Stupidity and Personal Gain
We live in a world full of
different kinds of people, various religions, contrasting skin colors,
cultures, ideals and contradictory opinions.
A place where conflicts are a daily basis, where corruption isn’t wrong, where
citizens because of fear decide to keep their mouths shut, where democracy
should rule, we live in a hostile environment in which human rights aren't worth, and the basic needs for surviving are violated.
Aren’t you sick and tired of
remaining in silence, going with the flow, allowing the “authorities” to abuse
their power, when they are the ones who are supposed to be leading the country
into its future betterment?
Middle East citizens have
been suffering for decades from
These conditions previously
mentioned are what citizens from Lebanon have had to cope with for at least 10
years, but not anymore, they have decided to fight for their rights, after the
announcement that a series of charges would be imposed for calls and messaging
from the WhatsApp server. Something that the population did not like at all and
that has served as a trigger to initiate a series of protests throughout the
country that are considered the largest in the last five years.
After the first
demonstrations, Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, immediately withdrew the
proposal, but the trigger pushed them further and the so-called 'WhatsApp
Revolution' became a vindication against endemic corruption and the great
economic crisis that has plagued the Mediterranean country for decades.
Lebanon citizens finally have
understood that no matter your incomes, or social status, the only way to
achieve peace and a great future, is joining forces, and they clearly
demonstrated it on the 20th of October, 2019, when their biggest protest took
place, it became the most massive of the four recorded so far and was
characterized by a peaceful mood. The protesters danced and sang in the
streets, some waving Lebanese flags and singing "people want to overthrow
the regime".
The anti-government protests
that have flooded the country, have brought together all segments
of Lebanese society in an unusually unified call for the downfall of a
political elite that protesters blame for sinking the economy in a crisis.
An example of all of this is what a citizen
felt when protesting: "I didn’t expect people from the north, south of the country and
Beirut to get together and like each other. The protests have
brought everyone together and this has never happened before", said Sahar
Younis, a 32-year-old NGO worker
Clearly protests don’t always
remain pacific, so according to the Lebanese Red Cross in the capital alone at
least 23 people were taken to hospitals while another 70 were treated there,
with the number of victims, since Thursday, rises to two deaths and more than a
hundred wounded.
If revolutions all over the Middle
East continue, no safe, happy, clean environment will be left, if people with
different ideas and opinions have been able to join and put aside their
differences, why can’t governors just do their jobs in the cleanest way, look
out for their people and rule with reason if it is easier? Is it really
necessary to divert these “leaders”?
By Isabella Duarte, Step 10
