Death Boats: The Sectarian Regime’s Most Salient Gifts

The wounds of the Lebanese barely get to heal a little before the people are struck by another disaster that reminds them that the sectarian regime in Lebanon is a system of death, and can only spawn tragedy after tragedy.

The absence of the state nothing but a direct manifestation of this regime, which has proved incapable of defending society on many occasions, leaving behind hundreds of victims and dozens of crimes against nationals and residents. Here we can only remember the bombing of the Taqwa and Salam mosques in Tripoli, the recent explosion of the port of Beirut, and most recently the tragedy of the sinking of a boat five kilometers from the port of Tripoli with 60 passengers on board, among other disasters that have befallen the country. This political system, which is essentially characterized by failure and criminality, has made people flee it to death.  As long as it persists, these disasters will only be a small sample of what awaits the country in the lead up to, or in the aftermath of, the parliamentary elections.

In addition to this enduring evil domestically, we find that states claiming to be democratic and progressive mobilize fleets from all sides, along the Mediterranean basin, to stop those fleeing their countries from entering the European coasts; those trying to escape the tragedies that these states themselves commit in their own homes with their weapons and money in order to serve their projects and interests. On the other hand, they distribute humanitarian support under the guise of human rights! Neither those states nor the many wretched and ruthless political regimes around the Mediterranean basin give any real value to human beings. The logic of humanity and rights is completely alien to them.

We, Citizens in a State, reiterate that we do not have the luxury of time in Lebanon. There is an urgent need to reverse the absence of a state – that is, the coalition of sectarian leaders who are linked to the outside and who bet on foreign states – and to establish a system that will put the battle of defending society and the dignity of every human being at the forefront. This shall serve as a sufficient justification for the system’s legitimacy and effectiveness.