a city called neglect

Taken from the citadel of Tripoli overlooking the old city (I took it in 2002).

Several thousand years old, this city in North Lebanon has seen the Phoenicians, Persians, Greek, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans… Like scores of other places that exist on historical “tectonic plates”, it had its share of turmoil and destruction but also had many periods of prosperity. It definitely arrived to the 20th century with a very respectable architectural heritage, decent prosperous trade and sprawling artisans creating a little industrial ecosystem, in addition to schools, a seaport on the Mediterranean... In short, it had the foundations to enable its evolution into a prosperous modern city.

Since the establishment Lebanon in the 1920s, while Beirut was stealing all the hearts and minds, this city has been systematically impoverished and marginalized. In the 50s, its social and architectural fabric has been desecrated by a monstrous highway and river bed concrete lining project that split the old city in two, destroying in its way some of the most beautiful 800+ years old houses, schools, mosques, hammams etc. and creating a devastated area that in addition to being of unspeakable ugliness, fomented misery and contributed to the alienation of a large proportion of the inhabitants over the past half a century.

Although at times vocal about the unfair treatment of their city, local politicians share entirely the responsibility with the central government (whom they continuously participated in). Scrambling to split cheese with other corruptors in the country, they deliberately let things slide to the current state while exploiting the status-quo for their own electoral needs. The situation is akin to the relationship between the politicians and favelas in Latin America, with the slight variation of having an ever present Middle Eastern religious flavor in the background.

In the past 25 years the city has been subjected to heavy religious and sectarian polarization. It is a fermenting ground for fundamentalists who are entirely supported by the political system and regularly exploited on electoral season or for pressure against foes. Furthermore, what we had suspected for long but discovered last month only, was the fact that the city has been a haven for migrant terrorists from all around the region, being Saudis, Yemenis, Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Bengladshi etc. Which raised questions as to who is providing cover for these elements to get there, dwell in peace and security and then get armed, supplied and entrenched so well to be able to withstand a siege by a regular army for more than a month already?

Following the continuous political upheaval that Lebanon is witnessing over the past 2 years, it seems the situation got out of control in May. The first skirmishes happened between the Lebanese police and armed terrorists in the city of Tripoli, then the problem moved to Nahr El Barid refugee camp a few Kms to the north, knowing that this camp is in perpetual osmosis with the most impoverished sectors of Tripoli and has became a natural extension to it.

Yesterday and notwithstanding the “mission-accomplished” à la George Bush of the Lebanese minister of defense when he declared victory and cease fire after the full month of fighting, violence erupted again but this time, also, inside Tripoli between “some” Islamists and police forces in which 13 were killed.

As in every conflict, the casualties are always primarily the poor, 30,000 Palestinian refugees had to become refugees again by leaving the little they owned in the Nahr El Barid refugee camp to seek refuge into another overcrowded camp. Not to mention the additional economic pressure on the people living in Tripoli and in Lebanon in general who are already in deep economic distress.

What raises questions is that some of the people that were captured last 2 weeks and were fighting against the army, were already serving sentences for having previously participated in terrorist acts but were given amnesty by the government less than 2 years ago around election season!

This is food for thought: “the redirection” and here. As good old Condoleza (the person not the tanker) says, it’s all “birth pangs” of the new middle east!