When Beirut singer-songwriter and architectural researcher Mayssa Jallad wrote her historic preservation master’s thesis, turning it into a music album wasn’t part of the plan.
Released earlier this year and launching a new vinyl edition in January, Jallad’s first solo album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels, is a fusion of her two passions, drawing directly on her thesis to give voice to a little-researched part of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), personifying the now abandoned buildings in Beirut’s hotel district.
Growing up in Beirut, Jallad spent years as part of the indie band Safar, singing and writing music alongside studies for her undergrad degree in architecture at the American University of Beirut. She then moved to New York to further her education, where she began delving into the Battle of the Hotels, a five-month subconflict that began on October 22, 1975, and reshaped Beirut’s Minet El-Hosn area.
“I have this obsession with old buildings in Beirut and their architectural history, that tells us so much about the history of the city, which no one really talks about; especially the history of violence that the city has seen,” Jallad tells The National. “My thesis was about figuring out what to do with existing buildings, what heritage is and how to define the significance of a building, which led to me the Battle of the Hotels.
“I went into the events day by day, all the buildings that were invaded – some of which were destroyed – and I felt I was rediscovering my city through writing about this difficult period in time,” she adds.
“After graduation, I went into a job in the middle of New York's financial district. Over the course of that year I felt like I was slowly losing my purpose in life and I wasn't able to write music at all. I wasn't able to use this knowledge in my thesis for anything. One day, I decided I would quit my job in New York, come back to Beirut and write an album about my thesis.”
Written in collaboration with producer Fadi Tabbal and mastered by Heba Kadry, the album tells the story of the world’s first urban high-rise battle, with each track embodying a different event in the conflict or hotel that became a protagonist in the tragic events, the once-opulent hotels repurposed as command posts, strongholds and sniper’s nests.
Jallad also notes the significance of hotels being used for urban warfare as examples of architecture that has backfired against its original purpose: buildings intended as welcoming symbols of optimism and progress instead being targeted because of their size, high walls and perfect views, making them ideal sniper’s nests.
The 12-track record blends Arabic blues with folk, synth, oud and electronic elements with field-recorded soundbites of traffic or thuds that sound like distant gunfire. Jallad’s incredible vocals chronicle what storied buildings such the Holiday Inn, Burj El Murr and Haigazian University witnessed during the war.
“It started with an attempt to invade the Central Bank and then moved east to the hotel district, which was a luxurious symbol of the golden age,” Jallad says. “The invasion of the hotels happened between two warring factions, which were the left-wing Lebanese National Movement and the right-wing Christian Lebanese Front. I have called them in my song the Reds and the Blues [respectively.]
“The first four tracks talk about a general feeling that I have in Beirut. Empty skyscrapers remind me simultaneously of the violent past that I studied and of the violence of real estate, because after the war this hotel district became full of super shiny skyscrapers,” she says. “The next tracks go into embodying each building. I start with Haigazian University, which is where the Blues were hiding to attempt the attack on the Central Bank, then I have a track for Burj El Murr, which was a skyscraper under construction that the Reds decided to invade and make a sniper's nest.”
Two tracks are dedicated to the Holiday Inn, a colossal 1,000-room hotel that became the counter-offensive base for the Reds, targeting the Blues in Burj El Murr.
Today, some, like the Phoenicia Hotel and Palm Beach Hotel have been restored and rebuilt, or repurposed like the Alcazar Hotel – now a bank. The Hilton and the Normandy were demolished by Lebanese company Solidere after the war and the Holiday Inn, the St Georges Hotel and Burj El Murr are still derelict, like looming spectres in Beirut’s fancy upmarket area.
The final track, Al Irth, alludes to Lebanon’s current misfortunes – still mired in sectarian issues that the Taif Agreement failed to resolve and the history erased by Solidere’s post-war reconstruction projects.
The lyrics, “But the war did not end / The war will not end / As long as we vote for the Reds and Blues”, are a call to end the cycle of corruption and violence still present today.
The limited vinyl edition of Marjaa, co-released by Beirut label Ruptured and UK newcomer Six of Swords, will be launched at Dar El Nimer in Beirut in January. The new edition will include maps and a timeline of the historic events, to help people unfamiliar with the city and Civil War grasp how it unfolded.
This month, Jallad has embarked on a short tour of Europe, stopping at Oslo World Festival, Zoart in Brussels and Le Guess Who? festival in The Netherlands, to perform the album.
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
THREE
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The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The Transfiguration
Director: Michael O’Shea
Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
Three stars
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The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
