What of “All of Them Means All of Them”?
This slogan was coined during the popular uprising of 17 October 2019. It expressed protest over socio economic deterioration, and anger towards the whole ruling class (All of Them). While this liberated public discourse from the fake opposition between “March, 8 coalition” and “March, 14 coalition”, claiming that they were partners in crime, it reflected two potential misconceptions:
- It gave the impression that the problem is one of people (them) rather than the system. This opened the door for positions like “Bahaa is better than Saad”, or « isn’t Mustafa Adib the solution » or “Riad Salameh needs to be held accountable”. It also wrongly implied that the problem could be solved by simply replacing “them” with a technocratic government.
- Blaming “them” also meant that we absolve ourselves from personal responsibility when in reality all of us, as a society, bear responsibility for the course leading to the current situation.