On Thursday, people were enraged after seeing that the graffiti statement accusing the government of the Beirut Blast was painted over, erasing it completely with white paint.
The graffiti was written on the cement barrier facing the Beirut port in the wake of the Beirut explosion and it read, “My government did this.”
Strikingly impressive, photos of that tag statement with the apocalyptic-looking port in the background were widely published by the international media and circulated intensively on social media. They still do.
In a futile attempt to erase the accusation that is in the minds and hearts of all the Lebanese, as the public assumed, the authorities decided it is time to paint over the graffiti.
People took to social media to call out their government for trying to hide the blunt accusation, seeing it as another way to silence the people and deny the truth.
“Love to see that my government has their priorities straight,” said someone on Twitter, while another wrote, “A conscious decision to paint over the graffiti is a conscious decision to move past any claims of culpability!”
However, The961 learned that a group of young men and women painted over the graffiti in preparation to paint something new over it. It is not clear what they were attempting to replace it with. But the question is why try to replace it in the first place?
Whoever they were, they could not go on with their plan. Before the end of the day, someone had already graffitied the wall again, declaring, “You can’t erase your crimes. ‘My government did this.'”
Another line was added, also addressed to the state, “People died, by the way” in case the government has forgotten… the unforgettable.
Over 200 people died as a result of the explosion. It was deemed one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in human history. It was so destructive that it led to disturbances in the Earth’s ionosphere, according to scientists in Japan.
It has been 8 months since the blast and yet very little action has been taken by the Lebanese government to carry out an extensive and urgent investigation and reconstruction of the damaged Beirut neighborhoods.
Even if the government does not find itself responsible for the blast, it is not doing much to help its people after it.
In fact, the president had explicitly and firmly refused to launch an international investigation into the blast, saying that it would not be efficient.
The state’s investigation, which was supposed to take 5 days as he had assured, has been all but efficient; a clear reflection of the dysfunctional state governing the country’s affairs.
Stalling, procrastination, investigation turning around the bushes, denials, and politicians interfering and refusing to be questioned, a method of operation similarly observed in the case of the Central Bank and the forensic audit.
It is as if by doing so, the most horrible crime committed against the people of Lebanon would be forgotten with time.
However, the Lebanese people have no intention to ever forget nor to cease demanding justice.
