Fresh Graduates: Lebanon’s New Poor

A couple, who said they are leaving Lebanon for good, push their luggage at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport March 28, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A couple, who said they are leaving Lebanon for good, push their luggage at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport March 28, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Fresh Graduates: Lebanon’s New Poor

A couple, who said they are leaving Lebanon for good, push their luggage at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport March 28, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A couple, who said they are leaving Lebanon for good, push their luggage at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport March 28, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Engineers, lawyers, school teachers and holders of university degrees, whose parents have paid a fortune for their education, are now facing unemployment.

Available unemployment figures are frightening, while the real numbers are much greater than the declared data.

The latest of these figures indicates that about 36 percent of workers in the private sector have lost their salaries, and it is expected that the number of unemployed will exceed 500,000 due to the worsening financial crisis, which has been further exacerbated by the lockdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Farouk, an activist in a charity group, says that the classification of the poor has changed, as they no longer only constitute the destitute class who cannot educate their children, but also degree holders, who were until recently considered from the middle class.

In a survey on living conditions issued by the General Directorate of the Central Statistics Department for the period between April 2018 and March 2019, the unemployment rate among young people with university degrees reached 37%. This rate is expected to rise this year, given that 32,000 students graduate from Lebanese universities annually.

Saiid, who refuses to disclose his real name spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on a more painful experience. He is married, the father of two children and holds a degree in business administration. He was working for a commercial establishment with a salary that allowed him to obtain a housing loan years ago. However, he was surprised by his dismissal three months ago.

“When I was informed of my lay-off, I felt like the earth was shaking under my feet. Were it not for my family’s support and my faith in God, I would have committed suicide,” he bitterly says. “I cannot plan for the future, nor do I know how I will continue to pay my house loan or the education fees of my children.”

Hisham, 28, who holds a graduate degree in biochemical sciences, writes on his Facebook page: “After obtaining a respectable diploma… you start planning for your future and you get a decent job within your major. Overnight, you wake up to find that everything has disappeared.”

Hisham was dismissed from his job six months ago. He says that the small company he worked for has closed. He is trying to find work abroad, but the circumstances thwarted his efforts, and today, as other young Lebanese, he is waiting for an opportunity to emigrate.



Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
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Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed calls from his ministers to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank next year after US President Donald Trump takes office.

In recent private talks, Netanyahu said the issue of sovereignty in the West Bank should return to the agenda once Trump is in the White House, according to public broadcaster Kan.

This aligns Netanyahu with coalition members already pushing for such a move next year.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the National Religious Party - Zionism Party and holds a position within Israel’s Defense Ministry where he oversees the administration of the occupied West Bank and its settlements, said Monday that a Trump win would create a “key opportunity” for Israel to impose sovereignty.

“We were close to applying sovereignty to settlements in Judea and Samaria during Trump’s last term, and now it’s time to make it happen,” he said.

“2025: the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X, using the biblical name by which Israel refers to the occupied West Bank.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also welcomed Donald Trump’s victory, saying, “This is the time for sovereignty.”

Trump’s win has encouraged Israeli right-wing leaders to push for annexing and expanding West Bank settlements.

The plan to extend sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements dates back to 2020, when Netanyahu sought Trump’s approval to move forward.

Kan reported that annexation plans are ready to be implemented.

In 2020, as part of Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin’s team, working with US officials, prepared maps, regulations, and a draft government resolution, Kan said.

The plan includes access roads and potential expansion zones for each settlement.

The West Bank is home to around 144 official settlements and over 100 unofficial outposts, covering approximately 42% of the territory, including their jurisdictions. These areas house about 600,000 Israeli settlers.