BEIRUT: With Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of daytime fasting, coinciding this year with the latter half of Lent, the Christian season of personal sacrifice leading up to Easter, the Lebanese people face additional challenges during this time but remain hopeful of better days ahead.
For Muslims, obtaining essential food supplies required for iftar, the evening meal with which they break their fast each evening during Ramadan, places additional burdens on many families already facing hardship as a result of the long-running economic crisis in the country, during which the currency has lost about 95 percent of its value.
More recently the fear of an escalation of Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon, and the effect it is having on local agriculture, has added another dimension to the crisis.
Fattoush salad, an iftar staple, now costs the equivalent of about $10, as do basic meat dishes, as a result of a lack of official regulation of prices. The cost of a lettuce is more than 130,000 Lebanese pounds ($1.46), packs of other greens are 80,000 pounds and 1 kilogram of onions costs 160,000 pounds.
Vendors say demand is high but supply is low, in part because it is difficult for farmers to work their fields in the south of the country because of cross-border fighting.
“Everything is now priced in US dollars,” said Fatima Al-Masri as she shopped for produce at a vegetable market in Tarik Al-Jadidah, Beirut.
“What about those who are paid in Lebanese pounds? On normal days, our salaries are entirely spent on the first week of the month, let alone during Ramadan.
“Without receiving food boxes containing essential items, such as rice, sugar, oil and cereal, from benevolent people, we wouldn’t have been able to diversify our iftar meals amid the austerity.”
Ibrahim Tarchichi, head of the Bekaa Farmers Association, said cold weather and frost have affected crop yields in Bekaa Valley, pushing up the cost of farm produce. Prices are expected to drop as warmer weather arrives, he added.
“Additionally, there is a high demand for vegetables from both Christians, who depend on them for their fasting, and Muslims, who consider them key ingredients for their iftar meals,” Tarchichi said.
The economic crisis has forced many Lebanese to change their fasting habits during Ramadan in the past few years, especially those who were used to enjoying sweets, juices and pastries at iftar.
Aida, a 50-year-old mother of four young men, said the average cost of a Ramadan meal for her family of six is more than $30, or about 2.7 million Lebanese pounds.
The financial challenges have not only affected meal tables during Ramadan but also the traditional festive decorations that normally brighten up neighborhood streets during the holy month. They have been replaced by posters urging people to fulfill their charitable obligations during Ramadan through donations to help orphans, the sick and other needy people.
The Beirut Bkheir Association, for example, donates money to some mosques in Beirut to help facilitate Taraweeh prayers, a special evening prayer during Ramadan, in cooperation with Dar Al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni religious authority, and its affiliated institutions.
Beirut, like many coastal towns and cities in Beirut, bustles with shoppers during the day and cafes remain open until dawn during Ramadan. This contrasts sharply with the situation in southern border regions affected by the current conflict, however, where population centers have become ghost towns.
In addition to the effects of the political and financial crisis, Beirut is also still coming to terms with the devastating effects of the massive explosion at the city’s port on Aug. 4, 2020. In an attempt to revitalize the city, efforts are being made to attract and entertain people, from the breaking of the fast at iftar until late into the night.
Carts filled with dates, nuts and sweets line illuminated streets bustling with people walking around, chatting in cafes or listening to traditional Ramadan music. Again, an aspect of the festivities involves encouraging people to help others
Zeina Seif from the charitable Ajialouna organization said she sees these efforts during Ramadan as daily opportunities to help people who need medical treatment, provide assistance to the elderly, or empower women.
“Our concern is to help people and revitalize Beirut’s struggling downtown area,” she said. “The situation in the south is difficult and scary but we have relied on God and decided to take the step, and we are working based on Islamic ethics.”
A Ramadan village has been established in Beirut’s city center to bring a spirit of tranquility to the streets. A few hundred yards away, a Ramadan square was set up at the Forum De Beyrouth, which faces the port and was destroyed by the 2020 explosion. Now it has become a gathering point for artists and craftspeople to exhibit their work, a place for Ramadan celebrations, and a food market.
Still, for many people Ramadan is a challenging time as they struggle to make ends meet. When Ramadan began, commentators in traditional and social media urged people who can afford more extravagant iftars and celebrations to refrain from posting pictures of them online, out of respect for those who are hungry, especially Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile tourism experts said that the Israeli escalation of its military operations at the start of Ramadan, targeting areas deep inside Lebanon, has caused many tourists to cancel planned trips to Lebanon during the holy month and Eid holidays.
Jean Abboud, head of the Association of Travel and Tourist Agents in Lebanon, said the sector is “waiting for a ceasefire on the southern border. If security stabilizes, the tourist movement will be better.”
Despite the challenges Beirut comes alive during Ramadan as Lebanese pray for peace
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Despite the challenges Beirut comes alive during Ramadan as Lebanese pray for peace
- Obtaining food for iftar, the daily fast-breaking meal during the holy month, places additional burdens on families already suffering due to the economic crisis in the country
- The fear of escalation of Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon, and the effect it is having on local agriculture, adds another dimension to the crisis
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
