I am planning a 2 week trip to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan with my husband, 2 kids (ages 5 and 8) and two friends, both women age 50+, one with a Jewish surname.
The state department issued an updated warning this month. Have things changed significantly in the last year?
Are there any particular concerns raised by this group?
Thank you.
In general it's perfectly safe for tourists, with the caveat that massive communal violence and/or aerial bombardment can break out with no notice at any moment. The Lebanese are generally very friendly, but they're all convinced, as they have been continuously for most of the last millennium, that catastrophe is imminent (and they're usually right). Barring war however, you'll have no worries. Street crime and personal attacks against tourists are both far less common than in Europe or the United States.
The parts of Lebanon you would visit are basically 100 percent fine until they aren't. Just keep an eye on the major international headlines, but don't expect to have to change anything.
As for your friend's surname, unless it's something likely to be familiar to a Lebanese (such as Netanyahu), I wouldn't be concerned. Even then I suspect she might be treated a little cavalierly, but I would strongly doubt there's be anything beyond that. I'm not talking from specific experience, but going by previous threads discussing similar concerns.
Even if the surname is Cohen, Levy, Yisroel etc. IMO I don't think it will cause any problem with either the Lebanese immigration authorities, or Syria's consular service.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you do a forum search for either topic, you'll find a lot of prior discussions about both issues.
Afz sums it up nicely. Consider travelling to somewhere like South Africa: Due to a very high crime rate, it's constantly a medium-risk destination to visit. Lebanon is completely different. The risk profile there is quite lumpy - it's either very safe, or very dangerous, depending on circumstances. Everything was fine there in June 2006 and April 2008, but wars broke out in July 2006 and May 2008 with practically no warning whatsoever.
At the moment, Lebanon is fine, but tensions are building due to the Hariri Tribunal and the threat of war between Israel and Iran, which, if it happens, will almost certainly end up dragging in Lebanon.
Just keep that in mind when you're planning - if you're concerned about safety, it might be best to make sure that you fly in and out of Jordan or Syria - that way, you can lop off the Lebanon part of your trip quite easily if problems break out.
As for a Jewish surname, it shouldn't cause any problems at all. If you search the forums, you'll find a few reports from openly Jewish people who have travelled to the region and not experienced any problems. Although if you discuss the Israel/Arab conflict with anyone, you'll be likely to hear views that would be labelled as anti-Semitic in the west, almost all Levantines - even Assad and militant groups like Hezbollah - do take pains to point out that they have no problem with Jewish people, but that it's Zionism and the Israeli state that they have a problem with. For a pretty clear example of this, check out the rebuilding/restoration of the main synagogue in Beirut.
Lebanon once had a fair sized Jewish community but its dwindled down to around 50 persons
I believe now. People in general have no problem with Jewish people as said above.
However, there have been a few cases recently of people spying for Israel - and I believe if
anyone has an Israeli stamp in their passport ...... entry will / may be denied. I have heard
of Jewish people with Jewish names visiting previously but this subject does to tend to be
up and down from one day to the next.
Its all rather unfortunate.
Hi,
any update on this topic ?
I am about to firm up my Middle East travelling plan, and recently came across the local news that the tension is building up in the country about Hariri Tribunal.....
No change.
It's currently fine, but things are an absolute powderkeg - tensions haven't been so high in Lebanon for quite a while. There's no shortage of commentators predicting a repeat of May 2008 (or worse) if Hezbollah members get indicted by the Tribunal, which looks very likely to happen before the end of the year.
On the other hand, it's Lebanon - there could be some sort of messy bargain between Hariri, Aoun, Nasrallah, Geagea, Jumblatt et al, which averts (or simply postpones) disaster. Or Lebanon could erupt into chaos tomorrow, and be perfectly fine again to visit by next week. Lebanon is always uncertain, but it's much more uncertain than usual at the moment, and nobody has any way to tell what is going to happen. Lebanon might sail through the current period just fine, or it could erupt - and don't believe anyone who says with certainty that one or the other will definitely happen.
If you're planning on travelling to the region any time soon, I'd suggest keeping a close eye on an English language Lebanese news site such as Now Lebanon.