In 2013—during the conflict that displaced millions of Syrian people, around a million of whom sought refuge in Lebanon—Manal Kahi left Beirut for NYC to attend graduate school. She planned to work in multilateral or environmental affairs, but her concern about the crisis back home and her dissatisfaction with grocery store hummus (clearly two very different issues) started her on a different journey. “You can …
Non-profit Impact Lebanon has suspended its regular fundraising to focus on a crowdfunding initiative to raise £5,000,000 in disaster relief for Beirut in the wake of yesterday’s catastrophic explosion. Dealing with an economic crisis, rolling blackouts and the global pandemic, Lebanese people were already facing immense hardship. With reports of deaths and injuries from the explosion increasing, some 300,000 residents in the city have also …
Before the pandemic arrived in Lebanon, Beirut’s nightlife pulsed with global renown. Then came the government-mandated lockdowns. Like in other cities, Lebanon’s hospitality industry took a major hit as non-essential businesses were shuttered. But the absence of state-sponsored assistance for those left jobless would be more glaring, further straining an already dire economic situation prior to the pandemic. It is estimated that 25,000 workers in …
