‘WE’VE BEEN PRAYING’
Lebanese community responds to deadly Beirut explosion
Abi Habib was at home in Brooklyn when she received a What’s App message about the Aug. 4 explosion in her native Beirut.
She immediately called family members in the Lebanese capital and found out a cousin and uncle were at a hospital near the site of the blast at the time of the tragedy.
The cousin was cut by falling glass but survived, while the uncle died while struggling with heart problems as he was evacuated from St. George Hospital, Abi Habib (photo) said.
“Look at me: I’m wearing black,” she told the Daily News on Monday. “I’m so devastated. I’ve been crying since then.
“And we’ve been praying,” added Abi Habib, 60, saying she does a rosary prayer with friends on Zoom twice a day. “We’re praying for Lebanon and for everything — the COVID — everything going on in this world.”
She was among a handful of New Yorkers of Lebanese descent who gathered at a ceremony at Brooklyn Borough Hall to express solidarity with victims of the massive explosion, which killed about 160 people, injured thousands of others and sparked political havoc in Lebanon.
Archbishop Joseph AlZehlaoui, head of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, sought to provide an uplifting message.
He recounted making “75 phone calls” the day of the blast, “just to make sure the people I know are still alive.”
“Although it is a sad occasion ... we are not desperTherese ate,” he said. “We are not hopeless.”
Organizers were raising awareness for a fundraiser being held by Social and Economic Action for Lebanon, or SEAL.
John Abi Habib, who helped organize the event, said he hoped members of the Lebanese diaspora in the Tri-State area would raise funds in the “sevendigit” range for humanitarian aid.
“It’s been a very overwhelming situation,” Abi Habib, 55, told The News. “My heart stopped ... they didn’t kill us, but they killed our hearts.”
The city’s Lebanese community, many members of which came to the U.S. following the outbreak of civil war in their home country in 1975, centers around places of worship and restaurants in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
John Abi Habib, Therese’s brother, said the deadly explosion has affected Lebanese
New Yorkers from all walks of life.
“Everyone — kids, youths, adults — every one of them is running some kind of humanitarian fundraiser ... to send to NGOs in Lebanon to help the needy.”
Participants include Ziyad Hermez, owner of Lebanese eatery Manousheh in Greenwich Village.
“A lot of us have a lot of our family there. Our houses are very close to the explosion,” he said. “There’s a lot that we need to deal with over there, but we’re over here.”
He said Manousheh would donate a portion of its proceeds from at least the next four weeks to SEAL.
“We’re all here in solidarity,” said Hermez, 36. “We’re here for them and we’re doing whatever we can to help.”