6 November
Dear Michael Aoun ,
Mr. President,
I do hope you excuse the lack of “Dear” in my greeting, for you are far from dear to me.
I do not write this letter to greet you. Neither do I write this letter to express admiration or gratitude for I am anything but grateful. I write this letter to shame you. I write this letter to hold you accountable. I write this letter to remind you of your empty promises to the great people of our country and your repetitive failures and disastrous decisions. I write this letter to openly tell you, you do not have what it takes to be president; for when you got lost, a great country was lost along with you.
Mister President you have failed to learn from those who preceded you. Instead, you have repeated their grave misconducts, multiplied them and excelled in creating them. You have made your fortune at the expense of your people. You have left children starving, mothers grieving and fathers in graves. You have driven out the youth, you have all but kicked us out. Forced us away from our families, to work, to get an education, for better or for worse. you have left me asking my mother every day, “when can we go see nana and granddad” only to get the same response each time, “soon maybe, it isn’t looking good in Lebanon right now”. You did not attend, you did not listen, and when our great city of Beirut burst into flames, due to your negligence and lack of authority, you stood aside like a roman statue amongst the ruins.
While the French president held the hands of your people amongst the wrecked architecture and bloodied streets, while the United Arab Emirates sent medical aid and food to your impoverished and now wrecked population, you hid away from all responsibility. You repeated the same three sentences to your disheartened audience, “I do not have the authority”, “I do not have the funds”, “I do not have the support from all political parties”, over and over again like a broken record to our broken hearts.
I do not ask you to take pity on me for I am more fortunate than others, my family members are still alive and healthy, I currently reside in Scotland, getting the education I’ve always wanted. I ask you to take pity on the poor who do not have the opportunities I do to leave our country. Take pity on the infants dumped amidst the garbage and rubble on the streets. Take pity upon their mothers who could not afford to keep them, neither had the medical access to prevent them from being born into the cruel state of the country which they live in. Your country. Our country. My country. Take pity, Mister President, on the underpaid soldiers, who could not afford an education and had to sacrifice with their lives to make up for it. Take pity on the fire department, the young men and women you sent into the port filled with nitrate explosives on that fateful day when Beirut, Your capital, Our capital, My capital, lit up in flames. Take pity on the fathers, who searched through the debris to find the remains of their children. Take pity on the couple who never got to marry and the children who lost their limbs and their sight. Take pity Mister President.
I pray each night for the day you leave office and hope one day for someone better to take hold of our country. I pray the people of Lebanon never have to go to sleep hungry, cold or grieving ever again. I pray for your soul Mister President, may god forgive you for the sins your people will never be able to.
Lebanon’s truly,
Christy.
Marya Christy hourani
Marya Christy hourani