Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon – On April 9, the night before Eid al-Fitr celebrations began in Lebanon, Syrian refugee Hussein returned home to find his front door smashed.
A day earlier, the Lebanese army announced the kidnapping and murder of Pascal Sleiman, a local official of the influential Christian political party, the Lebanese Armed Forces. Authorities clearly identified the suspects as Syrians.
While the leadership of the Lebanese armed forces raised the possibility of a political assassination, vigilante groups directed their anger at Syrian refugees. The resulting mob violence quickly reached Hussein’s doorstep in the Christian-dominated East Beirut neighborhood of Geitawi.
“Some guys had broken down the door and messed up my things,” Hussein recalled. “I interpreted it as them saying, ‘We’re here.'”
Hussein’s neighbor defended him when his house was attacked, telling him that he had confronted four young men and sent them away before they caused more chaos. Although he is grateful for his neighbor’s loyalty, Hussein, who has lived in Geitawi for ten years, no longer sees the area the same way.
“I find it difficult to accept that everyone around me is potentially an enemy.”
Tensions against the Syrians had already been rising weeks before Sleiman’s murder.
Since March, a nationwide advertising campaign has called on the international community to “undo the damage” caused by the continued presence of displaced Syrians in Lebanon. Widespread crimes such as the recent murder of an elderly East Beirut resident – committed by Syrian burglars, according to local media reports – further fueled public anger against Syrian refugees. And there have been many reports of mob violence against Syrians, particularly in predominantly Christian areas.
Anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon goes back a long way.
Some still revile Damascus’ military intervention in the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) and the subsequent occupation of Lebanon until 2005 – sometimes unable or unwilling to distinguish between the former regime and the current refugees.
In October 2019, as Lebanon’s unprecedented economic crisis erupted, more and more Lebanese – often following the example of their political leaders – began to blame the burden of hosting more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees for the country’s financial collapse.
Following Sleiman’s assassination, prominent Lebanese across all religious denominations were quick to condemn the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Bassam Mawlawi, the acting interior minister, called for fewer Syrians in Lebanon, while Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar said any Lebanese who calls all Syrians refugees is a “criminal conspirator” against the state.
In early April, acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said nothing united the Lebanese more than the “issue of displaced Syrians.” He also said that most refugees would be repatriated once the international community recognized “safe zones” for them in Syria, despite the ongoing war in Syria and the persistence of a regime from which millions of Syrians have fled.
Once unleashed, political incitement can prove difficult to contain. “When [political parties] “When they use political violence, their supporters translate it into physical violence,” Hussein noted.
For now, this latest bout of anti-Syrian violence appears to have subsided, as has happened after similar waves in the past. However, the risk of even larger clashes remains.
“Violence and deportations have primarily affected the working class, but more middle-class young people have also been targeted. “That’s what makes this moment so dangerous: the spread of lawless violence will affect everyone,” said Alex Simon, Synaps’ research director. a Beirut-based research organization.
It doesn’t help that the Lebanese security forces, which would have to quell such a violent conflict, are underfunded and overstretched during the economic crisis.