BEIRUT: Five stalls selling newspapers and books on the sidewalks of Beirut’s Hamra Street are all that remain of a series of similar stalls that had defined this historic commercial street for decades.
Lebanon’s years-long economic crisis has brought chaos, destitution, and begging to Hamra Street, once frequented by renowned international artists during its golden years. It used to host the latest global films in its cinemas, and its cafés buzzed with discussions that covered topics ranging from Beirut to Vietnam.
As stall owner Naim Mohammed Saleh put it: “The street’s identity has changed. Its inhabitants have deserted it, and its visitors have vanished.”
He paused briefly to sell a newspaper to a man in his sixties. “These are the ones who read print newspapers: the generation of the Fifties and Sixties,” he continued. “But the youth? No. They have moved on to the screens of their phones, flipping through websites, with all the news at their fingertips. As for the books I arrange daily next to this café — my corner since I decided in 1978 to follow in my father’s footsteps — no one buys them.”
Saleh, who comes from the southern town of Tebnine, moved to Beirut with his relatives — as so many young people from the villages in the south did — in the 1960s, seeking a better life in the city.
He and his brothers used to help their father distribute newspapers in residential buildings along Hamra Street. When he got married in the 1970s, Saleh took a corner on the street adjacent to Café de Paris and continued as a vendor, earning money to educate his children at the American University of Beirut. He himself had attended the Lebanese University, gaining a degree in business administration.
Saleh said: “The most famous street in Lebanon, the Arab world, and the entire globe, Hamra Street was frequented by tourists, politicians, artists, and intellectuals from every corner. Presidents Amine Gemayel and Bashir Gemayel practiced law in Amine Sinno’s law firm here and engaged in discussions at the Horse Shoe Café that lasted for hours. During the premiere of “Gone with the Wind,” the audience stayed in the cinema until 2:15 a.m., leaving utterly amazed. They were dressed in clothes from the most prestigious fashion houses, purchased from this very street. Fayrouz showcased her plays here, as did Adel Imam, and Dalida performed her songs right here. People walked shoulder-to-shoulder; such was the bustling nature of the street.”
With the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Hamra Street was associated with the struggle for the Palestinian cause and other Arab issues. A trace of intellectual and sectarian diversity endured.
“As the shelling intensified, the street emptied of its patrons, but with each cease-fire it returned to its crowded state. Those who left the commercial center in Downtown Beirut, which had turned into the frontline, shifted to Hamra Street,” Saleh explained.
He noted that “more than one book printed in Beirut and sold at our stands caused upheavals, from books about the Gulf War to (Egyptian spy) Raafat Al-Haggan’s book, and even the books of (Algerian writer) Ahlam Mosteghanemi and (celebrity chef) Chef Ramzi’s cookbook.”
He continued: “On the day when the German chief investigator Detlev Mehlis published his report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, I sold around 4,000 copies of the newspaper in less than an hour. Today, if I sell 10 copies of a print newspaper in a day, it’s an achievement.”
Hamra Street survived the civil war but not the major transformations that came after. Most of its theaters closed down — only Al-Madina survived. The cinemas gradually disappeared, followed by the bookshops. Cafés turned into fast-food restaurants.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of my sales were crossword magazines and magazines for children,” Saleh said. “With the economic collapse in 2019, people’s concerns have been reduced to securing food, shelter, paying for their children’s schooling, and ensuring a stable electricity supply. The street entered a phase of darkness and emptiness. Tourists today are groups of Iraqis accompanying their relatives for operations at the American University Hospital, and Syrians. We miss Gulf tourists, especially Saudis, who were avid readers. This is not (true of) Iraqis or even Iranians. When they come to Beirut and Hamra Street, you can tell their interest in books is close to zero.”
According to Saleh, “Before the economic crisis, I used to sell between 40 and 50 books per month. Now, the price of a book is no less than one million Lebanese pounds — equivalent to $10 — which makes Lebanese reluctant to buy books. Today, I only sell two books per month.”
The whole street is no longer the upmarket, thriving commercial hub it used to be, Saleh explained. “The shoes displayed in shop windows are now of Asian make, whereas they used to be Italian and French. Many signs can be spotted on storefronts announcing ongoing clearance sales on clothing. They have been there since the beginning of the crisis, and the clearance hasn’t ended yet,” he said.
“The phenomenon of begging and homelessness is what visitors to Hamra Street complain about most. Stores that used to open until 7 p.m. now close before 4 p.m. because the evening crowd is different from the daytime crowd. Before noon, employees, doctors, patients, university students, and those who work in banks or institutions that have survived in Hamra, visit,” he continued.
In some buildings, though, offices of civil associations thrive. “It’s true that they infuse some life into the street, but their work is limited to assisting those in need, nothing more,” Saleh said. “And that doesn’t restore Hamra Street to its past glory and splendor.”
On Beirut’s Hamra Street, culture fades while poverty and begging prevail
https://arab.news/r2tkm
On Beirut’s Hamra Street, culture fades while poverty and begging prevail
- As stall owner Naim Mohammed Saleh put it: “The street’s identity has changed. Its inhabitants have deserted it, and its visitors have vanished”
- With the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Hamra Street was associated with the struggle for the Palestinian cause and other Arab issues
Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian president toward unity government for post-war Gaza
- The Palestinian Authority, the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories, is controlled by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah political faction
MOSCOW: Palestinian militant group Hamas wants Russia to push Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to begin negotiations on a national unity government for post-war Gaza, a senior Hamas official told the RIA state news agency after talks in Moscow.
Mousa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas politburo member, met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow.
“We discussed issues related to Palestinian national unity and the creation of a government that should govern the Gaza Strip after the war,” Marzouk was quoted as saying by RIA.
Marzouk said that Hamas had asked Russia to encourage Abbas, who is attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, to start negotiations about a unity government, RIA reported.
Abbas is head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The PA was set up three decades ago under the interim peace agreement known as the Oslo Accords and exercises limited governance over parts of the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.
The PA, controlled by Abbas’ Fatah political faction, has long had a strained relationship with Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, and the two factions fought a brief war before Fatah was expelled from the territory in 2007.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed strong opposition to the PA being involved in running Gaza.
Israeli attack on Lebanese bank violates international humanitarian law, says UN expert
- Israel attacked the offices of Al-Qard Al-Hasan bank, which it claims finances Hezbollah
- The bank offers small interest-free loans and undertakes charitable activities
NEW YORK: Israel’s multiple bombings of a financial institution in Lebanon earlier this week were illegal attacks on civilian objects under international humanitarian law, an independent human rights expert said on Wednesday.
Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said that attacks on economic infrastructure are illegal “even if they indirectly sustain (the adversary’s) military activities.”
Ahead of the attack, Israel issued public warnings that it would strike the offices of Al-Qard Al-Hasan bank, which it claims finances Hezbollah.
The bank offers small interest-free loans and undertakes charitable activities. It has thousands of customers and multiple branches across Lebanon.
In armed conflict, only “military objectives” whose destruction “offers a definite military advantage” can be attacked, Saul said.
The economic activities of an adversary do not effectively contribute to military action, he added.
“Bombing banks obliterates the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives which is fundamental to protecting civilians from violence. It opens the door to ‘total war’ against civilian populations, where fighting is no longer limited to attacking militarily dangerous targets,” the expert said. “Such attacks jeopardize the right to life.”
Saul warned that international counterterrorism law does not authorize military attacks to prevent alleged terrorist financing or money laundering.
“Bombing banks is not a lawful solution to the challenges of financial crime and regulation,” he said.
To suppress terrorist financing, states should instead resort to administrative and criminal law measures, Saul added.
The attacks were the latest escalation of violence in Lebanon over the past year, with more than 2,400 people killed and 1.2 million displaced, according to the UN.
Saul joined other UN officials in calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Blinken heads to Hamas mediator Qatar on Gaza truce push
- Top US diplomat flies to Doha to hear assessments on where Hamas stands on a truce
- Blinken said a ceasefire plan laid out by US leader Joe Biden on May 31 remained on the table
RIYADH: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads Thursday to key Hamas mediator Qatar as he seeks momentum to end the Gaza war following Israel’s killing of the group’s leader.
Two days after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken was flying Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the Qatari capital Doha to hear assessments on where Hamas stands on a truce.
Blinken is paying his 11th trip to the region since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, after repeated disappointment as he seeks to end the devastating Israeli retaliatory campaign in the Gaza Strip.
But days ahead of US elections, President Joe Biden has found new hope after Israel killed Hamas supremo Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
US officials had described Sinwar as intransigent in negotiations brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt on a ceasefire that would also see the release of hostages from Gaza.
Blinken said he spoke to Israel’s leaders “about the importance of determining whether Hamas is prepared to engage in moving forward, and the Egyptians, the Qataris are doing just that.”
“But I believe that with Sinwar gone, because he was the primary obstacle for realizing the hostage agreement, there is a real opportunity to bring them home and to accomplish the objective,” Blinken told reporters Wednesday as he left Israel.
Critics at home and abroad say the issue was not just Hamas but the Biden administration failing to press Israel, which has received a near continuous flow of billions of dollars in US weapons.
Hamas has yet to choose a successor to Sinwar. Two Hamas sources said this week that the group was moving toward appointing a Doha-based ruling committee rather than a single successor.
Blinken said a ceasefire plan laid out by Biden on May 31 remained on the table but also hinted at a willingness to explore “new frameworks” to seek freedom for the more than 100 hostages.
Blinken is also looking for greater clarity on a plan for reconstruction and post-war governance of Gaza, seeing it as a vital component to efforts to end the war.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 and for more than a decade has maintained an office in Qatar, initially with the blessing of Israel and the United States.
The office has allowed communication with the group, whose main patron is US arch-nemesis Iran, with Qatar — a nimble regional player which is also home to a major US base — channelling money to support Hamas governance of impoverished Gaza.
After the October 7 attack, Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and also killed its Qatar-based political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was visiting Iran in July.
Paris conference aims to rally military and humanitarian support for Lebanon
- Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions
- There have been recent tensions between the French and Israeli leaders
PARIS: France on Thursday hosts an international conference for Lebanon to rally military and humanitarian aid for the country where war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis.
Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions. The country, where Hezbollah effectively operates as a state within a state, has been without a president for two years while political factions fail to agree on a new one.
But the international conference comes as critics say French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic approach in the Middle East has been blurred by his apparent evolving approach and sometimes chaotic communication.
Still, France’s historic links with Lebanon, a former colony, and its influential diplomacy give Paris momentum to coordinate “a proper response to the massive challenge that the war in Lebanon now poses,” said Middle East expert Rym Montaz, editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s blog Strategic Europe.
The French “are trying to make sure that international donors get to hear firsthand from the actors on the ground in Lebanon who can best describe the most immediate needs caused by the Israeli aggression that has forcibly displaced 20 percent of the Lebanese population over the course of two weeks,” she said.
Israel in the past month has launched a major aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon as it targets Hezbollah, with strikes hitting the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere.
The International Organization for Migration has said about 800,000 people are displaced, with many now in overcrowded shelters, while others have fled across the border into Syria.
The cash-strapped Lebanese government is ill-prepared to deal with the crisis or the increased demands on its health system. A number of hospitals have been evacuated because of nearby airstrikes and fears that they might be targeted.
In recent weeks, Macron appeared to toughen his stance against Israel while repeatedly calling for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza, condemning the “unbearable human toll.” He reiterated his call on Monday while speaking by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said.
There have been recent tensions between the French and Israeli leaders, especially after Macron called for a halt to arms exports for use in Gaza.
Macron has also strongly condemned the “deliberate” targeting by Israel of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which Israel has denied.
Thursday’s conference will include ministers and officials from over 70 countries and international organizations, including the European Union and regional partners, Macron’s office said. Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who met with Macron on Wednesday, will attend.
French organizers said they hope the expected financial pledges of humanitarian aid will meet the United Nations’ call for the $426 million it says is urgently needed in Lebanon.
France also aims at coordinating international support to strengthen Lebanon’s armed forces so they can “deploy more broadly and efficiently” in the country’s south as part of a potential deal to end the war. Such a deal could see Hezbollah withdraw its forces from the border.
International support may include equipment, training and financial aid to hire troops and ensure the army’s daily needs, Macron’s office said.
Lebanon’s army has been hit hard by five years of economic crisis. It has an aging arsenal and no air defenses, leaving it in no position to defend against Israeli incursions or confront Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. Hezbollah has more than 100,000 fighters, according to the militant group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The militant group’s arsenal — built with support from Iran — is more advanced.
Conference participants also will discuss how to support the UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, possibly giving it a stronger role. France and other European nations provide a third of its troops.
“What we do know is that without a strengthened Lebanese armed forces and UNIFIL, there can be no sustainable peace and stability at the border between Lebanon and Israel,” Montaz said. “As such, the French efforts are important and crucial for the way forward.”
Massive displacement from Israel-Hezbollah war transforms Beirut’s famed commercial street
- Sidewalks at the once a thriving economic hub are filled with displaced people
- Hotels and apartments at Hamra Street are crammed with those seeking shelter
BEIRUT: Inside what was once one of Beirut’s oldest and best-known cinemas, dozens of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war spend their time following the news on their phones, cooking, chatting and walking around to pass the time.
Outside on Hamra Street, once a thriving economic hub, sidewalks are filled with displaced people, and hotels and apartments are crammed with those seeking shelter. Cafes and restaurants are overflowing.
In some ways, the massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from south Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs has provided a boost for this commercial district after years of decline as a result of Lebanon’s economic crisis.
But it is not the revival many had hoped for.
“The displacement revived Hamra Street in a wrong way,” said the manager of a four-star hotel on the boulevard, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the problems the influx has caused for the neighborhood.
For three weeks after the war intensified in mid-September, his hotel enjoyed full occupancy. Today, it stands at about 65 percent capacity — still good for this time of year — after some left for cheaper rented apartments.
But, he said, the flow of displaced people has also brought chaos. Traffic congestion, double parking and motorcycles and scooters scattered on sidewalks has become the norm, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk. Tensions regularly erupt between displaced people and the district’s residents, he said.
Hamra Street has long been a bellwether for Lebanon’s turbulent politics. During the country’s heyday in the 1960s and early 1970s, it represented everything that was glamorous, filled with Lebanon’s top movie houses and theaters, cafes frequented by intellectuals and artists, and ritzy shops.
Over the past decades, the street has witnessed rises and falls depending on the situation in the small Mediterranean nation that has been marred by repeated bouts of instability, including a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. In 1982, Israeli tanks rolled down Hamra Street after Israel invaded the country, reaching all the way to west Beirut.
In recent years, the district was transformed by an influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the war in the neighboring nation, and businesses were hammered by the country’s financial collapse, which began in 2019.
Israel dramatically escalated its attacks on parts of Lebanon on Sept. 23, killing nearly 500 people and wounding 1,600 in one day after nearly a year of skirmishes along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and the militant Hezbollah group. The intensified attacks sparked an exodus of people fleeing the bombardment, including many who slept in public squares, on beaches or pavements around Beirut.
More than 2,574 people have been killed in Lebanon and over 12,000 wounded in the past year of war, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and around 1.2 million people are displaced.
Many have flooded Hamra, a cosmopolitan and diverse area, with some moving in with relatives or friends and others headed to hotels and schools turned into shelters. In recent days several empty buildings were stormed by displaced people, who were forced to leave by security forces after confrontations that sometimes turned violent.
Mohamad Rayes, a member of the Hamra Traders Association, said before the influx of displaced people, some businesses were planning to close because of financial difficulties.
“It is something that cannot be imagined,” Rayes said about the flow of displaced people boosting commerce in Hamra in ways unseen in years. He said some traders even doubled prices because of high demand.
At a cellular shop, Farouk Fahmy said during the first two weeks his sales increased 70 percent, with people who fled their homes mostly buying chargers and Internet data to follow the news.
“The market is stagnant again now,” Fahmy said.
Since many fled their homes with few belongings, men’s and women’s underwear and pajama sales grew by 300 percent at the small boutique business owned by Hani, who declined to give his full name for safety reasons.
The 60-year-old movie theater, Le Colizee, a landmark on Hamra Street, had been closed for more than two decades until earlier this year when Lebanese actor Kassem Istanbouli, founder of the Lebanese National Theater, took over and began renovating it. With the massive tide of displacement, he transformed it into a shelter for families who fled their homes in south Lebanon.
Istanbouli, who has theaters in the southern port city of Tyre and the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest, has turned all three into shelters where people, no matter their nationality, can take refuge.
This week, displaced people in the Beirut movie theater sat on thin mattresses on its red carpeting, checking their phones and reading. Some were helping with the theater’s renovation work.
Among them was Abdul-Rahman Mansour, a Syrian citizen, along with his three brothers and their Palestinian-Lebanese mother, Joumana Hanafi. Mansour said they fled Tyre after a rocket attack near their home, taking shelter at a school in the coastal city of Sidon, where they were allowed to stay since their mother is a Lebanese citizen.
When the shelter’s management found out that Mansour and his brothers were Syrian they had to leave because only Lebanese citizens were allowed. With no place to stay, they returned to Tyre.
“We slept for a night in Tyre, but I hope you never witness such a night,” Hanafi said of the intensity of the bombardment.
She said one of her sons knew Istanbouli and contacted him. “We told him, ‘Before anything, we are Syrians.’ He said, ‘It is a shame that you have to say that.’”
Istanbouli spends hours a day at his theaters in Beirut and Tripoli to be close to the displaced people sheltering there.
“Normally people used to come here to watch a movie. Today we are all at the theater and the movie is being played outside,” Istanbouli said of the ongoing war.
