A walk around Beirut these days will reveal that large numbers of buildings in the city, including some of its most beautiful old mansions, lie abandoned and ready to be torn down. There are many reasons for this, not least that many owners see little reason to renovate their properties when they hope to sell the land at a higher price.
This seems an apt image for this moment in Lebanon. Beirut is living a crisis of identity, as for the first time in decades the city radiates only failure. Lebanon has collapsed economically and hundreds of thousands of people have fallen into poverty or emigrated, so the crumbling of Beirut’s architectural heritage symbolises a clean break between the city’s enthralling past and disintegrating present.
But how true is this image? This is not the first time that Beirut has faced such a crisis. Indeed, each new crisis seems to bring with it another lasting dimension of the city’s identity. Lebanon’s civil war between 1975 and 1990 has forever marked the country as a place of war, with Beirut at its centre. Even more than three decades after the end of the conflict, many foreigners still imagine that people are murdering each other.
Yet that wartime identity had replaced several others that Beirut had taken on in its pre-war period. That of the beguiling cultural heart of the Arab world, where the region’s intellectuals, political exiles, and journalists had moved to escape the tyrants at home. Beirut was a city, it was often said, that published books and gambled with ideas, in contrast to the dreary Arab nationalist orders ruled by officers in most other countries of the region.
Bad came with the good. Between the late 1960s and the civil war in 1975, Beirut was also the capital of the revolution, as Palestinian militant groups and European left-wing organisations planned attacks against western targets and Israel from the city. Beirut’s intellectual openness and free-wheeling identity took on a self-destructive facet, promising to upend Lebanon’s delicate stability.
When the war ended in 1990 and Lebanon was in ruins, Beirut reinvented itself again, as a place of resurrection – a phoenix rising from its ashes, to quote former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel in 1983, who had to wait almost a decade for that prediction to become true. The impresario of this revival would be Rafik Hariri, who became Lebanon’s prime minister in 1992.
Hariri would wrestle with Beirut’s conflicting identities, never quite getting the mix right. He had wanted simply to re-create the business entrepot of the pre-war era, but his vision hit up against two other aspects of the city’s identity. Many of the intellectuals, particularly those on the left, railed against his capitalist vision for the city, which they regarded as both elitist and somewhat vulgar.
Beirut was a city, it was often said, that published books and gambled with ideas
In the eyes of his critics, lacking in Hariri’s vision was any stirring idea of a greater purpose that Beirut could serve. As the novelist Elias Khoury lamented to me in an interview in 1993: “Lebanon’s new ruling class wants to make [it] … into a small Hong Kong for Arab-Israeli peace. This is one option. We have another: to make Lebanon part of a search for democracy, identity and change in the Arab world.”
Khoury’s pessimism, in retrospect, must have been tempered by Hariri’s fate in 2005, when the former prime minister was assassinated. By then, many Lebanese could see that Hariri, for all the criticism directed against him for helping to create a parasitical post-war financial order, was also relatively liberal in embracing pluralism.
This was in contrast to the second group pushing against his vision for Beirut, namely Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers. They yearned for the time when the city was a “capital of resistance” against Israel and the US. In the first years of reconstruction, the politician Walid Joumblatt summed up this impossible dichotomy nicely when he said that Lebanon had to choose between being either the Hong Kong or the Hanoi of the Middle East.
While those who killed Hariri thought they had done so, they never adequately resolved the main paradox of Beirut – of being a place open to the outside and to liberal ideas, while also being a citadel of “resistance” mistrustful of openness and tolerance. In the decade and a half since Hariri’s assassination, these two components of Lebanon are still struggling over what Beirut should embody.
In August 2020, it appeared that those who aspired to an open Beirut were permanently silenced when half the city was torn apart by an enormous explosion at its port. Many of Beirut’s older quarters, along with their inhabitants, were devastated. The purveyors of resistance, it was said, were involved in storing and protecting the ammonium nitrate that had wreaked such destruction.
But in the aftermath, it was those who still sought an open, cosmopolitan Beirut who rebuilt the city. They showed, not for the last time, that even in the bleakest of moments there are facets of Beirut that cannot be silenced. Those who think they can impose one absolute identity on it should beware. Beirut has always been defined by its infidelities. In time, it grows tired of those who think the city is theirs.
Michael Young is a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut and a Lebanon columnist for The National
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The years Ramadan fell in May
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The five pillars of Islam
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
