MUSIC
All music,
courtesy of composer Shalan Alhamwy
Shalan Alhamwy - Jiraan Ensemble Samai
Mélancolique
Shalan Alhamwy - Lullaby (For Dead Syrian
Children)
Shalan Alhamwy - Nostalgie (Hanin)
Shalan Alhamwy - Old Homs
SYNOPSIS
For
Revolution out of the Ashes, Belgian journalists Eugenie D’Hooghe and Robbe
Vandegehuchte go to Lebanon, a couple of weeks after the massive explosion in
the port of Beirut. They meet several key figures from the ‘October Revolution’
and witness violence, companionship and promising political renewal. Will the
revolution rise from the ashes?
The
Lebanese are called Phoenicians or phoenixes. Since the October Revolution
broke out a year ago, the Lebanese people endured one blow after the other. The
ammonium nitrate which exploded in the port came in as a sledgehammer,
destroying a big part of the historical city. The popular uprising was in the
depths of despair: ‘you either fight, or you leave’, says Amin.
But, the
protests came back to life after the bang. The Lebanese are determined to get
rid of the old sectarian state model, a political inheritance of the civil war.
‘Their fear mongering tactics don’t work on us anymore. We are all second class
citizens: sunni, shia, christian, druze,... You cannot stop a revolution.’
Credits
A
documentary by Eugenie D’Hooghe en Robbe Vandegehuchte
With support of Fonds Pascal Decroos Journalismfund.eu
Produced by Jeroen Vissenaekens for CANVAS VRT NWS Belgium
Timecode REVOLUTION OUT OF ASHES
VOICE OVER IN BOLD
00:02
War doesn’t take you anywhere, sometimes you have to
do wars, if you have to, but if you don’t have to, why not live in peace.
00:58
One year
ago, the october revolution began in Lebanon, a popular uprising against a
bankrupt regime, that has in been in power for 30 years.
01:08
I’m Rob
and together with Eugenie, I want to find out how the protests are developing
today. But just before our arrival, the massive explosion happens in the port
of Beirut.
A big
part of the city is gone, and also the area where we’re staying, is still
burning.
01:26
Our
appartment has no windows and all around people are still tryin to get the city
back on its feet.
What was
the impact of this explosion on the revolution? Has it burned out? Or will it
rise from the ashes.
01:45
We’re meeting Nicole, together with us, she returns
to her house fort he first time since the explosion. It’s an old building in
the area of gemayze and it is now completely unihabitable.
01:58
I asked the
army guy who came for the reports: ‘Help will come?’
02:03
He is like: ‘Help, if it comes, you know we are in Lebanon. Maybe it will not go to
people.’
02:09
We were on the roof, I was about to throw him. After
all this, you can still think politics and corruption. How?
02:20
None of them tried to say sorry. No one went to
fucking prison.
02:28
there is zero coming to people who
lost everything. Everything. Zero.
02:38
They are pushing us out. The president said it six months ago: ‘you can leave
if you want’.
02:43
I don’t want to immigrate. Why would that have to be the pattern of a Lebanese
person’s story?
02:57
You keep on having things destroyed, and then rebuild them, what’s the purpose
of life then?
03:14
This is Mouin, he is one of the captains of change
in Lebanon and is the cofounder of Minteshreen (MES), the only political party
that originated out of the october revoltion.
03:24
The politicians that are currently in power, knew exactly that there was
ammonium nitrate in the port. And it also destroyed part of the fist.
03:34
Every single member of the parliament, decided to create a wall to seperate the
people - which it is supposed to represent - from the actual parliament.
03:42
Although they have erected a wall, to keep us out, another wall has been broken
down and that is the wall of sectarianism.
03:50
And the first thing that we need to do is to bring down the parliament. And
we’re not leaving without a fight.
04:35
After a first acquintance, Roy allows us to follow
him. He is the leader of the christian maronite freedomfighters, who throw
gasoline on the revolution’s fire.
04:46
Roy is an insurance broker, a father and a husband, but in his free time, he’s
a fulltime revolutionairy.
04:58
All the reasons in the world exist for a revolution: no electricity, no jobs,
defaulting banks.
We have corrupted politicians, and they justify their
failures and corruption, by creating enemies in the heads of their people.
05:17
The Americans did this, the aliens
did this, the jews did this.
05:22
The silent majority now in Lebanon is caving. In face
of problems, people, either fight or cave. We, as rebels, we’re fighting. But
for example my daughter and my wife, they’re thinking: ‘should we leave, do we
have hope in the future?
05:39
Our job is to inspire hope in the silent
majority.
05:45
Maybe what I’m saying in Lebanon is a taboo, but I’m
preaching it every day.
05:51
You can’t stop a revolution
06:04
I’m a christian and I’ve seen amazing muslim people,
fighting by my side, protecting my back. And I’ve seen christians fighting me,
stealing my country, making deals with terrorist organizations.
06:17
So it doesn’t make sense, if we don’t let go of all
our differences, and our religions and our beliefs. But here we are Lebanese.
06:27
But we can’t protect corrupt politicians and terrorist
organisations on hallucinations such as sectarianism. It’s dead.
06:37
Day by day we’re going stronger. So on Friday we will
have a battle. It will be a full riot.
06:46
At night, Roy
and his wife Rhea have a meeting with members of the rebel group, they take us
to a restaurant out of the city.
07:04
I really got used to it…that I’m really not worried
anymore.
07:09
Before I used to get crazy. And i used to have tears
in my eyes. It was hell for me, when he used to be down, it’s been 9 months
he's been down, I have to get used to it.
07:20
And I
have to take care of myself and my daughter.
07:24
I’m so stubborn, I loved her once and I can’t stop loving her.
07:49
The next day Mouin takes us to a national assembly
of the opposition at Martyrs square, the main vein of the revolution. He
represents his party and together with other activists, he tries to make a fist
against the elite.
08:03
Here, several religious groups try to work together.
08:08
If you’re sunni you have to vote in that direction, if
you’re shia you have to vote in the other, if you’re christian you have to vote
there.
08:13
There wasn't really any political party that kind of
spoke to us, spoke to this new generation, the bomb generation.
08:20
I myself am muslim shia, right.
08:23
Muslim shias comprise most of Hezbollah and (Harakat) Amal.
08:29
If you are outspoken, and you are pro the revolution.
If you are shia, these political parties will take it the very wrong way.
08:38
They have literally traded their military uniforms at some
point, with suits and ties.
08:46
And that is what the warlords keep doing, is… they
keep reminding them that: ‘if you don’t vote for me, someone else will come,
someone that is not a representative of the community, will come and will take
our place and we will just be treated as second class citizens.
08:59
But the truth of the matter is; we’re all second class citizens. All of us;
christian, muslim, sunni, shia, druze, everything. We’re all treated as second
class citizens, because none of us have our rights.
09:10
Now you have the entire erosion of the Lebanese
economy that’s happening. Some
people might not want to take the risk of splitting their time between the
revolution and between their jobs, and rightfully so.
09:26
So it’s OK if you leave, it’s OK if you can’t take it
to the streets. But I feel sometimes we all have to go down together, we have
to keep pressure on the streets, and we have to strategize politically.
09:40
After
the assemly, MOUIN takes us the the headquarters of MES, the internal structure
of the party is to be discussed.
10:27
We’re visiting JAD and his family. A year ago, JAD
was the proud owner of a nightclub, which is now destroyed because of the blast.
He was also the first demonstrator who lost his eye
due to a teargas grenade. It made him a symbol of the revolution and now JAD is
mainly fighting online.
10:50
When the riots started, the situation was
getting very tense.
10:55
The night of the accident I was in banking
street next to Riad Solh square.
11:00
I remember I was talking with two people from
the police, when a hot thing hit my face and I couldn’t
see anything afterwards.
11:15
After the
explosion on the 4th of August, the people went back to the streets
to take out this corrupted government.
11:26
The protest
began on the 8th of August. As usual it began peaceful, but slowly
it turned into a riot and I had flashbacks of my accident.
11:40
The trauma
completely paralyzed me so I went back home.
11:51
We’re on our way with Roy towards the rebels,
they’re in their operational base close to Martyrs Square and are preparing for
the demonstration.
12:00
The rebels are quite upset about French president
macron, who is visiting Beirut today officially for the second time in a couple
of weeks.
12:08
The government now is in terror, because they realize
that the rebels are smart, are unified, are disciplined.
12:16
Sometimes I receive threats by video’s. Some guy
showing a gun saying: ‘I would kill you’.
12:23
The groups we are functioning in today, we forgot a
bit about the peaceful protest. We are going into a bit of confrontation.
12:32
You have the logistic supervisors who would buy the
masks, the shields, the fireworks,…
12:38
And you have my type of guys, who would explain the
gates. We attack together, we withdraw together.
12:46
We have three main gates at the parliament. And if we
attack simultaneously at the three gates we make an impact.
13:24
Meanwhile , also MOUIN has arrived on the square. The
demonstration is still peaeful, for now. MOUIN realizes it won’t be easy to
change the Lebanese politics from the inside. For a whole year now, the
demonstrators have been trying to conquer the walled parliament.
13:41
if we create a coalition, we can be, let’s say, a
stone in the political class’ shoe.
13:47
They have been capitalizing on their warmongering
tactics, the international community has legitimized them.
13:54
Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!
13:58
This is the era of the Explosion! This is the era of
the Explosion!
14:02
Michel Aoun must go!
Michel Aoun must go!
14:06
Shame on him! Shame on
him!
14:12
When we went into the revolution, into the
streets, we got to understand each
other, talk to each other, realize that we’re not that different. We have the
same worries, we have the same dreams.
14:23
Our friends from all sects, they always wait for us.
Sometimes they would call us and say: ‘why are you not moving?’. Because when
we move, we give hope. They would say: ‘OK, the Maronites, the Christians are
with us today’.
14:37
And it’s really a leaderless revolution. Because if
you have one leader, it can be easily either bribed or killed.
14:44
A few days after the blast, we were introduced to a
new level of aggression: shotgun pellets, and stungranades.
14:52
And who am I to tell somebody you can’t throw a stone,
because, that person may have lost everything.
14:59
We are currently in danger
of being assassinated, because if you insult them online you will go to jail,
if you insult them out loud in the streets you will go to jail.
15:11
The amount of teargas
that came down on us is equivalent to chemical warfare. I am not even going to
get in to how they use the teargas by shooting it directly at protestors, which
is unlawful.
15:22
Well everything they
do is unlawful, but at least follow the goddamn
manual.
15:29
To bring down the wall
is one thing, to go inside the parliament, which is a big black box, is
another.
15:34
If these militiamen
started shooting live ammunition at protestors in broad daylight, what do you
think they’re prepared to do if you enter the
parliament.
15:44
They will just take
the M16 and shower you with bullets. I am not willing to die like this.
15:51
We want law and order.
We’re not anarchists.
15:54
They don’t want to make peace, they don’t want to change, they’re
saying the same, they don’t want to go into new parliamentary elections.
16:01
They don’t want to do anything. What am I supposed to do.
16:05
When the negotiation
stops, you consider them as enemies, you fight them.
16:10
So this is why I can’t even believe in peaceful
protest, although I’m a peaceful man.
16:53
I got shot with a tear
gas canister.
16:55
We are doing the same
thing again and again.
-
Which is
the definition of insanity.
18:06
The pack of the
teargas, the whole pack came straight at me, and it blew.
18:16
Man, our president is
sleeping when he’s having lunch with Macron.
18:21
Many people don’t know, the guy is under psychiatric treatment.
18:45
When the city has calmed down, we have a rendez
vous with MARWA. She took part in the uprising, but stopped after she had the
impression the revolution was taken hostage as a weapon against hezbollah, an
armed shia party, and a group she holds dear.
19:00
We need to become a
secular state, a full secular state. Me, a hijabi
woman, saying we need to become a secular state.
19:09
I am coming from a house that has lost a lot of men, even children, in wars
against Israel, and have only the resistance to protect us from it.
19:19
The revolution started
becoming something that is a weapon against this resistance. I don’t condone this.
19:26
If this youth is only
out there to shout against to the political elite, but without giving any real solutions
on the ground, then, how will change come?
19:34
Why is there no
leadership for this revolution? They all want secular issues, but that fits the
liberal lifestyle that they live.
19.41
They don’t want to look into the conservative side of Lebanon,
that they should include, that they should work on including with them.
19:50
I understand where
Macron is coming from. But what do you mean with sanctioning officials?
19:57
Why don’t you sanction
the political elite that you have been backing for the past 100 years? It’s the same families ruling over us.
20:03
This is all negative
energy that revolves around any sort of a revolution. It is not going to work
if you don’t have the people with you.
20:17
AMIN
works fort he university and is head of the peoples kitchen. The initiative
started during the rearly evolution to feed the protestors, but, it has to keep
handing out food, out of necessity today.
20:33
This major devaluation
of the currency has completely deconstructed the middle class, that does not
exist anymore in Lebanon. So you have the people who
can afford to buy food and those who can’t.
21:04
In the
evening we invite AMIN in our appartment, we wonder how he sees the impact of
the explosion on the revolution.
21:13
Our government has
resigned a couple of days after the explosion, but that’s
not enough.
21:20
Now is the time to
hold them accountable.
21:25
We should not accept
and move on, not this time.
21:29
I will definitely go back and protest again, because that’s the
only place where I actually feel safe.
21:40
After the explosion I
think something was shattered, and it’s not only about the manifestations and
the protests and the revolution, it’s more than that.
21:48
It’s a matter of survival. Are we going to survive
and stay in this country or not?
21:55
It’s either you stay and you fight, or you leave.
21:58
I don’t
have dreams. I don’t dream. I don’t
dare to dream anymore. I’m done.
22:28
Before we
leave, ROY takes us a last time tot he harbour. We’re now 1 month after the
explosion, and he’d like us to see the remembrance march.
22:38
They have to remember that 30 days have passed after the third or
fourth largest blast in human history, and they did nothing.
23:52
Do I fear a civil war?
No, I don’t. I don’t think
that it is possible. Because, in order for you to have
war, you need to have money. And you don’t have money.
24:01
You are breaking their
authority. If you plant a Lebanese flag inside the parliament, and you ask for
early elections they would do it.
24:10
My grandfather used to
say: ‘you know why our soil is red? Because it is filled with the blood of the saints’.
24:18
And one day, I will
become sand. It’s up to my spirit today to defend our
beautiful nation.
24:26
He used to say that, I believe him.