“3a2bel l 100”, this expression so common in the Lebanese language has never seemed to me as absurd as it does today…
On your birthday, a Lebanese friend or relative will wish you to live to be a hundred years old. Indeed, wishes for long life, happiness, health, prosperity… can be summed up for the Lebanese in a few words: “ 3a2bel el 100”. How many times have I repeated this expression by sticking three kisses on two cheeks or by clapping my hands to greet a candle blown out on a cake!
But for some time now, my fellow citizens have been saying these same words with fear on their lips, in the form of a question asked not without a touch of disbelief: “Will he reach the 100 ? The mysterious person being celebrated is none other than the dollar which… (drum roll) has just exceeded the threshold of 100,000 Lebanese Pounds this morning.
The downturn certainly began several years ago. With each new record, the Lebanese wondered if the worst was over, if the reel had any chance of reversing, if the nightmare would soon end… And now that the dollar has just buried deep in its pocket the hundred thousandth Pound of our (much regretted) national currency, can we officially declare that we are at the bottom of the abyss? As a reminder, the former President of the Lebanese Republic had already announced that Lebanon was on the way to Hell. Did we finally arrive at our destination?
The 100 thousand threshold has been reached!
O wretch,
Gathered in front of the bakeries,
Lined up in front of gas stations,
Annoyed in front of the banks,
Collapsed in front of the hospitals,
Who seek, in vain, the way to school for your children.
O unfortunate ones who are constantly reborn from your ashes,
When will you continue to have the strength to breathe
3a2bel el 100 ?