by Robert Nicholson & Toufic Baaklini — nationalinterest.org — There is still hope for Lebanon, but time is running out. Failure to act will create a new forward base for malign powers looking to project the chaos of the Middle East into the Mediterranean, Israel, and Europe.he imminent collapse of Lebanon is certain to give Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China the perfect foothold to project power against Europe’s soft underbelly and Israel’s northern border, but the United States and its allies currently seem too preoccupied to care. Beleaguered friends inside this resource-rich enclave on the Mediterranean Sea are begging for help, but the response from Western powers has been

Far & Wide — The collapse of a multiethnic and multireligious democracy—what St. John Paul II called a message of pluralism and coexistence—will eradicate that message in the place where it is needed most. It will hand the region over to malevolent forces and send a message to the world that America is an unreliable ally that balks when the going gets tough. President Joe Biden can prevent a foreign takeover in Lebanon, but only if he acts quickly. Given the high stakes, he and his team should do exactly what our friends are asking them to do: lead the way for an international summit that will push for Lebanon’s political reform, recognize its formal neutrality, and open peace talks with its neighbors.

A Crisis at Fever Pitch — Once upon a time, Lebanon’s robust economy and picturesque landscapes gave it a reputation as the “Switzerland of the East,” but these days rampant corruption and foreign occupation have pushed the country over the edge. Aided by a bevy of crooked oligarchs, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah maintain their stranglehold on the country under the pretext of resisting the Jewish state. Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah recently announced that his stockpile of precision-guided missiles has doubled in just one year, inviting war with Israel even as Lebanese families struggle to make ends meet. That Nasrallah and his cronies hide their missiles in civilian areas only proves his disregard for their well-being.

By Abeer Abu Omar Bloomberg –– Lebanon must be willing to implement some real changes in order to get international funding assistance, according to the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa vice president. “Lebanon needs to help itself, so that we can help it,” said Ferid Belhaj in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday. […]

by NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Beirut’s famous sidewalk cafes are facing an uncertain future amid the coronavirus pandemic and dollar exchange rate instability, with employees and owners warning that “the price of a cup of coffee cannot keep pace with the exchange rate.” The recent lockdown, which lasted for two months and 22 days, meant further problems for the capital’s cafes, the place of choice for many Lebanese to relax, wind down and socialize. Many have closed amid the country’s economic turmoil, while several were destroyed in the port explosion last year, and have since been left abandoned. Lebanon’s health measures to stop the spread of coronavirus mean that people are banned from sitting with each other to smoke, sip coffee, chat about affairs or discuss the country’s future. Ali Farhat, 35, an investor in a sidewalk cafe in the Azaria building in downtown Beirut, remembers the “good old times in the area before the protests and the accompanying riots started in late 2019 and the days before the collapse of the Lebanese pound and coronavirus.”

He added: “The area was bustling. The cafe was a place for entertainment, hanging out with people, winding down for half an hour during workdays and having a snack. Everyone back then could afford to sit in a coffee shop. “Today, downtown Beirut is deserted, the employees moved to work from their homes, and my work has become limited to selling cigarettes, coffee and tea to passersby and the security forces guarding downtown Beirut. “The worst financial crisis has caused the prices to soar. As the dollar exchange rose, I stopped selling my goods and closed the store, because the next day, I had to buy goods at a higher price.”

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s top Christian cleric has made unusually direct comments criticizing the Shi’ite Hezbollah movement, accusing it of harming the country by dragging it into regional conflicts. “I want to tell them…You want us to stay in a state of war that you decide? Are you asking us before you go to war?” Maronite […]

by middleeastmonitor.com — Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has asked why the UN-sponsored talks between Lebanon and Israel on maritime border demarcation around potentially oil- and gas-rich areas have stopped. Jumblatt heads the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon. He wrote on Twitter that he was surprised by “the death of demarcation” after Parliamentary Speaker Nabih […]

by dw.com — Lebanon has been known as “the Switzerland of the Middle East” for decades because of its strict banking secrecy laws. But as the country falls ever deeper into economic crisis and debt, the banks that once drew so much foreign capital to the country are also in trouble. Local economists estimate that altogether, Lebanese banks owe over $90 billion (€77 billion), and say that since late 2019, they have severely restricted withdrawals and foreign transfers, especially in US dollars. There have been many stories about the financial damage done to ordinary Lebanese by these moves as their currency goes into free fall. The Lebanese pound has lost over 85% of its value against the US dollar on the black market. But could potentially insolvent Lebanese banks also spark a dangerous, regional domino effect, causing the same sort of problems for the Middle East as an indebted Greece did for the European Union during the 2008 financial crisis? Billions lost

Late last year, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad blamed his country’s ongoing economic woes on the fact that anywhere between $20 billion and $42 billion belonging to Syrian depositors was trapped in Lebanon. Syrian businesspeople have long used Lebanese banks to avoid international sanctions and other restrictions. Earlier in 2020, research by a Yemeni think tank, the Sanaa Center For Strategic Studies, suggested that as much as 20% of Yemen’s foreign currency reserves, estimated at around $240 million, were stuck in Lebanese banks. And in the semi-autonomous northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan, politicians claimed that up to $1 billion of money from oil sales was trapped with Lebanon’s Bankmed. Lebanese men withdraw money from a Bankmed ATM in the capital, Beirut

By Hanin Ghaddar — english.alarabiya.net — Put simply, Lebanon is an Iranian colony. As protest slogans indicate, the Lebanese people are finally aware of this reality. The presence and ineffective statements of the former pro-West March 14 political parties means the international community needs clarity about who really controls the country. Only then can policy be drawn accordingly. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The March 14 leaders always justify their inactions by using the fear factor – that if they resign, Hezbollah will take over the state institutions, and they want to make sure they can protect what small margin of independence they have left in Lebanon. Another argument is that they want to prevent the chaos that will happen if state institutions fall completely.

This logic is outdated. Chaos has arrived, and the state – as in the decision of war, government formation, or economy – is in the hands of the Iranian regime and its proxy. The Beirut Port blast and the assassination of Lokman Slim are two examples of how inadequate the state institutions’ roles have become. Without clarity, the international community will continue to try to find an economic solution, to handle Lebanon as a humanitarian crisis. This is dangerous because it hides the real problem, which is political, not financial. If former March 14 leaders get their parliamentary blocs and ministers to resign, the political core of the crisis will be exposed. This could lead to a new and more urgent policy for Lebanon – one that addresses Iran’s hegemony and how to counter it, instead of focusing on humanitarian assistance. A meeting between Lebanese President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri last week ended poorly. Failing to reach a much anticipated breakthrough for the formation of a government the theatrical exchange of accusations was a clear indicator that any new government in Lebanon is some way off.

by arabnews.com — LONDON: A popular Lebanese TV show has come under fire for another incident of offensive behavior. “Indian, I’m not sure — but British-Indian…” the latest guest on the consistently criticized MTV Lebanon show “3a Gheir Kawkab” (On Another Planet) explained, before shaking her head — mocking the traditional Indian nod — and in a stereotypical Indian accent, said: “Madame you’re very beautiful.” The show’s presenter — Pierre Rabbat — and other hosts broke into laughter as the paid crowd roared in applause. By contrast, social media exploded with anger at the blatant racist mockery the variety show was presenting. “The group from ‘3a Gheir Kawkab’ have made the program out of this planet to utter all kinds of pettiness, absurdity, humiliation, disgust, and whatever you want,” said Twitter user Leila Ghotaimi.

Brigitte K. Mountain tweeted: “Morons! And such a grotesque disconnect from what’s happening in the country.” This is now the state of Lebanese television — once a media pioneer of the region that attracted talent from all over — but now a symbol of the country’s dwindling standards. Lebanon has been facing multiple crises since the start of last year. It has endured national demonstrations protesting flagrant corruption and collapsing standards of living, alongside a political standstill that sees its politicians bickering among one another while the Lebanese pound continues to freefall.

By CALINE MALEK — arabnews.com — DUBAI: One Lebanese man has worked day and night since the devastating Beirut blast of Aug. 4 last year to ensure his lifetime’s work is salvaged from the rubble. In less than six months, Robert Paoli became the first trader to reopen a warehouse in the Port of Beirut Logistic Free Zone following the disaster. “I’ve worked in the freight-forwarding business all my life,” the 57-year-old told Arab News. “I always believed in Lebanon from the beginning, and I worked very hard to create my units in the free zone here.” Beirut’s strategic location on the Eastern Mediterranean coastline made the port a thriving economic asset. But all that changed one Tuesday afternoon when a nearby warehouse containing nearly 3,000 tons of highly volatile ammonium nitrate caught fire. The resulting two explosions sent an enormous shockwave through the port and surrounding districts — taking Paoli’s warehouses with it.

Paoli had spent upward of $1.5 million and poured years of hard work into his new warehouse, which had been due to open for business in just a matter of weeks. All types of goods were already stored there, from electrical appliances and tires to chemical agents. Recalling that horrific day, Paoli said he was lucky to have left his office early, a decision necessitated by COVID-19 restrictions in place at the Logistic Free Zone. As he joined his son for a game of tennis at his club 20 minutes out of town, Paoli received an alarming phone call from a friend about a fire at the port. “Having three units there and a new warehouse in the Karantina area very close to the port, I was anxious” Paoli said. “My other friend who lived across the port couldn’t see anything. But five minutes later, I heard the explosion.” The blast was heard as far away as in Cyprus, at a distance of more than 200 kilometers. About 210 people were killed and 7,500 injured as the shockwave flattened nearby buildings and overturned vehicles. Robert Paoli has spent millions rebuilding devastated warehouse units after the Beirut explosion on August 4, 2020. (Supplied) “I thought a bomb had hit my club,” Paoli said. “We were far away, but it floored us and the windows broke.”

By Dalal Saoud — upi.com — BEIRUT, Lebanon, (UPI) — Lebanon, which has been relying heavily on migrant workers in recent decades, is no longer an attractive destination for them. With the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value and U.S. dollars scarce, migrant workers have departed in large numbers, leaving behind once well-off employers who are struggling to make ends meet. The comfortable lifestyle enjoyed after the 1975-90 civil war came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of the country’s worst economic crisis in October 2019. The number of migrant workers — who handled low-skilled jobs that Lebanese never accepted, such as porters, concierges, house cleaners and gas pump operators — has been declining rapidly.

According to Information International, a Beirut-based research and consultancy firm, the Lebanese General Security issued 9,780 work permits in 2020 compared to 57,957 the previous year, a decrease of 83 percent. The number of workers from Ghana dropped by 93.9%, the Philippines by 86.3%, Bangladesh by 85.3% and Egypt by 79.2 %. The cause is clear: Lebanese who have lost their jobs and savings at the banks and employers who were forced to close their businesses are no longer able to pay their migrant workers in hard currency with the depreciation of the Lebanese pound. The alarming spread of COVID-19 in the country and hyperinflation added to the plight. Late last year, the evacuation of migrant workers accelerated, with Ethiopia and Sri Lanka sending planes to repatriate their national workers, mostly housekeepers, many of whom had been abandoned by their employers.