Lebanon
Cell Phones Behind Bars in Lebanon
Exploring a new era of prison communication.
A Primer on Lebanon—History, Palestine and Resistance to Israeli Violence
Crucial context amid regional escalation.
Times of Struggle and Cultural Liberation—A Conversation with Elias Khoury
An Excerpt from ‘Palestine in a World on Fire’ in light of Elias Khoury’s passing.
Off the Grid—Why Solar Won’t Solve Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis
Incorporating renewables into the country’s beleaguered energy sector.
Beirut and the Birth of the Fortress Embassy
A deep dive into the local, regional and global politics behind the sprawling new US embassy complex in Beirut.
Listening to the Camps’ Walls—Lebanon Since October 7
There has been no shortage of worry in Lebanon following the Hamas attacks on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli declaration of all-out war on Gaza. Israel has made it clear that war with Hezbollah will lead to devastating consequences for the whole of Lebanon. “What...Organizing for Digital Rights—An Interview with Mohamad Najem of SMEX
Activists are fighting for an online civic space.
Competing Visions for Rebuilding Lebanon’s Collapsing Energy Sector
With Lebanon’s crumbling power sector in crisis and unable to meet even a fraction of demand, the government and reformers offer competing visions for how to fix it. Zachary Davis Cuyler delves into the country’s currently dire financial and energy situation, the proposed solutions and their implications for the ruling elite and the increasingly impoverished Lebanese people.
It Was Beirut, All Over Again…Again
One night in August 2021, I fell through a portal. It was hot, and there was no electricity. I had already missed the de facto bedtime of 1am set by our generator’s regimen. My portable fluorescent lantern was fully charged. The stale, heavy air of a cooled-down,...Capturing the Complexity of Lebanon’s Civil War and Its Legacies
The current political and economic crises in Lebanon reveal the myriad ways that the Lebanese continue to deal with the aftereffects of the 1975–1990 civil war. The roots of many of today’s crises—a collapsing currency, shortages of basic goods like medicine, fuel and...Capturing the Complexity of Lebanon’s Civil War and Its Legacies
The current political and economic crises in Lebanon reveal the myriad ways that the Lebanese continue to deal with the effects of the 1975–1990 civil war. Najib Hourani explores MERIP’s deep coverage of Lebanon since the early 1970s. He finds that “MERIP’s commitment to foregrounding local social struggles and their links to the global political economy, along with a sensitivity to historical context, has provided a powerful antidote to mainstream reporting and analysis.” Forthcoming in the Fall 2021 issue “MERIP at 50.”
Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon
The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchies it produces.
Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon
The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchies it produces.
Political Assassinations and the Revolutionary Impasse in Lebanon and Iraq
In the midst of deepening political and economic crises, the recent assassinations of two intellectuals—Hisham al-Hashimi in Iraq and Lokman Slim in Lebanon—have shaken the popular protest movements that are pushing for fundamental change in both countries. Haugbolle and Andersen consider the consequences for those who challenge the status quo of government corruption and crumbling public services, both in the streets and through documentation and scholarship.
Palestinian Refugee First Responders Rush to Aid Beirut
When the massive explosion in Beirut’s port ripped through the city on August 4, 2020, members of the Palestinian Civil Defense Lebanon sprang into action. Although based in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps and despite entrenched suspicion and bias against refugees, the group immediately rushed to help their Lebanese neighbors. Erling Lorentzen Sogge tells their story.
The Challenges of a Public Health Approach to COVID-19 Amid Crises in Lebanon
Lebanon’s highly privatized system of health care is presenting challenges to implementing a public health approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the country already suffering from multiple political and economic crises, containment of the coronavirus has been more effective than expected. But serious obstacles to the public’s health and well being remain.
Lebanon’s Thawra
This uprising is demanding justice beyond sectarian, class, religious or cultural divides. In the clarity brought about by the uprising, the regime’s politics of division has been challenged by the uprising’s politics of solidarity.
Urban Interventions for the Wars Yet to Come
In a wide-ranging interview, Hiba Bou Akar shows how urban planning is being used to turn some neighborhoods and urban peripheries in the Middle East into militarized frontier zones between competing political, military and sectarian organizations guided by the dystopian logic of a war yet to come.
Generational Dislocations
Since 2011, violence in Syria has worsened the widespread displacement of people in the Middle East and destroyed several cities. The images of displaced Syrian families fleeing to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon broadcast around the world had a haunting resonance. Archival photographs of Armenian refugee camps in Aleppo from one hundred years ago are today echoed by images of Syrian refugee camps across the southern Turkish border. Bourj Hammoud is widely regarded as Beirut’s Armenian neighborhood, built by survivors of the Armenian genocide of 1915–1919. This densely populated city has seen ethnic cleansing, transnational migration, war and displacement. Sadly, the Syrian crisis is a new chapter. Yet Bourj Hammoud has again become a place where people regroup and reimagine home, advocate for their families and wonder whether they might ever be able to return home.
The Lebanese Elections and Their Consequences
Nine years since the last national parliamentary election, many in the country expected the emerging civil society groups to challenge the tradition sectarian-based parties. Despite the rumblings for change, the status quo prevailed.
