Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pasquini, Elaine

Titel

In Lebanon, One Tragedy After Another

Ist Teil von

• The Washington report on Middle East affairs, 2020-10, Vol.39 (6), p.60-61

Ort / Verlag

Washington: American Educational Trust

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The Gulf International Forum hosted an Aug 12, 2020 online panel to address the situation in Lebanon since the horrific explosion in Beirut's port on Aug 4, which came on the heels of increasing coronavirus cases, an economic meltdown and protests demanding government reform. Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Institute's Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Initiative, stressed the need for international emergency humanitarian aid, as the blast destroyed wheat storage silos in the port, seriously threatening food security in the country. Lebanon was already in serious economic straits, she pointed out. Its national currency has lost 80 percent of its value, unemployment is at least 30 percent and the poverty rate is 50 percent. "The tragedy exacerbates this economic crisis," she said. The failing economy drove protesters into the streets of Beirut last fall calling for government reforms. She further explained that prior to the port tragedy, protesters were focusing primarily on economic reforms; now they are looking at the ruling elites as being corrupt.