One year later Arab-Canadians commemorate the Beirut Port explosion
August 10, 2021 — One year ago, the Arab community in Canada stood in shock watching videos of the catastrophic Beirut Port explosion, which took the lives of more than 200 people, including 2 Canadian citizens. In the weeks and months after the blast, the community began several campaigns and initiatives to help the people of Lebanon. From writing letters to Members of Parliament; to sending shipping containers of aid to Lebanon; to organizing benefit rallies across the country; the Arab community in Canada has approached the several crises in Lebanon through a multi-pronged approach that ensures that people in Lebanon are supported and can live with basic human rights and dignity.
In March 2021, the Canadian Arab Institute published a policy brief highlighting the Arab-Canadian response to the Lebanon crisis. The brief was co-authored by: Dr. Bessma Momani, distinguished Arab-Canadian professor of political science and Assistant Vice-President, Research and International in the Office of Research at the University of Waterloo; Dany Assaf, a prominent corporate lawyer, former adjunct professor of law at the University of Western Ontario and author of Say Please and Thank You & Stand in Line; and Jad El Tal, director of research and policy at the Canadian Arab Institute. One of the brief’s recommendations was for Canada and the international community to push the Lebanese political class to hold early parliamentary elections, currently slated for May 2022.
One year later, the situation on the ground in Lebanon has worsened. From the economic crisis that has impacted the accessibility of basic amenities such as electricity, safe food and water, medicine, and gasoline; to the judicial crisis that is obstructing a fair and reliable investigation into the causes of the blast from happening; to the political crisis that has left Lebanon without a fully functioning government in the worst of times; and to the social crisis that is leaving most people in Lebanon hopeless; the common element across all crises is the corrupt negligence of Lebanon’s political class.
As predicted in the policy brief, many in the Lebanese-Canadian community are now calling on the Canadian government to adopt a framework for targeted restrictive sanctions against Lebanese government officials to address the situation in Lebanon, under the Special Economic Measures Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.
CAI stands in solidarity with the Lebanese-Canadian community in their efforts to hold Lebanese officials accountable.
The Canadian Arab Institute (CAI) is a national nonpartisan organization that focuses on issues and interests of the Canadian Arab community through research, policy, programming, and community engagement. CAI celebrates and encourages Arab Canadians' participation in all social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of Canadian society.
Press Contact: Jad El Tal, Director of Policy and Research, jad@canadianarabinstitute.org, T: 647-425-7970