by gatestoneinstitute.org — Amir Taheri — As Lebanese protests continue, albeit with varying degrees of intensity, speculation over what has caused the current crisis is also rife. The list of woes that afflict Lebanon is long. There is a banking crisis caused by a Ponzi-like scheme introduced by the Central Bank three years ago to attract foreign money. Recent falls in the price of oil have led to a sharp drop on remittances by Lebanese working in oil-rich countries but building their egg-nests back home. A bloated civil service, created by politicians trying to buy votes or curry favor with their respective sects by inventing unnecessary jobs, is becoming too costly for an ailing economy. Corruption, the bane of many developing nations, has gone beyond the limits of an aberration to become almost a way of life. Add to all that a prolonged political crisis caused by the way the sectarian system distributes power and one would have a perfect storm. All in all, it is certain that a majority of Lebanese are unhappy about their current situation and worried about the future, the two key ingredients of a cocktail of grievances that incites a nation to revolt. However, what if the real cause of the current zugzwang is somewhere else, somewhere beyond shabby economic management and Third World-style corruption?

What Lebanon is facing may be a redefinition of its existence as a nation-state. All nation-states are constructed in accordance with a paradigm that reflects the content of their essence, the shape of their existence and the vision of their future. Lebanon is one of those states destined to reflect internal diversity and build a place in the international arena as a haven for peace, creativity, dialogue, exchange and compromise by rival outside powers. It may be a cliché to suggest that Lebanon is meant to be a Middle Eastern Switzerland, just as Uruguay is a haven of peace in South America, Singapore in Asia and Austria in Central Europe. Whenever Lebanon played that role, it thrived. Whenever it diverged from that role, or was pushed out of it by foreign powers, it suffered. In 1958, barely a decade after independence, Lebanon was classed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the richest country in the Middle East and North Africa in terms of gross domestic product per head of population. In the IMF’s first report on the region, Libya was classed as the poorest nation while Turkey came second after Lebanon and Iran was fifth after Egypt. More importantly, Lebanon played a leading cultural role in what was to be marketed as “the Arab World” from the 1960s onwards.

by AP – BEIRUT – Lebanon’s churches have welcomed worshippers for the first time in nearly two months. Most churches were closed to the public to limit the spread of coronavirus, but Lebanese authorities have started easing restrictions that were imposed in March. Churches and mosques are now permitted to welcome worshippers for congregational prayers […]

by arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Allies of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri reacted with scorn on Sunday after an apparent attempt by his elder brother Bahaa Hariri to return to the political arena. Mustafa Alloush, a member of the political bureau of Saad’s Future Movement, told Arab News he was surprised by Bahaa’s sudden “zeal for Lebanon, from which he has been away since the assassination of his father.” The two men’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, died when his convoy in central Beirut was targeted by a van bomb widely attributed to Hezbollah in February 2005. Alloush was responding to a statement by Bahaa Hariri in which he offered his support to forces calling for political change in Lebanon. Bahaa said that after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Lebanon would return to a corrupt and greedy system that used hollow sectarian rhetoric to “steal our country’s capabilities.” He called for the restoration of “the dignity of the Lebanese people, which has been lost” because of a corrupt political system. “There is no strong, responsible, honest or economically robust state to shoulder the burden of inspiring activity across the country,” he said. Bahaa expressed support for “the rightful demands” of “the people’s revolution against the system of corruption and illegal weapons.” He criticized the tendency of most politicians and political parties after his father’s assassination in 2005 to accumulate power and money at the expense of the country and citizens’ interests by forming multiparty alliances.

by AFP — BEIRUT: Usually the kingdom of water tanks and satellite dishes, Lebanon’s rooftops have recently been graced by unlikely scenes of locked-down residents fleeing their flats. Deprived of rehearsal rooms or workshops by restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, or just needing some extra breathing space, many people have found solace without leaving their buildings. Several have ventured onto their roofs to escape the lockdown after taking to the streets in recent months as part of nationwide protests against rulers deemed corrupt and inept. AFP photographer Joseph Eid spent weeks scaling staircases to see how people have taken over underused rooftops, whose only visitors used to be caretakers, plumbers and electricians. “When confinement started, I soon couldn’t take it anymore, and that’s when I thought of checking out the roof,” said Sherazade Mami, a Tunisian dancer who has been living in Beirut since 2016.

Every day, she walks up to the ninth floor of her building with her water, her mat and her music to stretch and practice. Like others discovering their rooftops during the lockdown, Mami said her outlook on the city had changed. “Once you’re up there, you realize — I have an amazing view on the whole of Beirut. It’s beautiful, the city is so quiet,” she said of the sprawling metropolis usually known for its noise and chaotic traffic. “You can hear the birds singing, you’re under the sun, it’s heaven … It’s better than rehearsing in the theater in some ways,” she added.

by un.org — With the novel coronavirus exacerbating already dire socio-economic conditions in Lebanon, journalists there find themselves facing double the work. Even as Lebanon’s government grapples with a deteriorating economy and financial crisis on one hand, and the COVID-19 pandemic on the other, popular demonstrations have resumed. Many of those protesting are ignoring measures aimed at guarding against the spread of the coronavirus. Reporters are caught in the middle. “Now that popular protests and movements are back amid the coronavirus outbreak, the biggest challenge I’m facing while at work is trying to cover developments from the field,” said Joyce Akiki, a prominent reporter with Lebanon-based MTV channel in a velfie (or a video selfie) she posted on her social media platforms. “I’m compelled to interview people and penetrate protests where hundreds of people are gathering without maintaining physical distance or wearing protective masks, forcing me to risk contracting the virus.”

Akiki’s velfie is part of #JournalistsSafetyIsYourSafety, a social media challenge launched by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regional office in Lebanon and the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Beirut on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. Raneem Abou Khzam, a prominent young reporter for LBCI TV, echoed the same fear in the velfie she posted on Twitter and Instagram. The two-day challenge, taken by 15 renowned reporters, involved recounting one challenge they are facing in their work amid the pandemic, posting it as a short video or velfie, and challenging their colleagues to do the same. The posts were promoted on the social media platforms of all UN agencies in Lebanon, an effort coordinated with the UN Communications Group in Lebanon.

by english.aawsat.com — With the crash of Lebanon’s national currency that sent food prices soaring, the Lebanese government placed a plan to fight inflation. “We were facing an enormous and dangerous challenge, as inflation, mainly food prices, have become unreasonable,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab said at a cabinet session held Thursday to follow-up on the living conditions in the country. “We cannot stay idle … It is totally unacceptable for us not to act quickly, because things will further get out of control. Pricing has become random and ill-conceived, and prices have nothing to do with the dollar exchange rate,” Diab said.

During the cabinet session, Industry Minister Imad Hoballah said measures would be taken to fight soaring food prices, while Justice Minister Marie Claude Najem said that her ministry was following-up on complaints made by the Economy Ministry on price hikes. Economy Minister Raoul Nehme informed the government of a decision to set a maximum profit margin for basic commodities. Nehme had launched a training course for volunteers to support consumer protection by monitoring the markets. “We are ready to train personnel from all municipalities to help us protect consumers,” he said. Protests erupted across the country late last month against the soaring unemployment and poverty. Last week, the government formally requested the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to save Lebanon from the deep financial crisis. The move came one day after the announcement of the long-awaited economic plan.

The plan involves various social or socio-political associations and organisations. Lebanon’s Maronite Church is already helping 33,456 people at a cost of 71.585 billion Lebanese pounds (about US.2 million at the official exchange rate).

Beirut (AsiaNews) –Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi yesterday announced that the Maronite Church, alarmed by rising poverty in the Lebanese population, will undertake an ambitious country-wide plan to provide food and social assistance to families without income as a result of the current economic crisis. The plan will be based on a survey conducted by parishes, bishoprics and monasteries as well as Caritas-Liban, the Church’s official charity, coordinated by the Maronite Center for Documentation and Research under Patriarchal Vicar Samir Mazloum. A meeting was held yesterday to vet the assistance plan. Various social or socio-political associations and organisations will be part of the effort: the Maronite League, the Maronite Foundation in the World, the Maronite Foundation for Integral Development, the Pontifical Mission, the Lebanese Red Cross, the Saint Vincent de Paul Association, the Maronite Central Council, the Maronites Rally for Lebanon, the Kallassi group, Labora, Offer-Joie and the National Council for the Cedar Revolution , as well as the Patriarchal Rescue Committee.

They will be joined by donors acting without intermediaries or making donations to charities, parish fraternities, apostolic communities, and various associations, municipalities and collective initiatives. The Patriarch noted that Lebanon’s Maronite Church is helping about 33,456 people at a cost of 71. 585 billion Lebanese pounds (about US.2 million at the official exchange rate). In addition, its educational, hospital and social institutions are providing employment opportunities to 18,870 families, with an overall annual payroll of 430.73 billion Lebanese pounds (US$ 283.8 million) with an average monthly salary of US,253. For the Maronite Patriarch, “The Church’s diakonia of love today finds itself faced with the heavy duty of helping the poor and the needy, whose number is rising as a result of the economic and financial crises, a stifled life, the unpredictable rise in prices and the depreciation of the Lebanese pound.” Finally, Patriarch al-Rahi noted that the meeting in Bkerké coincided with the meeting at the presidential palace centred on the government economic rescue plan. “We hope both state and church will succeed for the greater good of all and the well-being of everyone, each in their respective domain of activity and by their own means,” said the prelate.

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.

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.

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, […]