Eid celebrations dimmed by war and displacement across Middle East

Beirut’s downtown waterfront has become a makeshift shelter zone as Alaa, a Syrian refugee from the occupied Golan Heights, searches for a safe place to sleep after Israeli attacks that have killed more than 1,000 across Lebanon.

“Beirut, Lebanon and Gaza City, Palestine – Along Beirut’s downtown waterfront, Alaa is looking for somewhere to rest his head”

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He says he was rejected from staying in a school, spent the day sleeping on the corniche, and was told by municipal officials to go to the waterfront, where tents have sprung up among the city’s nightlife.

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Across Lebanon, more than a million people have been displaced, and Eid al-Fitr, which began on Friday, is far from his mind.

Palestinians in Gaza face Eid amid an economic crisis and a war described by residents as genocidal, with Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods into Gaza intensified since the war against Iran began.

Khaled Deeb, a 62-year-old living in a partially destroyed home in Gaza City, says the price of fruit and vegetables is high and that people now live in tents, recalling that during Eid he used to give his daughters and sisters gifts of more than 3,000 shekels ($950); he says he can't afford them now.

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Shireen Shreim, a mother of three, says their joy in Eid is incomplete after two years of war, wandering through a market where basic necessities are unavailable, and that people are living in nylon and cloth tents in the streets.

In Iran, Eid is taking place in the third week of US-Israeli attacks, with no immediate end in sight and an economic crisis that preceded the conflict.

“Beirut, Lebanon and Gaza City, Palestine – Along Beirut’s downtown waterfront, Alaa is looking for somewhere to rest his head”

Al Jazeera

The grand bazaar has been damaged by bombing, making shopping potentially dangerous.

Some antigovernment Iranians see religiosity as support for the Islamic Republic, while Nowruz—the Persian New Year—falls on Friday this year, which may affect Eid celebrations.

Back in Beirut, Karim Safieddine, a political researcher and organiser, says he will celebrate Eid with his extended family despite displacement.

He argues that consolidating family bonds and communal solidarity is essential to survive the war and to build a country under bombardment, without toxic positivity.

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