Lebanon at a turning point

A small crowd gathered outside the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical Center in July, all with pale faces, careworn and distraught. They were some of the 1,500 AUB medical staff and workers, 20-25% of the workforce, who had just been made redundant 'because of the economic crisis'. The unions called it 'a massacre'.

A woman in her 50s came out of the building shouting 'Revolution!' over and over. She was struggling with a box of personal belongings but managed to raise her fist. Her shout was more a cry for help than a call to revolt. She sank to her knees in tears, and her possessions spilled into the road. People tried to help her up, but she resisted. 'My God, whose side are you on?' she said to a soldier, as he turned his back and wiped away a tear. His financial situation — a monthly salary equivalent to around $70 since the collapse of the Lebanese pound — was little better than hers, but he and his colleagues were following orders. The university, which was determined to keep control of the situation, had called in a range of security support, including the army and anti-riot forces. 'We had to protect against serious external threats,' said AUB president Fadlo Khuri, though he conceded the redundancies 'could have been handled better'.

Management first cut our salaries by half, then fired us. If there are no tourists, there’s no money. I can’t blame them Hanna, a taxi driver

Things were already bad in Lebanon before the huge double explosion at the port of Beirut on 4 August: there was a serious economic crisis and sharply rising unemployment; the army had been deployed to prevent social unrest and people faced rising Covid-19 cases. The port explosions killed almost 200, injured almost 7,000 and destroyed much of the capital. Some 300,000 are now homeless in Beirut and 70,000 are unemployed. The hopes raised by last year's 17 October protest movement now seem distant.

The prospects for change look (…)

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Source: mondediplo.com