Irish in Lebanon fear Gaza conflict spreading

A Dublin woman who has lived in Lebanon at various intervals over the last 40 years has praised the Department of Foreign Affairs for its decision to urge Irish citizens in the Middle Eastern country to return home “while commercial options remain open”.

Noeleen Kirby El Hachem, who resides in Byblos, 42km north of Beirut, has lived through previous conflicts in the country. She is married to a Lebanese professor, Bassam El Hachem, who she met in 1976 when she worked for the OECD in Paris. Their two children were born in Lebanon.

She says Lebanese culture has enriched her life in many ways – but being based there has not been without its difficulties. The family previously “escaped” the “war of liberation” of 1989 by moving to France.

While she has received two phone calls from Irish officials appealing for citizens to leave the country, and indicated she appreciated that care, she added: “I have loads of American friends. They have been told for years not to even live here. But I am not taking it seriously as a threat of war. I am more concerned about the airlines not coming.”

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She says it is vital to consider the geography of where Irish citizens are located in Lebanon.

“If I were somebody working on the southern border for Unifil, for example, I wouldn’t want to be in that part of Lebanon because there are skirmishes all the time there. We hear about them a lot. But they are every day and they have been for years.

“They are more frequent but it is confined so far to the border areas. I do not live in that area. But I do know of Lebanese people in that area, particularly Shiite people, and they are at a loss. Or people living in areas of Beirut that would be Shiite and therefore targets if Israel does decide to attack.

“But I am predominantly in a Christian area. I hate to use these terms, but most of the population here wouldn’t be considered by Israel to be kind of enemies.

“If it does break into a war, and there was a terrible war here in 2006, I wouldn’t like to be here. Particularly when I look at the type of weaponry being used now against Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Wicklow native Molly, who works for an NGO based in Beirut, says there is a “collective trauma” in Lebanon among those who remember the war of 2006 between Hizbullah and the Israel Defence Forces.

“But we are waiting to see whether it [the situation] is going to escalate or not. The Irish Embassy in Cairo has done a great job. Almost two weeks ago they asked us all to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs so that was the first indication that things were being planned behind the scenes in terms of looking out for us.”

Molly, who asked not to use her last name because of her work, said she hoped to honour her contract and stay in Lebanon for another year.

“When you work for an NGO we call it ‘stay and deliver’. There is also the other aspect of having the privilege of being able to leave.”

She said she did not believe the description of a “volatile situation” in Lebanon as necessarily accurate.

“The situation is volatile at the border. Of course there is the unknown of something escalating and reaching other parts of Lebanon. But day-to-day life is very normal other than knowing what is going on at the border.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs says the situation is “fluid” in Lebanon. A department spokesman was not in a position to publicly confirm the numbers of Irish residents in Beirut. However, the Irish Lebanese Cultural Association estimates that between 80 and 120 Irish citizens reside in Lebanon.