The Gaza war has triggered an unprecedented malaise in the civic sector across the Middle East.
Many local NGOs question their financial dependency on countries and donors whose values and positions conflict with their own. 🧵
Synaps
1,767 posts
Synaps
@SynapsNetwork
In-depth field research based on local fellowships. Tweet long-form analysis, fieldwork quotes & recommended reading. Sign up: eepurl.com/dzfL3n
- As Syria transitions, all the warnings add little: They are well-known, to the concerned above all. Let us give Syrians time and trust. They need and deserve as much. And let us discuss the reasons to hope. Synaps, whose team worked across Syria over the years, can name a few 🧵
- Given the scale of destruction, we feel it is relevant to share these raw excerpts from a short, informal interview we conducted on 6 August 2017 with a low-ranking port officer in Beirut. It says volumes about the state of affairs that led to this calamity.
- THREAD As Lebanon’s suffering seems to swell endlessly, it is important to remind ourselves that the country is in fact undergoing a transition from one model to another. The former was always unsustainable; the latter is begging to be born
- 1/ Lebanon’s turmoil is spilling over into Syria is ways that are acutely felt but only partly understood. Syria’s economy relies massively on the Lebanese market: As the latter breaks down, Syria faces an escalating crisis for which no one seems prepared.
- THREAD As donor states gather to pledge aid to Lebanon, they must tread carefully, or risk rewarding a regime that has proven not just corrupt, but unwilling and incapable of serving its people
- THREAD For years, governments who describe themselves as “friends of Lebanon” groomed the country’s ruling class to behave as it is doing today. Foreign officials now condemn Lebanese politicians for the exact same behaviors they used to condone
- Over the course of six years, Synaps’ team of Syrian researchers conducted more than 4,000 interviews spanning every Syrian governorate and every neighboring country. Much of that work—and the colleagues behind it—remained invisible 🧵
- Lebanon is seething with anti-Syrian anger. Officials are accusing refugees of arming themselves for a showdown. Some Lebanese are doing just that. Anonymous threats warn Syrians to leave certain areas by tomorrow. But it’s too easy to simply blame it all on xenophobia. 🧵
- Lebanon witnesses a dangerous uptick—and not just on its border. In Beirut and beyond, we see a rise in chaotic, citizen-led violence. It targets Syrians for now, but reflects a broader breakdown in law and order which everyone will suffer from 🧵
- THREAD Lebanon’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund introduce a novel dynamic: Unlike other external parties who have spent years bailing Lebanon out, the IMF would demand much in return for its money
- THREAD Beirut’s fast-moving, bottom-up disaster response has given the capital a much-needed injection of practical support and collective purpose. But this model also has pitfalls, which may prove self-defeating unless local and foreign actors adjust
- If you’re wondering why your favorite restaurants or shops are unavailable on Lebanon’s Toters delivery app, here is what we know about the ongoing strike of delivery workers
- In southernmost Lebanon, war isn’t looming. It’s already a reality. More than 10,000 have fled escalating Israeli strikes. The memory of the 2006 war is fresh among adults, who then faced massive destruction and displacement. But the dynamics today couldn’t be more different ⤵️
