Feature: A smaller Christmas -- Lebanon's holiday dimmed by economic collapse

BEIRUT, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A modest artificial Christmas tree, adorned with ornaments reused for years, stands in the corner of the Haddad family's Beirut apartment. For Rania Haddad, a public-school teacher and mother of two, this tree represents a fragile link to tradition in a year that has forced austerity into every festive plan.

"We explained to the kids that Christmas is smaller now," Rania said. "They're getting one shared gift. The important thing is that the tree stays."

This scaled-back celebration mirrors a profound national reality. Across Beirut and its suburbs, the holiday season has become a careful calculus between cherished custom and crushing economic constraint.

In the southern suburb of Choueifat, Nadim Salame, a father of three, shops with a calculator and a strict list. "You don't browse anymore," he said. "You calculate."

Gifts are now symbolic -- books, small toys, sometimes handmade items. "We used to plan joy first and money second," Salame observed. "Now it's the opposite."

The stark imprint of this shift is visible in Beirut's once-vibrant commercial districts. On Hamra Street, famed for its holiday bustle, shop owner Nadia Mezher recalled a different time.

"Christmas used to be very important for us," she said. "Before 2019, we didn't even have time to sit on a chair. Now we open and close the shop without selling."

Even lowering prices has yielded little, she noted. "People come, ask, and leave. They lost their money in the banks. Christmas is no longer a priority."

Nearby, the owner of Medawar clothes shop said he has not sold a single Christmas gift this season. "Our sales dropped 100 percent compared to before," he said, citing an astronomical rent increase from 9,000 U.S. dollars per year to 50,000 dollars as the final blow. "I lost my bank deposit. I cannot continue. I will close."

Some merchants have reported a marginal uptick from last year's worst moments, but the recovery is fragile. Wael Hamza, owner of Hatab clothes shop, noted that sales are slightly higher than during last year's conflict. "People still care about Christmas," he said, "but they reduce their gift budgets."

The broader economic collapse underpins this caution. The financial crisis in Lebanon that began in 2019 reached catastrophic levels by early 2024, with the Lebanese pound losing over 98 percent of its value and inflation surging to 221 percent in 2023. More than a year after the ceasefire that took effect on Nov. 27, 2024, Lebanon continues to grapple with the conflict's aftermath compounded by what economists rank among the most severe economic downturns in modern history.

Some 70 percent of Lebanese households now focus solely on necessities, a stark reversal from pre-crisis times, said Adnan Rammal, representative of the trade sector in Lebanon's Economic and Social Council.

"The middle class is almost gone," he added. "Barely 10 percent remain."

Financial researcher Mahassen Moursel cautioned that visible street crowds are misleading. "You see people on the streets," she said, "but there is no real demand."

Pointing to unchecked domestic price hikes due to weak government oversight, Moursel said that "prices did not rise globally to justify what we see here."

As the holiday is simply days away, families like the Haddads are redefining what celebration means in a nation where survival has become the priority. The Christmas tree now stands rather as a quiet testament to resilience, as its light shines on a much smaller, harder-won joy.

"We don't celebrate the same way anymore," Rania said. "But as long as we are together and can afford a meal and a small gift, we consider ourselves lucky. That, for us, is Christmas now." ■