Dying for Power

Amidst a tangle of political banners, martyrs’ portraits, and crisscrossing power lines in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, the image of a boy gazes down. Sixteen-year-old Muhammad Okasha is celebrated in death, but unlike the fighters whose images otherwise line the streets, he did not die for the Palestinian cause. Hailed as an “electricity martyr,” he died struggling to bring power to his home.

While not always deadly, spotty electrical services affect all Lebanese, and widespread blackouts are a part of life in Beirut. Generator mafias have long provided where the government cannot, and an entire system has arisen where residents must double pay for electricity: once to the ineffective state provider, and a second time to a private operator. As Lebanon’s current financial meltdown builds, some estimate that over 80 percent of Lebanon's residents will soon be under the poverty line.

Compounding pressures have led to jury-rigged and often hazardous solutions. Refugees band together for crowdsourced repairs, and electricity thieves risk jail time to keep their neighborhoods powered. In some refugee camps, volunteers like Muhammad who die trying to repair damaged wires are considered martyrs for their service. Nearly one hundred electricity-related camp deaths have been recorded since 2000.

Posters like Muhammad’s are reminders of a broken system to people who need no reminders. Lebanon’s private generators keep the lights on for those who can afford it. Yet, with soaring fuel prices and recent blackouts, even affluent Lebanese are coming under pressure. Lebanese increasingly despair that their political system has entrenched sectarian hacks and warlords at the expense of the public. In their minds, the people lack power in more ways than one.

This article is part of the CSIS Middle East Program series Mezze: Assorted Stories from the Middle East.