Elias barely sleeps these days. Israeli missiles haunt his city in the dead of night. Although he is hopeful that no strikes will target the overwhelmingly Christian neighborhood where he lives, he usually stays awake until his alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Since the start of Israeli bombings in Lebanon in mid-September, this 27-year-old director has been getting up earlier than usual to help displaced families.
But in the entourage of this young Beirut, few see this crisis as a call to action. Community divisions have long characterized Lebanese society and politics. If the events of the past month have accentuated these divisions, they have also shown how young people seek to transcend them.
Elias’ voluntary commitment is not well accepted in his family. During the war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1990, his father fought for the Lebanese Forces, a Christian supremacist party which coordinated with Israel the assassination of thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. “He remained stuck in this era, and today, because of my commitment since the beginning of this war, he considers that I am betraying my country,” it Elias.
“A growing sense of citizenship”
“War pushes people back to community structures, but it also strengthens solidarity”social, explains Omar Al-Ghazzi, professor at the London School of Economics.
If this revives old prejudices among many, it also tests the ideals of a new generation which was the driving force, five years ago, of an unprecedented uprising against the entire ruling class .
Many young people like Elias flocked to shelters and soup kitchens across the country to help survivors. “In Lebanon, community tensions coexist with a sense of citizenship that strengthens when the country is targeted. Young people play a crucial role in this regard, as they tend to experience crises at the national level and reject the values of dominant communities and parties,” comments Mr. Al-Ghazzi.
Jean-Paul – who, like other volunteers we interviewed, asked to be quoted under a pseudonym – is also currently participating in various initiatives led by Caritas. This young man of 20, with a cross tattooed all over his arm, affirms that his commitment is “totally apolitical” and that it is part of its Christian values.
In a school transformed into a refuge, he works alongside groups of young people belonging to Amal, the second Shiite party [allié au Hezbollah] of the country. For him as for Elias, these rare encounters reinforce their national identity. “Our doors are open to anyone seeking refuge in Beirut,” supports Elias, who would like to do more than take care of refugees in the capital.
“Eradicate these savages”
Since the intensification of the Israeli offensive against his country, he has also begun to recognize “the importance of the ‘r
