It is 7:00 PM. Ahmad is late for his barber's appointment. The barber was surprised. Ahmad's engagement is today, and he has confirmed his appointment several times.
Alaa, the barbershop owner, waited for a while. Time is running and it is eight in the evening. Alaa was sure Ahmad was not coming. The engagement party will start at nine. There is no way Ahmad would be able to get ready in just one hour.
Ahmad did not even attend his engagement. He sent his sweetheart Razan a short voice message informing her that the party is postponed and asking her to tell his family because he has no time to do it himself.
Ahmad was so excited about this day. He made it through all the financial obstacles. His dream was about to become true and he will soon tie the knot with Razan. He has been reconfirming with Alaa every day, all week long. He bought the outfit and invited all his friends. Finally, he will be engaged to Razan, the love of his life.
The massive explosion took place. Just like other Beirut inhabitants, Ahmad saw the smoke cloud. Hundreds of people were shouting for help on TV screens. Ambulances sirens were heard all over the streets of the capital.
Ahmad forgot all about his engagement party. He forgot about all the things that he dreamt will do on this special day. He also forgot about all the gossips that Beirut does not like the refugees. He rode his motorbike in a hurry and headed from the camp in Burj Al-Barajneh to Beirut's port, the site of the explosion.
Ahmad was not the only Palestinian who rushed for help. The Palestinian civil defense teams also headed to the port. Many Palestinian youths rushed to hospitals to donate blood. Hospitals inside the camps, despite their limited capabilities, admitted several people with injuries.
Not only refugees in closer camps expressed their love for Beirut, but several youth campaigns were also launched from the Palestinian camps in southern and northern Lebanon to help with rubble removal and restoration.
Unemployed young people, deprived according to the Lebanese laws from practicing many professions, enduring the stigma that their camps are hotbeds of corruption and outlaws, and still, they headed to rebuild Beirut, though they are prohibited from rebuilding their own houses without a permit. They spent out of their empty pocket. They donated from their empty kitchens. They headed to Beirut to draw a new picture that surpasses all rumors and all those who placed obstacles in the way of the city's love to its refugees and to prove that Beirut is indeed Jerusalem's sister.
Also, no one can forget how foreign domestic workers took in their arms the children they care for and protected them. That was the best example of caring. Despite the horrific explosion and the initial shock, those who are seen as slaves by many reacted quickly to save Beirut's children.
Many of these workers suffered from the unfair sponsorship system. Many of them were kicked out in the streets as if they were expired products. Enduring such inconveniences could have harbored feelings of hatred and grudge. But what happened was the opposite. The same streets that witnessed the abandonment and humiliation of the domestic workers saw their caring touch in dressing the capital's wounds. They rushed to help and expected nothing in return. They were broken from inside, but their message was clear. Beirut is unbreakable.
Fortunately, their exemplary behavior was documented by cameras. Their intention was not to show off, rather show a love they have always tried to express in a broken Lebanese accent. The image of an arrogant city, an image that was imposed on Beirut, has always prevented them from unveiling this love. Then, the terrible explosion took place and the beautiful dark skin ladies said their word. They also love Beirut.
Abu El-Abed, a Syrian construction worker who has lived in Lebanon for seven years and who is now participating in lifting the rubble, says as he leans on his broom: "Beirut is a tough city. But it in a beautiful way. Just like a mother towards her children. Can you hate your mother just because she was once strict and rigorous? Of course not, this is how we, Syrians, feel towards Beirut." Abu El-Abed is a clandestine worker in Beirut. He is an illegal resident because of the authorities' restrictions, which include finding a Lebanese sponsor, paying a certain amount of money, and providing some documents. Abu El-Abed looked out of his workplace, carried his broom, and headed to Beirut's streets without thinking twice. For a long time, he had not walked in public for fear of being arrested. But this time, he did not think about the seriousness of his situation. He could not stand by as a spectator while Beirut is bleeding. He was there to wipe the tears of a grieving city, he who shed many tears in Beirut's dark nights.
If we were to measure the amount of racism and discrimination endured by certain categories, Syrians in Lebanon would indisputably top the list. These refugees have been through hell during the years of war. They never stopped saying that they ran away from death in their country to live it again and again in Lebanon.
For this reason, many were surprised by the tears shed by the Syrians over Beirut. The Syrians wept Beirut just like they wept Syria before. They competed among themselves to show their love for the city. Some of them opened their pastry shops, their only source of livelihood, to the volunteers. Some of them traveled kilometers from the north and the Beqaa to participate in resurrecting the afflicted city. Other Syrians went too far in their offerings and gave their soul. They died in the arms of Beirut. In the category of foreign victims, the Syrians are by far the most afflicted, as if they were saying, they are indeed our brothers, even in death.
Beirut explosion gave its foreign residents a chance to prove their love. Their lived experiences and their different accents prevented them in the past from expressing this love. Not because Beirut had rejected this love, but because of the image imposed by the guardians of the city, an image that showed Beirut as a city that hates the refugees. Those same guardians set the way for the blast to happen, while the refugees rushed to the heart of a city that always loved them and whom they have always loved.