The uprising of Lebanon: Testimony of Fr. Jad Jabbour, S.J

In the following lines, I will share my personnal experience with the uprising that took place on the midst of October 2019. For those who are coming from abroad, the protests took place here, just few meters away. So, I couldn’t stay in my room and watch the event through my window. The temptation to join the gathered people was so great and noble.

At the time of the so-called revolution, I was completing my second cycle in theology at the Institute of Religious Sciences at Saint Joseph University. This major event in the contemporary history of my country seemed inevitable, as our political system was nothing more than a vast factory of despair. Injustice, corruption, and the total lack of consideration for the common good had become structural characteristics of the ruling authority.

Naturally, I was inclined to engage alongside the protesters. This commitment was not only a political or moral choice but also an act of christian faith. How could I remain indifferent to the legitimate anger of my fellow citizens? How could I not stand in solidarity with those who, exasperated by a ruling class, were finally demanding real change? It was time to put an end to the reign of those who, decade after decade, clung to power, manipulating institutions to perpetuate their hegemony and impunity.

This period allowed me to witness firsthand the profoundly toxic dynamics that plague not only the political sphere but also ecclesiastical, religious, and academic circles. For me, it was scandalous that we couldn’t have a time, where all Jesuits in Lebanon could share about this huge event. It was particularly shocking to see intellectuals praising militias that, under the guise of resistance or community protection, exercised brutal and totalitarian domination. How could they ignore that the very nature of a militia is to thrive like a parasite at the expense of the nation it claims to defend? The subjugation of critical thinking to blind and sectarian loyalties appeared to me as an unbearable perversion. My assumption was clear: “There is no hope of gathering figs from thorns”.

The absence of the notion of the common good in our society is a tragedy that condemns us to stagnation and despair. The big fail of the Revolution was a deeply dehumanizing experience: we were reduced to waiting for the death of our leaders, and their passing brought not sorrow but bitter relief. This simple fact illustrates the ethical failure of our society. The universal principles that underpin prosperous nations seem not to apply here: the value of life, equality before the law, social justice, and respect for human dignity remain abstract concepts without real grounding.

The revolution was a moment full of promise, an instant of political fertility and shared hope. But it was also a moment of fear, for anything that disrupts an established order inevitably provokes resistance and violent reactions. The disappointment of having achieved nothing, of seeing the wave of protest crash against the walls of resignation and cynicism, was immense. This chilling sense of powerlessness in the face of a corrupt system’s resilience, this eternal and obsessive question: why does nothing ever change in this country?

Fr. Jad Jabbour, S.J.