LEBANON The ‘poor’ Easter of the Lebanese, overwhelmed by the economic crisis and inequalities

The churches are “overflowing” with the faithful. With the crisis “the conscience of many has been awakened”, says a priest. Families struggle, struggle to pay their rent, and end up on the streets. The new rich have ties to the Gulf countries, the new poor are those who receive their salaries in local currency. The desire to unify the celebration of Easter with the Orthodox.

Beirut () – In a Lebanon that “hides its poverty”, inequalities are growing. A few days before celebrating Easter, deprivation is felt in an even more cruel way in some sectors of the population, deprived of everything. “Easter is sharing! God sharing his life with us, and we with others!”, Assures Father Elie Sfeir, curate of the Maronite parish of the Resurrection. The church is located in a relatively affluent region of the country, and every month it helps 30 needy families with 100 euros, a gesture that makes all the difference for these people.

“It is comforting to see that our churches are full. The crisis has awakened the conscience of many,” confirms one of the many collaborators who help in the parish. “However, the shops and businesses are empty. In the clothing sector, sales are multiplying.”

“I have been told that a cashier from the Zara clothing chain had to intervene harshly to bring order to the crowd” on the eve of Palm Sunday, explains Father Elie. “In my opinion,” he adds, “these buyers are part of expatriate families in Dubai or Abu Dhabi!” He takes the opportunity to point out that 130 families from his parish left the country in the last two years. Most settled in Gulf countries.

“Anyway, there are no rich people in Lebanon anymore,” he continues. “Their money is in the banks. Only the new rich are left here, who get paid in ‘cash dollars’, and the new poor, those who continue to get their salaries in Lebanese liras, which are the vast majority.”

“In general, the Lebanese try to hide their poverty,” explains Roland, a man in his 50s, an interpreter by profession, who divides his time between the country of the cedars and abroad. “Many Lebanese are late with rents, it’s one of the first signs of poverty. But the rich in this region live in a bubble,” he says.

“We have all reduced our lifestyle,” adds his wife. “Chocolate has disappeared from our porcelain candy boxes,” she says. The same is true of “other simple things that have become too expensive, like colored eggs, having friends over, going out and traditional ‘maamouls.’ [galletas rellenas de almendra], who have always marked the party. We try to avoid waste.” Mireille and Khawla, two sisters in charge of an NGO that distributes medicine and food to the poorest, ‘Towards the Traditional Orient’, confirm the sudden impoverishment of the middle class. People saw their savings frozen by the banks in 2019 and in recent times their income has melted like snow in the sun.

“This association helps in different ways,” explain these mothers, who receive donations from Lyon, where one of their brothers lives, and from a Christian association in Germany. “It all depends on what we receive, although it is usually medicine.” The two sisters have just helped a retired couple who have fallen into poverty. The man is sick with cancer. In order to live and be able to continue medical treatment, they say, “the couple sold everything, including the car and the few jewels they had left. But after several months of not paying the rent, they ended up on the street,” he adds. one of the women. “A convent is housing them and now they live on alms.”

Those responsible for the NGO complain about the decline in international aid. “Now everything is going to Ukraine, which is at war, and to Turkey, devastated by the earthquake,” explains one of them. Mireille continues: “And they say: ‘you Lebanese are entrepreneurs. Many of you are very rich.’ We ourselves are victims of our reputation.”

In Zahlé, a Greek-Catholic city in the Middle East, Easter often causes huge traffic jams in the city center. This year, however, the streets and shops are generally empty. “At school, we organize processions on Fridays and distribute candles on Palm Sunday, so as not to embarrass students whose parents can’t afford other luxuries,” explains Nelly, once the right-hand man of the community patriarch.

Zahlé is known for a specialty: the milk cookie, famous throughout the country. This year, “orders have dropped by at least 60%,” says Maurice Barrak, one of the managers of the “Salon des Familles”, a chain of biscuit producers. All our basic products: flour, sugar, cream, clarified butter, vegetable fat, everything is paid for in dollars,” he stresses, to explain the reasons for the crisis. In addition to the humiliation and deprivation, another burden is added, of a spiritual nature. Indeed, this year, the Orthodox communities celebrate Easter a week after the Catholics. In this sense, how much longer will it take, how much longer will it take for the unification of the two holidays to become a reality? It is something that the Lebanese aspire deeply.