{"id":39988,"date":"2019-07-05T03:22:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T03:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=39988"},"modified":"2019-07-05T03:22:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T03:22:07","slug":"lebanons-precious-gems-lose-their-shine-amid-syria-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=39988","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon\u2019s precious gems lose their shine amid Syria conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT:\u00a0\u201cThe gold and jewelry trade in Lebanon has witnessed a decline in sales ever since the outbreak of the war in Syria in addition to the regional developments, and the situation has worsened in the past two years,\u201d said Antoine Mghani, the president of the Syndicate of Jewelry in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGold shops in Burj Hammoud, which is dominated by Armenians and where tens of young people work as goldsmiths, have begun to shut down. Gold shops are turning to Shawarma and Falafel restaurants,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThese young craftsmen are seeking to emigrate to the United States after obtaining passports from Armenia, which makes it easier for them to obtain immigration visas to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe gold and diamond markets in Lebanon are concentrated in Beirut, Tripoli (North Lebanon), Jounieh (Mount Lebanon) and other areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe syndicate, which is supposed to embrace all workers in this field, has been divided since the 1980s as a result of the civil war. Mghani estimates the number of people working in the gold and jewelry trade at about 5,000 Lebanese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nOnly about 400 are members of his syndicate, while Beirut\u2019s gold dealers belong to a different one. There are 12 gold-processing plants in Lebanon and some of the goldsmith\u2019s shops have been operating for 120 years.<\/p>\n

\nThe two syndicates protect the stakeholders before the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nPictures and specifications of stolen jewelry are shared between them, so that they don\u2019t buy any stolen merchandise. Lebanon, which shares most of its borders Syria, is open to smuggling operations of stolen goods that are being discharged in the Lebanese market.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe owners of stolen jewelry from Syria who wish to sell them in Lebanon head to the shops that are the closest to the borders between the two countries, instead of going to Beirut, where there is more vigilance and greater caution by shop owners,\u201d said a Syrian diamond dealer at the Beirut gold market, who wished to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA young Lebanese man visited me a few months back and told me that he was fighting in Syria while revealing a 7-carat diamond he wanted to sell,\u201d said another Lebanese diamond dealer in the same market, also on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\nThe dealer said that he refused to buy the diamond. \u201cI do not buy stolen goods and I do not buy from the thieves. I have a reputation to maintain in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe president of the Goldsmiths Association in Damascus, Ghassan Jazmati, told the Syrian newspaper Al Watan three months ago: \u201cThe gold is being smuggled from Syria to Lebanon and the proof is the Syrian gold with no stamping filling storefronts in Beirut, especially 21-karat gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe added: \u201cStolen gold in Syria is being turned into alloys to facilitate its sale, and usually the stolen goods in Lebanon are being discharged in Syria or in Lebanese areas where the state has no full control. There is chaos in Syria and the borders are open between us. There are both legal and illegal crossings. The Syrian refugees have carried their gold with them to Lebanon as their savings, and distinguishing between a thief and a rightful owner requires the seller\u2019s good eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBilal Ghandour, a gold and diamond dealer, said: \u201cSyrian workers in Lebanon are transferring their savings into 21-karat gold because its value does not drop when they wish to sell. During the period of Syrian resurgence in Lebanon, our business bloomed, whereas in light of the restrictions on Syrian workers, their gold purchasing power has diminished.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAs for stolen gold from Syria and attempts to sell it in Lebanon, Ghandour stressed: \u201cWe cannot know whether it is stolen or not, but we usually ask for a receipt and rely on our assessment of the person wishing to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMghani confirms Lebanon\u2019s commitment to the Kimberley Process to prevent\u00a0the sale and purchase of blood diamonds: \u201cLebanon is committed to international agreements and is working hard in coordination with the central bank to clean up any similar situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nOn the possibility of money laundering through the gold and diamond dealership, Mghani said: \u201cMoney laundering needs a strong discharge, and this is not available in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThere is no law in Lebanon that obliges gold and diamond dealers to join the syndicate, especially since affiliation requires the applicant to be accompanied by 4 or 5 people who know him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnyone can become a gold seller. He may be a butcher and decide to become a gold seller. He does not need a license like a pharmacist, so there is a bit of disorder in the sector. We need a more active presence from the jewelry department at the Ministry of Economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT:\u00a0\u201cThe gold and jewelry trade in Lebanon has witnessed a decline in sales ever since the outbreak of the war in Syria in addition to the regional developments, and the situation has worsened in the past two years,\u201d said Antoine Mghani, the president of the Syndicate of Jewelry in Lebanon. \u201cGold shops in Burj Hammoud,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":39989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}