How are Syrians in Lebanon coping? We asked an informal Syrian labor leader

Dear readers,

This week, we’re bringing you something a bit different.

That’s because, in some ways, this Friday has been a cumulation of tensions simmering since Sunday night, when Jbeil Lebanese Forces (LF) official Pascale Sleiman went missing, later to be found dead across the border in Syria.

Some residents immediately began taking out their anger on Syrians inside Lebanon, with random beatings of Syrian men, and several neighborhoods calling on Syrians to leave by Friday.

It all made for an ugly Eid al-Fitr.

Friday morning saw hundreds of mourning LF supporters in cars and buses head north from Beirut to Jbeil waving cedar flags to mark Sleiman’s funeral.

As they drove north along the autostrad, Hassan, a Syrian worker in Beirut, attended Friday noontime prayers at his local mosque.

« Alhamdullilah, » he told us by phone after prayers — « Thank God. » As of Friday, he had yet to hear of any colleagues or friends expelled from their homes. Hassan, who asked that he be referred only by his first name for security reasons, runs one of several WhatsApp news and safety advice groups for Syrian workers. The groups serve as a form of decentralized labor union for Syrian workers in Lebanon, including delivery drivers who often face harassment at checkpoints.

So far on Friday, he says, the WhatsApp groups are quiet, despite the looming « deadline. »

Still, he and others fear there is danger outside the walls of their homes. « I’m not going to work, I’m not going out, » Hassan says.

Thursday night, after he and his family returned to Beirut from an Eid outing, they found multiple new checkpoints in the neighborhood where they live, raising the specter of harassment.

« We’re all waiting. »

As he and others wait, what is to come ?

L’Orient Today

In case you missed them, here’s our coverage from this past week: