Lebanese caught between old and new $100 banknotes

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By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanese money changers refusing to accept older $100 banknotes, known as “white notes,” is causing confusion, particularly after some people were charged an extra $5 fee for exchanging $100 white bills. Dozens of customers flocked to banks to learn more about the news, especially since some of the white $100 notes were issued by banks. A customer told Arab News: “Every Lebanese is keeping a stack of $100 bills in their home for when they need them the most since the banks confiscated our deposits, and no one dares to deposit a single dollar in the bank nowadays.” He added: “I went to my bank to inquire about this new rule adopted by money changers. My daughter told me that one refused to exchange the $100 that she gave him, claiming it was an old edition and he had the right to take $5 as commission if she wanted to exchange it. Who gave them the right to do this? I, my wife and my children all work and we save whatever we make in dollars. Does this mean that our savings have become worthless?” He said: “The bank manager told me that the problem is with money changers, not banks, since they do not have instructions to stop dealing with the old $100 bills; on the contrary, banks are using both the old and new editions. He suggested that I occasionally bring him $200 to $400, in exchange for which he would give me $50 bills until the issue with money changers is resolved.” Over the past few days, the topic of “old, white” $100 and the “new, blue” $100 banknotes has dominated conversation.

Money transfer companies were also said to have refused to deal with the older notes. Some money changers have taken advantage of the ambiguity to impose a $10 fee for exchanging white $100 bills. The confusion was said to said to have been stirred by one of the largest money shipping companies, shut down after it was subject to a judicial investigation into smuggling funds abroad after Oct. 17, 2019 — when the financial crisis hit Lebanon, and in light of which Banque du Liban froze transfers inside and outside Lebanon. Mahmoud Murad, former head of the Syndicate of Money Changers, told Arab News: “This fad has been circulating in the Lebanese financial market for about a week now. We do not know its source, nor who invented it. The problem is that people believe anything in Lebanon.” He added: “People who come to my business to buy dollar bills only accept the blue-colored edition now. We, as money changers, are buying and selling both the old and new editions; nothing has changed.” Murad said: “If the $100 notes are worn-out or torn, we buy them from people but never sell them again. Instead, we give them to shipping companies to return them to the US and replace them with brand-new ones. “But everyone in Lebanon is now a money changer. The Lebanese, the Syrian, the Sri Lankan, the Bengali, the supermarket cashier, the butcher, all engage in exchanging money. Money changers should not be blamed for this.”

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Unvaccinated Lebanese face $165 fine for spreading COVID-19

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by Bassam Zaazaa -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Unvaccinated individuals who spread the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Lebanon could be fined 250,000 Lebanese pounds ($165, or a black-market rate of around $10) under a new law ratified by the country’s parliamentarians on Tuesday. The penalty charge sees an increase on the previous fee of 50,000 Lebanese pounds imposed on people who had not been jabbed but had passed on the virus, the National News Agency reported. However, the updated legislation did not make vaccination against COVID-19 obligatory. Lebanese health officials have been urging the public to get inoculated amid a surge in daily infections with 1,707 new cases and 10 virus-related deaths recorded on Tuesday.

On whether citizens would take notice of the fine, Health Minister Dr. Firas Abiad told Arab News: “Within the economic financial situation in Lebanon, and the poverty level, it will certainly have an impact.” However, Lebanese business manager, Hania Michele, criticized lawmakers for what she described as a “purposeless and meaningless law.” She told Arab News: “It is not my fault if someone contaminates me with COVID-19 which will keep on spreading anyway. I don’t know if they are doing it purposely, to indirectly force the unvaccinated to get vaccinated. “Even those who are vaccinated, they could still get infected and spread the virus. That’s why it’s impractical.” Barber Yousef said less than 40 percent of Lebanon’s population had been vaccinated. “I am unsure if people, who are already bankrupt, would be able to afford paying 250,000 Lebanese pounds. So, why are people not getting vaccinated? “It is not wrong to fine those who spread the virus, but people are broke and don’t have the money to pay for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests,” he said.

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Lebanon's elderly population devastated by crash

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by al-monitor.com -- Andrea Lopez-Tomas -- BEIRUT, Lebanon — Habeeb and Elham Copti used to have a good life. The Lebanese couple remembers the old days when they could eat meat, afford medications and have the lights on — even send presents to their grandchildren. But those times are over. When Habeeb retired, their income stopped and now, both in their 80s, they are facing poverty and uncertainty in Lebanon's economic crisis. "There is no pension from the government when you are old like in most countries. No one is helping us so how are we supposed to pay our bills?” asked Habeeb with tears in his eyes. Lebanon is one of the 16 countries in the world that don't offer social security, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). The Lebanese Republic is home to the highest number of elders in the region: 11% of its population is over the age of 65. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia expects that figure to increase to 23.3% by 2050.

Georgette Abou Suleiman worked all her life as a seamstress. "I had lots of orders. I was good at the job,” said the 74-year-old lady from the darkness of her house in Beirut. But 15 years ago, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and she had to quit. I only survive because people help me,” she added. At 20 years old, Marina el Khawand runs the aid group Medonations, which imports medication and provides it to those in need. "Every time Georgette goes to the pharmacy is a struggle because she is not able to find her medicines,” she told Al-Monitor. Since 2019 Lebanon has been facing one of the world's worst economic crises. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value. There is a lack of electricity, water, food and medicine as it grows ever more difficult to import goods into the country.

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President Michel Sleiman letter to President Macron in August 2020

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Excellence,

​Former un nouveau gouvernement, approuver la tenue d’élections parlementaires anticipées, adopter une nouvelle loi électorale, et élire le président de la République en les délais prévus constituent des échéances constitutionnelles inéluctables et nécessaires, mais ne sont pas suffisantes en elles-mêmes pour le redressement du Liban, si une rectification de la politique générale du pays n’est adoptée. Laquelle ne se fera que par le biais del'approbation de la neutralité du pays et l’adoption de la stratégie de défense, ainsi que le contrôle des frontières avec la Syrie, la rectification de la politique étrangère et le regain de saines relations internationales. ​Ces étapes majeures doivent précéder les réformes souhaitées. Force est-il de constater que la désassociation ou la neutralité du Liban institue la porte d’entrée fondamentale pour parachever la mise en œuvre des dispositions encore inapplicables de la Constitution, réformer l'administration et lutter contre la corruption. Cela rétablirait la confiance enl'Etat libanais des pays amis et de la communauté internationale, tout comme des Libanais, tant résidantau pays qu’expatriés, et des investisseurs. Ce qui conduirait sans le moindre doute à tirer profit des résolutions du « Groupe International de Soutien au Liban (GSI) » et des décisions de la conférence « CEDRE ».

Lebanese scientist honored by Italy for environmental work

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By Francesco BONGARRÀ -- arabnews.com -- ROME: A Lebanese scientist who specializes in the preservation of his country’s environment has been honored with a knighthood by the Italian Republic. Nizar Hani, the general manager of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, the largest of Lebanon’s nature reserves, was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy by Italian Ambassador to Beirut Nicoletta Bombardiere during a ceremony at the ambassador’s residence in Naccache on Friday. This distinction, Italy’s second-highest civilian honor, is given by order of the Italian president to Italians or foreigners who have acquired special merit in the promotion of friendly relations and cooperation between the republic and other countries. The Shouf Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-recognized site that is blanketed with oak and juniper forests, stretches from Dahr Al-Baidar in the north to the mountains of Niha in the south. The reserve’s most famous attractions are its three magnificent cedar forests of Maasser Al-Shouf, Barouk and Ain Zhalta-Bmohary, which account for a quarter of the remaining cedar forests in Lebanon. Some of its trees are estimated to be 2,000 years old.

A popular destination for hiking and trekking, as well as bird-watching, mountain biking and snowshoeing, the reserve’s large size makes it a good location for the conservation of medium-sized mammals, such as the wolf and Lebanese jungle cat, as well as various species of plant. “By decorating Nizar Hany, we decorate the Shouf Biosphere Reserve and all those who have contributed to this success story,” said Bombardiere. “Today, the Shouf reserve is a living laboratory of integrated strategies that respond to the ultimate goal of protecting and promoting the territory, taking care of its fragility and exploiting at the same time its natural strengths and resilience, and engaging the local communities, whose involvement is critical for any lasting achievement. “With this decoration, Italy intends to encourage political leaders and civil society in Lebanon to raise their engagement in the environmental issues in the country as a matter of priority and to increase their joint efforts to reduce the environmental impact, in fields like solid waste, water treatment, air quality and energy production,” she added.

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Lebanon’s Reformers Trade the Street for the Ballot Box

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By Tessa Fox -- foreignpolicy.com -- For months, protesters in Lebanon remained on the streets after the spark of the uprising in October 2019, when tens of thousands came together to demonstrate against corruption and an economic downturn and call for accountability and social rights. Now, they have focused their energy not on barricades but on ballot boxes, hoping to at last topple Lebanon’s entrenched political elite in next year’s election. They face some big obstacles, starting with a corrupt, sectarian power-sharing system allergic to reform. They’re also up against a sub-state militia which all but controls the levers of power in Lebanon. Even so, a new generation of political activists is hoping to leverage the increase in political engagement in Lebanon over the last two years into a more democratic state. Formed during the 2019 uprising and bolstered after last summer’s explosion in the port of Beirut, Minteshreen is the largest of the new activist groups to emerge in Lebanon. The party’s name has two meanings in Arabic: “from October” and literally “spread out,” or coming from everywhere and different backgrounds, a nod to its determination to break down divisions that the political elite in Lebanon have instilled.

Mia Atoui, 34, is a clinical psychologist who co-founded the mental heath organization Embrace and established Lebanon’s only suicide prevention hotline. She joined Minteshreen after months on the street throughout the uprising. The turning point for Minteshreen came in the wake of the August 2020 Beirut explosion, when its protesters were attacked and shot at by police and security forces, galvanizing the group’s transformation into the liberal, progressive party that it is today. “We realized that the political class and the people in power are ready to do anything so that they stay in power,” said Atoui, who is running for parliamentary election, representing Minteshreen, in a Beirut district next March. But even if she and other new independent candidates win their elections, that won’t bring immediate change. The biggest problem is that Lebanon isn’t entirely a sovereign state. Real reform can’t advance as long as foreign interference in the country, particularly Iranian support for the terror and political group Hezbollah, is a constant. After the end of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005, Hezbollah has only increased its grip on the state.

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