The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and his mother) is anchored in a series of social and political crises that reshape both modern Lebanon and the lives of its people. Through the story of Raja and his family, the author examines the impact of history on individuals, families, and communities. The novel is structured around these events, demonstrating their ability to define entire eras in Raja and his family’s lives. 

The Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a civil conflict that took place between 1975 and 1990 in Lebanon. It resulted from the deterioration of Lebanon’s governance system, whose organization favored the nation’s Christian majority, even as Lebanon’s Muslim minority was sizeable and increasingly influential. The Maronite Christians were largely western-oriented in policy, culture, and foreign engagement, whereas the various Muslim factions favored Arab nationalism and cooperation with neighboring Muslim countries rather than the West. 

As in-fighting amongst these various factions grew, war broke out among a set of militias that formed along ethno-religious lines. The Lebanese Front (LF) represented the Maronite Christian clans that had been over-represented in the national government and made up Lebanon’s pre-war elite class. The Lebanese National Movement (LNM) was a coalition of both Sunni Muslims and secular, left-aligned groups open to Arab nationalism. There was the Palestinian Liberation Organization, comprised of Lebanon’s sizeable Palestinian refugee population, and the Amal (Hope) contingent, which was largely comprised of populist Shi’i Muslims. Syrian and Israeli factions also took part in the fighting. The war resulted in more than 100,000 fatalities and the creation of a Lebanese diaspora numbering nearly one million people. 

Although the war began during a protracted period of simmering tensions and individual acts of violence, its official beginning is typically dated to April 13th, 1975, when the LF struck a bus bringing Palestinian refugees to a camp on the outskirts of Beirut, causing a series of escalating attacks between the LF and the LNM. Further violence led to the creation of a “green line” between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut, each half of the city controlled by its supporting militias. It is this divided Beirut that Raja crosses on his way back to his parents’ apartment after his months of captivity at the hands of Boodie, his classmate-turned-combatant. The author’s depiction of divided neighborhoods, each with its small band of defensive fighters and snipers, is accurate. 

Fighting continued until 1989, when the Taif Agreement was brokered by the Arab League, comprising Egypt, Iraq, TransJordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. The Agreement ended the war. Amnesty was given to the various militias in exchange for disbanding, although Hezbollah, a powerful, Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia, was not successfully disbanded and remains influential. A new government was formed, designed to be more representative than the pre-war system dominated by Maronite Christians. Many individuals with high-ranking positions within their respective militias ascended to the National Assembly, laying the groundwork for the continued infighting and corruption that Raja finds both difficult to live with and representative of Lebanon’s continued struggle to create and maintain a functional state. 

The 2019 Liquidity Crisis (Banking Collapse)

The banking collapse that wipes out Raja’s savings began in 2019 but remains an ongoing issue in Lebanon. In the wake of Lebanon’s civil war, the Lebanese lira (its national currency) was pegged to the US dollar in an effort to maintain its stability. The post-war economy was fragile, however, and relied on the constant inflow of foreign currency, most notably in the tourism and real estate sectors, but also in the form of sizeable remittances from Lebanon’s diasporic communities. When the flow of foreign currency began to ebb, Lebanon’s government began a series of financial engineering moves meant to shore up the nation’s economy. While many of these operations bought the nation time, they sizably increased Lebanon’s public debt. As Raja notes, Lebanon’s government was rife with corruption at the time, and many of the high-ranking architects of these various schemes made money on them, even as they weakened the Lebanese economy. 

When it became increasingly likely that Lebanon would default on its debts, Lebanese citizens took to the streets, demonstrating in what would come to be known as the 17 October Revolution in 2019. Lebanese banks closed, and when they reopened, they severely limited account holders’ abilities to access their funds. The sitting prime minister, Saad Hariri, and his cabinet resigned, and the country sought a debt-restructuring agreement.

The 2020 Beirut Port Explosion

On August 4th, 2020, 2,750 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate exploded at the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. The ammonium nitrate had been confiscated in 2014 from the MV Rhosus, a cargo ship with murky ownership and ties to Russia and possibly Hezbollah. (Hezbollah denies these allegations, but notably participated in demonstrations opposing an investigation into their possible link to the vessel after the explosion.) 

The ship was en route from Batumi, Georgia, to Mozambique, but had been deemed unseaworthy while in the Lebanese port and was docked. Its financiers eventually lost interest in the vessel, and the Lebanese seized it as payment for its accrued port fines and fees. The ship’s crew was sent home, and its cargo transferred to one of the port’s warehouses. Since the ammonium nitrate had posed a risk to the ship itself while on board, the Lebanese government was aware of its danger. Various attempts were made to transfer the ammonium nitrate either to the Lebanese army or for disposal in a private sale. Each of these requests was denied on procedural grounds, and the explosives remained unsafely stored in their warehouse. 

On August 4th, the explosives were accidentally detonated after a fire broke out in a neighboring warehouse. Shortly after the first detonation, a second, much larger explosion occurred. This second explosion was felt all the way in neighboring Cyprus and Israel. Between the two blasts, seismologists estimated that the equivalent of a 3.3 magnitude earthquake was generated. The blasts led to 214 fatalities, more than 7,000 injuries, and more than 300,000 internally displaced persons. It was later estimated that the property damage exceeded US 15 billion dollars. 

Although the Lebanese government declared a state of emergency and attempted to help those impacted, further demonstrations broke out and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet on August 10th, 2020.