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Iran delivers the final punch, and Lebanon is knocked out

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Members of the Islamic Health Society, an arm of the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group prepare to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus, in a southern suburb of Beirut. (AP)

by thearabweekly.com - Ali Al-Amin -- “Look for Iran.” These words encapsulate the financial, political and moral collapse of Lebanon. These words describe Lebanon’s transformation into a vassal state, lacking in sovereignty and with permeable borders — and run by the axis of evil led by Iran. Through its Hezbollah presence in Lebanon, Iran has worn down the Lebanese, reducing them to a state of hunger and poverty. Meanwhile, the Lebanese have seen their earnings and savings siphoned off as a result of authoritarian and financial tyranny and mangled institutions, riddled with corruption, partisan quotas and cronyism. Even the popular uprising in Lebanon has been neutralised by the malicious authority, which knows only how to evade accountability by inventing scapegoats for its multiple failures, while conveniently hiding the systematic looting of the state’s resources.

Tragic as it is in Lebanon, the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer the main concern of the Lebanese. There is a greater threat to their lives and souls. It was the severe economic crisis — one that is intrinsically linked to the political crisis triggered by the October 17 uprising — that revealed the extent of the popular anger at the political authority and of the dissatisfaction with the current power-sharing equation in the country. These crises resulted in a different Lebanon, a stolen country with a stolen sovereignty run by an authority that builds its influence and power on a system of interests that is contrary to the interests of the people and the constitutional institutions — a system that uses border crossings for smuggling activities that feed a mafia regime under the umbrella of a so-called axis of resistance, run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) within the framework of the so-called “Shia Crescent.” For Tehran, Lebanon is the model country in the Iranian axis. This is obvious from the regional role assigned by the IRGC to the jewel in Iran’s crown in the region, Hezbollah. Whether in Iraq or in Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah has a finger in every pie. In Iraq, it is given the task of settling the disputes between the Iraqi factions, especially in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which explains the recent American decision to offer a $10 million reward for information about the whereabouts and activities of Hezbollah’s representative in Iraq, Muhammad Kawtharani. In Syria, Hezbollah is one of the most prominent pillars of Iranian influence, ready to spring into action whenever talk about imminent international and regional settlements in Syria makes Iran itchy. This role partly explains the reasons for the only visit taken by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif outside the country for months: A trip to Damascus to meet Bashar Assad in the wake of Russia’s message of reprimand to the latter.

In Lebanon, a Pandemic of Hunger

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Protesting against the government’s failure to check increasing prices and falling currency, in Beirut, Lebanon, last month.

by nytimes.com -- By Lina Mounzer -- BEIRUT, Lebanon — Two weeks ago, it seemed every conversation in Lebanon was about keeping safe from the virus. The bustling streets of Beirut were quiet; everyone wore masks and gloves and glared at anyone who coughed in public. The smell of hand sanitizers filled elevators. Back from my grocery runs, I disinfected everything I bought and put my plastic bags on the balcony for a week before reusing them. Last week I came back from the store and nearly forgot to wash my hands as I pulled out the grocery bill and pointed out the exorbitant prices to my husband. We crossed out things we could no longer regularly afford, like cheese. We are the lucky ones. In September, about one-third of Lebanon’s population lived below the poverty line. Today, it is closer to half the population. Lebanon has been on a lockdown to stem the coronavirus outbreak since mid-March, when the government closed borders and “nonessential” businesses. The Lebanese government has been praised for its swift response to the pandemic, but the crisis was also a gift for the politicians.

The Lebanese had been protesting against their political elites since October and refusing to leave the protest sites. Set off by a proposed tax on WhatsApp phone calls announced on Oct. 17 — one of the many proposed austerity measures meant to offset Lebanon’s staggering $86 billion debt — the protests targeted the government for decades of corruption, sectarian power-sharing and the broken banking system. Lebanon’s banks lent depositors’ money to the government and no longer have the dollar liquidity to match the numbers in people’s bank accounts. By November, the banks placed strict limits on withdrawals, some allowing a mere $100 a month. These withdrawal limits functioned as unofficial capital controls.

AUB hit by financial crisis

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by Daily Star BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut announced Tuesday that its staff would endure significant pay cuts and potential layoffs resulting from the rapid decline of Lebanon’s economy and the establishment’s “greatest crisis since the university’s foundation in 1866.” “Everyone will be affected,” a statement from the university said. “From our senior leadership, which will take significant pay reductions, to faculty members who have seen their buying power reduced, to students and their families who are struggling more than ever to pay tuition fees, to our staff who comprise our most financially challenged group.” The university said that steps under consideration include the closure of some programs and departments, the departure of “community members,” furloughs, a halt to capital expenditures, and cancellation of university sponsored travels, leaves and conferences for the foreseeable future. AUB was ranked first in the Middle East region and 177th out of 1,200 universities worldwide by the Moscow International University Ranking in 2019.

The university employs over 1,200 staff and provides over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs. Almost 10,000 students are enrolled. Nurseries, schools and universities were among the first establishments ordered shut on Feb. 28 under lockdown measures to stem the spread of coronavirus in the country. Lockdown measures, which have so far been extended four times and are in effect until at least May 24, have wreaked havoc on an economy already suffering from steep recession. The Lebanese pound has slumped on the parallel market since October, when the country's long-brewing economic troubles came to a head, prompting a financial and banking crisis considered the biggest risk to stability since the 1975-90 Civil War. The national currency has lost nearly 60 percent of its value since Oct. 2019. The university said that it had raised “more than $10 million in solidarity funds for students, patients and staff, and are exploring multiple options to preserve the buying power of our faculty with commitments here and abroad.”

Lebanese — and banks — have ‘haircuts’ after weeks of quarantine

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arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: Lebanon eased restrictions on social distancing on Monday, allowing barbershops to open for haircuts for the first time in weeks. Habib Khalifa, a 40-year-old salon owner in Beirut, told Arab News that he had received clients “who had not had a hair cut for 50 days — this is the first time in my career that I have received this number of men whose hair was so long. Some of them had misshapen (hair) because their wives gave them haircuts during home isolation! “We applied strict preventive measures, and a rigorous sterilization process,” he added. “Our work does not include shaving because it has not been included yet in the circulars for the gradual reduction of isolation procedures.” Many restaurants have also reopened their doors, setting opening times between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. The Ministry of Interior required that restaurants fill only 30 percent of their capacity, to maintain a safe distance between customers. As with barbers, restaurants have struggled due to the collapse of the Lebanese pound. Khalifa said: “Today I did not charge the clients with a higher price — they are unable to pay, nor am I able to keep the old prices because the prices of all the materials that I use have vastly increased.”

The high prices are due to the fact that the US dollar now has a purchase price of 3,900 Lebanese pounds ($2.56), and sells for LBP 4,200. Licensed money exchangers are in the second week of a strike in protest against several arrests for failure to comply with the price set by the Lebanese Central Bank, which values the dollar at LBP 3,200. People stood in long queues in front of banks across Lebanon on Monday to receive their salaries in Lebanese pounds, at a time when banks themselves have been practicing “haircuts” on their deposits in dollars, in light of the of semi-bankruptcy of the state and financial institutions. As a result of the collapse of the pound, many business owners have started to raise prices in line with the exchange rate. The Gas Station Owners Syndicate has asked the minister of energy, Raymond GHajjar, to “fix the price of gasoline due to the heavy losses incurred by the owners of the stations.” The heads of workers’ union and distributors in the gas sector in Lebanon, meanwhile, have demanded royalties for the distribution of domestic gas be raised by LBP 3,000.

Lebanon heads towards unknown as banks reject government's rescue plan

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A street is seen empty in Beirut, Lebanon on March 16, 2020, after Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak [Hussam Chbaro / Anadolu Agency]

by middleeastmonitor.com -- An economic rescue plan that will form the basis of Lebanon’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was panned by banks on Friday as one that would “further destroy confidence” in the country, reports Reuters. The comments, which could hold sway with the IMF given banks are among the largest holders of Lebanon’s debt, coincided with Beirut signing a request for assistance from the Fund on Friday in what Prime Minister Hassan Diab described as “a historic moment in the history of Lebanon”. The rescue plan, approved by Diab’s government on Thursday, sets out tens of billions of dollars in financial sector losses and tough measures to claw out of a crisis that has seen the currency crash, unemployment soar, Lebanon default on its sovereign debt and street protests.

The government is hoping that with an IMF programme in hand, foreign donors will release about $11 billion pledged at a Paris conference in 2018 which was tied to long-stalled reforms. The rescue plan, which calls for an additional $10 billion in external support over five years, also forms the backbone of talks with foreign bondholders that have yet to start after Beirut defaulted on $31 billion in Eurobonds in March. Some economists and diplomats welcomed the plan as a critical first step to recovery, but they were sceptical that ambitious reforms to cut public sector spending and overhaul the banking sector could be enacted after years of feet dragging. “This means the onset of serious negotiations with the IMF so this is very important and good news because it removes a lot of uncertainty. Having said that, the issue in Lebanon has always been one of execution,” former economy minister Nasser Saidi said of the 53-page plan.

Lebanon relaxes coronavirus restrictions by opening seaside promenades, restaurants

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: People in Lebanon will be able to go for walks on the seaside promenades along the Lebanese coast starting Monday, provided they commit to wearing masks and maintaining safe distances. This move comes following a ban imposed since March 15 due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Lebanon on Sunday reported four new cases, two of whom had returned from Guinea. Lebanon will enter its second week of relaxed measures, with restaurants allowed to resume receiving customers until 9 p.m., provided they do not offer hookah services, which spread COVID-19. Barbers will be allowed to reopen salons for pre-booked appointments. Protesters are violating measures by continuing to take to the streets and staging sit-ins against the corrupt government. A number of protesters in Tripoli raised a banner on which they wrote: “You are the thieves and you are the disease.” The Lawyers’ Committee to Defend Protesters claimed that a number of activists who had been arrested by the security forces last week have been tortured. The committee protested “enforced disappearance.”

The committee said in a statement that the military prosecution released six detainees, including a child, who were arrested in Sidon. According to the committee, “some of the detainees confirmed that they were subjected to beatings and torture by the intelligence branch through various means, especially via electrocution,” and some detainees had to be hospitalized upon their release. Attention has been drawn to the invitation extended by President Michel Aoun to political and parliamentary leaders for a meeting in the Baabda Palace on Wednesday. During the meeting, Aoun will brief the participants about the reform plan approved by the government that represents Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement and their allies. The Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc announced on Sunday that it will not attend the meeting. It said that “the natural place for briefing the parliamentary blocs on the government’s reform program is the parliament.” It warned of “political and legal practices and advisory opinions that cross the lines of the constitution to establish the concept of a presidential system at the expense of the parliamentary democratic system.”

Lebanese will die of hunger if there is no bailout

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Lebanon-Protest

by gulftoday.ae -- Michael Jansen -- After four days of violent confrontations between Lebanese soldiers and civilians protesting the government’s failure to tackle the country’s economic collapse, Beirut finally adopted an economic rescue plan. There was no time to lose. While shouting protesters gathered outside the Central Bank in Beirut, angry mobs armed with stones and Molotov cocktails attacked banks in the port cities of Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre. For most Lebanese, banks have become symbols of inequality and privation because the Lebanese lira has plunged from 1,500 to 4,000 to the US dollar, devastating savings and salaries of the employed. The return to the streets in Beirut and a dozen other cities and towns followed the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on movement and easing of commercial closure.

Demonstrations morphed into riots when troops attempted to quell protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets and live fire. Fearful of violent escalation, the government of technocrats announced the plan after the politicians — who brought about the country’s collapse — made minor amendments. Perhaps to show they remain relevant. The government had consulted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the shape of the plan with the aim of securing $10 billion in finance and has formally requested $10 billion from the IMF. Beirut also hopes the plan will free up $11 billion in aid pledged by international donors in 2018. Receipt of funding could put the country on the way to recovery. Economists predict that the country will need $80 billion to exit the crisis. Funding depends on the adoption of major economic and political reforms and anti-corruption measures. In a bid to meet requirements, the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee has adopted two reform bills which failed to receive the approval of the House last month. This legislation will have to be not only passed by deputies but also implementation must proceed before Lebanon will receive funding. No one is going to put money into Lebanon – where aid money simply disappears — until this happens however dire the situation.