[Dean's World] Mary Madigan: Beirut rules

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Beirut rules
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1168292587.shtml


   When people heard that I was planning to travel to Beirut, their
   reaction was the same - they said "You're going - where??"

   [1]hard rock 
   Hard Rock Cafe, Beirut

   Despite March 14th's outpouring of pro-democracy fervor, despite the
   images of more than a million Lebanese (in a nation of 4 million)
   championing freedom, despite the very real similarities between
   Beirut, Italy and Paris, "Beirut", the word and the city, have become
   synonymous with urban warfare, snipers and car bombs. In the movies,
   whenever an American wanders into Beirut, he winds up dumped in the
   back of a car with hood over his head. This happened in [2]Syriana, a
   movie I fortunately only saw after I returned from my trip. In a
   pivotal scene, George Clooney's CIA agent threatens a James Bakeresque
   government official with what he calls "Beirut Rules" - "if anything
   happens to me, my friends will kill your children, your wife, then
   you.."

   [3]coffee with ronald 
   Coffee with Ronald, Beirut

   Those are the "Beirut rules" we hear about in the west. I told friends
   that there was a Hard Rock Cafe in Beirut. "It's full of bullet holes,
   right?" they said.

   [4]bus driver 
   Bus Driver, Sunni neighborhood, West Beirut

   The week before the trip was spent trying to make and rearrange
   flights to both Beirut and Israel (for the [5]Herzliyya conference), a
   process that's difficult at best considering that there are no flights
   from Beirut to Israel.

   The week before the trip I tried tell myself that I was not worried,
   but I barely ate anything at all. Warren Zevon's [6]Lawyers, Guns and
   Money kept running through my head.

   [7]Hariri assassination scene 
   The result of the 600 pounds of explosives used to assassinate former
   Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri

   Soon after [8]this shooting occurred, I got an email from [9]Michael
   Totten saying "Things are dicey here, and could get worse." Since my
   complete lack of knowledge about Beirut or the Middle East would make
   me a real liability in an emergency, I responded by offering to call
   off my trip. But he wrote back, saying the situation wasn't as bad as
   it originally seemed.

   [10]snipers tower 
   Sniper's Tower, downtown Beirut

   [11]holiday inn 
   Holiday Inn, downtown Beirut

   Still, news reports kept the Beirut/warzone image alive. There were
   the rumors that Hezbollah was going to storm the Beirut airport. I
   tried to pack for warzone conditions, choosing camping clothes -
   things that didn't show dirt, that you could wash in a ditch. As a
   result, I was seriously frumpy in fashionable Beirut.

   My first day there, as we walked down towards the rally, past scores
   of soldiers lining the streets, pockmarked buildings (were those
   bullet holes?) and a kitchen knife that lay, incongruously clean,
   across the sidewalk in front of a restaurant, Michael did a quick
   overview of the situation in Beirut, delivered with a kinetic
   enthusiasm for the city and the people who lived there.

   His alternative [12]Beirut rules: Beirut is entreprenurial, urbane and
   democratic. They're not leaning towards fascism - if anything,
   (epecially traffic-wise) the city leans towards anarchy. Sunnis,
   Christians and Shia all hang out at the same bars. Nobody, including
   Hezbollah, wants to impose sharia laws on this place, because no one
   would stand for that. And no one wants civil war.

   [13]fruit stand 
   Fruit stand

   [14]midday traffic 
   Midday traffic

   Street crime wasn't a problem in Beirut- basically, the real robbers
   work for the phone company and the goverment. In that kind of corrupt
   economy, petty crime isn't tolerated. Beirut was starting to sound
   more like Hoboken, a Hoboken with tanks in the street and barbarians
   at the gate.

   [15]starbucks 

   I had hoped to visit Southern Lebanon, but Michael's contacts, the
   [16]serious professional Lebanese enemies of Hezbollah, decided that
   this wouldn't be prudent. I'd also hoped to drive to Mount Lebanon but
   my poor planning, limited daylight hours and rumors floating of
   another Hezobllah-led airport takeover made that unworkable.

   So, I spent most of my time doing what I usually do in a new city,
   walking everywhere, taking pictures.

   [17]overpass view 
   view of the mountains

   [18]balloon 
   Balloon rides offered downtown

   Given how easy it is to travel by taxi in Beirut, a random walking
   tour turned out to be the best option. When my feet got tired, I could
   grab a cheap ($1.50) "service" taxi. But, before I could do that, I
   had to learn the name of the closest landmark to the hotel, a place
   the mostly arabic-speaking drivers could easily find. The closest
   landmark was the Saint George Medical center. In Arabic, the Hospital
   was called 'Moostache Fa-Room". The incongruity of a hospital whose
   name sounded like a comic-book bad guy made the phrase easy to
   remember.

   [19]slipper shop 
   Socks and slippers

   While taking pictures of a mosque in West Beirut I bumped into another
   woman who was taking the same picture, who was also dressed for a
   camping and/or a warzone. I guessed that she was a fellow American and
   said hello.

   She was an American, a film producer who had grown up in Lebanon
   during the civil war. She was amazed by the improvements they'd made,
   the new buildings, the reconstruction and repairs. As we walked in
   search of the [20]American University of Beirut and the nearby crepe
   shops, she talked about growing up here, a childhood that sounded
   surprisingly normal. She wasn't sure about how she felt, coming back,
   but the weather was certainly an improvement over Washington, DC.

   [21]mural 
   Mural, Beirut

   Another day, in a Sunni neighborhood that seemed to be more
   conservative than most (most of the women were veiled, signs were in
   Arabic, not English), I stopped by a bakery and ordered using my
   excruciatingly bad Arabic, figuring that they wouldn't speak English.
   I was wrong - their English was about as good as mine and their
   chocolate croissants and petit fours were geniuinely French.

   [22]hezbollah vs. christmas [23]downtown shops 
   No tourism, no Christmas shoppers, razor wire

   The reconstructed Downtown shopping district was ringed with razor
   wire, patrolled by soldiers and police. At the height of the holiday
   season, the stores are open, but they're empty as a result of
   Hezbollah's encampment downtown. Just one more way that Hezbollah's
   Putsch is ruining Beirut's economy.

   damaged building
   Unreconstructed building, downtown

   [24]downtown 

   Although I was warned away from the areas controlled by Hezbollah, I
   did decide to wander into their downtown emcampment. Unfortunately I
   decided to do this at night. The area under the overpass was filled
   with garbage and roaming dogs.The propaganda stands were neglected,
   kalishnikov flags and hammer and sickle were both grey in the
   moonlight. A little kid, about 5 years old, was wandering alone,
   stumbling, apparently high or drunk. Older men sitting near the edges
   of curbs, a few groups of teenagers watched him and me with an
   expression that couldn't be called sympathetic.

   The atmosphere wasn't [25]Phish concert at night, it was more like the
   South Bronx, 1984. The shivers running down my spine told me to put my
   camera away, to refrain from wandering up to the tents to ask
   questions. I walked towards the street and stood in front of a bakery,
   looking for a taxi.

   Another Beirut rule that applies to urban areas worldwide: When you're
   not looking for a taxi, they're always in your face - when you
   actually want one, they're never around.

   The baker was closing up shop, bringing in a cart of breadloaves. For
   some reason, he handed me a loaf of bread, and he refused to let me
   pay for it.

   That sort of kindness was the "Beirut rule" that I saw in most of the
   neighborhoods I wandered through.

   A taxi appeared. With a quick incantation of "Moostache Fa-Room", I
   was on my way home.

   * [26]Charles Malik describes his walk through the camps at night.

References

   1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341939285/
   2. http://syrianamovie.warnerbros.com/
   3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341939280/
   4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341939285/
   5. http://www.theaugeanstables.com/herzilya-conference/
   6. http://www.davemcnally.co.uk/lyrics/WarrenZevon/LawyersGunsandMoney.asp
   7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341939297/
   8. http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&A2A9ED97879D4816422572390064437D
   9. http://www.michaeltotten.com/
  10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341110142/
  11. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/344792330/
  12. http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=7257d2aa-ac79-42ce-8a87-e5b66b6e5532
  13. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341061831/in/set-72157594454626553/
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  15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/342769822/
  16. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001357.html
  17. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/341061824_87041c7b72/
  18. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341939297/
  19. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341061816/
  20. http://www.aub.edu.lb/
  21. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341012649/
  22. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/342769835/
  23. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/344792324/
  24. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29136804@N00/341061838/
  25. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001357.html
  26. http://lebop.blogspot.com/2006/12/fight-in-tents.html