Violence, Siege, War and High Prices Cast Their Shadow on Eid Al-Adha Celebrations

Muslims have celebrated one of the two most important holidays of the Islamic calendar, Eid Al-Adha (Corban Feast). In commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son on God’s command, Muslims slaughter animals such as sheep, cows, and goats for the occasion, sharing the meat with their families and donating portions to the poor.

However, Muslims vary in their celebrations according to the situation in each country. Many Muslim countries are witnessing war, violence, siege, political repression and high prices that cast their shadow on the religious celebration.

Egyptians have received Eid Al-Adha with frustrating economic conditions and soaring prices of  animals which have made several customers disappointed and unable to feel the festivity of the Islamic ceremonial event. Egypt’s economy has been suffering over the past years due to the political and security instability.

Some Egyptian families spent Eid Al-Adha in front of Egypt’s prisons looking forward to allowing them only to provide food for their sons, fathers or brothers. even if they are prevented from visiting them. Thousands of Egyptians spent the Eid at prisons as they were mainly detained for their political opposition to the military coup.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have celebrated Eid al-Adha, but years of strict Israeli and Egyptian blockade have taken a heavy toll on the Strips’ economy and therefore made it financially hard for Gazans to perform the ritual of sacrificing livestock.G azans couldn’t share the happiness with their children due to the lack of new clothes and  the sacrifice of livestock as they live in severe poverty that casts its shadows on the religious ceremony.

The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has marked the occasion of Eid al-Adha by visiting the scene of one of his regime’s most brutal sieges, the Darayya suburb of Damascus, a place infamous for starvation and suffering inflicted by his own military.

The Syrian leader ― slammed as a ruthless dictator ― was pictured praying in a mosque in the Damascus suburb of Darayya. Photos posted on social media also showed Assad and his delegation walking through streets of crumbling, deserted-looking buildings

Thousands of Syrians took the Facebook to highlight how, for those living in the war-torn country, a day of celebration is overshadowed by violence. Syrians chose to commemorate the holiday by sharing photographs depicting deceased and injured children, and other images of bloodshed and destruction often using the phrase: “This is the Eid in Syria.”

Turkey has provided food and children’s toys to the northern Syrian town of Jarablus. The aid includes around 25 tons of flour, rice, and pasta. The aid shipment was organized by the youth wing of Turkey’s ruling AKP party. People in the northern Syrian border city of Jarabulus expressed their gratitude to Turkey as they celebrated their first Eid Al-Adha festival in their homeland in recent years.

Moreover, Turkish relief foundation IHH- Turkish NGO- distributed meat from animals sacrificed for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday to poor families in the blockaded Gaza Strip. Since 2009, the IHH has maintained an office in the Gaza Strip, the inhabitants of which continue to reel under an almost decade-long Israeli/Egyptian blockade. According to UN figures, some 80 % of the strip’s almost 2 million residents now depend on aid donations for their survival.

In Libya, the holiday is taking on a mixed tone of festivity and foreboding. While the Libyans were preparing for the holiday, everyone knew that once the dishes are cleared and put away, the fighting resumes. Libya is engaged in Violence since the revolution in 2011 that had led to the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime. However,political instability, difficult living conditions, queues at banks for scarce cash, shortages in supplies and services, inflation, high prices, and sky-high black market foreign exchange rates – present a constantly reoccurring and challenging reality that Libyans are hostage to from east to west Libya.