Prices dim spirits for Middle East feast

TUNIS－Soaring commodity prices across the Middle East have spoiled the festive mood for Muslims in Tunisia, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and other regional countries that started their Eid al-Adha celebrations on Saturday.

Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is one of the most anticipated celebrations in the Islamic world. By tradition, families should ritually slaughter an animal, usually a sheep or cow, during the four-day festival as long as they can afford it.

However, galloping global inflation in the fallout of the US rate rise and the Russia-Ukraine conflict is particularly felt in Middle Eastern countries, depriving many Muslims of Eid al-Adha preparations.

In Tunisia, as the nation's inflation has rocketed to 8.1 percent, the highest since October 1991, households are feeling the squeeze.

Sharing the cost of a sheep with relatives is becoming more and more popular in the country, as it helps maintain the festive atmosphere, allows people to enjoy mutton rarely seen at the table and, more importantly, saves money.

"I have to buy the sheep together with my brother to split the cost," said Lassaad Ouannes, a Tunisian taxi driver in his 40s, complaining that the price of a small sheep exceeds the monthly minimum wage.

Muslims in Lebanon welcomed Eid al-Adha amid a dire financial crisis as the collapse of the local currency has caused a decline in their purchasing power, forcing many to abandon the tradition of buying Arabic sweets to serve visiting relatives.

"High prices have weighed heavily on all people," Zakia el Khatib, a sweet shop worker, said in Beirut. "We are buying all our raw materials in US dollars. Nobody accepts payments in Lebanese pounds. Even if suppliers accept the local currency, they ask that we pay it at the exchange rate on the black market."

Buyers scarce

In the West Bank, the prices of sacrificial livestock also rose significantly with the high costs of fodder caused by the pandemic and the Ukrainian conflict crisis.

At livestock markets in the blockaded Gaza Strip there were hardly any buyers.

"The situation in the Gaza Strip is tragic. Employees' salaries are not received on time, and unfortunately, the situation is getting worse day by day," Gazan resident Ibrahim Abdul Aal said.

For Yemenis, securing a feast on the festival is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, given that most people are living in deep poverty and on the brink of starvation.

Thousands of livestock farmers in these countries have to sell their herds to civilians with ordinary incomes.

In Yemen, the civil war and the resulting chaos and division have made it difficult for livestock or grain to circulate. "This war stops us from going to the markets in the other cities to sell our livestock," said Yemeni livestock farmer Ahmed Saghir. "It makes us poorer and deepens our sufferings."

Xinhua