Editorial: Memory

Exactly one month ago today, the country experienced an unspeakable tragedy. A residential area, which was a paradise on earth for its residents, was wiped off the map.

Entire families were killed. Elderly people lost sons, daughters and grandchildren. Children lost their parents.

The tragedy, however, did not end on the day of the fire, nor did the mourning. It continues amidst the rubble.

The basic question, of why 96 lives were lost, remains unanswered. The undisputable responsibilities are waiting to be linked to those who bore them.

A government that had social services at the top of its agenda, would have been the first to tend to the relief of the fire-stricken and would have made sure that their tragedy will not be forgotten.

Its first concern would be to make sure that the survivors do not feel that they have been forgotten, or that they have been left alone with their pain and the titanic struggle to rebuild their lives from scratch, without the state constantly by their side, and with a government that is eager to cover up everything in forgetfulness.

Forgetfulness is not worthy of these people who lost their families, friends and property, and who were so brutally deprived of their paradise.

Their tragedy is not in the past. It is constantly present in the half-burnt houses, in the storage spaces where they sleep, in the delays in providing state relief, in the absence of the government, and in the sense of abandonment, on top of their pain.

Our fellow citizens must not be forgotten. They must not be left to their own devices.