By By David Leonhardt and Sanam Yar — NYT – Weekly grocery bills can equal months of a typical family’s income. Banks are refusing to let people withdraw money. Basic medicines are often unavailable, and gas-station lines can last hours. Every day, many homes lack electricity. Lebanon is enduring a humanitarian catastrophe created by a financial meltdown. The World Bank has called it one of the worst financial crises in centuries. “It really feels like the country is melting down,” Ben Hubbard, a Times reporter who has spent much of the past decade in Lebanon, told us. “People have watched an entire way of living disappear.” It’s a shocking turnaround for a country that was one of the Middle East’s economic success stories in the 1990s. Given the scale of the suffering and the modest media attention it has received while the rest of the world remains focused on Covid-19, we are devoting today’s newsletter to explaining what has happened in Lebanon, with Ben’s help.

How did this happen?

By US Embassy in Lebanon — Under Secretary Nuland: Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for coming. I want to start today by expressing condolences on behalf of the American people for the tragic loss of life this morning outside the Palace of Justice. We join the Lebanese authorities in their call for calm and de-escalation of tensions. The health and future of Lebanon’s democracy depends on the ability of its citizens to address the difficult issues ahead for their country — peacefully, and through dialogue, and with confidence in the rule of law.

We came to Lebanon today at the request of President Biden and Secretaries Blinken and Yellen with an interagency delegation that includes the State Department and the Treasury, in order to meet with government leaders and civil society just weeks after the formation of a new government, in order to express our support for the aspirations of the Lebanese people for security, for economic stability and for transparent and accountable governance. Terrorists and thieves have robbed them of hope for far too long. After years of suffering, all Lebanese deserve better. The task ahead is daunting, but we stand with Lebanon as it does the hard work to restore economic stability and basic services, including reliable electricity, health care, and education to get this country on a sustainable path and back to prosperity.

A Lebanese mother with her children hide behind a car from sniper fire outside a school, in the Christian neighborhood of Ain el-Remaneh.Credit: AP

Supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah and Amal groups chant slogans against Judge Tarek Bitar.Credit: AP

by itv.com — At least six people have been killed and dozens more injured by gunfire in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The deaths occurred as armed clashes broke out during a protest demanding an end to a judicial investigation into last year’s massive blast in the city’s port. The demonstration was led by the Shia Muslim groups Hezbollah and Amal, who protested outside the Justice Palace to demand the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar. Lebanon’s interior minister, Bassam Mawlawi, said many of those injured were shot by snipers from buildings. He described the events as “a very dangerous sign”. The protest also saw exchanges of fire involving, pistols, rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Amid the chaos, four projectiles fell near a private French school, causing panic, a security official said. The students huddled in the central corridors with the windows open to avoid major impact.

لا نعيشُ في لبنان تداولَ سلطةٍ بين موالاةٍ ومعارضَةٍ لكي يَقتنعَ الشعبُ بحكمِ الأكثريّةِ. الحاصِلُ منذ سنواتٍ هو سيطرةُ تحالفٍ سياسيٍّ وطائفيٍّ وعسكريٍّ على الدولةِ بالقوّةِ والترهيبِ، أو ببِدعةِ “الديمقراطيّةِ التوافقيّةِ”، أو بتسوياتِ “لا حولَ ولا قوة”، أو بتعطيلِ الاستحقاقاتِ الديمقراطيّةِ. وليتَ سيطرةَ هذا التحالفِ على السلطةِ والشرعيّةِ تَهدِفُ إلى أن يَحكُمَ على أساسِ دستورِ البلادِ وتقاليدِها وأعرافِها؛ فغايةُ السيطرةِ هي نَقضُ ما هو قائمٌ وإقامةُ ما هو مُنافٍ مفهومَ لبنان.

لذلك، وما لم نُقرِّر المواجهةَ الوطنيّةَ، يُخشى أن يكونَ الاستحقاقُ الانتخابيُّ المقبلُ، أيًّا تَكُن نتائجُه، من دونِ مفعولٍ تَغييريّ. فالقِوى المهيمِنةُ ــــ حزبُ الله وحلفاؤه ـــ ستتَخطّى، كعادتِها، نتائجَ الانتخاباتِ النيابيّةِ وستَلتَفُّ عليها، إنْ لم تكن لمصلحتِها، بألفِ طريقةٍ وطريقة ٍكما فَعلت إِثْرَ انتخاباتِ 2005 و 2009 و 2018. مَن لا يَتذكّرُ كيفَ ضَغطَت الأقليّةُ النيابيّةُ لإعادةِ انتخابِ نبيه برّي رئيسًا للمجلسِ النيابي، وأخّرَت تشكيلَ الحكومات، وفَرضَت حكوماتٍ توافقيّةً، وأغْلقت البرلمان، وأحْدثَت شُغورًا رئاسيًّا حتى كان لها ما تريد، إلخ… إنّه جُبنُ بعضِ قِوى 14 أذار.

ان التفلت الامني في البلاد، الناتج عن عدم حصر السلاح وعناصر النفوذ والقوة بيد الدولة، ومن بينها المرفأ ادى الى الفوضى والتسيب ومخالفة القانون وبالتالي الى الغموض في الوقائع المتعلقة بادخال النيترات وسرقتها وانفجارها . هذا الوضع فرض على المحققين توسيع مروحة التحقيقات وقوبل باعتراضات لامست التوتر الطائفي ما اطاح بدولة القانون في العاصمة بيروت […]

by AFP — BEIRUT: Lebanon’s month-old government called off a cabinet session Wednesday as a political crisis brewed within its ranks over whether to remove a judge investigating the massive August 2020 Beirut port blast. The debate comes at a time when Lebanese are desperately waiting for the government, formed in September after protracted horse-trading, to tackle Lebanon’s dire economic crisis. Judge Tarek Bitar was forced to suspend his probe on Tuesday after former ministers he had summoned on suspicion of negligence filed lawsuits against him. He is now emerging as the target of a political campaign led by the Shiite movements Hezbollah and Amal. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused him this week of political bias. Senior Amal lawmaker and former minister Ali Hasan Khalil threatened a “political escalation” if the course of the investigation “was not rectified,” after Bitar on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant against him for failing to show up for questioning. A cabinet session Tuesday ended with a row as ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and Amal pressed the government to support their demand to replace Bitar, according to a senior official who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

A follow-up session scheduled for Wednesday was postponed, signalling no agreement has been reached between factions in the cabinet, with some ministers arguing the government should not intervene in judicial matters. Supporters of Hezbollah and Amal called for an anti-Bitar rally on Thursday near the Justice Palace in Beirut, the site where relatives of blast victims usually stage protests denouncing political interference. Since taking up the case, Bitar has summoned an array of former premiers and ministers as well as top military and security officials for questioning on suspicion of criminal negligence. He also called in two other ex-ministers for questioning this week before he was forced to pause his probe for the second time in less than a month.

by thenationalnews.com — Lebanese authorities have denied mistreating an American-Lebanese citizen in prison who died after his release last year. In a four-page statement sent to The National, Lebanon’s General Security refuted claims by Amer Fakhoury’s family that he was mistreated during his time in prison, leading to his death from cancer. General Security said a forensic doctor had issued a report that “confirms the absence of any signs of torture or beatings or that he was subjected to any violence,” during his time at a detention centre they run. It did not provide a copy of the report to The National, or give the doctor’s name. The statement said Fakhoury was transferred to a military hospital in November 2019 and to two civilian hospitals in December that year and January 2020. His wife, family, lawyers and the American Embassy “visited him regularly and viewed his medical file” it adds.

Fakhoury’s return to Beirut two years ago sparked controversy because Lebanese authorities accused him of torture and of having collaborated with Israel more than 20 years ago. Collaboration with Israel is a serious crime in Lebanon. The two countries do not have diplomatic ties and are technically still at war. Giulia Fakhoury, one of his four daughters, previously told The National that her father “obtained the Epstein Barr Virus at the Lebanese General Security”, and that the virus took his life as it went untreated and developed into lymphoma cancer. The family said last week that they are suing Iran and Hezbollah in a US federal court for the death of Fakhoury last year. They say the group controls Lebanon and is responsible for his incarceration and death.

New York, by cpj.org — Lebanese authorities must identify the people who stormed the Beirut office of daily newspaper and news website Al-Sharq and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, at least a dozen supporters of Lebanese President Michel Aoun stormed inside the Al-Sharq office and hung pictures of Aoun with the slogan “his highness the president, the crown over your heads,” according to Al-Sharq, the regional press freedom group SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, and footage and pictures of the incident in Lebanese media. The sources did not provide further details of the incident. The incident happened after Al-Sharq’s publication that day of what appeared to be an altered image of Aoun in pajamas with the caption “the general’s uniform on the occasion of the anniversary of October 13, 1990.” According to commentary in local news site Al-Modon, the image implied that while soldiers under Aoun were fighting in Lebanon’s Civil War, he was relaxing at the French Embassy in Beirut, where he took shelter after he was ousted on that date from his role as interim prime minister of the military government of Christian majority East Beirut.

After a 15 year exile in France, Aoun returned to Lebanon in 2005 and has served as president since October 2016, according to news reports. “Those who stormed the office of Al-Sharq should be swiftly held to account to show that attacks on media will not be tolerated in Lebanon,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. “Lebanese authorities should step up the efforts to ensure the safety of journalists regardless of the outlet they work for or their political views.” Awni al-Kaaki, owner of Al-Sharq and head of the Lebanese journalists’ syndicate, told SKeyes that the protesters were expelled from the office by Lebanese soldiers. He said that the storming was a direct response to the publication of the image. “What happened is because of what was published in a newspaper. I am not pleased with the leadership and with what’s happening in this country and I have objections that I write and express in the newspaper with respect for the position of the president of the republic,” al-Kaaki said.

A ceiling light by Sami El Khazen. – Credit: Bonhams/Paul R. Williams: Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

Sami El Khazen (Circa 1943-1988)

By Helena Madden — Born in Lebanon in the early 1940s, El Khazen was a pivotal interior designer in the Middle East, though much of his work has been lost. Many of the homes that he decorated were destroyed in the Lebanese Civil War that ravaged the country during the latter half of the 20th century. Still, bits and pieces of his influential oeuvre remain. He received one of his biggest commissions remarkably early in his career: the interior design of the Lebanese Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The centerpiece was a massive, nickel-plated-bronze and acrylic chandelier (pictured below) that he made in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Arredoluce. The Shah of Iran purchased it and displayed it in his palace dining room after re-engineering it into a slightly smaller piece; it sold at auction for $32,500 in 2018. What defined El Khazen’s approach was his ability to combine Eastern and Western traditions while also prioritizing Islamic art. His sensibility is most evident in his studio and home on the ground floor of the Rose House in Beirut, a colorful building constructed in 1882. El Khazen softened some of the Arabic architecture’s characteristic geometries to create a more calming environment for work. It was featured in Architectural Digest, which referred to him as “one of the Middle East’s most innovative designers.”

by Laila Bassam and Maha El Dahan Beirut (Reuters)– Judge investigating a disastrous Beirut harbor explosion and top politicians asking the Lebanese cabinet on Tuesday after a second investigation was interrupted in less than three weeks on Tuesday. Conflict between. Judge Tarek Bitar tried to ask some of Lebanon’s most powerful people on suspicion of knowing the stored chemicals involved in the August 4, 2020 explosion, but what to avoid. The investigation faced obstacles, if not. Vital has been accused of investigating his political prejudices and is under great pressure from the group that launched a slander campaign against him. Hezbollah, the leader of the Iran-backed and heavily armed Shiite political movement, said on Monday that he wanted to eliminate Vital from the case. On Tuesday, the investigation was shelved again based on another complaint condemning Bitar’s prejudice.

The impasse spilled over to a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, with two sources directly aware of the issue, primarily Hezbollah and Shiite Amal movement ministers calling for the expulsion of Vital in a heated and decisive debate. I told Reuters. The cabinet will meet again on Wednesday to discuss the investigation, a former finance minister, who issued an arrest warrant for Vital, said in an interview with Lebanese parent Iran’s Armaya Dean TV. The warrant of Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior member of Amal and an ally of Hezbollah, was the second warrant issued to the former minister and was a major cause of heightened tensions on Tuesday. Mr Karil said the warrant was considered illegal and he would not pay attention to it. He said Vital was politically influenced, adding that “the legal path followed in this study is pushing the country towards a civil war.” “All options for political escalation are open,” Karil said when asked by Al Mayadeen if some ministers would resign if Vital wasn’t dismissed. ..