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<\/figure>\n\nFishermen Relocate Their Boats from Saida Port to North of the Awali River<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n But on Saturday, October 19, 2024, the Syndicate was informed by the Lebanese Army\u2019s intelligence branch that fishermen were not banned from sailing. Accepting such a ban, the army noted, would imply recognition of the Israeli warning. Fishermen could therefore resume work\u2014but entirely at their own risk. \u201cDear fellow fishermen, The Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate<\/p>\n\n Mohammad al-Samra, Secretary of the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate in Saida, explained: <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n On the question of livelihood, one fisherman put it bluntly: \u201cI no longer care about how much I get from the sea to feed my family. What worries me is whether I can afford the cost of my medicine\u2014something I can\u2019t even secure from charities anymore.\u201d To address the worsening situation, Syndicate head Mohammad Bouji met with MP Dr. Abdul Rahman Bizri to outline the fishermen\u2019s hardships. The Syndicate also visited MP Dr. Osama Saad, who in turn raised the issue with Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh. According to Hamieh, international coordination had allowed commercial ships to continue operating, and he was seeking ways to reach a solution for the fishermen as well. A source in Saida Municipality confirmed that the city\u2019s crisis unit would attempt to allocate part of the available assistance for fishermen. However, he admitted: \u201cGiven the current circumstances, the municipality itself cannot offer any direct aid, since all our limited resources are already directed toward displaced families.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n An activist from the Raise Your Voice coalition was equally critical of the authorities\u2019 silence: \u201cWhere is the Ministry of Social Affairs and its programs to support these vulnerable groups? Where is the Higher Relief Commission to assist workers in this productive sector who have lost their only source of income because of the ongoing war? Where are the authorities at every level, and why are they not shouldering their responsibilities toward their own citizens?\u201d<\/p>\n\n History itself offers a reminder: in 1975, Saida\u2019s leader, Maarouf Saad, was martyred while leading a fishermen\u2019s protest in defense of their livelihoods. Nearly half a century later, the same fishermen find themselves asking: What now? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Israeli enemy has not only destroyed thousands of homes in South Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and turning the areas bordering occupied Palestine into uninhabitable zones, but it has also issued a warning banning fishermen from sailing between Ras al-Naqoura and the Awali River, depriving them of their livelihood. As if the fishermen\u2019s daily struggles were not enough\u2014grappling for years with economic collapse and people\u2019s declining ability to buy fresh fish\u2014the latest developments have pushed them further to the margins, leaving them to face yet another dimension of the country\u2019s crisis alone. Following the Israeli warning, Lebanon\u2019s security authorities and the Port Directorate informed the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate of a decision to halt fishing activities for the fishermen\u2019s own safety. The Syndicate in turn relayed the order to all fishermen. The harbor quickly turned into a parking lot for idle boats, while the main fish market (al-Miri) was forced to shut down. Fishermen Relocate Their Boats from Saida Port to North of the Awali River But on Saturday, October 19, 2024, the Syndicate was informed by the Lebanese Army\u2019s intelligence branch that fishermen were not banned from sailing. Accepting such a ban, the army noted, would imply recognition of the Israeli warning. Fishermen could therefore resume work\u2014but entirely at their own risk. In response, the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate in Saida issued a statement on Sunday evening, October 20, 2024, addressed to its members. \u201cDear fellow fishermen,Greetings,Yesterday we were informed by the Lebanese Army\u2019s intelligence services that fishermen are not prohibited from going out to sea and that they do not endorse the Israeli enemy\u2019s warning. Therefore, anyone wishing to sail may do so. However, given the current circumstances, each fisherman must bear full responsibility for his own actions.\u201d The Syndicate therefore considers that fishermen are free to make their own choices, with each one fully responsible for his own decision. The statement went on:\u201cSince the warning came from the Israeli enemy\u2014an entity that can never be trusted\u2014we urge our fellow fishermen to be cautious when making their decisions. The Syndicate will hold several rounds of consultations in the coming two days to seek appropriate solutions for the fishermen.\u201d The Syndicate also announced that on Monday, October 21, 2024, it would meet with MPs and community leaders in the city to determine the proper course of action. The Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate Mohammad al-Samra, Secretary of the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate in Saida, explained:\u201cAround 350 people working in this sector\u2014from boat owners to crew members\u2014have been forced to stop working. The closure of the main fish market (al-Miri) has also left around 80 others without jobs, including fish sellers and workers responsible for cleaning and preparing the catch. All of them depend on daily earnings. This shutdown has effectively cut off their only source of income and left their families without a means of survival.\u201dThe exact size of Saida\u2019s daily fish production is unknown. One fisherman, A.B., explained: \u201cThe daily catch usually ranges between 100 and 400 kilograms, depending on the weather and what the sea provides.\u201d According to the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate, around 350 people working in this sector\u2014including boat owners and their crews\u2014have been forced to stop working. The closure of the main fish market (al-Miri) has also left around 80 additional workers jobless, from fish sellers to cleaners and processors. For all of them, it means a sudden loss of income and the collapse of their only means of survival. On the question of livelihood, one fisherman put it bluntly: \u201cI no longer care about how much I get from the sea to feed my family. What worries me is whether I can afford the cost of my medicine\u2014something I can\u2019t even secure from charities anymore.\u201dAnother fisherman, Z.S., sitting in a caf\u00e9 and smoking his waterpipe, added: \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do at the end of the month. I have to pay $200 in rent. How am I supposed to secure that amount when the sea is closed to us and no one cares about our plight?\u201d Steps Taken To address the worsening situation, Syndicate head Mohammad Bouji met with MP Dr. Abdul Rahman Bizri to outline the fishermen\u2019s hardships. The Syndicate also visited MP Dr. Osama Saad, who in turn raised the issue with Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh. According to Hamieh, international coordination had allowed commercial ships to continue operating, and he was seeking ways to reach a solution for the fishermen as well.The Syndicate further approached the Hariri Foundation, where an official asked fishermen to fill out a government form designed primarily for displaced persons in order to apply for aid. A source in Saida Municipality confirmed that the city\u2019s crisis unit would attempt to allocate part of the available assistance for fishermen. However, he admitted: \u201cGiven the current circumstances, the municipality itself cannot offer any direct aid, since all our limited resources are already directed toward displaced families.\u201dSyndicate Secretary Mohammad al-Samra voiced frustration: \u201cNeither central nor local authorities have shown any concern for us. All we ask is that the relevant bodies accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to this collapsing sector, so fishermen can cope with daily living costs and secure medicines for those suffering from chronic illnesses.\u201d He stressed again: \u201cNo one in authority\u2014neither central nor local\u2014has cared about us. What we demand is swift humanitarian assistance for a vital economic sector on the brink of collapse because of the war.\u201d An activist from the Raise Your Voice coalition was equally critical of the authorities\u2019 silence: \u201cWhere is the Ministry of Social Affairs and its programs to support these vulnerable groups? Where is the Higher Relief Commission to assist workers in this productive sector who have lost their only source of income because of the ongoing war? Where are the authorities at every level, and why are they not shouldering their responsibilities toward their own citizens?\u201d History itself offers a reminder: in 1975, Saida\u2019s leader, Maarouf Saad, was martyred while leading a fishermen\u2019s protest in defense of their livelihoods. Nearly half a century later,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436,354,355],"tags":[490,491,347,376],"class_list":["post-13593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-municipalities","category-through-southern-eyes","tag-citizenship-en-2","tag-corruption-en-2","tag-lebanon-en","tag-youth-en-2"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/26-04.jpg",900,506,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"\u0648\u0641\u064a\u0642 \u0627\u0644\u0647\u0648\u0627\u0631\u064a","author_link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/author\/wafiq-elhawary\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Economy<\/a> Municipalities<\/a> Through Southern Eyes<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The Israeli enemy has not only destroyed thousands of homes in South Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and turning the areas bordering occupied Palestine into uninhabitable zones, but it has also issued a warning banning fishermen from sailing between Ras al-Naqoura and the Awali River, depriving them of their livelihood. As if the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
According to the Fishermen\u2019s Syndicate, around 350 people working in this sector\u2014including boat owners and their crews\u2014have been forced to stop working. The closure of the main fish market (al-Miri) has also left around 80 additional workers jobless, from fish sellers to cleaners and processors. For all of them, it means a sudden loss of income and the collapse of their only means of survival. <\/pre>\n\n
Steps Taken<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\n
He stressed again: \u201cNo one in authority\u2014neither central nor local\u2014has cared about us. What we demand is swift humanitarian assistance for a vital economic sector on the brink of collapse because of the war.\u201d <\/pre>\n\n