Moving to Lebanon is an interesting experience. For many who come from wealthy countries, it’s an adventure and an amazing learning experience, which can teach you about global issues and different cultures. However, there are many dark undercurrents in this country. One of these, in my opinion, is the culture around domestic workers.
You go to the Beirut souks, in Downtown. People are rich, shops are expensive, and domestic workers wear uniforms. These women come from Ethiopia, West Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines. Many people just call them all ‘Sri Lankieh’. If you listen carefully, you will hear funny conversations between rich Lebanese women, for example: ‘Where is your Sri Lankan from?’ ‘My Sri Lankan is from Ethiopia’. They are brought to Lebanon using a law usually called ‘kafala’. The kafala system gives almost total power to the employers of these women. It is not very different from a system of slavery. Owners pay money to an agency to bring the women over, and then they own them. The women have almost no rights. The majority of ‘madames’ (as the owners are called) take their passports, so that their investment cannot run away. The majority also lock them in the house when their employers leave. Some of them don’t pay the women’s salaries. The ones who do pay their salaries usually pay around $200 a month, for constant service and no days off. Many of their owners are very wealthy Lebanese. So the kafala system of sponsorship gives employers of domestic workers almost complete control over these women, who come from poor countries and usually send most of their salary home to their family. The conditions that many are kept in are terrible. There are at least 300,000 of these women in Lebanon today. An average of 2 of these women die every week, either committing suicide or trying to escape. For many of them, this is the first time they have left their employer’s house in years. Stories of abuse are very common. Stories of women who want to go home, but whose employers tell them that they cannot go home until they can pay them back the money they spent to get them into Lebanon are also common. Sometimes, events happen that draw some media attention to what’s happening with these women. One of these events was a video that went viral on the internet. It showed an Ethiopian woman hanging out of a window screaming for help, while her employer filmed her on Snapchat and laughed. The video showed the woman falling. Her employer ended the video with the image of her broken body on the ground, and posted it on Snapchat. Thankfully, the woman survived, and her employer was arrested. But only because of the media attention. This video was taken in Kuwait, but could easily have happened in Lebanon. Frequent abuse, and widespread cruelty characterise the lives of many of these women, many of whom lose their lives in the pursuit of freedom or escape from the misery that they live in. However, while it is easy to condemn the people, it is the law that allows and facilitates abusive employers. It’s easy to condemn people for how they treat these women. But the real problem is the system that allows it. The kafala system gives total power to employers. Domestic workers are not recognised as workers in Lebanese law, so they are not entitled to any rights. As they say, power corrupts. Kafala is a very old system that was used in Islam instead of adoption. This system is now used across the Arab world to sponsor migrant workers. Under Lebanese law, these women do not have any workers’ rights, such as minimum wage, a right to days off or holidays, regulation of their working conditions, or the right to create or join unions. If they want to leave their workers, they will be deported. In many cases, if a woman reports her employer to the police for abusing her, her employer accuses her of stealing things from her home, which usually results in the police arresting her, and means that the employer doesn’t legally need to pay for her flight home. Across Lebanon, these women live in a quiet world that is rarely talked about or acknowledged. The law condemns them to a voiceless life. But there are those who help to give them voices. Of course, there is hope, and many kind souls in Lebanon who help these women. Organisations like Kafa, one of the most well-known NGOs in Lebanon, work to give these women a voice, advocating for a change in the kafala system, and protecting domestic workers who have been subject to abuse. Other organisations, such as This is Lebanon, draws attention to the lives of these women, and publicly names employers who don’t pay salaries, abuse their domestic workers, or refuse to pay for their flights home. لما تروح على سوق بيروت ، بوسط المدينة. الناس أغنيى ، المحلات غالية ، وعاملات المنازل لابسين لباسن الرسمي. هذول النساء أجو من أثيوبيا، غرب أفريقيا ، النيبال، بنغلادش ، سيرليلانكا ، و الفيليبين. العديد من الناس بيقولولن "سيرلانكية" . أذا سمعت منيح, رح تسمع محادثة مضحكة بين النساء اللبنانيات الاغنية, على سبيل المثال " من وين السيرلانكية يلي عندك؟" " السيرلانكية يلي عندي من أثيوبيا". نجابوا على لبنان بقانون " الكفالة " . نظام الكفالة بيعطي السلطة الكاملة تقريباً لصاحب العمل على هذول النساء. هذا مش كثير مختلف عن نظام العبودية. المالكين بيعطوا مصاري لعملاء ليجيبوا النساء. وبعدين بيملكوهن. النساء تقريباً ما عندن حقوق . أغلبية " المدامات" ( متل ما بينادولن) بياخذوا جوازات السفر منن ، فا إستثماراتن ما فيها تهرب. و الأغلبية كمان بيحبسوهن بالبيت لما صاحبين البيت بيظهروا برا البيت. البعض منن ما بيدفعولن رواتبن. ويلي بيدفعولن رواتبن بيدفعوا حويلة 200$ بالشهر, لخدمة مستمرة وبلا يوم عطلة. الكثير من مالكينن لبنانيين أثرياء جداً. اليوم في أقل شي 300,000 ألف من هذول النساء بلبنان. كل إسبوع بيموت منن بمعدل شخصين , إما بلإنتحار أو بمحاولة هروب. بالنسبة للعدد منن هذا أول مرة بيغادروا بيت صاحب العمل من سنين. قصص التعدي عليهن شائعة كثير , قصص عن نساء بدن يرجعوا على بلدن , بس أصاحب العمل بيخبروهن ما فيكن ترجعوا على بلدكن لحتى نسترجع المصاري يلي صرفناها عليكن لما جبناكن على لبنان أمر شائع كمان. بعض الأحيان, بتصير أحداث بتلفت إنتباه وسائل الإعلام على يلي عم بيصير مع هذول النساء. وحدة من هذول الأحداث كان مقطع فيديوا مهم على الأنترنت. الفيديوا فرجى مراءة أثيوبيا على الشباك عم تصرخ طالبة المساعدة , فا صاحب العمل تبعى صورها على السناب شات وتضحك عليها. الفيديوا فرجا المراءة عم توقع . صاحب العمل أنهى الفيديو بصورتها وهية بجسم مكسر على الأرض, ونشرها على السناب شات. الحمدالله, المراءة نجت, وصاحب العمل مسكوا الشرطة. بس كرمال إهتمام وسائل الإعلام . هذا الفيديو إتاخذ بالكويت , بس بسهولة ممكن يصير بلبنان. من السهل إدانة هذول الأشخاص يلي عم بيعاملوا هذول النساء بهل طريقة . بس المشكلة الحقيقية بالنظام يلي سمح فيها. نظام الكفالة أعطا السلطة الكاملة لصاحبين العمل. عاملات المنازل مش معترف فيهن كاعاملات بلقانون البناني , فا ما بيحقلوهن يحصلوا على أي حقوق . متل ما بيقولوا سلطة فاسدة. الكفالة نظام قديم جداً إستخدموا الإسلام بدل عن التبني . هذا النظام عم يستخدم بكل أنحاء العالم العربي لرعاية العمال المهاجرين . بموجب القانون لبناني , هذول النساء ما إلن أي حقوق عمل, مثل الحد الأدنى للأجور , يوم عطلة أو إجازة , تنظيم ضروف عملهن ، أو الحق بإنشاء نقابات أو الأنضمام أليها. إذا كانوا بدن يتركوا عمالن , فا بيرحلوهن. بالكثير من الحالات , إذا المراءة إشتكت على صاحب عملها للشرطة بتهمة التعدي عليها أو إسائة معاملتها ، فا صاحبة العمل بيتهمها بسرقة أشياء من بيتها, فا هيدا بيأدي عادتاً لأعتقالها , وهذا بيعني أنو صاحب العمل قانونياً مش ملزم يدفع ثمن رحلتها إلى بلدها. طبعاً في أمل , والعديد من النفوس اللطيفة بتساعد هذول النساء . المنظمات متل (كفا) , وحدة من أشهر المنظمات المعروفة بلبنان . بتشتغل لتعطي هذول النساء صوت , والدعوة لتغير نظام الكفالة , وحماية عاملات المنازل يلي تعرضوا لسوء معاملة . العديد من المنظمات , بلبنان, بيلفتوا الإنتباه لحياة هذول النساء , وبيعلنوا أسماء أصاحب العمل يلي ما بيدفعولن رواتبن , ويلي بسيئوا معاملة عاملات منازلن , أو يلي بيرفضوا يدفعوا تكاليف رحلن على بلدن.
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Before the coronavirus came along, Lebanon was in a pretty bad situation. A lot of things were the cause of this. We’ll go through some of the big ones here. The first, economic crisis.
لبنان أعلن عن الأزمة الأقتصادية من سنة تقريباً. بس الأزمة صارة أسوء بشهر أيلول لما بلشة أزمة العملة . أزمة العملة جوهرياً بتعني أنو لبنان ما بيملك عملة أجنبية كافية متاحة بالسوق . هذا كان مهم جداً بلبنان ، حيث يتم أستخدام عملتين على نطاق واسع. الليرة البنانية مرتبطة بالدولار الأمريكي، يلي بيعني أنو التصريف ديماً نفس الشي : 1500 ليرة لبنانية للدولار الواحد. أذا بتروح على البنك ومعك دولار واحد ، هيدا يلي رح تحصل عليه (1500 ليرة لبنانية). الدولار والليرة البنانية أستخدمة للتبادل بلبنان. فيك تدفع بالدولار الأمريكي أو بالليرة البنانية. أجهزة الصراف الألي بتصرف دولار أمريكي و ليرة لبنانية. فيك تفتح حساب بنك باليرة اللبنانية أو بالدولار الأمريكي. لكثير من الناس خلوا المصاري يلي مجمعينن بالدولار، يلي كان مستقر أكثر. لبنان متل أي دولة ثاني , بتشتري إستيراداتا بالدولار. Okay so two currencies used interchangeably, but what has this got to do with the economic crisis? لأي سبب كان ، لبنان بلشت تفلس من الدولار . أجهزة الصراف الألي وقفت تعطي دولارات ، والبنوك منعت الناس من سحب دولاراتن. هذا بيعني المشاكل للمستوردين , يلي بحاجة الدولار ليشتروا بضاعتن . محطات الوقود كانت مثال واضح . لأسابيع كثيرة، العالم توقف بالصف لساعات ليحصلوا على البترول لأن ما كان العرض كبير لتلبية الطلب . الطلب كبيرعلى البترول بلبنان، لأن مافي وسائل نقل عامة , كل الناس بتسوق سيارات خاصة و القاعدة العامة أنوا تسوق أكبر سيارة ممكنة . مع القليل من الدولارات ، الناس خايفة ما يقدروا يحصلوا على دولارات أكثر . في شغلتين صاروا , الناس بلشت تخبي دولارات , ما يصرفوا الدولارات يلي معن . والدولار بلش يصير أغلى , بفضل القواعد القديمة للعرض والطلب . مع إنخفاض عرض الدولار وزيادة الطلب عليها ( لأن الناس بدن يكدسوها ), الدولار صار أغلى بالنسبة لليرة البنانية. سعر صرف الدولار بمحلات الصيرفة رتفع أكثر وأكثر لصار 2000 ليرة لبنانية للدولار الواحد, وهلق رتفع أكثر ليصير تقريباً 3000 ليرة البنانية للدولار الواحد. هذا كان كثير سيئ للأعمال يلي إضظرت تشتري بسعر السوق وتبيع بسعر الرسمي , وخسرة الكثير من أرباحة. و كانت كمان سيئ للناس يلي مدخراتن باليرة البنانية , وكان عليهن يشوفوا مدخراتن عم تختفي. So the dollars stopped moving around the economy, importers were struggling to import basics like petrol, and the Lebanese pound started to lose its value. Then what? كل هذا ضاعف الأزمة الإقتصادية , القادمة من سنوات عديدة . هذا مش بودكاست إقتصادي , فا مش رح نفوت بتفاصيل , لكن سنين من السياسات المالية السيئ , وحتى مع عدم تنفيذ هذه السياسات السيئة يعني أن الإقتصاد اللبناني قنبلة موقوتة , وبإنتضار الإنفجار. ونفجرة هذه السنة , جزئياً هذا يلي سبب الإحتجاجات , بس الإحتجاجات عملت الأزمة الإقتصادية أسوء . المضاهرات , و إستقالة الحكومة , وعدم الإستقرار بسبب هذا الشي صارت الشركات خايفة . والدول الغنية يلي بالعادي بتعطي لبنان قروض لما بتوقع بمشكلة , رفضت تدين لبنان مصاري حتى الحكومة تعمل الإصلاحات يلي بتمنع يصير هذا الشي مرة ثاني. مع دولة شعبا عم يحتج , وبدون حكومة , هذا الشي كان مستحيل . So the ticking time bomb of decades of poor financial regulation and policies finally went off. The years of debt and an unregulated financial sector finally got a bit too much. This both triggered and was compounded by the protests. But don’t get us wrong – we’re not saying the protests caused the economic crisis currently being experienced by Lebanon. The economic crisis was coming, and it was coming fast anyway. But the instability caused by the protests slowed down the hypothetical reforms that could have been made. But with the levels of corruption and the business and financial ties of the ruling elite, these might not have happened anyway. الحالة صارة أسوء وأسوء لشهور . الأعمال بلشت تسكر , الناس بلشوا يخسروا شغلن و العديد منن تلقوا تخفيضات من رواتبن أو تأخير بدفع الرواتب. هذا بيعني لما الكورونا وصل , العديد من الناس كانوا خسرانين شغلن مسبقاً وستعملوا مصرياتن لمجمعينن . العديد من الناس ما قدروا يوصلوا لمدخراتن , لأن البنوك ما كانت تسمح للناس تسحب مصرياتة . لبنان نصابت بكير بكرونا فايروس بشهر شباط. ومثل الكثير من دول العالم بشهر أذار سكروا المدارس , المطار ، البور ، والحدود. سكروا معظم الشركات ، يمكن ما تكون أخبار منيحة للإقتصاد والقيود المفروضة على الحركة. لبنان ماعندوا نظام حماية إجتماعية , فا لما الشركات سكرت , ما كان في بديل عن رواتبن, للناس يلي عم بيعانوا طول الشهر ببلد تكلفة المعيشة في عالي كثير و الرواتب منخفضة للعديد من العمال. So it’s March and the country is on lockdown. This comes in the middle of an economic crisis, when many had lost their jobs and used their savings already. No social protection means that people were on their own. But the situation is worse for some than for others. بلبنان في أكبر عدد للأجئين بالعالم . مع عدد سكانها الأصلين يلي بيبلغ حويلية 6 ملايين نسمة , بتستضيف مليون ونص لاجئ من فلسطين وسوريا. ديماً حالتن أصعب من حالة الشعب البناني. لبنان ما وقعت أتفاقية الأجئين , فا مش ضروري تعطيهن أي حقوق . حقوق عمل الاجئين مقيدة , ما فيهن يمتلكوا أراضي أو أعمال تجارية , وبيتلقوا قدر كبير من التمييز. ما عندن أي حق ليصيروا مواطنين , فا الفلسطينيين يلي وصلوا سنة 1948, ولادن وولاد ولادن , ما صاروا مواطنيين لبنانيين , إلا إذا كانوا محظوظين كفاية ليكون ألن أب لبناني ( المراء البنانية ما فيها تعطي جنسيتا لأطفالة ) . العديد من الفلسطينين بعدن بيعيشوا بمخيمات , حيث الحصول على التعليم , العمل المحترم و العناية الطبية محدودة. يحتاج الاجئون لتجديد تصريح إقامتن كل سنة , يلي بيكلف كل شخض حويلة 200 دولار , للعديد من الاجئين مع عدم وجود شغل محترم ما بيقدروا تحمل التكلفة , فا الكثير منن ما معن وثائق , فا بيجعل الوصول الى الحقوق و الخدمات مستحيلة . الفقر مرتفع كثير عند الاجئين , وكمان المشاكل الاجتماعية بسبب الفقر , مثل زواج الأطفال والعنف المنزلي و عمالة الأطفال . الاجئين السوريين صاروا أكثر فقراً مع السنين , لأنن ستهلكوا مدخراتن . وكان على العديد منن يتحملوا الديون ليأمنوا إحتياجاتن الخاصة , مثل الأكل و الدواء والكتب المدرسية لأطفالن , بالسنوات القلية الماضية , اضطر عدد متزايد من العائلات يبيعوا ممتلاكتن ليدفعوا ثمن السلع الأساسية. So the refugee populations were already in dire straits before the coronavirus, taking on debts and selling their household items to pay for food, medicine, and bills. Most of them receive extremely limited support from organisations such as UNHCR. حساسية الوضع بالنسبة للاجئين بتعني أنوا كورونا فايروس كان كارثة كاملة بالنسبة ألن . لعائلات مسبقاً كانت عم بتعاني بسبب الأزمة الإقتصادية وسعر الأكل المرتفع , يلي كانوا يتدينوا لياكلوا , هذا الوباء كان كابوس. العديد منن ما بيقدروا يطلعوا من بيوتن لأنن مابيقدروا يتحملوا تكلفة تجديد تصريح إقامتن , وفي كثير من الشرطة بالشوارع عم بيفرضوا حضر التجول . هذا بيعني حتى لو الصناعات ما توقفت الاجئين ما بيقدروا يشتغلوا . حتى لو الفيروس ما صار قريب منن , العدييد منن بالكاد بيقدر يوفر الأكل . أذا الفيروس قرب منن العديد منن ما بيقدروا يأمنوا العناية الصحية , و عندن القابلية المحدودة ليروحوا على المشافي أذا قدروا . هذا سواء لأن العديد من البلديات فرضة قيود عنصرية على كرونا فايروس . والبعض من هذه البلديات فرضة حضر تجول على الاجئيين السوريين وما فرضة على اللبنانيين حضر التجول . في حين البعض من هذه البلديات عملت حضر تجول على السوريين قبل الكورنا فايروس , والكثير منن عم بيعملوا هيك هلق . English: Before the coronavirus came along, Lebanon was in a pretty bad situation. A lot of things were the cause of this. We’ll go through some of the big ones here. The first, economic crisis. Lebanon has been in a self-declared ‘economic crisis’ for almost a year now. But this got really bad in September, when the currency crisis started. The currency crisis basically means that Lebanon doesn’t have enough foreign currency available. This was pretty important in Lebanon, where two currencies are widely used. The Lebanese pound is pegged to the US dollar, which means that the exchange rate is always the same: 1500 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. If you go to a bank with one dollar, this is what you will get. Dollars and Lebanese pounds are used interchangeably in Lebanon: you can pay in a mixture of dollars and Lebanese pounds, and get your change in a mixture of dollars and Lebanese pounds. ATMs dispense both dollars and Lebanese pounds. You can open a bank account in dollars or Lebanese pounds. Many people kept their savings in dollars, which was more stable. Lebanon, like many other countries, buys its imports in dollars. Okay so two currencies used interchangeably, but what has this got to do with the economic crisis? For whatever reason, Lebanon started to run out of dollars. The ATMs stopped giving out dollars, and banks wouldn’t let people take their dollars out. This meant trouble for importers, who needed to get dollars to buy their goods. Petrol stations were an obvious example. For weeks, people had to queue for hours to access petrol because the supply wasn’t big enough to meet demand. Demand in Lebanon for petrol is huge, because there’s no public transport so everybody drives and the general rule is that you drive the biggest car you can afford. With so few dollars in the economy, and people afraid that they wouldn’t be able to get more, two things happened: people started to keep dollars, not spending dollars that they had. And the dollar started to get more expensive, thanks to the old rules of supply and demand. As supply of dollars decreased, and demand increased (because people wanted to hoard them), the dollar became more expensive compared to the Lebanese pound. The prices in exchange shops went up and up, to 2000 Lebanese pounds for one dollar, to now almost 3000 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. But officially, the rate was still 1500 Lebanese pounds for one dollar. This was terrible for businesses who had to buy at the market rate, but sell at the official rate, losing a huge amount of their profits. It was also terrible for people who had their savings in Lebanese pounds, and had to watch the value of those savings disappearing. So the dollars stopped moving around the economy, importers were struggling to import basics like petrol, and the Lebanese pound started to lose its value. Then what? All of this compounded an economic crisis that had been coming for many years. This is not an economics podcast, so we won’t go into details, but years of bad financial policies, and not even implementing those bad policies meant that Lebanon’s economy was a time bomb, waiting to explode. It exploded this year. Partially, this is what triggered the protests, but the protests also made the economic crisis worse. The protests, the resignation of the government, and the instability caused meant that businesses got scared and rich countries, which usually give Lebanon loans whenever it gets into trouble, refused to lend Lebanon money until it made reforms that would stop this from happening again. With a country in protest, and no government, this was almost impossible. So the ticking time bomb of decades of poor financial regulation and policies finally went off. The years of debt and an unregulated financial sector finally got a bit too much. This both triggered and was compounded by the protests. But don’t get us wrong – we’re not saying the protests caused the economic crisis currently being experienced by Lebanon. The economic crisis was coming, and it was coming fast anyway. But the instability caused by the protests slowed down the hypothetical reforms that could have been made. But with the levels of corruption and the business and financial ties of the ruling elite, these might not have happened anyway. The situation got worse and worse for months. Businesses started to close, people started to lose jobs and many of those who didn’t received salary cuts or late payments. This means that when the coronavirus came, many people had already lost their jobs and used their savings. Many others could not access their savings, because the banks were not allowing people to withdraw their money. Lebanon was hit quite early by the coronavirus, starting in February. In March, like much of the world, they closed their schools, airport, ports, and borders. They closed almost all businesses, which will probably not be good news for the struggling economy, and enforced restrictions on movement. Lebanon has no social protection system, so when businesses closed, there was no replacement to their salary– people who had often struggled to get through the month in a country with a high cost of living and low salaries for many workers. So it’s March and the country is on lockdown. This comes in the middle of an economic crisis, when many had lost their jobs and used their savings already. No social protection means that people were on their own. But the situation is worse for some than for others. Lebanon has the largest refugee population per capita in the world. With a native population of around 6 million, it hosts at least 1.5 million refugees from Palestine and Syria. Their situation is always worse than the native population. Lebanon has not signed the Refugee Convention, so does not have to give refugees any rights. Refugees have restricted rights to work, cannot own land or businesses, and receive a huge amount of discrimination. They have no right to ever become citizens, so Palestinians who arrived in 1948, their children, and their children’s children, are still not Lebanese citizens, unless they are lucky enough to have a Lebanese father (Lebanese women cannot pass their nationality on to their children). Many Palestinians still live in camps, where access to education, decent work, and healthcare is limited. Refugees need to renew their residence permit every year, which costs around $200 for every person, which many refugees, with no access to decent work, cannot afford, so many are undocumented, making their access to rights and services even more impossible. Poverty is extremely high among refugee populations, as well as social problems that come from poverty, such as child marriage, domestic abuse, and child labour. Syrian refugees have become increasingly vulnerable over the years, as they have used up their savings. Many of them had to take on debts to pay for their basic needs, such as food, medicine, and schoolbooks for their children. In the last few years, an increasing number of families had to sell their belongings to pay for basic goods. So the refugee populations were already in dire straits before the coronavirus, taking on debts and selling their household items to pay for food, medicine, and bills. Most of them receive extremely limited support from organisations such as UNHCR. The vulnerability of the refugee populations means that the coronavirus has been a complete disaster for them. For families that were already struggling because of the economic crisis and high food prices, who were taking on debts to pay for food, this pandemic has been a nightmare. Many of them are unable to leave their houses because they could not afford to renew their residence permit, and there are now many police on the streets enforcing the curfew. This means that even for industries that have not stopped, the refugees can’t work. Even if the virus doesn’t go near them, many of them can barely afford food. If the virus does go near them, many of them can’t afford healthcare, and have limited ability to go to hospitals if they can. This is even worse because many municipalities in Lebanon have introduced discriminatory restrictions for the coronavirus. Some of these municipalities impose a curfew on Syrian refugees that they do not impose on the native Lebanese population. While some of them did this before the coronavirus, more of them are doing it now. الثورة بلشت بنفس المكان بلبنان يلي بالعادي بتبلش في : رياض الصلح ،ساحة بوسط المدينة يلي كانت الخط الفاصل بين شرق و غرب بيروت. فا بي 17 تشرين الأول، المتظاهرين تجمعوا هنيك ليحتجوا على ،فساد الحكومة والنخبة الحاكمة، البطالة ،و الطائفية، و السياية الأقتصادية السيئى. المتظاهرين كانوا بأعداد قليلة بالأول، بس نتشروا عبر البلد كلا. هذه التظاهرات كانت جداً مهمة, لأن أثرة على مناطق بالعادة بتكون غير مشاركة بل التظاهرات لبنانية. ضيع ومدن بوادي البقاع، و بمناطق سيطرة حزب الله بالجنوب كلن بلشوا يحتجوا بطريقة عفوية.بطرابلس فاجئوا الجميع، المعروفي بكونا مديني أسلامية متحفضة، صارت طرابلس قلب الثورة. المتظاهرين وقفوا البلد كلا بشكل تام. سكروا طرقان بالبلد ، خلوا التنقل شبه مستحيل. البنوك سكرت 10 أيام، والمدارس لمدة أطول. We don’t quite know how to express how incredible these protests felt to people who experienced them. It was like the whole country had a giant party to release decades of frustration. Everyone got involved, and it was incredibly spontaneous. Usually, protests are isolated to Beirut and areas often considered ‘liberal’. But these protests covered the entire country. When the protests started, Western media mostly talked about the ‘tension’ on the streets of Beirut. But for those who were there, it was a celebration. المتظاهرين عملوا كل شي ليأكدوا للعالم أنو ما بدن عنف. عملو حفلات ، وقدموا أكل ببلاش ، ونضفوا الطرقان ، وعملوا دروس يوغا بالطرقان المسكرة، وكمان عملوا صف بشري من شمال لجنوب البلد. الفيدو للمتظاهرين عم بيغنوا" القرش الصغير " لطفل بالسيارة . الأعلام الغربي وصف هذه اللحظة بي "كسر التوتر " لكن بالنسبة للناس يلي بالشارع كانت بالضبط متل ما بالعادي كانوا. عائلات مع ولاد صغار راحوا على المظاهرات وشاركوا بالأغاني. ما كان في قائد, ولا في تنظيم. بس هذه التظاهرات كانت منظمة. كانت منظمة بسنوات من الفساد يلي بتعطي الأفضلية لنخبة صغيرة من الجماعات ، وتاركين باقي الشعب بلا كهربا أو أمل لبلدن. كان في هتافيين أساسيين بالثورة أول واحد هوي " كلن يعني كلن" بتفرجي أنوا المتظاهريين مش بس غضبانيين من حزب واحد أو رجل سياسي واحد، المتظاهرين غضبانيين من كل الطبقة الحاكمة، وغيرن غضبانيين من جبران بسيل . فا التظاهرات ما كانت عن شخص سياسي واحد ، والهتاف عن جبران بسيل بيظهر كيف كل البلد متحديين بكراهية هذا الشخص يلي صار مشهور بسبب تعليقاتوا العنصرية ضد السوريين ، ولقانون العمل يلي أصدروا، يلي خلا السوريين بدون شغل ، والأعمال لبنانية بدون عمال . طريقتوا العنصرية وحدت المسيحيين والمسلميين ضدوا. The nature of the protests filled many with hope that this could remain peaceful. Protesters went to great efforts to send a good image of the protests. The country was united in anger and frustration, but it was united. And their strategies worked. أساليب المتظاهرين عطت نتيجة: البلد كانت مشلولي، والحكومة ما فيها تتجاهل هذا الشي . لتغة ضريبة الوتساب ، لكن حتى الحومة، يلي كانت بعيدة جداً عن الناس ، بيعرفوا أنوا هيدا ما بيكفي ليوقفوا التظاهرات. بعد كم يوم، اللبنانيين أجبروا ، حزب مسيحي ، على الأستقالة من الحكومة ، وبعديها ، رئيس الحكومة سعد الحريري كمان ستقال. هذا بيعني أنوا كل الحكومة ستقالة ، وصارة حكومة تصريف أعمال. So no tax on Whatsapp, and no more government. When the President Saad Al-Hariri resigned, the entire government became a caretaker government. This was seen as a huge win for the protesters, but the protests continued. They wanted to make sure that this resignation was not temporary, and not just symbolic. But the tactics changed, and life returned to some kind of normalcy. So the protesters won, kind of. But what has really changed in Lebanon? سياسياً ما تغيرت كثير، السياسين شافوا هذا الغضب الهائل من الشعب البناني كجزء أخر من لعبة القوى السياسية، وستمروا بالصراع على السلطة، ونتظروا الناس لتتعب فا بعدين بيقدروا يسرقوا السلطة والمصاري من بعضن البعض. كمان أقتصادياً ، ما تغير شي كثير. عدم وجود حكومة خلى الأقتصاد سيئ أكثر. قيمة اليرة اللبنانية انخفضة ، وهلق حويلة 50% أقل من قيمتا بهيدا الوقت مقارنتاً بالسنة الماضي . في سوق سودا كبير للدولار, والناس بلبنان عم بيعانوا من عدم رغبة الطبقة السياسية الحاكمة بعمل أي شيء لوضعن. رواتب الناس نخصمت، البنوك حطت قيود على سحب الدولار ، والأعمال سكرت. So the political elite kind of tried to wait it out, using the media to turn people against the protesters and trying to paint this along normal political divides. And the economic situation started to become really, really desperate. But while the short-term benefit may not be immediately obvious, a fundamental shift in the Lebanon psyche seemed to be taking place. بس التغيير الحقيقي بالشعب لبناني. أنا صرلي تسع سنين هون بلبنان وبهذه التظاهرات أول مرة بسمع فيها الشعب لبناني عم بيعبر عن أمل عن مستقبل بلدن. الوحدة هي شي مش معروف عن لبنان بالأعلام الغربي. لعقود من الزمن ، لبنان تقسمة من قبل سياسين يلي ستفادوا من تقسيم البلد. بس للكثير من البنانيين ، معاناة المسيحيين مثل معاناة المسلميين، و العدو الحقيقي هوي الشخص يلي قاعد بالبرلمان ، يلي عم بيستفيد من معاناة بلدن، يلي ما بحياتوا تواصل مع الشعب لبناني و يلي ما بيشاركن معاناتن. هذه التظاهرات خلت الشعب البنانيي يحسوا أنن لبنانيين ، بدل ما يحسوا أنن مسيحية أو سنة أو شيعة أو دروز. هذه أول مرة منسمع الناس بيقولوا عن حالن لبنانيين مع فخر حقيقي. هذه أول مرة شفت العلم البناني ببيروت أكثر من علم حزب الله أو علم حركة أمل أو أي علم حزب سياسي ثاني. This unity may well be short-lived, but for the optimists, could change the nature of Lebanese society. Protesters have been demanding an end to the sectarian political system that has divided and paralysed their country for decades. If the protesters actually achieve their goal, the future is anyone’s guess. A few months in to the protests, they started to be characterised by public meetings and discussions. خلال الإحتجاجات استعاد المتظاهرين ساحات ومناطق بيروت يلي بالعادة بتكون مليانة بحراس الأمن ، أكادميين و خبراء عملوا إجتماعات ليناقشوا السياسة والأقتصاد وكيف مستقبل بلدن ممكن يكون . الإحتجاجات ستمرة ، ببرنامج مختلف شوي . الناس رجعت للشغل ، بس بعطل نهاية الاسبوع رجعت تعبت الساحات بلأسواق الغير رسمية , حفلات الرقص و مجموعات من ناس عم تهتف. الإحتجاجات ستمرت لشهور ، والمحتجين صاروا أقل بمرور الوقت والأشتباكات تزايدة مع قوات الأمن. بكانون الثاني حسان دياب شكل حكومة جديدة , دكتور جامعي للهندسة من الجامعة الأمريكية في بيروت . لكن الأزمة الأقتصادية صارة أسوء. اليرة البنانية ستمرت بفقدان قيمتة ، سيطرة رأس المال جمدة النشاط الإقتصادي ، وسكرت أعمال أكثر ، وزادة البطالة. ضرب الوباء العالمي كورونا فايروس لبنان بقوة مثل بقية العالم ، مع تجميد الإقتصاد من أسابيع حتى هلق. الإقفال بيعني كمان أنو على المتظاهرين يقعدوا بيوتن. رح نحكي الحلقة الجاي عن تأثير هذا التطور الجديد على لبنان ، وخاصة على المجتمعات الضعيفة بلبنان. English Version: It started in the same place that protests in Lebanon always start: Riad el Solh, the square in Downtown that used to be the front line between East and West Beirut. On the 17th of October, protesters gathered there to protest austerity, corruption, the government and the political elite, unemployment, sectarianism, and bad economic policy. The protests were small at first, but spread across the country. These protests were really interesting, because they affected areas that are usually completely underrepresented in protests in Lebanon. Villages and cities in the mountains, in the Beqaa valley, and in the Hezbollah-controlled south all spontaneously started their own protests. Surprising everyone, Tripoli, known for being a conservative, Muslim city, became the heart of the protests. The protests brought the country to a standstill. They blocked roads across the country, making it almost impossible to travel around Lebanon. Banks closed for 10 days, and schools for even longer. We don’t quite know how to express how incredible these protests felt to people who experienced them. It was like the whole country had a giant party to release decades of frustration. Everyone got involved, and it was incredibly spontaneous. Usually, protests are isolated to Beirut and areas often considered ‘liberal’. But these protests covered the entire country. When the protests started, Western media mostly talked about the ‘tension’ on the streets of Beirut. But for those who were there, it was a celebration. The protesters did everything to make sure that the world knew that they did not want violence. They had parties, they gave out free food, they cleaned the streets, they had yoga classes on the closed roads, and they made a human chain that went from the North to the South of the country. A video of protesters singing ‘Baby Shark’ to a child in a car went viral. Western media called this moment a ‘break in the tension’ but for people on the streets this was exactly what the protests were like. Families with small children went to the protests and joined in the singing. There was no leader, and no organisation. But this protest was organised. Organised by villages, towns, cities. It was organised by years of corruption that gave wealth to a small elite group, and left the rest without electricity or hope for their country. There were two main chants of the revolution: ‘kilon yani kilon’, showing how the protesters were not just angry at one party or one politician, but the entire ruling class, and the other about Gebran Bassil. While the protests were not about one politician, the chant about Gebran Bassil showed how the entire country was united in hatred for this man who had become famous for his racist comments about Syrians, and for the labour restrictions that he introduced, which left Syrians without jobs, and Lebanese businesses without workers. His sectarian ideology united Christians and Muslims in Lebanon in anger. The nature of the protests filled many with hope that this could remain peaceful. Protesters went to great efforts to send a good image of the protests. The country was united in anger and frustration, but it was united. And their strategies worked. The tactics of the protesters worked: the country was paralysed, and the government couldn’t ignore it. The tax on Whatsapp was scrapped, but even the government, which was so out of touch with the Lebanese people, knew that this wasn’t going to be enough to stop these protests. After a few days, the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, resigned from the government. A few days later, the Prime Minister, Saad Al-Hariri, resigned too. This meant that the entire government resigned, and became a caretaker government. So no tax on Whatsapp, and no more government. When the President Saad Al-Hariri resigned, the entire government became a caretaker government. This was seen as a huge win for the protesters, but the protests continued. They wanted to make sure that this resignation was not temporary, and not just symbolic. But the tactics changed, and life returned to some kind of normalcy. So the protesters won, kind of. But what has really changed in Lebanon? Politically, not much. Politicians mostly just saw this enormous show of anger by the Lebanese people as another piece in their game of political power. They continued fighting over power, and waited for people to get tired so that they can go back to stealing power and money from each other. Economically, not much either. The lack of a government made the economic situation more desperate. The value of the Lebanese pound fell, and is now at around 50% of its value this time last year. There is a huge black market for dollars, and people in Lebanon are suffering from the unwillingness of the ruling class to do anything about their situation. People’s salaries were cut, banks put restrictions on how many dollars can be withdrawn, and businesses closed. So the political elite kind of tried to wait it out, using the media to turn people against the protesters and trying to paint this along normal political divides. And the economic situation started to become really, really desperate. But while the short-term benefit may not be immediately obvious, a fundamental shift in the Lebanon psyche seemed to be taking place. But the real change is in Lebanese people. I was in Lebanon for almost a year and these protests were the first time I heard Lebanese people express hope for the future of their country. Unity is not something Lebanon has been known for in Western media, but in our experience this is not a true reflection of the feelings of Lebanese people. For decades, Lebanon has been divided by politicians who profited from dividing the country. But for many Lebanese people, the struggles of Christians are the same as the struggles of Muslims, and the real enemy is the one that sits in parliament, who benefits from the suffering of their country, who never speaks to Lebanese people, and who doesn’t share their struggles. These protests have made Lebanese people feel Lebanese, instead of Christian or Sunni or Shia or Druze. It was the first time we heard people call themselves Lebanese with real pride. It was the first time I saw more Lebanese flags in Beirut than Hezbollah or Amal or political party flags. This unity may well be short-lived, but for the optimists, could change the nature of Lebanese society. Protesters have been demanding an end to the sectarian political system that has divided and paralysed their country for decades. If the protesters actually achieve their goal, the future is anyone’s guess. A few months in to the protests, they started to be characterised by public meetings and discussions. Throughout the protests, the squares and the areas of Beirut usually filled with private security guards were reclaimed by protesters. Academics and experts held meetings to discuss economic policies and what the future of their country might look like. Protests continued, with slightly different schedules. People returned to work, but on evenings and weekends the squares filled again with informal markets, dance parties, and groups of people chanting. The protests continued for months, attracting smaller crowds over time, and increasingly clashing with police forces. A new government was formed in January by Hassan Diab, a professor of engineering from the American University of Beirut. But the economic crisis got worse and worse. The Lebanese pound kept losing value, capital controls froze economic activity, and more businesses closed, increasing unemployment. The global pandemic caused by coronavirus has hit Lebanon as hard as the rest of the world, with the majority of the economy frozen for weeks now. The lockdown also means that the protesters have to stay home. Our next episode will be about the impact of this new development on Lebanon, and especially on vulnerable communities in Lebanon. |
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The page gives you the transcripts of the podcasts, both in English and Arabic, with difficult words highlighted and translated.
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