequently, he waited at the gate of the port area, waiting for news from his nephew.
The residential area near the port is devastated and in disarray. The reporter saw that local residents were cleaning up broken glass, scattered metal, damaged building materials, etc., and many volunteers and members of civil society who came from all over Lebanon were cleaning up the scene with residents.
After the explosion, the Lebanese people spontaneously united to help each other.
The young Henry and some like-minded netizens on social media spontaneously organized themselves to help clear the roads around the port area. "I just do what I can," he said. ”
Mohammed Taleb led more than 20 volunteers from the Lebanese civil aid group Smile & Olives from the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon to Beirut to help clean up the site around the port. About 200 people from the group helped in multiple neighborhoods in Beirut that day.
Talel Gibra is a volunteer from a civil society group in the southern Bekaa Valley. He and other volunteers from the group rushed to Beirut on the 6th to distribute food to the public free of charge. They bring a mobile kitchen that can provide 400 or even thousands of meals a day. For the next half a month, they plan to provide food to all those in need.
It was learned that the hospital blood bank was in an emergency, and many Lebanese people rushed from other places to Beirut to donate blood on the night after the explosion.
Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud said on the 5th that the explosion caused a large number of buildings and houses to be destroyed, and about 300,000 people were homeless, and these people may not be able to return to their homes within two or three months.
The Government of Lebanon has called for temporary shelters for the homeless and for them to be opened to schools, hotels and more. Some religious institutions in Lebanon have indicated that they will open churches, church schools and other places to resettle the victims.
(Xinhua News Agency, Beirut, August 6, Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Liangyong)
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