Beirut

"What Beirut is depends entirely on where you are. If you’re gazing at the beautifully reconstructed colonial relics and mosques of central Beirut’s Downtown, the city is a triumph of rejuvenation over disaster. If you’re in the young, vibrant neighbourhoods of Gemmayzeh or Achrafiye, Beirut is about living for the moment: partying, eating and drinking as if there’s no tomorrow. If you’re standing in the shadow of buildings still peppered with bullet holes, or walking the Green Line with an elderly resident, it’s a city of bitter memories and a dark past. If you’re with Beirut’s Armenians, Beirut is about salvation; if you’re with its handful of Jews, it’s about hiding your true identity. Here you’ll find the freest gay scene in the Arab Middle East, yet homosexuality is still illegal. If you’re in one of Beirut’s southern Palestinian refugee camps, Beirut is about sorrow and displacement; other southern districts are considered a base for paramilitary operations and south Beirut is home to infamous Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. For some, it’s a city of fear; for others, freedom.

Throw in maniacal drivers, air pollution from old, smoking Mercedes taxis, world-class universities, bars to rival Soho and coffee thicker than mud, political demonstrations, and swimming pools awash with more silicone than Miami. Add people so friendly you’ll swear it can’t be true, a political situation existing on a knife-edge, internationally renowned museums and gallery openings that continue in the face of explosions, assassinations and power cuts, and you’ll find that you’ve never experienced a capital city quite so alive and kicking – despite its frequent volatility."


Martyr's Square, marking the former Green Line that divided Beirut into Muslim West Beirut and Christian East Beirut during the Civil War (1975-1990). Mohammed al-Amin Mosque in the background, where assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is buried.


The Corniche


Downtown Parliament Square

Beirut: One of the World's Best-Kept Secrets

By Fergal Keane, special correspondent with BBC News:

"Beirut is the best kept secret of the Middle East but sadly it is fear that keeps it that way. The name conjures up visions of all that is horrible in man: murder, kidnapping and air raids. But there’s so much more to it.

I have worked in the city in war and peace and I’ve taken my family on holiday there; we once spent a New Year’s Eve in the home of an Armenian family who kept us dancing until dawn. The following day they drove us north to Byblos, birthplace of the written word, where we ate grilled fish at an ancient harbour watched over by an elderly restaurant owner who had once counted some of the world’s best-known movie and singing stares among his clients.

Now rebuilt after the Civil War, Beirut city centre is one of the most handsome in the Mediterranean with its restored Ottoman facades and open-air restaurants. Walk from downtown to the district of Ashrafiya, a stroll of about ten minutes, for the meal of your life in Abdel Wahab on Abdel Wahab el Inglizi Street. Follow it with a drink in any of the buzzing clubs of the area or head back to the ice-cream shops of Raouche and gaze out over the sea and catch the beams of the Ras Beirut lighthouse. It is a gracious and giving city that deserves to see you."

Cyprus

Visited Tito Andreas and my cousin Alex in Cyprus over the weekend. I was there on Tuesday which marked the 36th anniversary of the Turkish invasion (July 20, 1974) and the beginning of the subsequent Turkish military occupation of northern Cyprus (the internationally unrecognized "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus"). Turkey continues to transfer Turkish settlers from mainland Turkey to occupied north Cyprus in order to solidify its hold on the island.

Nicosia is the last divided capital in the world. The Greek Cypriots control the south, the UN peacekeepers maintain a buffer zone (the Green Line), and the Turks control the north. Many buildings on both sides of the Green Line have been destroyed and abandoned; they can still be seen throughout the old city today. Crossing into Turkish northern Cyprus is like going back 30 years in time. Compared to the affluent Greek side with its advanced and high-income economy (32nd internationally in the Human Development Index), the Turkish side is mostly underdeveloped and underpopulated. Tito Andreas was a Lieutenant in the Greek Cypriot Army when the Turks invaded in 1974. Driving around the Green Line on the first day, he regaled me with his war stories of commanding his platoon to fight the Turks on the Green Line during his glory days in the Army. We ended the day by crossing over into the Turkish side of Nicosia and visiting his old house that his family was forced to abandon in 1974 when the Turks invaded. They were only able to take what they could carry as they fled across to the Greek-controlled area of Nicosia. The next time he would be able to go back to his old house was in 2008.

Most Cypriots today identify themselves with mainland Greece and the Turkish minority with Turkey. Like Lebanon across the sea (a mere 30 min flight away), Cyprus suffers from the same unfortunate paradox: naturally beautiful yet plagued by constant conflict. Greek mythology believes Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was born in Cyprus and the island has since been referred to as Aphrodite's island. The beaches in Cyprus are world famous as some of the best in the Mediterranean (much better than Lebanon's...) The cultural past of Cyprus includes occupation by the ancient Hittites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Rashiduns, Umayyads, Lusignans, Venetians, Ottomans, and British. Isolated in the Mediterranean Sea, the whole island is a gold mine for archaeology and ancient ruins.

Four days in Cyprus was definitely not long enough. It was more of an introduction to entice future visits. I already want to go back. I know I definitely will.

Pictures

Good Morning, Lebanon

I was deeply struck when I found this picture in Walid Jumblatt's personal library and immediately stood transfixed and reflected on it for a few minutes. It was taken during the Lebanese Army's 2007 war against Palestinian militants in the Palestinian refugee camps. To me, it brilliantly captures and personifies the natural Lebanese spirit that I have developed a high admiration and fascination for. It is an unwavering spirit that is boldly unique in character among all the cultures I have encountered in my travels. Despite Lebanon's long, tragic history of wars, political instability, and foreign military occupation and its ongoing conflicts today that will indefinitely continue with no resolution in sight into its future, the Lebanese--whether Shia, Sunni, Christian, or Druze--remain optimistic in character and resolute in heart in the face of the vast uncertainty and many challenges that beset this small but strong country.



Good morning Lebanon
Good morning Lebanon
May you know no more pain
Good morning Lebanon

We will get to Beirut
We will get to Beirut
Your humus is worth dying for
Good morning Lebanon

Your dreams will come true
Your nightmares will vaporize
All your life is a blessing
Good morning, Lebanon

You're tearing apart
Bleeding in my arms
Love of my life
My short life

Rip me apart
Bleeding in your arms
Love of your life
Good morning, Lebanon

Good morning Lebanon
Give me a Rolex
Have a candy bar
We will extend our bleeding hand to you
Good morning Lebanon

Good morning Lebanon
Tomorrow we will be as one
Good morning Lebanon
Lebanon, you are not alone

Lebanon: First 2 Weeks

I'm behind. Oops. Stories and pictures on the following to come:

-Meeting with Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Druze sect and Progressive Socialist Party, at his compound in the Chouf Mountains east of Beirut. He was a longtime ally of the US and its allies in Lebanon but just recently switched sides to ally himself with Syria.
-Visits to Hezbollah-controlled South Beirut and their stronghold in the Bekaa Valley.
-Meeting the family of Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah, the so-called spiritual guide of Hezbollah, at his tomb in the Hassanein Mosque in South Beirut. He passed away on July 4 at the age of 74.
-Visiting the infamous Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp in South Beirut. Site of the 1982 massacre of thousands of Palestinian refugees by Christian militias and the Israeli Army.
-Food poisoning from free falafel some guy gave us in South Beirut.
-Visit to to Tripoli, the Cedar Forest, and the Christian strongholds on Mount Lebanon in the North.
-Celebrating the Fourth of July in Beirut by doing the most American things possible.
-Lebanese World Cup Fever. Everyone is either a fan of Brazil of Germany. Some are for Spain. Others for Argentina or really any team in the World Cup that wins. So lots of celebratory gunfire at the end of every game because the Lebanese cheer for whoever wins.
-etc.