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Creating new perspectives since 2009

 

Lauren Lewis

Lauren Lewis is a former staff writer and journalist for the Middle East Monitor. She has previously reported for the Daily Star Lebanon and Al-Arabiya English from Beirut. Lewis focuses on Lebanon, with a particular interest in the rest of the Levant and Central Asia.

 

 

Items by Lauren Lewis

  • ‘Why are simple tasks made so difficult in Palestine?’ asks filmmaker Farah Nabulsi

    This Palestinian-British filmmaker specialises in emotive short films which detail aspects of the daily life of Palestinians living in their ancestral homes in the occupied territories...

  • On this day: the Caesar Act takes effect

    In August 2013, a military defector, known by the pseudonym “Caesar”, sent and smuggled more than 50,000 photographs out of Syria....

  • ‘I am here with my Palestinian flag to show that black lives matter’

    Floyd’s death sparked an outpouring of public anger about racially-motivated police brutality, triggering calls for the defunding of police departments in America and reforming school curriculums to include colonial history...

  • Lebanon’s protesters offer safety tips, support for US demonstrators

    Lebanon’s protesters have offered safety tips and shared their support via social media with demonstrators who took to the streets in over 75 cities in the US over the death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis. Floyd, 46, died after then-police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his...

  • Lebanon’s economic rescue plan only buys ‘a few more years before we run into the next crisis’

    “Whatever financial technical solutions you put in place, the underlying problem is a political dysfunction here… what we have now doesn’t work and is never going to work… buys a few more years before we run into the next crisis,” says Mike Azar. Azar is a...

  • Fire, injury and death: What's happening in Lebanon's Tripoli?

    At the end of April, Lebanon’s Tripoli witnessed some of the most violent clashes between security forces and protesters since anti-government demonstrations exploded across the country in October. One protester, Mouna Moussi, told MEMO the clashes turned the city into a “war zone”. “At night into being a...

  • Farewell to Iraq’s last princess

    Iraq's last princess dies aged 100. Princess Badiya bint Ali was born in Damascus in 1920. Her father King Ali bin Al-Hussein briefly ruled the Hejaz kingdom in western Arabia and held the title of Grand Sharif of Makkah...

  • Is Lebanon’s legalisation of cannabis an economic lifeline or an opportunity for corruption?

    Lebanon last week legalised the cultivation and export of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes. The move is intended to provide an economic stimulus for the country’s ailing economy, at least that’s the stated aim. Legalisation of the industry in a country which is the world’s third largest producer of...

  • Meet the designer turning Beirut’s forgotten fashion into contemporary couture

    Larissa von Planta’s atelier is hidden away in a traditional 1930s Lebanese villa on one of Beirut’s typically haphazard and bustling streets. Standing on her balcony, though, ever so slightly shielded from the heat of the midday sun by a withered palm tree, and surrounded by offcuts of fabrics,...

  • What can we expect from Britain’s new Labour Party leader on Middle East issues?

    Last Saturday, Britain’s Labour Party crowned Sir Keir Starmer QC as its leader. The former lawyer and head of the Crown Prosecution Service takes over from Jeremy Corbyn, who has been vocal on British foreign policy in the Middle East. Corbyn actively opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, military...

  • Hezbollah’s coronavirus response plan is a political tool, not a cover-up

    In recent weeks, accusations have circulated that Hezbollah’s coronavirus response plan is a cover-up for a huge number of unreported COVID-19 cases in Lebanon. Indeed, the Lebanese government, at the Iranian-backed militia group’s urging, continued to allow commercial flights from Iran for more than three weeks after the first confirmed coronavirus case was...

  • After Faustina Tay’s death, time is up for the kafala system in Lebanon

    Faustina Tay was found dead in a car park near her employer’s home in Beirut in the early hours of 14 March. Tay was a 23-year-old Ghanaian migrant domestic worker in Lebanon who was allegedly abused by her employers. According to an Al Jazeera report, only 24 hours before Tay’s body...

  • Can Lebanon afford a coronavirus shut-down?

    For years, Lebanon has been a financial house of cards, based on a rocky and unsustainable economic model, which has unravelled quickly in recent months. In 2018, the World Bank estimated that a third of the Lebanese population were living in poverty, but as recently as November, it amended...

  • Hezbollah is holding Lebanon’s economy hostage

    Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab is set to address the Lebanese people at 4:30pm (GMT) today, only two days before the country’s Eurobonds mature on 9 March. Though the prime minister is expected to announce a financial rescue plan, which, International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials hinted could involve restructuring...

  • Iran’s coronavirus nurses, doctors keep patients upbeat by dancing

    Iranian nurses and doctors have been videoed dancing to keep morale up during the country’s coronavirus outbreak. The footage features Iranian healthcare professionals dancing while wearing layers of protective gear, including hazmat suits and masks. https://twitter.com/dosti_3_3_3/status/1234798539575889921 Iran’s outbreak is the deadliest outside of China, with 2,336 confirmed cases and 77 reported...

  • Lebanon is unprepared for a coronavirus outbreak

    Lebanon is facing the imminent threat of economic default and ongoing anti-government protests which have failed to abate. These factors have allowed problems within the healthcare system to slip from the government’s grasp, leaving it to rot. Now, just when a strong healthcare sector is most needed, it is...

  • Britain’s relationship with Bahrain is a cause for concern

    When the Independent newspaper published an exposé last week on conditions inside the Bahraini Isa Town women’s prison, it once again brought into question Britain’s relationship with the tiny island kingdom, which frequently violates international human rights laws. One inmate in the prison, Hajer Mansoor, alleged that she has been...

  • Hezbollah's Nasrallah mocked over calls to boycott US goods in Lebanon

    Lebanese people have flocked to social media to mock Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, after he called for a boycott of US goods and products in a speech on Sunday. Calling the boycott “part of the battle” against US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, Nasrallah added, “if we do not...

  • Lebanon is using racist campaigns to force refugees to leave

    A repatriation clause requested by Lebanese President Michel Aoun in the new government’s policy statement is very clear: “They must return.” Aoun is using economic and political crises as a convenient justification to ex post facto legitimise actions taken by successive governments to remove refugees from Lebanon and validate...

  • Remembering the death of Rafic Hariri (1944-2005)

    Rafic Hariri, was assassinated on 14 February 2005, when nearly 1,800 kilograms of TNT explosive hidden in a Mitsubishi van was detonated next to his motorcade...

  • Baghdad covered in snow for second time this century

    Baghdad woke up covered in a thin layer of snow this morning for only the second time this century, and the first in over ten years. Snow falls in Baghdad for first time in over a decade https://t.co/pcbviqk1AE pic.twitter.com/52niQtzRYN — CTV News (@CTVNews) February 11, 2020 Pictures and videos show young people...

  • Protesters disrupt Lebanon MP’s dinner two nights in a row

    Lebanese anti-government protesters have gathered outside restaurants after spotting Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Member of Parliament Ziad Aswad having dinner in suburbs north of Beirut two nights in a row this week. Disrupting MPs in bars and restaurants across Beirut has been a key tactic since December, with protesters rallying...

  • In Lebanon, the system works for the elite

    “This is the most exciting, unifying thing that has happened since the end of the civil war,” said Fabio Irani, 25, a protester in Beirut. Lebanon is experiencing the rise of a collective consciousness and the rejection of a sectarian division of society which has gripped the country for...