Sali Hafez during a demonstration in Beirut on May 23, 2022. (Credit: Anwar Amro /AFP)
Two years ago, Sali Hafiz and her sister Ikram held up a Blom Bank branch in Beirut. They weren't after other people's money — just their own. They needed funds for their sister Nancy's cancer treatment, but Ikram's savings were illegally restricted by her bank. Using what Hafiz later said was a replica gun, they managed to retrieve $14,000 of their own money and escaped out a back window.It was one of many bank holdups across the country in 2022 by depositors wanting to recover their funds amid Lebanon's financial collapse, which snowballed in 2019.Sali became a hero to some Lebanese, despite facing legal proceedings. Images of her armed with a replica gun, standing on a bank desk, made the rounds on social media. "Maybe they saw me as a hero because I was the first woman who does this in a patriarchal society, where a woman's...
Two years ago, Sali Hafiz and her sister Ikram held up a Blom Bank branch in Beirut. They weren't after other people's money — just their own. They needed funds for their sister Nancy's cancer treatment, but Ikram's savings were illegally restricted by her bank. Using what Hafiz later said was a replica gun, they managed to retrieve $14,000 of their own money and escaped out a back window.It was one of many bank holdups across the country in 2022 by depositors wanting to recover their funds amid Lebanon's financial collapse, which snowballed in 2019.Sali became a hero to some Lebanese, despite facing legal proceedings. Images of her armed with a replica gun, standing on a bank desk, made the rounds on social media. "Maybe they saw me as a hero because I was the first woman who does this in a patriarchal society, where a woman's...
Israel kills 2 in southern Lebanon, shattering 3 days of relative calm