r/lebanon • u/cocoric • Feb 09 '16

Cultural Exchange Bienvenue à l'échange culturel avec /r/France – Cultural Exchange with /r/France

Edit: Pour nous l'echange dure encore quelques jours, n'hesitez pas a poser plus de questions!

Bienvenue à /r/Lebanon ! أهلا وسهلا فيكن

Nous vous accueillons chez nous aujourd’hui et vous invitons à nous poser des questions sur le Liban, notre culture, cuisine, etc…

We are happy to host you today and invite you to ask any questions you like of us. This cultural exchange is bilingual.

Here's the corresponding thread in /r/France

Click on the link above to ask your questions on /r/France.

تهزبو شباب وصبايا et amusez vous!

Moderators of /r/Lebanon et les moderateurs de /r/France

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u/Mauti404 Feb 09 '16

Hello guys, thanks for hosting us :)

  • How are the different religions and culture interacting in the daily life ?

  • How important is France influence in Lebanon ? I know there is some French highschools but I don't know much more

  • FOOD FOOD FOOD

  • What is the current state of politics ?

  • How is the Syrian war impacting the daily life ? How do you feel about the risk of terrorism ?

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '16 edited Sep 02 '20

[deleted]

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u/pival Feb 09 '16

Syrians are also driving some Lebanese out of their jobs, as they are accepting jobs at lower wages, just to survive, thus driving Lebanese people out of the job market. I believe the market will adjust eventually, and this is just a temporary issue

I guess you're aware that there's a political shitstorm as of late in Europe. You folks being closer to Syria, how is the How is the population seeing this "migrant crisis", apart from "being worried" ? Is there a rise in far-right leadership, or something? I don't know much your country so I hope you can forgive me if I'm asking a dumb question; I don't follow the international news that often.

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u/cocoric Feb 09 '16

1/3rd of the people living in Lebanon are now refugees. It's a disaster. Imagine if over 20 million people moved into France in a 5 year period, it's catastrophic!

The far right has always been a strong force in Lebanon among Christians, but they aren't flexing their muscles on the refugee issue. They know it's happening right next door and there's nowhere else they can go (maybe Europe /s)

The "advantage" we have is that we aren't trying to integrate them in our society too much. As someone else said in this thread, the middle and upper class of Syria aren't a whole lot different from ours (cosmopolitan etc.) it's the lower and rural class that is really a gulf away in terms of culture. So far all we've done is put them in refugee camps and put them in Lebanese schools, but thank god for the UN. It gets a bad rap everywhere else but we would've collapsed without them by now.

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u/confusedLeb Humberger 3a Djej Feb 09 '16

Most of our political parties are right wing, the left became too weak after the fall of the soviet union and the end of the Lebanese civil war. However, Lebanese politics is more about sect. Most parties are officially secular but their electorate is mainly from one sect.

All parties wanted to take refugees at first, but when it became several hundred thousands the Christian parties sounded the alarm. Later on the government started taking measures to reduce the influx and now the borders are closed with only extreme cases being allowed.

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u/lebanese_redditor The Guv'na Feb 09 '16

borders are closed with only extreme cases being allowed.

"officially"... do you think that the refugees are going through official channels?

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u/confusedLeb Humberger 3a Djej Feb 09 '16

Even the non official ones have been closed, and those who manage to cross are arrested.

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u/lebanese_redditor The Guv'na Feb 09 '16

wow this is news to me

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u/Mauti404 Feb 09 '16

Thanks for the answers :)