Public frustration with long-standing economic mismanagement has reached a tipping point in Lebanon as bank heists are not only becoming common but also acceptable amongst Lebanese people.
On September 17, 28-year-old Sali Hafiz barged into a bank with her nephew’s toy pistol and demanded her savings from the branch employees.
In what appeared to be a real bank heist, the stationed bankers were quick to give in, releasing $13,000 from Hafiz’s savings account. Hafiz had lost access to her own savings because the Lebanese government had put a withdrawal limit for each bank account as a measure to fix its ailing economy. Hafiz could only withdraw $200 a month, which was not enough for her sister’s cancer treatment.
The mock robbery was yet another strong indicator of Lebanon’s public desperation caused by years of economic turmoil, which has prompted a series of bank heists conducted by individual depositors seeking the release of their own funds.
A so-called ‘man-made’ economic collapse beginning in 2019 has now thrown over 80 percent of the population in Lebanon into poverty, causing a series of desperate responses. The country is suffering from a shortage of medicines, food and long power outages, in addition to a number of other consequences of grave government…