A woman entered the cafe and asked for food so the baker gave her a freshly prepared loaf of bread. A table of customers have since been discussing the morality of giving food to beggars.
One said: "if I see a Lebanese begging on the streets I'll give them food but not money. I wouldn't give Syrians (refugees) though because they already have too much".
This as refugee camps are literally being flooded as we speak.
This as refugee camps are literally being flooded as we speak.
Another challenged that person and said that 'we' focus on refugees a lot because we don't want to blame the government because 'they are our family', which says a lot.
All in all it's the usual dynamics because charity is inherently dehumanising. So you can have debates on whether it is moral for someone not to starve to death because they've inconvenienced you for 7 seconds. The alternative? partners in this society in a spirit of mutual aid.
PS: Please don't ask me 'why don't you challenge them?'. I sometimes do, I sometimes don't. I have enough emotional baggage to deal with without also having to deal with my fucked up compatriots 24/7.
Right now, after spending an hour this morning speaking with folks from Idlib, the only thing that these Lebanese will get out of me is an angry guy who will insult them and possibly punch them and there are better ways to spend my day
Lebanon is a very racist country, thank you for your attention
