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LEBANON'S EVOLUTION
Beirut sparkles with a contemporary gloss, but some
things are slow to change
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more on Gatekeepers
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The images confound the stereotype of what a puppet state of Syria should look like.
BEIRUT, Lebanon � Remnants of the 15-year civil war still litter Lebanon's capital. Bullet holes scar empty buildings scattered across the city. But what surprises is how much has changed since the Christian and Muslim militias quit fighting in 1990.
Acres of bombed-out downtown � part of the world's largest reconstruction project � now feature a vibrant high-rent restaurant, office and residential center. Contemporary offices abut new cobblestone streets with dozens of open-air dining establishments drawing fashion-conscious crowds every night.
And, as in any contemporary city, the costly private reconstruction is controversial, with critics sickened by the destruction of many historic spots, including the historic souk, in favor of new buildings. A new market is scheduled to open in 2006.
The images confound the stereotype of what a puppet state of Syria should look like. Armed guards stand in front of American and British banks, but elsewhere evidence of a military presence is largely invisible and women feel safe walking alone day or night.
Early each morning, walkers, joggers and fishermen crowd a wide promenade along the Mediterranean Sea. Women appear in head scarves topped with headsets. Others are bareheaded. Children zigzag around men selling espresso from ornate coffee pots. The biggest difference from an American seaside is that no women wear shorts.
Lebanese academics, politicians and students despise American Middle East policies, but not the American people. Many Lebanese students hope to pursue graduate degrees and jobs in the United States, and many are trilingual, speaking Arabic, French and English.
But when the subject turns to politics, most Lebanese immediately want to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ties to the Iraq war. Lebanon has often served as a battleground in the Arab-Israeli conflict, to its misfortune.
Lebanese also have stereotypes of American policies. U.S. policy is frequently described as united by Zionism, imperialistic, insensitive and ignorant about Muslim culture, and arrogant about �bringing democracy� to the masses. More troubling is America's short-term memory. It is unwilling to acknowledge past links to many of the world's most despicable dictatorial regimes, including that of Saddam Hussein.
And that's the warm-up.
Many Lebanese take a longer view of history than Americans. They argue that the West embraced anti-Semitism and allowed the Holocaust; but the Middle East is expected to �solve� the West's problems by displacing Palestinians in favor of Jews fleeing Europe.
The second-generation publisher of the Beirut Daily Star newspaper recalls that his father's founding partner was Jewish. �There is not a single town from Saudi Arabia to Yemen to here that does not have a Jewish, Christian and Muslim quarter.�
What he and others, however, do not emphasize is the fate of the Jewish quarters today. In Beirut, the novelty of one Jewish voter in municipal elections two weeks ago earned a separate story in the paper. While several thousand Jews still appear on the election rolls, most reportedly fled years ago.
Those who remain do not advertise their religion, and the old Jewish cemetery is overgrown with grass and weeds and managed by a Shiite woman.
Lebanon conducts its elections on a so-called �confessional� system, with voting by religious sect. The nation counts 17 different religions among its populace. The system divides top offices among Christian, Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders, but the division of power is based on a census from the 1930s. Its outdated numbers and unrepresentative leadership divisions are a source of continued tension, as is the domination by Syria on all major elections.
Overwhelming all other issues, however, is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In a nation of 3.5 million in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in poverty, the conflict is of top concern. Lebanon does not allow Palestinians to own property, and they are keen to have them leave to protect their own political structure. What burns them is the perceived U.S. bias for Israel and lack of interest in finding a peaceful resolution.
The Bush-Kerry presidential race carries little interest here. Most Lebanese said both candidates favor Israel, so the election is a non-issue.
Several Lebanese mentioned how shocked they were at how little Americans know about Islam, and how Americans don't differentiate between the religion and the twisted views of terrorist fanatics.
For many in Lebanon, terrorist operations against Israel are commonly called �resistance forces.� Hezbollah is now a complicated mix of social service network, political party and Iran- and Syria-controlled terrorists.
Views of the United States run the gamut from superpower attempting to destroy the Islamic world to superpower that botched its initial good deed of overthrowing Saddam Hussein. A year later, even moderates told visiting American journalists that the United States' reputation has never been lower in the Arab world.
The combination of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, chaos in Iraq and the still-missing weapons of mass destruction are often mentioned as evidence of America's shame. Worse, prison abuse weakens America's ability to stand up to regimes that torture prisoners elsewhere.
As one Lebanese Christian newspaper editor sighed, maybe the Arab world needs to �liberate America.�
Copyright © 2005 International Reporting Project. All Rights Reserved.