When I travel, I devote some time to exploring public squares as well as parks and other public facilities as I see in them the backbone of successful societies. They mirror community policies, the level of services provided by the state to all segments of society, and the opportunity given to them to meet and interact, especially when these places are accessible to all components of society without discrimination against the elderly, people with disabilities or families.
I have always wondered why our Lebanese squares are empty, as if we were living in deserted cities. Perhaps this is attributed to the civil war and its consequences. When the war ended, no serious work was done to rebuild public spaces and use these open and shared spaces to create closeness between compatriots exhausted by the fighting among themselves. Public spaces remained semi-deserted and were not used as a stepping stone to initiate debates among the various social, political and religious groups emerging from the devastating war on all levels, work with them to transition from war to peace, and promote the concepts of partnership and acceptance of the others who are different. Instead of all of this, the squares had been used as parking lots until October 17, 2019 when the landscape was transformed. What is special this time is the decentralized protests, in addition to setting up tents in all areas, not just in Beirut’s squares. These tents played a large role, especially in the first weeks of the revolution. Debates as well as dialogue, training and education sessions were initiated in many fields. Tents became places for participation, interaction and sharing while one tent was set up in northern Lebanon to fight illiteracy. We, at the HalTek NGO, hesitated and preferred not to set up a tent for us in Martyrs’ Square to introduce the concept of disability as we call for the establishment of an inclusive society that treats all its members equally without any discrimination.
Our core values are also based on providing solutions to improve conditions in the country, after we noticed a decline in services and in the quality of the nearly absent infrastructure. At the same time, we focus on breaking stereotypes of people with disabilities. As disabled individuals, we share the protesters’ demands as we share their suffering. Our demands may be different when it comes to more precise details, but we, like them, are deprived of health insurance, pension and a luxurious life. Nor can we engage in political life as stipulated by the constitution and laws, not because of our negligence, but for many reasons. We prefer to be part of the massive protest movement rather than work separately and demonstrate carrying banners bearing the same slogans. Once everyone’s demands are fulfilled, we will be able to fulfill our demands more easily and quickly.
People of all age groups, areas and social strata, marched to the squares to restore their usurped citizenship. They benefited from the public space to get together, and raised many slogans, the most important of which was on demanding a civil state. The cities’ walls were transformed into murals where many demands, both satirical and serious, were made. Some walls were not without insults, as well as paintings that reflect the artistic talents in need of spaces to demonstrate their creativity and express themselves in their own ways.
The demand for a civil state was manifested on Independence Day, whereas it had formerly been an ordinary holiday. In a landscape contrasting the pattern witnessed in Lebanon since independence in 1943, citizens took the initiative to restore their confiscated independence, after having been framed for years in regional, partisan, religious, sectarian, and leaders’ followers groups, at the expense of their citizenship and belonging to the homeland, and thus decided to turn Independence Day into a national day for male and female citizens. Civilian regiments of teachers, doctors, artists, workers, students, and many other specialties paraded as a reflection of the pillars of society. A special regiment was also formed for people with special needs. I would have personally preferred to see its members join the other regiments as I am sure that it also included lawyers, university professors, professionals and many other specializations. As disabled individuals, we are citizens first. We are part of the productive workforce and consumption power too. Even if we suffer from disabilities, we carry out our daily activities similarly to other members of society. We have needs, but they should not be the cause of our social exclusion.
In a scene not witnessed before, a girl in a wheelchair was in the crowd of protesters blocking the Ring Bridge. On the day a parliamentary session was held for a vote of confidence for the new government, a young man in a wheelchair wearing a helmet and waterproof clothes took part in the protests in the face of water cannons and tear gas, along with other young people. I was not very surprised by these two scenes as I used to see, since the beginning of the protest movement in the squares, young men and women in wheelchairs, who exercised their natural right as individuals seeking change like other protesters claiming their rights. We used to greet each other from afar.
Five months have passed since the beginning of protest movement, but it looks as if it were a thousand days. I am confident that citizens will fulfill the demands appearing in their slogans regarding the right to education, the use of public facilities, the right to run for election and vote, the right of women to confer their nationality on their children, the right to old age security, and the right to medical care and other demands. In this connection, I will not forget my friend Alan who passed away of cancer the day before the confidence vote session, leaving behind a will to the rebels: “Avenge me for the medicine drawer, the pollution that is killing us, my huge hospital bill which has amounted to about LL 80,000,000 paid out of my own pocket over two years, as the Social Security does not cover all expenses. Avenge me for our humiliating and abhorrent health system we are subjected to at the door of the Ministry of Health and the terrorist Social Security. Avenge us all.” Perhaps Alan is right in considering it a battle of revenge between us and those who usurped our rights.