Today, young people in the Middle East are trying to get involved in the world of politics in an attempt to push for change and reform and enhance their lives. But what is the role of the Lebanese youth in our country’s political life?
We are still living in the shadow of the 1975-1990 bloody Lebanese civil war and a ruthless political system born out of the conflict, a system that has pushed young people to despair and made them stay away from the political scene. The exception are those who belong to authoritarian parties who see reform in the leader of the sect or party without showing any interest in the home land and its people in light of the economic, social and security collapse we are witnessing in Lebanon.
In 2019, the Lebanese youth rose up and tried to remove the corrupt political class and create a new Lebanon through a street revolution that demanded the resignation of all politicians across the spectrum.
However, the Lebanese political leaders, shrewd as they can be, were able to infiltrate and divide the revolution and cultivate the idea of being the underdog. All of a sudden, there started to be exceptions to the street chant “all of them means all of them” which called for the resignation of all Lebanese politicians. In the end, it didn’t mean all of them. In a strange twist, the political system and the cronies of the politicians became some sort of symbols of national unity.
Some of the youth in turn forgot the ills of Lebanon and decided to join forces with political leaders in power. They forgot the humiliation and poverty faced by Lebanese people. They forgot how people died outside hospitals because of no health insurance or medication available. The revolution fell apart and the dreams of Lebanese youth hoping for change were shattered in a homeland destroyed.
Today, four years after the failed revolution where the youth, the oppressed and marginalised gathered forces to call for social justice and a civil law that protects all citizens, hope has been lost. These days, Lebanese youth are looking to immigrate to new countries and leave Lebanon behind, even if that means risking their own lives in dinghies and the overloaded so-called “death boats” crossing the Mediterranean to new horizons. They have walked away, not believing anymore that it is possible to drive change in Lebanon from outside the ruling political system.
Surrender has thus become our companion these days under the slogan “live and let life come in the way it comes.” There is no more belief in change and building political ambitions in a country ruled by corrupt politicians who enjoy fake sectarian legitimacy.
