20. Beirut: The explosion from the people’s perspective

Asylum Speakers Podcast with Jaz O'Hara: Stories of Migration and Displacement

The whole world was shocked by the footage of last week’s explosion in Beirut. It hardly looked real. But amongst the thousands of videos of the blast and the statistics being reported in the press internationally, are the hundreds of thousands of people who have been impacted by the tragedy.

Today you will hear from two of these people, Lebanese rapper and director at Beirut Records, Jeff Bourjaili, and Syrian refugee and communications officer at SB Overseas, Ahmad Hafez. Both of them call Beirut home.

In this episode, both guests share their important and different perspectives on the explosion. Jeff, whose home in the neighbourhood of Gemmayze in the city centre, has been completely destroyed, explores the failings of the Government and the frustration of the Lebanese people.

Ahmad Hafez, who has been living in Beirut since 2018 when he fled compulsory military service in his hometown of Aleppo, represents the huge refugee population living in and around Beirut. An estimated up to 1 million Syrians live in the city, and around 1.5 million Syrians live across Lebanon.

Ahmad Hafez also works for the incredible grassroots charity SB Overseas, who focus mainly on education and empowerment for displaced people in Lebanon - predominantly Syrians and Palestinians. In Beirut, SB Overseas run a beautiful school for the Syrian children living in Shatila refugee camp, which I had the pleasure of spending some time in last year. Even though Shatila camp is pretty far outside of the city centre, it’s residents were still impacted by the explosion and Ahmad Hafez explains the heartbreaking effects on his community.

In the aftermath of the explosion, SB overseas have shifted their focus to support the city’s most vulnerable with their urgent needs - including Lebanese residents. Their work is incredible and invaluable, and this podcast episode is in support of them. To donate:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/wwtsupportbeirut

Beirut will never be the same again, and everyone there will carry the events of the 4th August, 2020 with them forever. They will make it through this but right now they need not just out empathy, but our action. Most of us are not able to be there digging through the rubble, but can can support those that are.

For anyone who has never been to Beirut, or doesn’t know anyone there, it’s natural that the events of this last week might feel far away. Thank you for being here and opening your hearts and your minds to these important voices and to Beirut and it’s people. They need us right now.

To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe

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