Africans in Lebanon: Students and Maids

The BBC story below highlights the fact that African students live and learn in Lebanon's many reputed universities. What it doesn't say, however, is that there are many more African maids in Lebanese households than there are African students in Lebanese campuses.

The status of maids in Lebanon, African or otherwise but always from poor rural backgrounds in third world countries, has improved in recent years, not out of compassion by the many snotty, racist and barbarian Lebanese who have historically abused their household helpers, but because the collapse of Lebanon since 2017 has shrunken the pool of available foreign maids. 

The Lebanese, like Arabs of the Gulf, have maids because they are lazy and can afford the $200-400 a month they beggar from their expatriate relatives overseas. If the Lebanese were normal people, they would not need a maid. Normal average people (excluding older people or disabled people...) in normal countries of the first world consider having a live-in maid a highly unusual, somewhat unethical thing that is reserved for the ultra-rich living in castles. Right? Normal average people all around the world do their own household chores, cook their own food, walk their own dog, etc... But not the pathetic me-too-west-imitation  monkey Lebanese who learned the "maid" business from their many expats in the filthy Arab Gulf where showoff, superficiality, ostentation... are highly prized.

To the average Lebanese household, having a maid is an ostentatious display of "arrivisme" (I have made it. I am rich. I am not a lowly person who has to do his/her own household chores. I have people who do the menial chores for me, etc...). When, in fact, the "mister" of the maid is, in his own country of Lebanon, not that far higher on the social status than his/her maid. I've seen relatively poor households living in remote villages having a maid. The "mister" or "madam" probably drives a huge SUV that can barely navigate Lebanon's sinewy mountain roads. The environment and the other drivers? Fuck them. The mister-madam's car plate probably has 4 digits. Social status - fake or real - in Lebanon can be projected onto one's car plate number: Low class: 6 numbers. Middle class: 5 numbers. Upper middle class: 4 numbers. Upper class, elite, corrupt politicians, MPs, bishops and mullahs, etc.: 3 numbers and above.

By the way, when you "buy" the maid from the agency, they give you her "uniform" with her: a pink or blue outfit with white crochet-like frilly edges. So do not be suprised as you take your evening stroll to see an African, a Nepalese, or a Sri Lankan maid walking the mister's dog, especially around the "fine" neighborhoods of Beirut or other snotty mountain towns. The mister or madame do not have time to walk their own friggin' dog.

I digressed. But I was pleased to know that there are students from Africa who are studying in Lebanon. Too bad the country could not provide them with the stability they need to complete their studies. It hasn't even provided it to its own people for 5 or 6 decades.

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Africans in Lebanon: ‘Everyone is nervous on campus’
Priyanka Sippy - BBC News
Tue, October 1, 2024



Sharon Atyang from Uganda is in the final year of her master's degree in Beirut [Sharon Atyang ]

Farai Makamba, a 27-year-old student from Zimbabwe, used to keep his university books on his desk at home in Beirut.

Now they’ve been replaced by his passport, travel documents and cash.

“I have a plan for myself in case I need to leave urgently,” he says.

Mr Makamba, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, returned to Lebanon in September to finish the final year of his master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

He spent the summer holiday at home in Harare.

He came back with the hope that the conflict would de-escalate. But since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year, there has been near-daily cross-border fire between Israel and Hamas’s ally Hezbollah, the Iran-backed military group which is based in Lebanon.

This last week has seen the deadliest days of conflict in Lebanon in almost 20 years.

As many as one million people have been forced from their homes across Lebanon, the country's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has said.

Israel’s military says it is carrying out a wave of “extensive” strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area, aiming to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure. The group's leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on Friday.

The week before last, 39 people were killed and thousands wounded when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded across the country. Hezbollah blamed Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind the attack.

The US, UK, Australia, France, Canada and India have all issued official advice for their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.

African students have told BBC News they now face a dilemma - whether to remain in Lebanon as Israel continues to attack or return home to countries such as Uganda, Zimbabwe and Cameroon.

At the American University of Beirut (AUB), where Mr Makamba is studying, there are around 90 African students on a scholarship programme.

Mr Makamba says there has been a “huge jump in fear” among students, especially since the pager and walkie-talkie explosions.

“We don’t know who is carrying a ticking time bomb in their pockets,” he says.

“Is it your taxi driver? Is it your Uber driver? Is it the person you are walking next to?”

Mr Makamba's days used to be filled with classes and seeing friends. Now he says he only leaves the house to go to shop for essentials and the tension is palpable.

He recently stocked up on staples such as bread, pasta and bottled water in case of shortages.

The campus is closed and several of his classes have been moved online.

“Everyone is nervous. Even the way we communicate is different,” he says.

“When we finish class, our professor now says: 'Have a good day and stay safe.' We say the same thing because we know what is happening in the country.”

“No-one is safe.”

Public schools have also closed and the ministry of education says they are being used to accommodate people who have fled their homes because of the Israeli airstrikes in the south of the country.

"I don’t know if I travel home that they would bring me back here if the situation stabilises"", Source: Sharon Atyang, Source description: Master's student in Beirut, Image: Sharon Atyang

The scholarship programme funding African students at AUB has given international students the option to go home and finish their course online.

But some say that will not be possible.

Sharon Atyang, a 27-year-old student from northern Uganda, is currently completing her master’s in community development at AUB.

She says electricity and internet issues at home will make it almost impossible to complete her studies online.

“I am also on a scholarship, and I don’t know if I travel home that they would bring me back here if the situation stabilises,” she says.

Adele Pascaline from Cameroon, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, also says completing her undergraduate radiology degree back home will be almost impossible.

“I cannot do my clinical rotations back home, but I need to complete them as part of my degree,” she says.

Nevertheless, the continuing attacks have meant she now has a return ticket.

The Mastercard Scholarship Program finances dozens of African students in Lebanon.

Mastercard Foundation said it is closely monitoring developments and working with AUB to support students.

Its spokesperson said: “AUB is regularly communicating with the students and has offered support for their health and well-being.

"The academic curriculum remains flexible and necessary accommodations have been made to account for the current disruptions and to ensure academic continuity for the enrolled students. International students who wish to return home are supported to do so.”

While it is still possible to leave Beirut via the international airport, tickets are difficult to get hold of. Several airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air France and Lufthansa have suspended their flights to and from the city.

Ms Atyang says that from her bedroom in Beirut, she can hear the sounds of the sonic booms caused by Israeli fighter jets flying low over the city.

“I was in a reading room and when I heard the sound barrier breaking, I just ran. But I had nowhere to run. I found myself hiding in the toilet,” she says.

The stress of waiting for another attack has left her “emotionally and mentally unstable – [unable] to do anything”.

She said many students have asked their professors to extend deadlines for assignments.

Between trying to study and write her thesis, Ms Atyang is also answering frantic calls from her family in Uganda.

“They are demanding that I go back home, they are telling me I need to prioritise my life over academics.”

Some African governments have begun evacuations.

The Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs in Kenya, Roseline Njogu, confirmed that nine Kenyans had arrived back in the country in August.

She urged other Kenyans who wished to leave to register for evacuation with the embassy. There are an estimated 26,000 Kenyans currently in Lebanon.

Last month, the former spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nebiyu Tedla, told the BBC they were monitoring the situation closely and were “preparing plans to evacuate if necessary”.

He added that there were an estimated 150,000 Ethiopians in Lebanon, the vast majority domestic workers.

Some of these workers face additional challenges as they work under Lebanon’s strict kafala system, which means they must ask permission from their employers to leave.

For students like Mr Makamba and Ms Atyang, getting out of Lebanon might be easier to organise. But they are held back because of their desperation to finish their studies.

Both say they will make a decision in the next few days.

Ms Atyang says it is particularly hard for African students.

“You are on your own, and you have to take care of yourself,” she says.

Israel Invades Lebanon for the Umpteenth Time

Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries.

The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah — including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah — and seeks to step up the pressure on the group, which began firing rockets into northern Israel after the start of the war in Gaza. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement that it began “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

“These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” it said.

There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent months. Israel has said it will continue to strike the group until it is safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their homes.

Ahead of the Israeli announcement, United States officials said Israel launched small ground raids inside Lebanon, and Israel declared three small border communities to be a “closed military zone,” restricting access only to army personnel.

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants. But throughout the evening, Israeli artillery units pounded targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut.

Smoke rose from the capital’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.

Israel launches risky phase of fighting

Israel has been emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its archenemy. But a ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting. It also threatens to unleash further devastation on Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed in recent Israeli strikes and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate.

Both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown. While Hezbollah has built up a formidable arsenal, Israel has invested great sums into training and intelligence gathering.

Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group's upper echelons.

Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after its recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced.

The man widely expected to take over the top post from Kassem is Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs.

Israel shifts attention from Gaza to Lebanon

Israeli strikes in recent weeks have hit what the military says are thousands of militant targets across large parts of Lebanon. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry.

Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants, as Israel appeared to send a message that no part of Lebanon is out of bounds.

Israel declared war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since then, coming close to a full-fledged war on several occasions but stepping back from the brink.

In recent weeks, Israel’s war against against Hamas has scaled back and it turned its focus northward toward Lebanon, stepping up the attacks on Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders say they want Hezbollah to implement the U.S. resolution that ended the 2006 war, which required the group to withdraw some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Israeli border.

Key setbacks for Hezbollah

Hezbollah has suffered key setbacks in recent weeks. Before Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies blamed on Israel killed or wounded hundreds of people, many of them Hezbollah members. And Israeli airstrikes have killed most of the group’s senior commanders.

But Hezbollah continued to launch rockets and missiles into Israel and is still believed to have thousands of fighters near the Israeli border.

Israeli leaders for years have accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border villages. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon in recent weeks fearing an Israeli military onslaught.

Hezbollah has few air defenses, giving the Israeli air force freedom of action over Lebanon’s skies. But a ground operation will be much more challenging, with Hezbollah forces embedded and hiding in local communities and familiar with the local terrain.

Still, Hezbollah’s capabilities are unclear. It’s possible Hezbollah is holding back to save resources for a bigger battle. But the militant group might also be in disarray after Israeli intelligence apparently penetrated its highest levels.

Some European countries began pulling their diplomats and citizens out of Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate diplomats’ relatives and others. Bulgaria sent a government jet to get the first group of its citizens out.

Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It briefly invaded in 1978 in a strike against Palestinian militants. It invaded again in 1982 in an operation that turned into an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

The stepped-up action against Hezbollah also could raise the risk of a broader region-wide war as Israel confronts a series of foes backed by archenemy Iran.

Israel carried out an airstrike in Yemen against the Houthi militia in response to a series of missile strikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also threatened Iran, warning the Tehran government that Israel is capable of striking anywhere in the Middle East.

The United States and its allies — including France, which has close ties to Lebanon — have called for a cease-fire, hoping to avoid further escalation that could draw in Iran and set off a wider war. But Netanyahu has shown little interest, as his country racks up military achievements against a longtime foe.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Beirut on Monday, urged Israel to refrain from a ground offensive. He also called on Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying the group “bears heavy responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to enter the conflict.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking after meeting with Barrot, said the country is committed to an immediate cease-fire followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in keeping with a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war but was never fully implemented.

Why Did Israel (and the US) Wait 30 Years to Decapitate Hezbollah?

Why have Israel and the US decided to decapitate Hezbollah at this time, 40 years after the birth of the organization? It could have been done long long time ago. 

During those 40 years, Hezbollah has slowly and "safely" augmented its capabilities, mutated from an organization into a political party, moved from the fringes of political power into the very center, stashed hundreds of thousands of missiles and other weapons, built deep tunnels in the hard calcareous rocks of the Lebanese mountains (in contrast to the sandy soils of Gaza), assassinated Lebanese political leaders, dissidents, journalists, Christian clergymen, bombed US and French embassies and US and French Marines headquarters, developed a Captagon manufacturing capability with which to finance its activities, hijacked the Lebanese state and led the country to its financial and political downfall (for the second time in less than 10 years, Hezbollah has scuttled the normal election of a president, thus paralyzing the institutions), and essentially let its own outlaw mega-operation infect the country with corruption and crime. All of which under the benevolent watch of the United States which subcontracted the management of the downfall of Lebanon to Hezbollah's contiguous ally and benefactor, the Syrian regime that occupied Lebanon during all those years with the Americans applauding Assad's army of occupation for being a "factor of stability", and Hezbollah's breastfeeding mother in more distant Iran in serious negotiations over a nuclear deal with the West. Lebanon was the hostage to this machiavellian deal with the devil.

Back in 1982, when Hezbollah was born out of the Iranian womb of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, the US Marines were in Beirut along with a contingent of French, Italian and British forces, supported by a Lebanese population that had tired of the war with the Palestinians, favorable Lebanese Army and Christian militias, as well as the Israeli military that had invaded Lebanon. All of the winds were blowing in favor of a permanent stabilization of Lebanon  and the recovery of its sovereignty, except those from perfidious Syria, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others who did not want to see Lebanon exit the war crucible in which they had shoved it to fight, alone, their enemy Israel. 

The answer to why the West ran away from Beirut in 1983 after Hezbollah's first terrorist bombings of western targets in Lebanon and abandoned it to the Iranians and the then-hostile Arabs is a mystery, unless one invokes mysterious plots with long-term strategies that, apparently, have matured now in 2024 with the terror Israel - and behind it its Western and now-Arab allies - are inflicting on Lebanon as we write these lines.

Despite its geographic and demographic complexity, Lebanon is a very small country. All the armies present on Lebanese soil in the early 1980s could have easily empowered the legal armed forces of the country and backed them to impose the sovereignty of the state on a post-1982 defeated Palestinian armed revolution, exhausted militias, and a barely nascent Hezbollah terror organization.

But the West did not. It decided to exit the country and abandon it to Syria and Iran. Why?

Could it be that, just as it did in Palestine, Israel encouraged the creation of Hamas to divide the Palestinians who were the winners of international recognition in the 1990s? Only to use Hamas later as a pretext for Israel, now armed with October 7, to intervene? How could the ever-on-alert Israeli security along the Gaza border be so lax back in October 2023 that Hamas operatives were commuting back and forth across the border and carrying out their massacres and rapes and hauling hostages into Gaza? Israel, under Netanyahu, might have opened a window for all these events to occur in order to achieve the ultimate objective of cleansing Gaza of its human animals and annexing the territory.

Imagine that Ariel Sharon in 2005 was violating the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque at the same time that he was "forcibly" withdrawing the Jewish settlers from then-occupied Gaza. Why did Sharon leave Gaza in 2005? Not out respect for Palestinian sovereignty!

So, assuming a long-term Israeli strategy to empower Hezbollah in order to use it decades later as a pretext, to what purpose was this plan-plot-scheme drawn up? If Israel can decapitate, invade, and do anything it wants, why does it wait so long before "defending itself"?

Thus, one may ask the same questions raised by Gaza about the Lebanese south which seems to have been nurtured by willful or indifferent western policies into becoming a pretext that has matured now for Israel to harvest. Really, 10 Km north of the border behind the Litani would protect Israel from Hezbollah's 150-km range missiles?

Why did ISrael literally hand the south of the country to Hezbollah when it withdrew in 2000? Why is it invading again to fix a problem it itself first created?

The answer is that Zionists do really have well-funded well-thought through long term plans. That is how they began planning the takeover of Palestine about a century earlier, then its sequels in 1967 and now in 2024. Some time later in this century, the Zionists would have been at work for two centuries to implement barbaric religious rituals and prophecies from humanity's primitive past.

My gut feeling is that between Hamas and Hezbollah which they helped create and nurtured, the colonial expansionist Zionists now have the perfect pretexts to gobble up more land around them: Gaza and West Bank in Palestine, and the Lebanese south in Lebanon with its wealth in water and offshore gas platforms, not to mention bussing thousands of rabid fanatic Jews to settle the new expanding Yahweh-willed Eretz Israel.  

I am beginning to fall for the consipracy theories of Israel's enemies, for I have no other explanations for the virulence of the Zionist discourse, for the outlaw violence of its warfare, or for always needing "pretext" enemies (like the US).