23 August 2008

BEIRUT: After three years of back-to-back crises, assassinations and war, this divided country has a window of stability, and Lebanese are jumping at the chance to party again.

Tourists are flooding back in, summer festivals have revved up and restaurants and resorts are packed only months after the small Arab nation was thought to be on the brink of civil war and eventual breakup.

"We're on fire," said Osta Abu Rejaili, mayor of the mountain resort town of Bhamdoun. Perhaps rarely for Lebanon, he means that in a good way: Bhamdoun is crowded with thousands of tourists from Kuwait, Qatar and United Arab Emirates drawn by its cool summer air. "I've been mayor for 10 years and we haven't seen anything like this."

Lebanese have always taken pride in living the good life as much as possible, even during the bitter 1975-90 Civil War. However, the speed with which they have rebounded in these few weeks is startling, perhaps fueled by fears the good times will not last.

The buoyant mood follows what looked like Lebanon's darkest hour. In May, a government move to dismantle Hizbullah's communications network and to sack a Shiite official at Rafik Hariri International Airport sparked tense protests in the capital that degenerated into armed clashes. The fighting, which quickly spread to other parts of the country, saw opposition militants overrun Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut, defeating armed supporters of the government. It appeared three years of power struggle between the two sides could lead to a slide back into civil war.

Instead, the two sides hammered out a political deal - mediated by Qatar - that created a unity government with greater power for the opposition. The deal granted effective veto power in Cabinet to members of the opposition.

But for the moment, the average Lebanese doesn't care who came out on top. They're just enjoying the peace.

"Frankly, I can't stand listening to them speak anymore," said Nathalie Demirdjian, a sales executive at a Beirut eyewear boutique, referring to the country's squabbling politicians. "It's dirty politics. They don't care about the people and all they care about is their interests."

The new mood became clear in late July, when more than 12,000 Lebanese cheered wildly at a concert by Lebanese-American pop singer Mika in Downtown Beirut's Martyrs' Square. A few weeks before, thousands of faithful turned out for a joyous ceremony as a papal envoy beatified a Lebanese Christian monk in the square.

In the once-empty Downtown streets near the square, cafes are full of men and women at umbrella-topped tables dining, drinking and smoking water pipes, entertained by oud players and other traditional musicians. Children of the wealthy play with balloons and slurp at ice cream cones.

It's a grand reopening for a district at the center of Lebanese life in war and peace. Martyrs' Square is named for Lebanese nationalists, both Christian and Muslim, who were hanged in 1916 for rising against Ottoman Turkish rule. It was a busy tourist area in Lebanon's brightest days before the Civil War and then was the front line during the war.

For the past three years, the area was ground zero for everything going wrong in Lebanon, from mass demonstrations after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a car bombing in 2005 to 18 months of protests organized by the opposition that tried unsuccessfully to oust Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

During this mayhem, Lebanon had to endure still more violence.

The summer 2006 war with Israel devastated the South, and months of battles last year between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Fatah al-Islam militants left hundreds dead in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli.

Now, getting a taste of calm, the Lebanese are enjoying life again - and making money.

Mediterranean beaches are packed. Mountain and coastal towns have revived summer festivals put on hold during the troubles. One village even advertised a "church-bell-ringing contest" - a test of strength to show who can keep the heavy tower bells tolling longest.

In June and July, nearly half-a-million passengers flew into Beirut airport, compared to about 300,000 for the same period last year.

Many are Arabs from the Gulf, flush with oil cash and eager to enjoy Lebanon's temperate weather and open lifestyle, a heritage from Christian Lebanese and Beirut's role as the crossing point between Europe and the Middle East. Unlike at home, the Gulf Arabs find alcohol, nightclubs and women in Western clothes who do not hide their charms.

During evenings in Downtown Beirut, women from Gulf countries, some enveloped head-to-toe in black, others decked out in tight jeans swinging designer handbags, hit the expensive boutiques and restaurants. In Jounieh, Gulf men in white robes crowd the gambling tables at the Casino du Liban - another entertainment banned at home - alongside Iraqis, Syrians and Jordanians.

The Gulf Arabs have flooded Bhamdoun, where at night it is cool enough to need a jacket, a far cry from the blazing 40 degrees Celsius typical during August in Riyadh or Abu Dhabi.

Demand for apartments is so high in Bhamdoun, a town of 7,000 about 20 minutes' drive from Beirut, that some residents are renting out their homes for up to $300 a night while staying with family elsewhere. Bhamdoun traffic is gridlocked until the late hours, the cellular network is struggling to keep up with demand and lines form at automatic teller machines.

Abu Rejaili, the mayor, said he hoped Lebanon would finally see investments from the Gulf that have benefited other Arab countries.

"The petrodollar has hovered over Lebanon for a long time, and now it is landing and will not leave," he said.

There are still some worry spots. An August 13 bus bombing in Tripoli that many blamed on Sunni Islamist militants killed 18 Lebanese Army soldiers and civilians.

How long stability lasts depends partly on whether the opposition and Siniora's supporters can get along in the unity government.

The frictions have been clear: It took more than two months after the May agreement for the factions to finally agree on a Cabinet.

However, many rival politicians now say that they want to work together at least until the next scheduled parliamentary elections in May 2009.

George Murad, a Lebanese telecommunications executive who works in Brazil but regularly returns home, said that many in Beirut are convinced the calm is only temporary.

"So," he added, "people want to enjoy it while it lasts." - With The Daily Star

© Copyright The Daily Star 2008.

 

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