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With one million displaced, Lebanon turns to digital wallets for aid
- icegreentea2 7mo agoSeems there are two parallel developments here: a) Rise of alternate forms of organizing trust. People distrust government or other organizations, and turn to alternative forms of organization and trust. b) Rise of digital wallet/transfer systems that are fundamentally about charging for throughput/withdrawals. The article mentions that banks are restricting withdraws - presumably because banks need deposits to stay liquid. Whish on the other hand doesn't care - it makes money as a % of each transaction.
- ahhhhnoooo 7mo agoHeadline really deploying passive voice here. Israel's invasion and wide bombings of Lebanon is what has displaced a million people.
- gryzzly 7mo ago[flagged]
- braebo 7mo agoWhat motivated hezbolah to form and engage in violence?
- poisonarena 7mo ago[flagged]
- Daishiman 7mo agoWhat exactly was happening before Hezbollah was formed?
- poisonarena 7mo ago[flagged]
- Daishiman 7mo agoIt was the incessant attempts by Israel to invade Lebanon and the inaction of the Lebanese government but I guess your answer responds to your underlying allegiances.
- gryzzly 7mo agoIsrael invaded Lebanon for the same reason every time - to prevent attacks on civilians from Lebanese territory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_insurgency_in_South_Lebanon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_insurgency_in_Sout...
- Daishiman 7mo agoBecause of the constant invasion and denial of recognition of the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian and after decades of pogroms and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages.
- poisonarena 7mo ago[flagged]
- ahhhhnoooo 7mo agoEnemy of my culture? Picked a side? Never been there? I have eyes and I have a heart capable of empathy. I have a belief that all humans deserve wellbeing, even people I disagree and dislike. Watching a genocide unfold is clearly antithetical to my beliefs, no matter what the culture of the victims is. Watching a genocide unfold and being against it does not require first hand knowledge of the place. And this conflict is not a team sport -- I can be opposed to Hamas AND opposed to the genocide being perpetrated.
- gryzzly 7mo ago[flagged]
- gryzzly 7mo ago[flagged]
- poisonarena 7mo ago[flagged]
- Zealotux 7mo agoKeep on blaming the victims, as if you would have any say the day armed and organized militias would come into your neighborhood to do the same.
- ahhhhnoooo 7mo agoThe person you are replying to is probably someone who won't understand that the genocide Israel is perpetrating, the settler colonialism, the systemic abuses and torture and rape of prisoners, the invasion are all justified somehow. Some people cannot take a step back and consider other perspectives, unfortunately. Edit: see? Their response, "I like it"? This person is deeply troubled and misanthropic.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- poisonarena 7mo ago[flagged]
- YZF 7mo agoIsrael isn't colonizing Lebanon or abusing and torturing Lebanese. But Lebanon certainly abuses prisoners: https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/06/26/its-part-job/ill-treatment-and-torture-vulnerable-groups-lebanese-police-stations https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/06/26/its-part-job/ill-treat... So by your logic it is fair game to attack Lebanon due to its treatment of prisoners? Lebanon also commits war crimes by firing rockets indiscriminately into Israeli population centers. Why is your rage so selective?
- oa335 7mo ago> Israel isn’t … abusing and torturing Lebanese. Israeli-backed army ran a torture center in south Lebanon for years. https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/10/27/israel-responsible-abuses-khiam-prison https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/10/27/israel-responsible-abuse... Given the level of bloodthirst in Israeli society currently, and the accounts of torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody, I’m afraid that something similar is just around the corner for Lebanese as well.
- YZF 7mo ago[flagged]
- smusamashah 7mo agoAnd they are also using humans as shield? Is it only the enemies of Israel that use human shields or do criminals/terrorists in Israel (if there is such a thing) or any other country do that too?
- YZF 7mo agoI'm not sure how we got to the human shield conversation but Hezbollah is firing from within civilian areas if that's the question: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-891166 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-891166 As to what's common between Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran in the way they treat their civilians I will leave that as an exercise to the reader.
- warmonger 7mo agoInteresting, based on your comment Hezbollah did that from Lebanese territories for no reason. "Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the United States-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli forces have also launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/5/at-least-14-people-killed-in-israeli-strikes-across-lebanon https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/5/at-least-14-people-k... > Israel's self defense actions > this is a war crime Wow-wow just stop that bs. Without israel that region would be much safer.
- YZF 7mo agoLast I checked Lebanon was a separate country. So Lebanon decided to join the war against the US and Israel and now the consequences of that are Israel's fault? Wow-wow just stop that bs. Without Israel people in the region would be murdering each other just like they did in Syria, in the Iran-Iraq war, in Yemen, in Lebanon's civil war etc. Maybe if those countries stopped attacking Israel they wouldn't be in war Mr. warmonger. EDIT: It's worth mentioning that an attack on another country is not a legal reason according to international law to attack a third country. The critics of Israel and the US are claiming those started an "illegal war" on Iran so by that same rationale Lebanon started an illegal war on Israel.
- throw949449 7mo agoLebanon had a few million displaced before bombing even started. Many refugees from Syria, it is basically softer version of Gaza.
- oa335 7mo agoSyria actually worse than Gaza (5+ million displaced, 200k+ civilians killed) but over a much larger area and timespan.
- Gibbon1 7mo ago[flagged]
- tokai 7mo agoHasn't Hawala been a thing in Lebanon for hundreds of years? It doesn't seem like a novel development at all, besides the digital tools. Informal money transfer systems are not new thing challenging the banks at all. The banks are the new thing here.
- derelicta 7mo agoDamn I wonder why they are displaced. No one to blame for sure.
- gryzzly 7mo agoHezbollah, Iran and extremely difficult economic situation in Lebanon, meaning there are no social lifts apart from taking Iran’s money and “being part of resistance” facing pretty certain death, plus nasty antisemitic culture and propaganda. These are the reasons Hezbollah attacked Israel and Israel issued evacuation instructions to the civilian population. BTW the extremely difficult situation is also caused by Hezbollah, Iran and PLO before that.
- derelicta 7mo ago[flagged]
- spwa4 7mo agoSince most people won't know: the reason this crisis is developing is because of how hezbollah behaved last time. These people are Syrian immigrants (largely), pretend to be Shi'a muslims (but aren't), and have moved to Southern Libanon, decades ago, throwing out (and worse) the original (Christian) population, because they were paid to do so. Then in the last war they ran away from the south, to avoid fighting, and they were largely welcomed into Beirut, especially southern Beirut, many taken in by Christians and Sunni (partially because they had money and Lebanon was in a deep crisis). Then a lot of them never left, threw the people who had taken them in out of their own homes. They simply stole the apartments of people who took them in, then chased inhabitants out of entire blocks. This time, neighbors sometimes literally attack anybody tries to help these people, and chase the refugees away, for fear of a repeat. The result is, of course, a deep typical middle eastern crisis. Deep misery. Money is deeply involved, corruption is everywhere. Nobody, especially not the people who are now in deep trouble, are innocent. And there is no real solution, nor is anybody interested in providing a solution. Iran's islamist regime is directly responsible for this crisis, through giving these people money and weapons, but of course they are not available to resolve anything (and that's NOT because the US is attacking them, yes that's a problem, but it's not like they would help anyone if they were doing fine)