Written by the journalist Melvine Khoury/ August 4, 2020 Beirut Port Explosion Survivor

This is the fourth of August, what was supposed to be an ordinary day, despite the unusual circumstances we were going through on many levels.

I was home, what everyone calls a “safe place”. I didn’t know there was a ticking bomb about to explode, depriving us martyrs, victims, injured, and doomed of our lives.

They wanted to stain us that August 4 with blood, fear, despair, and surrender, for they are the sons of darkness, and leaders of a world unfamiliar to mercy and humanity. But once these negative feelings touch our souls, we take our gowns of worry and disability off. We are now stronger, and surrender is not an option we are willing to consider.

Head of the Beirut Bar Association Melhem Khalaf: The Beirut Port Explosion was an intentional crime

“We will not let Lebanese people sink in despair”

As a first response to the crime of the century, and so the criminal does not escape from justice, the Beirut Lawyers Syndicate filed a lawsuit as a party affected by the blast and started an office presided by the Syndicate President Melhem Khalaf to represent all those who fell victims of the explosion.

Melhem Khalaf then directed the founding of a central operation room and the setup of a few offices in different locations in Beirut to help people file lawsuits.

They were the first to raise their voices when everyone was afraid. They sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations with explicit clauses asking for help in their fight for justice.

Dr. Rima Nasrallah from the Evangelical Churches of Beirut

“We try as much as possible to encourage one another, putting our fate in the hands of Jesus Christ”

On the August 4 of last year, joy turned into sadness and hope into despair. A tragedy targeted us all. Even churches were wounded crying from their children’s pain. It is true that churches were severely damaged, but it stood tall and remained the one refuge that spread strength and will. It saved people from despair and put them back of the path of hope, tranquility, and safety, for there is no savior other than Jesus Christ who tell us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

The Evangelical churches in Beirut got their fair share of damages.

His Eminence Bishop Mathias Charles Mrad: ‘August 4 was a hard test that we passed with faith and solidarity’

It was destroyed and went through pain alongside its children, it mourned and cried with them in times of despair, then it rose and held on to its hope in Jesus Christ. Indeed, these are the churches of Beirut, houses od God, the one safe refuge, source of faith and resilience amidst the tragedy and loss that took over Lebanon on August 4,2020. A date holding a memory of death, despair, distress, and fear… however, churches refused to surrender and chose to rise, as once did Jesus Christ.

The churches of Beirut weren’t spared from the explosion destruction. Each was severely damaged to its core, as it suffered the unbearable losses of its children.

The Armenians of the World Rushed to Help their Communities in Lebanon

The restoration and rehabilitation committee taking care of the August 4 explosion destruction completed its duties with success

The Beirut port explosion damaged a big part of Armenian residences in Beirut. The Armenian Orthodox Church played a big role in rehabilitating what was destroyed during what we may call the biggest crime against Lebanon. His Eminence Archbishop Shahe Panossian, Primate of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Lebanon explains how the Church stood by its children.

A few days after the tragedy that burdened Beirut, Archbishop Panossian says: “A committee was started with the blessing of the Holy Catholicos Aram the First of the Armenian house of Cilicia.

“We finished 30% of restorations and what’s left is the damage the state needs to fix”

“Church property, if sold, like some suggested, would not be enough to save Lebanon from collapse”

“People turn to the Church as a mother and a home”

One year after the Beirut port explosion, 131 Maronite parishes had their churches destroyed and 145 priests went from serving masses to becoming relief teams. From focusing on the spiritual life to protecting dignities, homes, and rights… After one year, we meet with the Curial Bishop of the Maronite Archdiocese of Beirut HE Archbishop Boulos Abdel Sater to ask him: “How did you treat the wounds of Beirut? Are there still bleeding wounds left?” Archbishop of Beirut said a few weeks before the 4th of August that he does not trust that the identity of the person behind the explosion would be exposed.

‘They are trying to change the demographics of Beirut, we will not tolerate that!’

On his face, you can see Beirut. In his voice resonating every Sunday in St. George Cathedral in Beirut, you hear the voice of Beirut. Through his aching heart, and his saddened eyes ever since August 4 of last year, you can feel the pain of Beirut, gem of the Middle East, mourning in her black dress…

Far from his political opinion that disdains our irresponsible leaders, and his stance against corruption and the corrupted, Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies of the Greek Orthodox Bishop Elias Audi said during the mass of commemoration of the blast victims:

The Ghost of death is still haunting Beirut as we still live in the deadly unknown.

The new and special issue of the MECC magazine "Al Muntada" is now issued, under the title of "Beirut in the Heart of the Church, the Risen Beirut Does Not Die!", in the weekly newsletter Momentum prepared by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches. The department produced this issue for the commemoration of the Beirut Port explosion, as it includes exclusive interviews with the heads of Beirut's churches and special articles shedding the light on this disaster and its repercussions, in addition to the role of the churches amidst the tragedy.

The Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) published a new and special issue of its quarterly magazine, “Al Muntada”, for the month of August 2021, in Arabic and English. It is entitled "Beirut, in the Heart of the Church, Beirut, a City of Resurrection". The department has dedicated this issue as a tribute to Beirut and its people on the first commemoration of the Beirut Port explosion which occurred on August 4, 2020.

On the first commemoration of the Beirut Port devastating blast, the Middle East Council of Churches Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs addressed a message that was published in a special issue of “Al Muntada” magazine, issued by the MECC Communication and Public Relations Department. Hence, Dr. Abs presented what Lebanese people passed through since August 4, 2020, in addition to the latest updates of their living circumstances today. He also described the various human aspects that shook the world, as well as its consequences.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II:

Please unite in good so your country would go back to being shining, brilliant, successful, and distinguished

On the first commemoration of the tragic 4 August Beirut Port explosion, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, addressed a letter to the Lebanese entitled “One Year Post-Explosion…?”. Through it he urged them the necessity of cooperation and solidarity as one population in order to overcome all the repercussions and difficulties resulting from this disaster aiming at building a better future.

August 4 Explosion Commemoration Eve

Remembers the Victims and the People Affected, Calls to Pray for them and for Lebanon

Press release

The MECC Executive Committee held its online periodic meeting on Tuesday the 3rd of August 2021. The members of the committee, the Council teams in Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Jerusalem, and Cairo attended the meeting along with guests concerned with the Council’s work.

After the opening prayer, attendees addressed the tragedy of the Beirut port explosion, as it has been a year since the unfortunate accident without reaching any outcome, to determine responsibilities and achieve justice.

Dentro de una semana, el Líbano volverá a ver al día 4 de agosto con, nada más, que melancolía, ya que ha pasado un año con poco que mostrar, en cuanto a la investigación. Si no fuera por la ayuda de los socios internacionales del Líbano en estos tiempos oscuros, cerca de 300,000 libaneses seguirían sin hogar o desplazados. Mientras tanto, los líderes libaneses, los responsables de la toma de decisiones y los políticos se regodean en sus torres de marfil o nadan en sus piscinas privadas, riéndose de toda la riqueza que han acumulado a lo largo de los años.

In one week, Lebanon will revisit August 4 with nothing more than melancholy as a year had passed by with little to show, investigation-wise. If it weren’t for the assistance of Lebanon’s international partners throughout these dark times, about 300,000 Lebanese would be still without a home or displaced. Meanwhile Lebanese leaders, decision makers, and politicians bask in their ivory towers or swim in their private pools, giggling away at all wealth they had gathered over the years.

Las Familias de las Víctimas: No a las inmunidades políticas a costa de la sangre de nuestros seres queridos

Para respaldar los esfuerzos del juez Bitar por investigar a los funcionarios, Amnistía Internacional ha pedido a las autoridades libanesas que levanten «inmediatamente» la inmunidad de los responsables en el caso de la explosión en el puerto de la capital, Beirut. Hasta el momento, el Parlamento, el Ministerio del Interior y el Ejército no han aprobado las peticiones del investigador judicial de levantar la inmunidad de tres diputados (ex ministros) y de investigar también a los responsables de seguridad y militares.

The Families of the Victims: No political Immunities at the expense of the Blood of Our Loved Ones

To back judge Bitar’s endeavors to investigate officials, Amnesty International called on the Lebanese authorities to "immediately" lift the immunity of those responsible in the case of the explosion at the port of the capital, Beirut. So far, the parliament, the Ministry of Interior and the army have not approved requests by the judicial investigator to lift the immunity of three MPs (former ministers), and to investigate security and military leaders as well.

Al acercarse el primer aniversario de la mortífera explosión de Beirut, los países de la UE han celebrado reuniones para debatir la situación libanesa. Al principio, se habló de reunir a un grupo de trabajo de la ONU para llevar a cabo acciones humanitarias en el Líbano. Sin embargo, el plan se desechó y en su lugar se sustituyó por la solución más convencional que Occidente ha venido utilizando en los últimos años: las sanciones.

As the first anniversary of the deadly Beirut blast draws near, EU nations have been holding meetings to discuss the Lebanese situation. At first, there was talk of assembling a UN task force to carry out humanitarian actions in Lebanon. However, the plan was scrapped and was instead replaced by the most conventional solution the West had been putting to use over the past years: sanctions.

El juez Bitar ha declarado en repetidas ocasiones que la investigación está llegando a su fin y que se citará a algunos políticos de alto nivel. Esto plantea la cuestión de si señalará con el dedo a un político turbio con vínculos militantes, o simplemente a algún chupatintas como el ministro interino Hassan Diab, que parece el chivo expiatorio perfecto. Las iniciativas del juez, son las últimas de varios esfuerzos infructuosos para determinar la causa exacta de la explosión y hacer rendir cuentas a los responsables de la misma. Sin embargo, con el grave deterioro de la economía y la creciente indignación de la población, el juez Tarek Bitar podría tener lo que se necesita para hacer sonar la alarma sobre el crimen.

Judge Bitar has repeatedly declared that the investigation is closing an end and that some high profile politicians will be summoned. This raises the question whether he will point the finger at a shady politician with militant ties, or just some pencil pusher such as caretaker minister Hassan Diab who looks like the perfect scape goat. The initiatives by the judge, are the latest in several unsuccessful efforts to determine the exact cause of the explosion and to hold those responsible for it accountable.