Source: Washington Post
Security & Justice
Lebanon Security Official Says Israeli Strike Hits Beirut
A Lebanese official told AFP that an Israeli air strike hit central Beirut on Monday, as Israel prepared to decide whether to accept a proposed ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Israeli Army Reaches Litani River for First Time Since 2000
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that its 91st Division has reached the Litani River in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, marking the first time since Israel's withdrawal from the region in 2000.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Opinion
Iran Won't Loosen Its Grip on Lebanon Anytime Soon and That Could Backfire
Last week, US ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson handed a ceasefire proposal to the country’s Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, to bring the fighting in the country to an end. Mr Berri is the main Lebanese interlocutor with Hezbollah. A day later, an Iranian special envoy, Ali Larijani, arrived in Beirut to discuss the Lebanese response to the draft ceasefire proposal. This sequence of events revealed a great deal.
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Lebanon’s Day After: Will the Country Survive the War With Israel?
On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to rise up against Hezbollah, giving them a stark choice: “Stand up and take your country,” he said, “before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Sports
YouTuber Jake Paul Beats Mike Tyson as Boos Heard During Controversial Fight
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has defeated one of the greatest-ever fighters, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, who is more than twice his age.
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Two Reasons Florentino Perez's Son Is Advising Real Madrid to Sell Vinicius Jr
Vinicius Junior's future at Real Madrid appears to be up in the air with club president Florentino Perez's son pushing for the Brazilian to be sold.
Friday, November 15, 2024
Thursday 1 September 2022 15:09:19
Massive Hike in Cell Service Fees Cuts off Lebanon’s Poor from the World
Shopping for grapes at Beirut’s wholesale market to resell from her produce cart, an exhausted Rawaa Ghosn described how another layer of her increasingly tenuous life was peeled away after she had to give up the use of her mobile phone in the face of skyrocketing rates.
It’s just one more symptom of Lebanon’s unfolding economic crisis that the United Nations said last year had plunged 82 percent of the country into poverty. Amid some of the worst inflation in the world, the value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted by 90 percent.
When the Ministry of Telecommunications decided on July 1 to bring fees in line with the rising cost of operations, the price of mobile phone service quintupled while internet broadband fees more than doubled.
The caretaker minister of telecommunications, Johnny Corm, defended the spike, saying it is necessary to keep the sector afloat amid the country’s economic collapse. But it also meant that the rest of the population, whose real wages have nosedived with the currency, can’t afford their phones, which are used for a variety of essential tasks, including accessing the internet, checking when electricity is available and ordering from the pharmacy or grocery store.
Of course, phone use also depends on whether there is even service. Last week, employees at the country’s two mobile phone companies, Touch and Alfa, went on strike over wages. On Wednesday, they were joined by employees of the main telecommunications provider, Ogero. The result has been disruptions in internet and cellular communications across the country, even completely shutting it down in some places.
Local media outlets reported Thursday that Corm had threatened to send the army into the service centers where employees are holding sit-ins if work didn’t restart.
In late 2019, Lebanon’s economy was crippled. As the currency crumbled, inflation on food reached 332 percent, the highest in the world over the summer, according to an August report from the World Bank.
The high prices for phone use also mean many lower-income families can’t reach the aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations that could help them. Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian aid organization, said it received 70 percent fewer calls and requests on its hotline in July than in previous months.
Elie Yaacoub, an analyst on a Mercy Corps team that compiled a report on the crisis, said other humanitarian organizations have reported a similar drop in calls. He added they are all trying to set up a free hotline, but that decision requires a judicial order — and judges in Lebanon are on strike.
Embrace, Lebanon’s main suicide prevention hotline, has had an increased number of callers asking operators to call them back because receiving calls is free, said Mia Atwi, the group’s president and co-founder.
Those relying on mobile data for their jobs are also drastically affected. Omar al-Aridi, a driver in a ride-sharing application, said the cost of the data package he needs for work ballooned sixfold under the new rates.
“We are paying a lot, and the product is very small,” he said. His employer does not cover data expenses, leaving him to pay them on his own.
Before the crisis, the telecommunications sector was a major source of revenue for the Lebanese state, and its history is plagued by accusations of corruption and lack of transparency.
In an April report, the country’s Court of Audit revealed that between 2010 and 2020, Lebanon’s telecom sector registered $6 billion in expenses for the telecom firms, Touch and Alfa, which the audit characterized as excessively high compared with similar markets.
“Expenses for what? Who spent what? Who did they get permission from?” said Mohamad Najem, executive director of SMEX, an organization that works on advancing digital rights in Lebanon and the Arab region. SMEX is asking for a forensic audit to be conducted.
“We want to know exactly not just how this money was spent, on what basis it was spent, why it was spent, who they got permission from, whether this was the best decision, who took this decision, etc.,” he said.
As internet service, described by the United Nations as a human right, is priced out of reach for many, there are fears for the future. The younger generation in particular is struggling to find affordable internet to do schoolwork and university projects.
“I’m just hoping I will be able to afford it,” said Karen Jamal, a 20-year-old graphic design student who is already working several jobs to pay for her studies.
“Some programs that I use need internet to work; that is gonna be a bit difficult,” she added. “I’m starting to sit in some cafes and Starbucks and such just to use the WiFi.”
Ghosn, the cart seller, who has witnessed much of Lebanon’s turbulent modern history in her life, had hoped the new generation would not have to deal with such a crisis.
“They made us live through wars, and now they killed our children with the economy. What else is there? Death is so much easier than this life,” she said.
