10 Months Following the Beirut Blast
His Voice Lives On
One of the youth in the picture was killed during the blast. They demonstrated artistic creativity through the music the released. May 24, 2021. Photo credit: The National.
Elias El Khoury, the person to the left in the picture, is one of the many who fell victim to the blast of August 4 2020. Abou Chamat, his friend in the same picture, claims that they released two songs on music-streaming service Anghami shortly before the devastating explosion. 10 months after the tracks' release, the platform verified El Khoury’s account during this month.
"Elias was easygoing, chilled, the peacekeeper in our group and really positive about the future.” Abou Chamat said when asked about his friend. He then talked about how he called him after 6:00 PM to talk about a fire in the Beirut Port. The images Elias shared with Abou Chamat was the last he heard from him. Hours later, El Khoury’s father confirmed Elias, along with his mother Mireille and sister Nour, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Today, Abou Chamat visits the Beirut Port without staying for too long. He even cannot hear the two songs they composed without immediately stopping the track
“It’s tough for me to even hear the songs right now,” he says. “But I am glad the world is listening to it and knows how talented my friend really was.”
“His parents, who never knew about the music until after he died, told me how important it was to them because they can keep hearing his voice.
Celebrating Death?
A picture of the preparations, which were underway. The club canceled the ceremony after the protest of the people. Photo credit: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/.
A Families of the victims of the Beirut blast were enraged at the fact that a party-like event was being planned for the Beirut port. Heading to the calls for an official appology and the brewing anger, the Lions club, who was organizing the gig, cancelled all preparations.
Ibrahim Hoteit, spokesman for the Committee for Victims of the Beirut Port Explosion, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that they were informed of the cancellation of the concert, and the association offered its apology to the families.
“We were forced to publish a video that shows the reality of the party and the dancing scenes, which we completely reject and will not allow it to happen, whether for this party or otherwise. They have to admit what they did, and that it is forbidden to hammer a single nail on the port of Beirut before the truth and justice are revealed.”
Knowing that the event was planned by the Lions club to probably raise some funds, there were other ways to do so without stepping on all what is sacred. Hopefully, the club, those involved, and whoever thought of staging an event in such a context, will have learned a valueble lesson in decency.
Communication and Public Relations Department