In the early 80s, after the majority of my relatives and classmates left for greener pastures – meaning the US of A, and as I had neither the wherewithal or perspicacity, at that time at least, I did the next best thing, get to the Gulf.
Oman, to be exact. The Management was completely from Lebanon. I marvelled at the felicity with which the Lebanese could seamlessly move in expressing themselves from one language to another, in the three of Arabic, English and French. The majority was well educated, in the august institution American University of Beirut.
Heady days indeed for me, in more ways than one. Some Lebanese colleagues of mine would fly across to Beirut for a week’s holiday, and return – then display their bullet wounds beneath their shirts or trousers, the red of the blood yet to dry, living to tell the tale.
What does the future augur for the people of a country that can scarce manage its resources ? What kind of future can the young of the country envisage, without contemplating emigration ? It is said that Lebanon is the one country in the world, where more of its citizens live overseas, than within its own political and geographical boundaries.
Pan into 2023 and this is how the situation is in Lebanon – viz., if I had my own money in a Savings Bank account, I may have to take a gun to withdraw my own funds, the bank security may point its weapons at me to prevent me from doing so, and there would be an independent police contingent, to ( hopefully ) keep the peace. Could it possibly get more bizarre ?
Woman holds up Beirut bank with activists to withdraw own savings
Sali Hafez took $13,000 from her frozen bank account ‘to pay for sister’s cancer treatment’
Lebanese soldiers stand guard outside the Blom branch in Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA
A woman accompanied by activists and brandishing what she said was a toy pistol broke into a Beirut bank branch and took $13,000 from her trapped savings.
One witness said the intruders doused the inside of the bank with petrol and threatened to set it alight during the incident, which was live-streamed on Facebook.
Sali Hafez told the local Al Jadeed TV station that she needed the money to pay for her sister’s cancer treatment. She said she had repeatedly visited the bank to ask for her money and was told she could receive only $200 a month in Lebanese pounds. Hafez said the toy pistol belonged to her nephew.
“I had begged the branch manager before for my money, and I told him my sister was dying, didn’t have much time left,” she said in the interview. “I reached a point where I had nothing else to lose.”
A woman holding what appeared to be a gun at a Blom Bank branch in Beirut, in this screengrab taken from Al-Jadeed footage on 14 September. Photograph: Al Jadeed/Reuters
Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency since 2019, tying up the savings of millions of people. About three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty as the tiny Mediterranean country’s economy continues to spiral.
Hafez and activists from a group called Depositors’ Outcry entered the Blom branch and stormed into the manager’s office. They forced bank employees to hand over $12,000 and the equivalent of about $1,000 in Lebanese pounds.
Hafez said she had a total of $20,000 in savings in the bank. She said she had already sold many of her personal belongings and had considered selling her kidney to fund her 23-year-old sister’s cancer treatment.
Nadine Nakhal, a bank customer, said the intruders “doused gasoline everywhere inside, and took out a lighter and threatened to light it”. She said a woman with a pistol threatened to shoot the manager if she did not receive her money.
Hafez said in a live-streamed video she posted on her Facebook account that she did not intend to do harm. “I did not break into the bank to kill anyone or set the place on fire,” she said. “I am here to get my rights.”
Hafez was celebrated as a hero across social media in Lebanon, as many in the country struggle to make ends meet and retrieve their savings. She encouraged others to take similar action.
Some of the activists entered the bank with Hafez, while others staged a protest at the entrance. Hafez eventually left with cash in a plastic bag, witnesses said.
Man who took hostages demanding his own money becomes public hero in Lebanon
Security forces standing outside arrested several of the activists, including a man carrying what appeared to be a handgun. It was not immediately clear if this was also a toy gun.
The incident occurred weeks after a food delivery driver broke into another bank branch in Beirut and held 10 people hostage for seven hours, demanding tens of thousands of dollars of his trapped savings. Most hailed him a hero.
Lebanon has scrambled for more than two years to implement key reforms in its decimated banking sector and economy. It has so far failed to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a recovery programme that would unlock billions of dollars in international loans and aid to make the country viable again.
In the meantime, millions of people are struggling to cope with rampant power outages and soaring inflation.
“We need to put a stop to everything that is happening to us in this country,” Nakhal said. “Everyone’s money is stuck in the banks, and in this case, it’s someone who is sick. We need to find a solution.”
Having related the above, all I can say is my worry is closer home. Does the Lebanon example hold lessons for India ? I think, Yes ! After 45 years of experience in the travel, tours and airline fields, when I found my bones were creaking a bit, and perhaps I should hang up my boots, I got defrauded of my life’s savings, and had to get back to work full time. I wondered what people like George Habash and Kamal Jumblatt, who were my inspiration in my college days, would have thought about how their country for which they shed blood, sweat and tears, turned out over a half century later.
The Beirut Barracks Memorial honors the 241 American service members who lost their lives in the October 23, 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marines Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War. Two truck bombs, detonated by suicide bombers, struck buildings that housed U.S. and French military members of a multinational peacekeeping force, killing a total of 299 service personnel (241 American, 58 French), along with six civilians and the two suicide bombers. It was the deadliest single-day attack against U.S. Marines since the battle over Iwo Jima in 1945.
Dedicated in 1984 on the first anniversary of the attack, the memorial is located beneath a cedar tree in Section 59 of the cemetery. Its inscription reads, “Let peace take root. This cedar of Lebanon tree grows in living memory of the Americans killed in the Beirut terrorist attack and all victims of terrorism throughout the world.”
Thereby hangs a tale !
Now, dear Reader, I reproduce verbatim my exchange of mails with Ms. Cheryl, a leading global educationist, based in London, and who usually serves in countries in Africa, and recently went to Beirut
Cheryl: I just received a message that I may need to go to Lebanon. Nothing is fixed yet.
Me: Would be great if you could do some Beirut booking with me. Haven’t done a Beirut ticket for more than 15 years
Cheryl: If I do go to Beirut, the cash situation is so bad that they cannot refund my ticket. I have been to Beirut last year and they sent the ticket and visa. In Beirut you need to have cash in hand to spend. Shops/restaurants/markets only take cash as bank cards don’t work. The Lebanese money has very little value. People prefer payment in USD
Me: Yes, I read about the situation in Lebanon, now getting it from the horse’s mouth (you). I guess we in India have to be grateful for small mercies
Cheryl: We in India have it miles better than the people in Lebanon. The average family in Lebanon survives because they have a family member who works abroad and sends them money in USD via Western Union, which gives them the USD in cash up to a certain limit. Ordinary people don’t ‘live’, they simply exist. There are NGOs who do food parcels and help with water etc The Lebanese are kind and generous people
I hope such noble sentiments echo in India. For the present, I am still high and dry
One Jones from India 