As Israeli air strikes continue to batter southern Lebanon, a sense of solidarity and worry is spreading among the diaspora community in West Africa. Thousands of Lebanese people, scattered across Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria, are feeling the impact of the conflict thousands of miles away.
For Zoheir Zeidan, a 61-year-old director of a telecoms company in Dakar, Senegal, the news from Lebanon is personal. “I have aunts and cousins in Tyre who left as soon as the problems started,” he said. “But as we see that Israel is beginning to extend its influence over the whole of the Beirut area, it could be at any time that they are affected.”
Zeidan’s family has a long history in Lebanon, and he feels a deep connection to the country. “I feel sad and angry,” he said. “Sad because we find ourselves in a situation where we can lose a country overnight and find ourselves the new Palestinians of the land. And anger because of the powerlessness we have today in seeing what is happening and the indifference of the West to this situation, which appals us.”
In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Zara Mirza-Branger, a 31-year-old sales assistant, is also deeply concerned. Her parents returned to Lebanon six years ago for her mother’s health, but the war has made it difficult for them to leave. “We’re always watching the news, we can’t even think about working any more,” she said. “Every time we hear that they’ve bombed, we call my parents. We try to send them money, to help as much as we can.”
In Lagos, Nigeria, George Chaanine, a 31-year-old business owner from the Maronite Christian community, is worried about the economic impact of the war. “The manufacturers in Lebanon have a hard time bringing in raw materials into the country due to the war… the shipping lines are taking longer to reach Lebanon,” he said. “Importing goods from Lebanon becomes significantly harder, prices go up.”
Despite the distance, the Lebanese community in West Africa is rallying around each other, providing support and solidarity to those affected by the conflict. “We create WhatsApp groups where we all make donations,” Chaanine said. “We’re trying to bring our family out from the country, but it becomes difficult because the demand has exponentially increased.”
As the situation in Lebanon continues to deteriorate, the diaspora community is holding on to hope that the violence will soon come to an end. “The situation is really catastrophic, and what we want is for all this to stop,” Mirza-Branger said. For now, they will continue to watch and wait, hoping for a resolution to the conflict that will bring peace and stability back to their beloved homeland.
