Beirut, Lebanon – As Israel bombed southern Lebanon, nobody was within the temper for a full-scale celebration of Christmas regardless of the spiritual, emotional and financial significance of the season.
Regardless of the hardships, some folks nonetheless tried to rejoice. Cafes have been bustling with guests, and the winter visitors was very a lot current on Beirut’s primary streets. However these scenes hid the fact of many Beirutis and the complete spectrum of the Lebanese inhabitants’s experiences.
Such jollity is normally centred in a couple of Beirut streets whereas the streets round them replicate a pointy financial distinction.
After the civil struggle resulted in 1990, reconstruction started in Lebanon, specializing in bringing luxurious actual property to downtown Beirut and creating the service business. However the tasks by no means made it out to a lot of the streets across the centre, which was once a part of a vibrant market by the port that served all town’s social courses.
The waterfront turned clogged by years of “improvement” and “reconstruction” as luxurious skyscrapers for individuals who might afford a “luxurious life” shot up and stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, with their backs to town.
