Why are the lives of the Titan submarine victims more important than the migrants killed in the Greek boating tragedy?

In mid-June, following two horrific accidents, the sea sent a chilling message. The first, crossing the Mediterranean on a ship with 750 people, escaped from the hell of their homeland to a place they believed to be safe.

Crammed onto a fishing trawler, they paid the smugglers all they needed to secure a place. The boat was obscure, old and rusty, with just enough room for a quarter of what was on board. The passengers set sail from Tobruk on Libya’s east coast, unaware that smugglers had been deceived after promising that the ship was safe and would reach their destination.

On the way to Italy, a ship began to sink near the coast of Greece and sent an SOS call. However, the Greek coast guard was slow to act and slow to report the impending disaster, and the trawler soon sank. As a result, 100 people were saved by swimming to shore. 82 bodies were pulled from the sea and more than 500 are now lying on the seabed, including about 100 children.

The second accident occurred three days later, thousands of kilometers away in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the United States and Canada. Another mini-submersible, equipped with state-of-the-art technology and fully equipped for a seven-hour voyage, descended 4,000 meters below sea level. We had everything we needed to reach our goals.

It was to see the wreckage of a ship that sank more than 100 years ago, whose name was known around the world from the movie Titanic.

A small submarine named “Titan” includes a British billionaire, a Pakistani billionaire and his son, the CEO of the company that built the submarines, and a French “expert” on submarines. There were five former naval officers on board. Titanic wreck – purpose of travel.

The five wanted this thrill-seeking party, which cost $250,000 per person, as opposed to the hundreds who fled the terror across the Mediterranean three days earlier. They all signed a pledge that they were aware of the dangers of death during the so-called “exploratory” trip.

However, something went wrong with the ship’s systems, and according to initial investigations, an implosion occurred in the center of the ship, instantly tearing apart the bodies of the adventurers, whose bodies are now part of the sunken Titanic. It was scattered around the wreckage.

The first accident in the Mediterranean went largely unnoticed by the world. The main result was that Greek political parties competed against each other to win the response, with one party blaming the Coast Guard’s inaction in the face of constant distress calls, and the other as the sea engulfed it. announced a period of mourning for the hundreds of victims. .

The victim images we received were limited to snapshots of the first moments when the trawler began to sink. We don’t know a single victim’s face. A few photos of brothers, cousins ​​and neighbors rushing to Greek ports to check on relatives, neighbors and friends.

They came from various European cities where they had settled and escaped the hell of their homeland before those who boarded the sunken ships. Their nationalities varied, including Palestinian, Egyptian, Syrian, Pakistani, and Afghan.

What happened to the Atlantic adventurers created a media frenzy around the world. We have commissioned to remember the faces, nationalities, ages, life stories, talents, fears, courage, and love of science of our victims. There was not a single media or news report that spoke of them in heartbreaking tones and did not post pictures of the victims. The news updates were all over the wall.

Numerous international agencies, including the US Coast Guard and six US aircraft, participated in the rescue effort. The Royal Canadian Air Force also participated, along with five ships and a number of underwater vessels designed for deep-sea surveillance (it is now known that the U.S. Navy monitored the vibrations of mini-submarines from afar from the beginning. and during those few seconds it was already concluded that the ship had exploded after the accident).

Tributes to the five victims poured in when the news of the explosion was officially announced. Messages flooded with sympathy and offers of support, especially regarding “emotional support” for families.

Other mourners also lined up to pay their respects, including the White House, British and Pakistani foreign ministers, state officials of various levels and nationalities, individuals and celebrities, and news channels. An investigation into the accident has begun, may or may not end, and will provoke much scientific and philosophical debate.

These two incidents bear out the obvious facts. The rich are treated very differently than the desperate, miserable, and poor.

The synchronicity of the two events revealed this difference under the penetration microscope. Through it, we get an up-close look at how the wealthy have personal identities, faces, achievements, and grieving relatives who give TV and radio interviews. The public will gobble up all of this with the same eagerness to wait for the latest fads of the most famous celebrities and billionaires.

There are no names, faces, or stories about the desperate people on board the trawler. We don’t know how they managed to escape, or what fate awaits those who survive.

This information is not interesting.

There are many people who are hopeless and unhappy. Stories of their drowning, murder, or flight from their homeland have become “boring.” Even if we don’t know exactly what they had to offer mankind in the form of new scientific discoveries, it is the billionaires who are celebrated, admired, and whose grief the world is stricken with. explorers of

Dividing the number of people who died in the deep waters of the Mediterranean by the number who died three days later in the North Atlantic shows that each of them lived a life of acceptable levels of luxury and wealth. right. Such an “exploratory” adventure is comparable to the 150 people who fled the country on that old fishing boat.

But the consequences are even grimer when you consider all those who have drowned in the Mediterranean since the wave of mass exodus from the country began, drowning in hardship and suffering. One billionaire is worth thousands of desperate people.

Indeed, in the visions presented to us, suffering is depicted as a featureless mass, represented by a dilapidated trawler. Opposite them stand exceptional people who happen to be very wealthy, whose traits, life stories, and feats flood us.

Beyond that is a spaceship-like ship, which also has a unique personality. It will be improved over the next ten years, and as a result, the names of the five so-called “vanguards” who died in it will remain forever. They gave their lives to science and their name was borne by others, perhaps as martyrs. future ship.

Dalal Al-Bizri is a Lebanese writer and researcher. She writes for Al Arabi Al Jadid, the Arabic-language sister publication of The New Arab.

This is an edited translation from the Arabic version. Click here to read the original.Translated by Rose Chaco

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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of New Arab, its editorial board or staff.