Month: December 2022

Reports of Int’l Meeting Concerning Lebanese President
According to Naharnet, “Informed sources have told al-Akhbar that France is still trying to involve Saudi Arabia in the Lebanese details, while the latter is still refusing to discuss candidate names . . . The Saudis and the Americans are not interested in the Lebanese file, despite the French and Qatari initiative, the daily said.” [Naharnet]

PM Mikati Delivers Statement Affirming Need for Reforms
According to Naharnet, “Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that sweeping reforms remain vital to rescue the stricken economy, despite a return to modest growth this year.” [Naharnet]

Constitutional Council Rejects Two Appeals of Invalidation Regarding Parliamentary Elections
According to L’Orient Today, “The Constitutional Council rejected on Thursday the last two appeals to invalidate the results of the May 2022 parliamentary elections, the National news agency reported, citing the president of the council, Tannous Mechleb. The first rejected appeal is that of Jad Ghosn (Charbel Nahas list) against Razi al-Hage (Lebanese Forces) and Hagop Pakradounian (Tashnag), in Metn (Mount Lebanon II). Ghosn obtained more preferential votes than Hage, but his list did not reach the electoral coefficient needed to be elected. The second was the appeal submitted by Haidar Issa (Free Patriotic Movement) against Ahmad Rustom (pro-Future Movement) for an Alawite seat in Akkar (North Lebanon I).” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

Read More Here

“The first parliamentary elections since the beginning of the financial crisis and the October 2019 uprising; the end of Michel Aoun’s mandate; a cholera outbreak; the national currency’s continued depreciation …. For more than three years now, Lebanon has been careening down a treacherous slope of economic and social crisis, and the balance sheet of the past year unfortunately does not inspire any reasonable hope that the downward trend is about to, finally, be reversed. Despite the many political changes that could have allowed for a renewal in the country, Lebanon is facing an unprecedented situation at the end of 2022: a dual executive-level power vacuum in the absence of both a president and a fully empowered government. In this context of political procrastination, no major reforms have been embarked upon by those in charge, while at the same time the injustices in the country continue to thrive.”

Read More Here

Suspects in UNIFIL Fatality Identified
According to L’Orient Today, “Lebanese security services have identified suspects in an attack on UN soldiers that left one peacekeeper dead, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday, adding that the soldiers were chased by gunmen.” [L’Orient Today]

Arab League Secretary General Urges Election of President
According to Naharnet, “Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said Thursday that Lebanon can not bear a presidential vacuum and that the league is willing to play its role in a Lebanese dialogue. During the Arab Economic Forum in Beirut, Abul Gheit considered that the way to recovery is by electing a new president and making reforms, urging parties to rise above the divisions and to prioritize Lebanon’s interests.” [Naharnet]

Analysis on Remittances During the Holiday Season
According to AP News, “Lebanon will receive roughly $6.8 billion in remittances this year, up from almost $6.4 billion in 2021, as they continue to be a core component of the country’s shrinking and battered economy. The World Bank estimates they are worth almost 38% of the country’s gross domestic product. Apart from the remittances sent from abroad, many of the diaspora return during the holiday season, bringing with them much-needed cash dollars.” [AP News]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

Read More Here

Hamadi writes, “In the span of a decade, Lebanon’s median household income is now roughly a quarter of what it once was. The report, based on a survey of 1,209 households conducted between November 2021 and January 2022, underlines the depths to which Lebanon has sunk amid a three-year economic crisis that the World Bank has called one of the worst globally since the mid-19th century. What does it mean to live with a decimated income? How are people getting by? L’Orient Today interviewed three different people to understand how their lives have changed since the beginning of the crisis.”

Read More Here

Former Ambassador David Hale Interviewed by L’Orient Today
In a L’Orient Today interview,  former US Ambassador to Lebanon, Ambassador David Hale, said, “Without the election of a president, the legislation on key reforms, so far pending, cannot be realized . . . Only the Lebanese leaders can make things happen . . . Even if a presidential vacancy is bad, electing the ‘wrong president’ would be worse.” [L’Orient Today]

Medicines and Baby Milk in Limited Supply Amid Recent Surge of Lira Rate
According to Naharnet, “The head of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon, Joe Salloum, warned Wednesday that the dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate on the black market has led to ‘a near-complete halt of the delivery of medicines and baby milk to pharmacies’.” [Naharnet]

Corniche al-Nahr Branch of Crédit Libanais Bank Site of Scuffle
According to L’Orient Today, “A scuffle broke out on Tuesday in a branch of the Crédit Libanais bank in Corniche al-Nahr, Beirut, during an action led by a depositor, accompanied by activists, to recover his blocked savings from the bank, the Cry of the Depositors group confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

Read More Here

Khatlab writes, “Joseph Ibrahim Nehmeh, like many other people born in Mount Lebanon, left his homeland for Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 18th century.”

Read More Here

Lebanon Receives $8.86 Million from World Bank for Waste Management
According to L’Orient Today, “The World Bank awarded an $8.86 million grant to Lebanon on Tuesday to launch a project on waste management. The grant announcement comes as Lebanon continues to struggle with an unprecedented economic crisis and against the backdrop of the yearslong mishandling of waste management in the country.” [L’Orient Today]

French Foreign Minister Urges Speedy Election of President
According to Naharnet, “French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Tuesday urged the ‘speedy election’ of a president in Lebanon and the formation of a new government to ‘carry out badly needed reforms’.” [Naharnet]

UK Removes Travel Warnings to Most of Lebanon
According to the National, “The UK has updated its travel advice to Lebanon, removing advice ‘against all but essential travel’ for much of the country . . . Whereas earlier the country map on the UK Foreign Office website was coloured entirely yellow or red, much of Lebanon is now shaded in green. [The National]

Lebanese Lira Breaks 45,000 LL to 1 USD on Black Market
According to L’Orient Today, “The Lebanese lira broke a new depreciation record on the parallel market Tuesday, while the authorities have still not adopted reforms to curb the economic and financial crisis that has paralyzed the country since 2019.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

Read More Here

Kanaan writes, “In many secular, Lebanese Christian and other faith households alike, Christmas occupies a special place: Christmas lights wrap around trees, lighting up streets lined with nativity scenes. A Christmas tree lights up a room, loved ones exchange gifts, and feasts shared among people often lead to a food-induced coma. The country’s Christmas traditions are as varied as they are festive, from seasonal treats to widespread religious customs.”

Read More Here

Top Ranking Senators Menendez, Risch Urge Biden Administration to Levy More Sanctions Against Corrupt Lebanese Financial and Political Elite
According to L’Orient Today, “The two top-ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the US Senate urged the Biden administration to levy more sanctions against Lebanon’s financial and political elite who are engaging in corruption and undermining the rule of law.” [L’Orient Today]

LAF, UNIFIL Hold Joint Memorial for Irish Peacekeeper
According to AP News, “The Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers held a memorial at the Beirut airport on Sunday for an Irish soldier killed by a mob that opened fire last week at two vehicles belonging to the U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. The attack that killed 24 year-old Pvt. Seán Rooney of Newtowncunningham took place near the southern town of Al-Aqbiya on Wednesday night, as he and seven other Irish peacekeepers from U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, were on their way to the Beirut airport.” [AP News]

US Court of Appeals Determines Depositors’ Cases Against Lebanese Banks Can Be Tried in US Jurisdictions
According to Reuters, “The court decision, issued on Thursday in a case brought by Lebanese depositors against leading lender Bank Audi, overturned a federal district court’s decision that said Beirut courts had ‘exclusive jurisdiction’ to try cases against Lebanese banks.” [Reuters]

PM Mikati Alludes to Ongoing International ‘Presidency Solution’ In Preparation
According to Naharnet, “Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati revealed Monday that foreign countries are ‘preparing’ a solution for the Lebanese presidential crisis [but clarified that ‘things take time’].” [Naharnet]

Prison Break in Jib Jenin, Bekaa – Twenty Six Prisoners Escape
According to L’Orient Today, “Twenty-six prisoners in Jib Jenin prison, in Western Bekaa, escaped through a ventilation opening, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the Bekaa reported on Monday. Security forces managed to capture one of the escapees Monday morning, a security source said, adding that the army’s intelligence services in the Bekaa later arrested seven more.” [L’Orient Today]

Azhari and Madi write, “Lebanon’s economic meltdown, now in its fourth year, has seen the currency lose more than 95% of its value and left eight in 10 Lebanese poor, according to the United Nations. With foreign currency coffers dwindling, the state has already lifted subsidies on fuel and most medication. Hiking the rate at which the customs fee is calculated, officials say, will boost state revenues and is a step towards unifying various exchange rates . . . The tariff jump came into effect on Dec 1. Import taxes began being calculated at an exchange rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar instead of the old 1,507, meaning traders suddenly had to pay much more to bring in products like home appliances, telephones or car parts. That is set to pile even more financial pressure on people struggling to make ends meet.”

Read More Here

Alameddine, Abdallah, and Hallak write, “For parents who are mentally or financially drained by Lebanon’s economic crisis, maintaining Christmas traditions is no easy feat . . .This Christmas resonates differently for most Lebanese families. While the country is in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, some parents are doing their best to communicate the holiday spirit to their children despite the fact that their lives have changed drastically over the past three years.”

Read More Here

PM Mikati Visits Naqoura, Vows Punishment on Those Who Killed UNIFIL Soldier
According to Reuters, “Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that those responsible for the killing of an Irish soldier on a U.N. peacekeeping mission two days ago ‘will be punished’.” [Reuters] LAF Commander in Chief General Joseph Aoun was also present at the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura. 

UN Secretary General Condemns Attack 
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a statement said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of Seán Rooney, a UNIFIL soldier of Irish nationality who served in Southern Lebanon. Guterres called for a, “swift investigation by relevant authorities to determine the facts related to the incident and the need for accountability.” [Naharnet]

Mikati Meets with Select Ministers
According to L’Orient Today, “A meeting of 20 ministers took place on Friday at the Grand Serail in Beirut, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, to decide on a ‘mechanism’ to continue the management of current affairs in the absence of a president.” [L’Orient Today]

Minister of Transport and Public Works Tests Soon to Be Launched Buses Donated From France
According to L’Orient Today, “Caretaker Minister of Transport and Public Works Ali Hamiyeh participated in a Friday test session of buses donated to Lebanon by France and announced that some of them will be put into service as soon as Monday.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “More than half of the country’s professional healthcare staff have chosen to emigrate, if they have not done so already, seeking better earnings so that they may feed their families and send their children to school. This has been the situation since the Beirut Port blast and the economic implosion that has left Lebanon dependent on international aid and remittances from overseas. Even if the government begins a process of paying its arrears, most hospitals are refusing to admit patients knowing that the country is bankrupt and neither the availability nor affordability of medical care will change soon.”

Read More Here

Atallah writes, “Inara, an international charity, is organising a concert that features children affected by war.”

Read More Here

Documentary Short Produced by UNC’s Khayrallah Center Earns Best Film in Category at Tokyo Film Festival
According to The 961, “The Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies’ documentary, ‘Herbert Nassour: The People’s Doctor,’ received the Best Short Documentary at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival. The documentary was released in June 2022 and talks about the Lebanese-American surgeon, Herbert Nassour, who tried to fight injustice by providing healthcare to racially and economically vulnerable people in Texas.” [The 961]

UNIFIL Peace Keeper Killed in Action in South of Lebanon
According to Reuters, “The two [of UNIFIL’s] armoured vehicles effectively got separated. One of them got surrounded by a hostile mob, I think that’s the only way you could describe them, and shots were fired. Unfortunately, one of our peacekeepers was killed,’ [Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Simon] Coveney told Irish national broadcaster RTE. ‘This was not expected. Yes there has been some tension on the ground between Hezbollah forces and UNIFIL in recent months but nothing like this,’ Coveney said.” [Reuters]

Lebanon Receives Additional Cholera Vaccines with Support from WHO
According to L’Orient Today, “Lebanon received 900,000 additional doses of cholera vaccines on Wednesday with the support of the World Health Organization and International Coordination Group as part of the vaccination campaign’s second phase.” [L’Orient Today]

Lebanese Parliament Fails to Elect President in 2022
According to Arab News, “Lebanese parliament has failed for the 10th time to elect a president on Thursday, prolonging an institutional void amid a deep economic crisis.” [Arab News]

Ministers Reported to Convene Tomorrow
According to Naharnet, “Ministers from the various political parties will meet on Friday to discuss the work of the caretaker government in light of the latest standoff between the Free Patriotic Movement and the rest of the government’s components. ‘A consultative ministerial meeting will be held tomorrow at 4pm at the Grand Serail to discuss the issue of mending the governmental rift and finding solutions for the current disputes,’ MTV reported.” [Naharnet]

AbiNader writes, “More than half of the country’s professional healthcare staff have chosen to emigrate, if they have not done so already, seeking better earnings so that they may feed their families and send their children to school. This has been the situation since the Beirut Port blast and the economic implosion that has left Lebanon dependent on international aid and remittances from overseas. Even if the government begins a process of paying its arrears, most hospitals are refusing to admit patients knowing that the country is bankrupt and neither the availability nor affordability of medical care will change soon.”

Read More Here

Atallah writes, “Inara, an international charity, is organising a concert that features children affected by war.”

Read More Here