Lebanon has been drawn into the war in the Middle East, with attacks leading to massive population displacement. In the face of repeated crises, the Lebanese diaspora – which is larger than the country’s population – has played a crucial role by mobilising to help its compatriots, as seen in Puteaux, near Paris.
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In the basement of a car park in Puteaux, north-west of Paris, a small team is busy sorting through around 15 boxes.
“We’re putting away the products that have been kindly donated to us. Apparently, these are plasters,” explains Kory Tahan, a member of the Lebanese Experts Forum.
The organisation currently has more than 22,000 members, mainly business leaders from the diaspora.
Its president Nada Chehab said: “We usually work on economic issues and employment, but when we find ourselves in this situation, we roll up our sleeves and get stuck in.”
Since the start of the war, the organisation has been coordinating collections from several NGOs. A first consignment arrived in Lebanon 10 days ago, with essential food items and medicines.
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“We’re sending things that can’t be bought locally. There’s not much point in sending things that were thrown away last time,” added Chehab.
The charity has plenty of experience in this sort of collection.
“We came together about two years ago, ” explained Tahan, referring to the time of the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon. “We did much the same thing. It was yet another consequence of yet another act of violence, yet another war.”
Before that, they launched similar humanitarian operations during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 explosion at the port of Beirut.
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‘A war that makes no sense’
“This is no longer a war like any other war we’ve seen before. Nobody knows why things are happening,” said Chehab.
Artemis Kairouz, a tourism professional who is volunteering to help out, added: “Our concern isn’t just for the Lebanese people in Lebanon. We’re a country with a diaspora. For example, I have one daughter in Doha and another in Dubai. My other family is in Lebanon. So I spend my time listening to the news. As soon as things kick off, I pester everyone – ‘just give me a call, is everything alright?’ You can’t sleep because you don’t know. It’s a war that makes no sense.”
Another volunteer, Mona, points to a few lines in Arabic stuck on to each box, beneath the organisation’s logo.
“Do you know what we’ve written there? ‘Today, more than ever, we are with you.’ That’s our message,” – a message that should arrive in Beirut by boat in about a fortnight.
This article was adapted from the RFI Reportage in France podcast produced by Marie Casadebaig.
