بعد انتهاء حرب البارد ٢٠٠٧ اوفد رئيس احدى الدول الكبرى الصديقة ضابطاً كبيراً مستشاراً لديه ليطلب اليّ الموافقة له على القيام بجولة على الدول الخليجية من اجل الحصول على مساعدات عسكرية او دعم مادي بغية تسليح وتجهيز الجيش الذي كنت اقوده في ذلك الحين. اعتذرت منه واقترحت ان تقوم لجنة من الحيش اللبناني بهذه المهمة […]

by english.aawsat.com — Sorbonne-educated Chryssoula Fayad spent nearly two decades teaching history and geography at Lebanon’s elite French schools, ultimately heading departments. Now she is a substitute teacher in Paris, part of an exodus from an education system on its knees. Fayad left behind her home and life savings in August 2020, at 50 years old. Days earlier, the hospital where her husband worked and his clinic were damaged along with swathes of Beirut when chemicals exploded at the port – the final straw. Corruption and political wrangling have cost the local currency more than 90% of its value in less than two years, propelling half the population into poverty and locking depositors like Fayad out of their bank accounts. Despite her straitened circumstances, she has no regrets. “I always say thank God that we had this chance to come here,” she said. “Unfortunately I know I made the right decision when I see how things are in Lebanon now.”

Lebanon’s educational sector, prized throughout the Middle East as a regional leader, was once ranked tenth globally by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. Now it is unclear how schools will manage when the new academic year starts in October. “When the crisis erupted in 2019 it took the educational sector by surprise,” Rene Karam, the head of the Association of Teachers of English (ATEL) in Lebanon, said. At the start, some private schools laid off higher-paid teachers, around 30% of staff, to save money, but as time went on many others left of their own accord, with half of the 100 teachers in his association now in Iraq, Dubai and Oman. Salaries starting at 1.5 million Lebanese pounds a month are now worth less than $90 at the street rate in a country where they used to be $1,000. “We are in a real crisis,” he told Reuters.

لدى خروجي من احتفال اطلاق الكتاب عن علاقة بكركي بالمملكة العربية السعودية سألتني مراسلة قناة اماراتية، عن السبيل لعودة السعودية الى لبنان ؟ اجبتها باختصار هو في عودة الدولة اللبنانية الى السعودية والى كل البلدان التي ينتشر فيها اللبنانيون، تماماً كما فعلت بكركي حين تواجدت على مدى مائة عام  حيث  تواجد اللبنانيون وليس في بلدان […]

Beirut (AFP) The French and US envoys to Lebanon are to visit Saudi Arabia, France’s embassy said Wednesday, an unusual move amid international pressure to lift Lebanon out of a roiling political and economic crisis. The visit Thursday comes as Lebanese battle shortages and price hikes on basic goods in what the World Bank has called one of the world’s worst economic crises since the 1850s. World powers have demanded a new government before any financial aid to the cash-strapped nation, but for around 11 months Lebanese politicians have failed to agree on a line-up. “The (French) ambassador will explain how urgent it is that Lebanese officials form a credible and effective government to work on implementing necessary reforms,” the embassy said.

The French envoy would, “with her American counterpart, express France and United States’ desire to exert pressure on those responsable for the deadlock”, it said. Last month the top diplomats of the United States, France and Saudi Arabia jointly urged Lebanon’s squabbling leaders to come together. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held an impromptu meeting with his Saudi and French counterparts in Italy on the sidelines of talks of the Group of 20 major economies. They discussed “the need for Lebanon’s political leaders to show real leadership by implementing overdue reforms to stabilise the economy and provide the Lebanese people with much-needed relief,” Blinken wrote on Twitter. Saudi Arabia has remained largely out of the current Lebanese political crisis, in contrast with past approaches.

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – Qatar will provide the Lebanese armed forces with 70 tonnes of food a month, the Qatari state news agency QNA reported, as Lebanon seeks assistance amid its worst economic and political crisis since a 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun had appealed to world powers at meeting in France last month for assistance for soldiers, whose wages have plunged in value as the Lebanese pound has crashed and inflation has soared. read more Qatar’s donation was announced on Tuesday during a visit to Beirut by Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. QNA did not give details about the food aid offered. Sheikh Mohammed urged Lebanese parties to form a new government “to achieve stability”, QNA said. Lebanese politicians have spent months wrangling without agreeing on a new government that is needed to unlock international aid.

By NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — Ambassador Anne Grillo responded after caretaker PM Hassan Diab accused the international community of ‘punishing the Lebanese’ Crisis is due to ‘mismanagement by the successive officials, who are still making mistakes; it is not the result of an external blockade’ BEIRUT: Anne Grillo, the French ambassador to Lebanon, on Tuesday said that the blame for the crisis in the country lies squarely with a succession of ruling authorities. She was responding to comments by caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who accused the international community of “punishing the Lebanese and turning its back on Lebanon, while pressuring and besieging the country.” Grillo said: “The current situation in Lebanon is the result of mismanagement by the successive officials, who are still making mistakes; it is not the result of an external blockade. “The world is already helping the Lebanese and not waiting for an invitation to a meeting to help them.”

Earlier in the day Diab called the ambassadors and other representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations to a meeting at his Grand Serail offices and delivered a speech in which he called on “the world to save Lebanon.” He said: “The severe crises experienced by the Lebanese people at various levels are pushing toward a major catastrophe whose repercussions cannot be contained. The Lebanese are facing a dark fate. The picture has become clear: Lebanon and the Lebanese are on the brink of a disaster. “The danger that threatens the Lebanese will not be limited to them. When we hit rock bottom, the repercussions will resonate outside Lebanon’s geography. No one will be able to isolate themselves from the risk of Lebanon’s collapse. “Lebanese stability is the basis for regional stability. With the presence of about 1.5 million Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, it will be difficult to predict the consequences of Lebanon’s stability falling apart.”

كفانا صراخاً وعويلاً على الحالة التي وصلنا اليها بسبب سوء ادارتنا وخلافاتنا ومصالحنا، قليل من العجرفة والغرور وقليل من التواضع والحوار ووقف صراعاتنا والا …..الصمت هو اشرف: Et, sans daigner savoir comment il a péri, Refermant ses grands yeux, meurt sans jeter un cri. Gémir, pleurer, prier est également lâche. Fais énergiquement ta longue et […]

by middle-east-online.com — NIHA – In a village in Lebanon’s scenic Chouf Mountains, 69-year-old Chafik Mershad pulls out a massive rectangular guestbook and reads out despairingly the date when he hosted his last visitor: November 16, 2019. A month earlier, anti-government protests had exploded across the country over taxes and a deteriorating currency crisis. Amid such uncertainty, few people visited his guesthouse. Then came the coronavirus and subsequent government-imposed lockdowns. The guesthouse officially closed its doors in February 2020. A year and a half later, he still has no plans to reopen amid the country’s current financial meltdown. “Corona really affected us, but the biggest thing was the currency crisis,” Mershad said, speaking at his home above the guesthouse. “We used to offer meals for guests with Nescafe, tea, whatever they wanted for a cheap price. Now, one hamburger patty costs that much.”

The dual shocks of the pandemic and a devastating financial crisis have gutted the hospitality sector of this Mediterranean nation, known for its beaches, mountain resorts and good food. Hundreds of businesses, including guesthouses like the Mershad Guesthouse, have been forced to close. But as pandemic restrictions are being eased, the businesses that survived hope the dollars spent by visiting Lebanese expats and an increase in domestic tourism can get the wheels of the economy moving again. Currently, most hotel reservations are from Lebanese expats and some foreigners from neighboring Iraq, Egypt and Jordan. Airport arrivals are picking up: Every day for the past several weeks, the Beirut Airport has had four flights coming from Iraq, with more than 700 passengers in total, according to Jean Abboud, president of the Travel and Tourist Agents Union. Chaotic scenes have been reported at the arrivals lounge as people crowd for the obligatory PCR test.

By NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Doctors and pharmacists raised their voices on Monday in protest against the lack of medicine amid the deteriorating Lebanese currency crisis. In a growing spate of crises, shortages of fuel and medicine continued over the weekend. These materials, as well as the food supply, are imported. Food prices have soared. The price of sunflower oil has jumped by over 1,100 percent since the summer of 2019. The price of beef and rice has risen by 627 percent and 545 percent respectively over the same period. The price of eggs has shot up by 450 percent, with labneh (Strained yogurt) costs jumping 275 percent. Lebanese TV and social media circulated images of people screaming in the streets for milk and medicine, and electricity to save seriously ill children, who need oxygen devices in their homes.

Pharmacist Samer Soubra told Arab News: “People come to the pharmacy to ask for simple medicines, such as ear drops, but I do not have them.” Soubra added: “I think that importers have a stockpile of medicines, but they refrain from distributing them to put pressure on the Banque du Liban to continue subsidizing medicine. “There is no political decision yet to lift subsidies on medicine. It’s chaos. “I expect within 10 days the scream will rise because sick people will get worse without treatment.” Dr. Ismail Sukkarieh, a gastroenterologist, told Arab News: “A colleague of mine, a cardiologist, was not able to install a spring into a patient’s artery because there was no blood thinner and left him at the mercy of those who trade in people’s health.” Dr. Sukkarieh pointed out that “the most missing medicines are those related to arterial hypertension and blood clots, and we do not know the reason.” He asked: “How can I believe the importers who say that their drug stores are empty? It is a blackmail operation against the Banque du Liban.” Dr. Sukkarieh held “those concerned with resolving the drug crisis responsible for any harm to, or death of any patient.”

by middleeastmonitor.com — Lebanon is suffering from an acute shortage of imported drugs, particularly for chronic diseases, amid a lack of foreign exchange in the country, Lebanese pharmaceutical importers warned on Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency. “The importing companies have run out of hundreds of essential medicines that treat chronic and incurable diseases,” the Syndicate of […]