Thread by @FirasMaksad

The fires destroying #Lebanon are not of Mother Nature but of ignorance, corruption, greed & petty sectarianism- the latest manifestation of total moral, social & political meltdown- toxic rivers, overflowing landfills, skyrocketing cancer rates & financial collapse #لبنان_تحترق

There is no doubt this catastrophe is in fact man made, but not as their conspiracy theories suggest, but of the systematic environmental degradation & the heaps of trash dumped daily throughout once green valleys.

Lebanon is reduced to begging help from Cyprus, Greece & others while the fire fighting helicopters gifted to it only few years ago sit idle, no longer operational due to lack of service & parts.

But the dark pit knows no end, rather than offer apologies & resign, politicians question why flames appear (only to them) to target one community more than the other.

“The burning trees are Christian; those unscathed Muslim.”

Sure ignite a civil war while you’re at it

Meanwhile, brave volunteer fire fighters are left poorly equipped, unpaid & protesting their conditions due neglect & sectarian gridlock that leaves the government unable to deliver.

How far Lebanon of today seems from its biblical past... much of its misery still carried out in the name of God & religion.

“In the Old Testament, Lebanon’s diverse natural beauty is mentioned dozens of times as a metaphor for bounty & splendor.”

foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/28/gre…

There is no hope, not with this parasitic political class feeding off foreign aid & leaving its people to their fate as they wrangle over spoils.

Those who can get out got out. Those left behind have their feet to the fire. Will they fight or surrender?

naharnet.com/stories/en/265…