Robin Jones
Al-Jumhuriya
Beirut, Lebanon
It is normal to defend the Lebanese labour force against any other foreign labour, whether it be Syrian, Palestinian, French, Saudi, Iranian or American, the Lebanese come first!
These are the translated words from a Trumpian tweet last month by Gebran Bassil, the Lebanese foreign minister. In an evening Arabic media class that I am taking here in Beirut, we read an article about this tweet in the context of the recent upsurge in racism against Syrians in Lebanon.
The tweet’s premise, of course, is absurd. The number of French, Saudi, Iranian, and American foreign workers in Lebanon is minimal, and the situation of Western “expatriates” here is in no way comparable to that of Syrian or Palestinian refugees. The tweet is an example of the anti-Syrian sentiment that has intensified in recent weeks, manifested mostly in vigilante attacks on businesses employing Syrians and a crackdown by the Ministry of Labour on Syrian workers.
Anti-Syrian sentiments in Lebanon are buttressed by the increasingly prevalent notion that the war in Syria is essentially over. The logic goes, therefore, that it is time for Syrians to return home. Multiple Lebanese political actors are promoting Syrian return on an allegedly voluntary basis, and some Syrians in Lebanon have in fact returned to Syria or attempted to do so. Yet the war rages on in multiple areas of Syria, such as Idlib and Daraa. Even for Syrians from areas where fighting is now minimal, the lack of basic security for returnees (not to mention the substantive political transition) leave them exposed to surveillance, conscription, arrest, and state violence.
This is the political context in which my internship in Beirut with al-Jumhuriya, a Syrian online media platform, takes place. Currently, I am assisting a journalist with research for an upcoming feature article on interactions between Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees.
When I discussed this article with the team, I was informed that we were seeking to capture the complexities and emotional nuances of these intercommunal relations, not merely to tell a story of heroes and villains, or to paint Syrians as passive victims. Daily interactions between Syrians and Lebanese in shops, workplaces, schools, and public spaces are shaped by a spectrum of factors and emotions, from compassion to economic competition to subtle prejudice to outright racism. These micro-level relationships are shaped by a discriminatory legal framework and by frequent demagogic appeals by major politicians.
In preparation for the article, we recently conducted a site visit where we began making contacts with Lebanese shop owners whose stores are sponsored by a program that offers food credits for Syrian refugees. We will continue with research and interviews for the article over the next two weeks. It will be published on al-Jumhuriya’s English and Arabic platforms toward the end of August.