Ethiopian, Lebanese community relations
sour after crash
Web forums see a flurry of accusations hurled on either side
29 January, 2010 | The Daily Star
Some 90 passengers were aboard, including 54 Lebanese and 30
Ethiopian nationals, seven of whom were crew members. No survivors
have been found, though a number of bodies have been pulled from the
water.
Officials from both countries have remained diplomatic in the face of the
disaster, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Health Minister Mohammad
Jawad Khalifeh paying their condolences at the Ethiopian Consulate. But
not everyone has been so courteous.
After Lebanon’s Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi
suggested Tuesday pilot error could have caused the crash, several
Lebanese media outlets carried stories inferring Ethiopia was to blame.
“The aviation discipline is such that when there is an accident, you don’t
rush to conclusions, you have to wait for the investigation to be
completed,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake told reporters on
Tuesday following Aridi’s comments. “Rushing remarks, I don’t think
… helps anybody.”
Message boards on Lebanese and Ethiopian websites have seen a flurry
of activity, with tersely-worded accusations being hurled on either side.
One commentator on the Al-Arabiya website said they believed “the
Lebanese government is looking for a scapegoat” to cover up for poor
airport safety.
On Monday night a regional broadcaster conducted a live interview
outside the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where bodies of the
passengers are being taken. A bereaved Ethiopian who accidently walked
into shot was quickly dragged out of view by the television crew.
At the hospital grounds Thursday, a group of Ethiopian women gathered
to wait for news of their friends. They initially said they had been treated
well by the Lebanese following the plane crash but later said they were
being ignored. “There are too many problems here,” said one woman
who wished to be identified as Kelile. “Many of our friends aren’t being
allowed to come to the hospital. The employer of one of our friends didn’
t even tell her that her sister had been onboard.”
There are around 20,000 Ethiopian migrant workers in Lebanon, mostly
women who work as live-in house-keepers or nannies. According to
many of those gathered outside the hospital, many of those who perished
on Monday were workers who were returning home after finishing their
contracts in Lebanon. Others were escaping abusive employers. “The
friend I had on the plane was just released from prison,” one woman told
The Daily Star, declining to identify herself or her friend. Her friend
spent nine months in prison because her papers were not in order.
Pathologist Ahmad al-Muqdad told OTV the Lebanese would accept
DNA samples from the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut to help identify
Ethiopian victims on board, but did not say whether genetic data would
be sent to Ethiopia.
“I had friends on the plane,” said Ethiopian freelance worker Desta (not
her real name). “They worked hard in Lebanon and some weren’t treated
well by their employers. It makes me so sad to think how much they
suffered here and then, on their way home, to have this happen.”
Desta said she’d heard from other members of her community that
relatives of Ethiopian passengers were put in a separate waiting room at
Beirut’s international airport following the crash. “It’s as if we’ll
contaminate them [the Lebanese],” she said. “But everyone is suffering.
Don’t the Ethiopian families deserve respect too?”
Courtesy
sour after crash
Web forums see a flurry of accusations hurled on either side
29 January, 2010 | The Daily Star
- BEIRUT: As investigations
continue into the Ethiopian
Airlines plane crash on
Monday, relations between the
Ethiopian and Lebanese
communities seem to be under
strain. Ethiopian Airlines flight
ET409 crashed into the
Mediterranean Sea just minutes
after taking off from Beirut’s
Rafik Hariri International
Airport during a heavy
Some 90 passengers were aboard, including 54 Lebanese and 30
Ethiopian nationals, seven of whom were crew members. No survivors
have been found, though a number of bodies have been pulled from the
water.
Officials from both countries have remained diplomatic in the face of the
disaster, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Health Minister Mohammad
Jawad Khalifeh paying their condolences at the Ethiopian Consulate. But
not everyone has been so courteous.
After Lebanon’s Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi
suggested Tuesday pilot error could have caused the crash, several
Lebanese media outlets carried stories inferring Ethiopia was to blame.
“The aviation discipline is such that when there is an accident, you don’t
rush to conclusions, you have to wait for the investigation to be
completed,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake told reporters on
Tuesday following Aridi’s comments. “Rushing remarks, I don’t think
… helps anybody.”
Message boards on Lebanese and Ethiopian websites have seen a flurry
of activity, with tersely-worded accusations being hurled on either side.
One commentator on the Al-Arabiya website said they believed “the
Lebanese government is looking for a scapegoat” to cover up for poor
airport safety.
On Monday night a regional broadcaster conducted a live interview
outside the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where bodies of the
passengers are being taken. A bereaved Ethiopian who accidently walked
into shot was quickly dragged out of view by the television crew.
At the hospital grounds Thursday, a group of Ethiopian women gathered
to wait for news of their friends. They initially said they had been treated
well by the Lebanese following the plane crash but later said they were
being ignored. “There are too many problems here,” said one woman
who wished to be identified as Kelile. “Many of our friends aren’t being
allowed to come to the hospital. The employer of one of our friends didn’
t even tell her that her sister had been onboard.”
There are around 20,000 Ethiopian migrant workers in Lebanon, mostly
women who work as live-in house-keepers or nannies. According to
many of those gathered outside the hospital, many of those who perished
on Monday were workers who were returning home after finishing their
contracts in Lebanon. Others were escaping abusive employers. “The
friend I had on the plane was just released from prison,” one woman told
The Daily Star, declining to identify herself or her friend. Her friend
spent nine months in prison because her papers were not in order.
Pathologist Ahmad al-Muqdad told OTV the Lebanese would accept
DNA samples from the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut to help identify
Ethiopian victims on board, but did not say whether genetic data would
be sent to Ethiopia.
“I had friends on the plane,” said Ethiopian freelance worker Desta (not
her real name). “They worked hard in Lebanon and some weren’t treated
well by their employers. It makes me so sad to think how much they
suffered here and then, on their way home, to have this happen.”
Desta said she’d heard from other members of her community that
relatives of Ethiopian passengers were put in a separate waiting room at
Beirut’s international airport following the crash. “It’s as if we’ll
contaminate them [the Lebanese],” she said. “But everyone is suffering.
Don’t the Ethiopian families deserve respect too?”
Courtesy
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