CANTON, MICH. — Mirvet Makki, a catering business owner in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, sets aside weekly earnings to assist individuals displaced by the conflict in Lebanon. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced more than 1,000,000 people and killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon. Approximately one in every six Lebanese citizens has been displaced by the fighting.
Makki, 47, immigrated to Michigan in 1990. Her childhood village is Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. The current Israeli military operation represents the deepest invasion of Lebanon by Israeli forces in over 25 years. Lebanese immigration to the United States began in the late 1800s. U.S. census data reports approximately 625,000 Lebanese Americans reside in the United States, though alternative demographic estimates place the Lebanese American population near 1.4 million.
Makki observed increased prices in Lebanon during a February visit. A $200 amount that previously covered a car rental and hotel room in Lebanon recently covered only a dinner meal. Lebanon's economy has experienced significant decline in recent years, leading to the U.S. dollar gradually becoming the de facto currency.
"I was thinking, 'What can I do for other people?' So I used my business," Makki said. "They're going to ask me what I'm doing. Let's say I'm at work. They lost their jobs." She stated, "The money I can spare personally, I've been sending it to family." To avoid financial scrutiny, Makki limits her financial transfers to relatives to $10,000.
Akram Khater, director of Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University, said, "When they see suffering in Lebanon, people's immediate reaction is for the community to come together, raise funds, raise money, and try to help everybody as much as they can." Nadia Bryant, a resident of Troy, Michigan, sends money to her half sisters in Lebanon, who reside in temporary housing following an Israeli military invasion of Ayta ash-Shab. Bryant stated her half sisters used the remitted funds to assist orphaned children rather than improving their own housing. Bryant said, "I don't even ask, 'How are you?' I ask, 'What does today look like,' or 'Where are you today?'"