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Lebanon enters presidential vacuum as Sleiman bids farewell

BEIRUT: Outgoing President Michel Sleiman called Saturday for constitutional reforms that would expand the authority of the president as he bid farewell to the Lebanese after six years in office.

Sleiman and his wife Wafaa left the presidential palace at around 3 p.m. Beirut time, the couple were saluted by the presidential guards before he left. Sleiman is expected to receive supporters in his hometown of Amchit, north of Beirut on Sunday.

“The constitutional practices in the past six years revealed constitutional gaps that obstruct political work in the country,” Sleiman said in his farewell address. “The constitutional committee prepared a suggestion to amend the constitution that would be handed in to the next president.”

The constitutional amendments Sleiman suggested included “restoring the right for the executive power to dismantle the Parliament under the initiative of the president [and] giving the president the right to call for an exceptional Cabinet session when needed.”

Sleiman also called for reconsidering the authority of the Constitutional Council and the appointment of its members and its quorum so that it does not get obstructed again, in reference to last year’s stalemate in the council over a challenge to the extension of Parliament’s mandate.

Other reforms included giving a specific constitutional deadline to Cabinet to sign decrees and laws as is the case for the president. Sleiman also said that Parliament should place urgent draft laws rejected by the president and sent back to Parliament on the latter’s first session to be held thereafter.

The president also said that he would sign a decree that calls on Parliament to hold an extraordinary session to address a new draft law for the parliamentary elections set for November and the controversial salary scale draft law.

“I will sign today a decree to call on Parliament to hold an exceptional session as the country is facing parliamentary elections, which requires setting a new electoral law,” Sleiman said.

“The general situation might also witness urgent issues, and our political system requires Parliament to hold a session to question the Cabinet,” he added.

The president also highlighted the need to set a national defense strategy for the country, an issue that he pushed for throughout his tenure.

“I suggested to the National Dialogue Committee a proposal for the defense strategy, and on the eve of May 25, the memory we are proud of, I say it is time to build a national defense strategy because this would be an essential gateway to the emergence of the state,” he said.

May 25 marks Liberation Day, when Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in the year 2000, ending its occupation to the country.

Sleiman also hailed the efforts of the International Support Group for Lebanon, established in New York last year, to help the country cope with the Syrian refugee crisis and enhance Lebanon’s military capacities.

He said that the Lebanese state should follow up on the resolutions of the support group and expressed hope that the conference scheduled on June 17 in Italy would “promote the capacities of the Army.”

Lebanon recently received a $3 billion Saudi grant to buy equipment and arms for the military, a donation that Sleiman hailed during his speech as a “historic one.”

The farewell ceremony for Sleiman was attended by senior political officials and foreign diplomats, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, former prime ministers Fouad Siniora and Najib Mikati, ministers and lawmakers from various political groups.

There was no sign of any Hezbollah representatives at the ceremony.

Sleiman took office on May 25, 2008, and presided over the country through one of its darkest and most trying periods since the Civil War.

The outgoing president was more or less in a centrist position during his six-year tenure but has recently engaged in a faceoff with Hezbollah over his criticism of the party’s involvement in the Syrian war.

Sleiman has insisted on many occasions that he refused to extend his term, saying he wanted freedom for him and his family. His departure leaves a vacuum in Lebanon’s top Christian post, as lawmakers have failed to elect a new president.

 

Source: The Daily Star

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Workers keep up pressure over wage hike

BEIRUT: Workers went on strike Wednesday in solidarity with the Union Coordination Committee’s demand for a wage hike and to warn the state against increasing taxes.

“We are striking because the state makes promises it does not commit to; the state has no prestige,” the head of the General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn told The Daily Star.

“Instead of finding solutions to the waste in the Treasury, the state wants to impose more taxes on citizens who already have enough financial burdens,” he said.

The National Social Security Fund, the Electricite Du Liban, Beirut’s port, Lebanon’s telephone land-line provider Ogero all closed their offices, bringing Lebanon’s public services to stalemate.

The strike also affected the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, the company responsible for manufacturing, importing and exporting tobacco products, as well as the water authority.

The Air Transport Association is also set to stop work from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Workers are set to take down the streets and hold a sit in Riad al-Solh.

Ghosn said all offices were committed to the strike.

Lawmakers have been unable to pass the pay hike draft bill due to severe disagreements over how it should be financed, with some suggesting that Value Added Tax be raised and others calling for taxes on coastal properties.

Ghosn said that the GLC has its own demands, including improving conditions for retired workers through a comprehensive plan by the NSSF.

“However, the priority remains for now giving the public sector employees their rights,” he said.

The civil servants held a massive protest Tuesday to pressure lawmakers to endorse the salary scale draft law, with most private schools committing to the strike.

 

Source: The Daily Star

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Students protest over shutting school in north Lebanon

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Students, parents and educational bodies protested Saturday in Mina, north Lebanon, over a decision to shut down a public school for girls in the area.

The protesters gathered outside the Andre Nahhas High School in Mina raising banners in protest, including one proclaiming “the Andre Nahhas High School is not for sale.”

Lebanese authorities had previously decided to bring down the school building, arguing it is in a poor state of repair.

However, the students and parents’ committee argue that the building only needs to be rehabilitated.

Andre Nahhas is the only girls-only school in Mina.

 

Source: The Daily Star

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U.N. urges Lebanon to complete election on time

BEIRUT: U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly urged lawmakers Thursday to complete the presidential election before the Constitutional deadline, a day after Parliament failed to elect a candidate.

“I should take the opportunity in light of yesterday’s events to stress the priority that we attach to the continuity of state institutions and in that sense to welcome the beginning of the presidential election process yesterday and to underline our concern that it be completed successfully within the timeframe set by law,” Plumbly said.

His comments came during a brief chat with reporters at the Grand Serail following a meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

MPs failed Wednesday to elect a new president in the first round of polls in Parliament with presidential hopeful Samir Geagea receiving 48 votes while 52 lawmakers opted to cast a blank ballot.

Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled April 30 for the second round of voting in which a nominee should receive 65 votes to win.

Plumbly also said he discussed with Salam the security plan aimed at restoring law and order in the country, saying he expressed appreciation for the measures.

The U.N. official said he stressed the “international community’s support for Lebanon’s security and the steps this government is taking.”

“Specifically, on the army, we had a meeting in Rome two weeks ago which was a preparatory one designed to reinforce international efforts to assist the Lebanese army,” he said.

The two also spoke about the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, with over one million refugees.

“I emphasized our continued support for the government as it tries to address the very immediate challenges, our understanding of the size of the challenge facing Lebanon and the readiness of the United Nations to stand side by side with Lebanon including, of course, in providing assistance to host communities,” he said.

Source: The Daily Star

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Lebanese watch polls but remain apathetic

BEIRUT: From grocers to dressmakers, Lebanese from Christian and Muslim neighborhoods alike were avidly following the televised parliamentary session to elect a new president Wednesday, but said results would not impact their lives directly.

Most were cynical about the effectiveness of the candidates vying for the country’s top Christian post, remaining apathetic over the results, no matter who the victor might be.

Some, like dressmaker Habib Said from Beirut’s Hamra, had predicted the results before they were announced: “No one will get the majority, there will be another session,” he told The Daily Star minutes before Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced the news.

The Parliament session failed to elect a new head of state, as rival factions remained divided over the country’s next president. None of the proposed candidates secured the two-thirds majority needed to win in the first round of voting.

The session was adjourned for lack of quorum after many March 8 coalition lawmakers walked out, with a new session set for April 30.

The disappointing conclusion had little effect on Lebanese watching the developments on TV.

“They [politicians] all mock the people,” said Josephine Sahyoun, who works in a baby clothes store in the Metn town of Bsalim.

For Sahyoun, none of the proposed candidates were worthy of the presidential post.

She trivialized the polls. She said she wouldn’t be surprised in the event of a presidential vacuum, as “this is Lebanon after all.”

Sahyoun’s feelings were echoed by many Christians in the area; several had told The Daily Star they were simply not interested in monitoring the election. Television screens in a number of shops were tuned in to serial dramas, not the live broadcast of the parliamentary session.

In a Broummana bookstore, elderly employee Nawader laughed off the election entirely. “We are not even watching the news,” she said, gesturing toward the soap opera playing out on TV. Her two friends nodded in agreement nearby.

“Whatever needs to happen, let it happen, we don’t care at all,” Nawader added. She complained that politicians do more harm than good, claiming that they were responsible for driving her children to leave the country to find work abroad.

“We are fed up,” she said.

Dismissive reactions were rampant on social media, with many offering their criticisms about the election using the hashtag #lebanonpresident2014.

“Lebanese presidential elections session: Comedy in the making. #lebanonpresident2014,” read one such tweet.

“I am uncomfortable with voting for a murderer. But this is Lebanese politics. Choice is real limited. #lebanonpresident2014,” another tweet said, referring to March 14 candidate and head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea.

Some ballots submitted included the names of figures killed during the Civil War. Their relatives still accuse the LF leader for being responsible for their murders.

Other tweets also referred disparagingly to the 52 blank ballots that were cast in the session.

“And the blank ballot is winning #LebanonPresident2014. Why not, let’s just keep it that way,” said one particular tweet.

In Hamra, seemingly every television set was tuned into the news, with fruit vendors, barbers and coffee shop patrons alike watching the parliamentary session closely.

Posters of late former President Fouad Chehab – known for his reformist platform – were seen across the neighborhood, with the slogan “ Fouad Chehab for president” spelled out in bold underneath.

“We are hearing it, but we aren’t watching,” said the dressmaker Said, as Berri appeared on television announcing presidential candidates.

Were he to pick a candidate it would be Geagea.

“For sure,” he said. “Because he’s Lebanese,” hailing the LF leader’s critical stances on Hezbollah.

“I want to know who the candidates will be,” convenience store owner Joseph Karam said. When asked whether the results bore personal significance, he responded with a cool “No, it’s just fun to watch.”

“It’s interesting because there’s no clear favorite,” he said.

“It’s the first time there are many potential candidates.”

The elderly key-maker Atef and his associate Bilal were glued to the television set as election figures were announced. When the speaker announced Geagea was in the lead with 48 votes, Atef grunted. “Not enough,” he said.

Both men guffawed when Kataeb leader Amine Gemayel’s single vote was broadcast.

“We are following it,” said Atef, “But, I don’t really care who wins. None of them are working for the people’s interests.”

Geagea’s candidacy was greeted with more hostility in Shiite neighborhoods – which tend to support Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun – as his past conviction for the murder of former Prime Minister Rashid Karami and other activities during the Civil War period, as well as his harsh stances toward Hezbollah, have rubbed some the wrong way.

“He is a murderer,” said Kamal, the owner of a convenience store in Khandaq al-Ghamiq, where many residents support the Amal Movement. “Aoun, that’s it,” he said, when asked who he would back.

His sentiments were echoed by many, who perceive Aoun to be on their side, given his party’s association with the March 8 group.

“Geagea, he works with the Israelis,” butcher Fouad Aoun declared with a brush of the hand, also from Khandaq al-Ghamiq. “Everyone here likes Aoun, because he’s close to Hezbollah.”

But at an appliance store nearby, Mazen Hajjar of Zoqaq al-Blat said it didn’t matter who took the top Christian post. “All the candidates are criminals,” he said dismissively.

Despite the general pessimism, some remained hopeful.

For 26-year-old Giselle Garamani, who hails from the Baabda town of Qornayel, though Wednesday’s outcome was to be expected, she still considered the election an “important” event.

Garamani believes a presidential vacuum would be guaranteed, unless Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai directly intervenes and calls for a centrist candidate. “Otherwise, we will have no leader,” she said.

In Jounieh’s souks, Elia Ghosn was closely watching television in his beauty parlor as the clock hit noon and MPs began to cast their votes.

“My television is on and I am following up,” Ghosn, who hails from the Bekaa Valley, said proudly.

But like many, he feared a vacuum if the candidates selected were not “made in Lebanon,” which he said was a likely scenario.

Not far down, Alaa Sakr, the owner of a hardware store, told The Daily Star he too has been following up on the elections, even though his store lacked a television set.

He was concerned that a presidential vacuum would be bad for business. “We need a strong president,” Sakr said, naming former Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud as the ideal candidate.

Rashid Barbar, the owner of a lingerie store in Zalka, was more preoccupied with business than the election. After Parliament’s failure to elect a president became clear, the flat screen in Barbar’s store was still tuned into the news. “I watch when I don’t have clients,” he said.

Source: The Daily Star

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Berri to call for second round of presidental election in May

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to call for a second parliamentary session set to elect a new president in May as observers are decisive that the first round on Wednesday will not lead to the election of a new head of state.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, the speaker will call for another round unless consensus among parliamentary blocs was reached over the name of the new president.

Lawmakers told the newspaper that Berri’s call on the head of diplomatic missions in Lebanon and former Presidents to attend a legislative session then it would be an indication that consensus has been reached.

MPs said that the speaker informed all parliamentary blocs that he is ready to call for a parliamentary session on Friday afternoon and during the weekend if he sensed that there is possibility for agreement.

Wednesday’s first round of parliamentary deliberations to vote for a new president is expected to fail to elect a new president amid disputes over the name of the new head of state, which threatens a vacuum at the helm of the country’s most important Christian post.

Parliamentary blocs will vote for two candidates on Wednesday – a March 14 official, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc member, MP Henri Helou.

Source: Naharnet

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 News, Success Stories

SUCCESS STORY: A family recipe for the American Dream

By Charlie Kadado

The recipe of success for the Elnachar family of Sterling Heights includes a lifelong dream and plenty of hard work. Prompted by ambition and a determined work ethic, the family of 6 worked assiduously until their aspirations became a reality.

In November 2003, in hopes of providing more desirable opportunities for their four children, Claude and Henriette Elnachar immigrated to the Detroit area with nothing more than an ambitious dream.4-IMG_1376

Although it didn’t come easy, the Elnachar family spent years improving their talents by working several jobs in diverse industries. Finally, after 8 years of private sector experience, they decided to combine their skills and open Courthouse Café and Grill in Downtown Mount Clemens.

The Elnachar family opened the restaurant in March 2013, after spending two months prior remodeling, purchasing appliances and equipment, and refining their menu.

“Just like every immigrant’s dream to come to the United States and achieve their goals and plans – we wanted to be successful,” said Wadad Elnachar, one of the restaurant managers. “We’re all hard workers in the family, so instead of working in separate places, we decided to combine our skills and open up our own place. Each one of us had a role in doing something.”

The family’s patriarch, Claude Elnachar, beams from ear to ear when he talks about his life growing up in Lebanon. Elnachar served in the Lebanese Army and Lebanese Forces militia, where he learned how to prepare authentic Lebanese dishes for himself and fellow soldiers.

2-IMG_1368“I used to watch and see how other people cook and follow what they did,” Elnachar said. “We follow recipes that are passed down from our parents and grandparents.”

Claude and his wife Henriette have perfected their culinary talents over several decades. They offer 67 years of combined culinary experience, from preparing holiday luncheons at home to providing catered meals for hundreds.

Courthouse Café and Grill is all about one family’s desire to fulfill the American dream. In May 2013, the restaurant rebranded by excluding their original breakfast menu and enhancing authentic Lebanese dishes for lunch and dinner.

Sisters Wadad and Rachelle Elnachar worked together to design the menu, train servers, and ensure superior customer service. Their older sister Eliane Elnachar helped select furniture and decorations. And according to Wadad, “Eliane’s job is (also) to come in and look pretty.” Finally, their older brother Bachir helps with paperwork and financial-related aspects of the restaurant.

“We go months and months without a day off, but at the end, it feels like home,” says Wadad. “We see our family everyday, we work together and we get to know each other more. In the end, we’re always thinking about how to become better – how to grow, satisfy, and make everyone happy.”6-IMG_1382

Working together sometimes meets its challenges, according to Wadad. She says the long working hours are “physically and mentally tiring.” Although she admits family stubbornness, they learn to work together for the best of the business.

“My mom wants to play Fairuz, my dad wants Abdel Halim Hafez, I don’t want any of it, but I have to listen to it,” she told Lebanese Examiner.

Courthouse Café and Grill has become a signature Lebanese restaurant and one of the few open-late restaurants in the business district of Downtown Mount Clemens.

Wadad says their most popular items are chicken shawarma and fattoush. They also sell garlic paste and salad dressing in high quantity.

“Our customers absolutely love it. They love the idea of the whole mom-and-pop shop,” she said.

1-IMG_1364Longtime customer and local business owner Bobby Staszak picks up a smoothie and salad on many evenings. He says their salad dressing is “definitely addicting.”

“It adds it’s own little character and you get a different style food – different flavors for sure,” Staszak said.

These are the same flavors that native Lebanese immigrants also enjoy.

“There are a lot of Lebanese people who come in and always tell us that the food tastes exactly how their mom or grandma used to cook it at home,” Wadad said.

For this large, striving family, their success story didn’t come easy. Despite daily obstacles, the Elnachar family says they feel “accomplished.”

“It’s always been our dream to have our own business. Not only have we opened it, but we also kept it, and grew it.”

For more information about Courthouse Café and Grill, visit courthousecafeandgrill.com

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Aoun’s bloc to cast blank ballot for presidential election

BEIRUT: The Change and Reform bloc headed by MP Michel Aoun will cast a blank ballot during Wednesday’s Parliament session to elect a new president as the presumed candidates have yet to secure a two-thirds majority.

“We will attend tomorrow’s Parliament session and we will cast a blank ballot,” MP Emile Rahme told reporters after a bloc meeting chaired by Aoun in Rabieh.

While the former Army general has said he would only run for the country’s top Christian post as a “consensus candidate,” his rival, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced his candidacy earlier this month.

Meanwhile, MP Walid Jumblatt said his National Struggle Front bloc nominated MP Henry Helou for the post, describing the Aley lawmaker as a “voice of moderation.”

Speaking to reporters after his bloc’s meeting, Jumblatt denied Helou’s nomination was a “political maneuver,” saying he believed his lawmaker can help safeguard the country.

Only Geagea and MP Robert Ghanem have announced their candidacy for the presidency although Lebanon has entered its two-month constitutional deadline to elect a new head of state.

President Michel Sleiman’s six-year term ends on May 25.

None of the candidates including those who consider themselves natural nominees such as Auon and Kataeb head Amin Gemayel have yet worked to secure two thirds majority for the first round of the parliamentary sessions.

In a clear sign Gemayel would not enter the presidential race as announced last week, MP Elie Marounie said Kataeb lawmakers would attend the legislative session and vote in favor of Geagea.

A Lebanese Forces delegation headed by MP Strida Geagea handed Speaker Nabih Berri a copy of presidential hopeful Geagea’s platform during a meeting in Ain el-Tineh.

Geagea said the speaker praised her husband’s agenda, saying the LF expected its head to do well in Wednesday’s session.

“We expect Geagea to get no less than 50 votes for the first round of election… we have 37 votes from the Future bloc, eight votes from the Lebanese Forces along with several other independent lawmakers,” the MP told reporters after the meeting.

“As a March 14 coalition, we insist on having a single candidate. Our candidate, as March 14 forces, is Geagea and it is too early to talk about other options,” she added.

She also thanked Telecoms Minister Butros Harb, once thought to be a presidential hopeful, for contacting Geagea and voicing support for his candidacy.

Earlier in the day, Berri held talks with MP Michel Murr, head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Arslan as well as Health Minister Wael Abu Faour who headed a delegation from Jumblatt.

Murr said he along with MP Nayla Tueni would attend Wednesday’s morning session, adding that he expected quorum.

“I will check with my conscious and Lebanon’s interest and then I will elect a president on that basis,” Murr told reporters after the meeting in Ain el-Tineh.

Berri also spoke to Arslan and the PSPS delegation about the presidential election.

The speaker also met with a delegation from Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya headed by MP Imad Hout.

Several blocs have already confirmed their attendance of Wednesday’s session including lawmakers from Jumblatt and Berri’s blocs.

MP Robert Ghanem who visited Geagea and Maronite Cardinal Beshara Rai Tuesday said he was running for the election because he was a consensus candidate.

“I announced my candidacy on the basis that I am a consensus president. According to Article 49, the president is the head of the nation’s unit and works for its institutions,” Ghanem told reporters after his meeting with Geagea in Maarab.

“When I announced I was running, I was convinced that the power of moderation is the effective power that can restore state institutions,” he added.

Future MP Ahmad Fatfat also met with Rai and ruled out the possibility of Lebanon plunging into a presidential vacuum.

Source: The Daily Star

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Mustaqbal Announces ‘Full Support’ to Geagea

Al-Mustaqbal bloc announced on Monday its “full support” to the leader of the Lebanese Forces in his presidential bid, as LF delegates continued their visits to parties and parliamentary blocs over Samir Geagea’s run for office.

“We announce our full support to Samir Geagea in his run for presidency,” al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat stated after talks with LF delegates.

Fatfat added that Geagea’s presidential program “responds to the needs of the Lebanese people, to their aspirations and to their longing for strengthening the state’s sovereignty, and restoring its prestige and role.”

LF MP George Adwan praised al-Mustaqbal bloc’s stance, considering it a “major step.”

He also assured that “all March 14 blocs are committed to attending the scheduled parliamentary session on Wednesday to elect a new president.”

“We will have a unified stance before Wednesday’s parliamentary session,” he revealed.

Simultaneously, another LF delegation met with Prime Minister Tammam Salam in the Beirut neighborhood of Msaytbeh to hand him Geagea’s presidential program.

MP Sethrida Geagea reiterated after the talks that March 14 will have one presidential candidate, noting that a positive atmosphere has prevailed so far in the envoys’ meetings with local figures and parliamentary blocs.

Earlier in the day, MP Geagea handed Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel the presidential program of the LF leader, stressing also the unity of the March 14 alliance regarding the presidential polls.

She said after meeting Gemayel at the Kataeb’s headquarters in Saifi in Beirut: “The March 14 alliance will be united in its stand over the elections.”

“The alliance will stand behind one candidate when it heads to the parliamentary session on Wednesday,” she told reporters.

Geagea described her meeting with Gemayel as positive, saying that the two sides highlighted the importance of the elections.

MP Geagea then met Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, handing him a copy of the LF chief’s presidential program.

Jumblat confirmed after the talks that he will attend Wednesday’s parliamentary session, saying however that he will declare his stance on the polls on Tuesday.

OTV revealed later that the National Struggle Front will convene tomorrow at 5:30 pm to discuss the presidential elections.

Meanwhile, another LF delegation met on Monday afternoon with National Liberal Party leader MP Dory Chamoun and the Jamaa Islamiya.

“We agreed on the importance of holding the presidential elections on time,” LF MP Antoine Zahra said after meeting with Chamoun, remarking that the March 14 coalition agrees on Geagea’s presidential program.

The two-member delegation, which included Geagea’s adviser Wehbe Qatisha in addition to Zahra, then visited the headquarters of the Jamaa Islamiya in Beirut where it held talks with MP Imad al-Hout and the party’s political bureau chief Wael Najm.

LF delegates also met with former premier Najib Miqati and they are scheduled to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri to hand him a copy of the presidential program.

The party’s envoys had met with President Michel Suleiman, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun for the same purpose.

Geagea is the only political leader to so far announce his nomination for the elections.

Parliament is scheduled to convene on Wednesday in order to hold the polls amid concerns that the needed quorum will not be met.

Commenting on this possibility, MP Geagea said: “All lawmakers are obligated to exercise their duties and attend the session.”

Source: Naharnet

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Construction frenzy in Lebanon alters Beirut’s skyline

BEIRUT –  One by one, the old traditional houses of Beirut are vanishing as luxury towers sprout up on every corner, altering the city’s skyline almost beyond recognition amid an ongoing construction frenzy seemingly immune to tensions from the civil war raging next door.

Lebanon’s enchanting Ottoman and colonial French-style buildings once represented Beirut’s rich history, withstanding years of civil war and invasions only to be demolished in peace time by wealthy Gulf Arab investors.

In that, Beirut is no different than Dubai, Doha or other major world cities overtaken by a global trend for modern, tall buildings. But in a country that prides itself on its rich history, many complain that Lebanon is losing its charm and character, often said to be the only thing going for it.

A famously scenic Mediterranean city surrounded by once lush mountains, Beirut may soon be overrun with buildings — all at the expense of green parks and pedestrian areas.

Robert Saliba, professor of architecture and urban planning at the American University of Beirut, said Beirut always has been attractive for investors because of its cultural diversity and free spirit.

“Beirut is a reflection of a hybrid city where the market takes over the future development. … My own observation is that Beirut was never interested in its history. It’s a city that was always taken by modernity,” he said.

Still, he said Beirut is fast becoming saturated, a city often said to provide the smallest ratio of open spaces for its inhabitants in the world.

It is a transformation that those familiar with the city can barely keep up with.

When Salim Baalbaki arrived to Lebanon last year for the first time after more than 15 years spent working in Canada, he struggled to recognize where he grew up, a few steps from Beirut’s seaside promenade and central district.

The tree-lined corniche where he took long walks during lulls in fighting during the 1975-90 civil war is now dotted with luxury apartment buildings that sell units for as much as $10,000 per square meter (square yard). The once bustling downtown area, razed to the ground and spectacularly rebuilt after the civil war, is seen as a beautiful yet sterile lot of polished boutiques and high-priced restaurants.

Tall buildings stick out at odd lengths and angles, wedged almost wall to wall between older buildings and sprouting out of alleys.

Worst of all for Baalbaki, the parking lot where he used to play soccer with friends next to his parent’s apartment building has been replaced with a high rise that blocks the light from the apartment.

“Actually my depression started when I looked down from the airplane during landing and saw the jungle of cement below,” Baalbaki said. “It is a disaster and it makes me sad for Lebanon.”

Not everyone shares Baalbaki’s gloom. Beirut’s post-war reconstruction is seen by many as a model to be looked upon by countries in the region. Despite the chaos in neighboring Syria, and bouts of deadly spillover, construction barely has slowed down. The city is buzzing with the sounds of jackhammers and active cranes dot the skyline — a healthy sign amid turbulent times, some say.

The construction boom has been fueled in the past decade by rich expatriates and Gulf Arab investors who have driven prices up, encouraging Beirut property owners to sell.

Analysts say despite slowing local demand because of the war in Syria, high real estate prices in Lebanon have been sustained partly because of the scarcity of land. The increase in real estate demand by displaced Syrians somewhat compensated for reduced local demand, helping maintain real estate prices.

But while Lebanon’s real estate sector has developed to become one of the country’s success stories, many say it is coming at the expense of Lebanon’s identity and heritage.

It has led to the destruction of hundreds of traditional Lebanese houses known for their stoned, arched headways, elaborate balconies and colorful windows and gardens. The houses, dating back French and Ottoman era, are mainly in Beirut and its peripheries, areas that were heavily damaged during Lebanon’s civil war.

An initial census in the early 1990s counted 1600 traditional homes and buildings in the greater Beirut area. Today, an estimated 250 standing structures remain, said Naji Raji, an activist and spokesman for Save Beirut Heritage.

He blames the demolitions on politicians’ corruption, greed and non-existent construction regulations or any sort of urban planning outside the Beirut Central District. There are virtually no laws that specifically protect old buildings, except for a ministerial decree issued a few years ago which states that every demolition permit must be co-signed by the Culture Ministry, giving it power to stop the demolition of traditional homes.

Save Beirut Heritage has a hotline through which it receives tips about old buildings threatened with demolitions, which it conveys to the Culture Ministry. This has allowed the group to halt the demolition of up to 60 buildings in Beirut and its suburbs since 2010.

Raji’s latest pet project is lobbying against the Fouad Boutros highway, a 1.3-kilometer (0.81-mile) road expected to cut through historic quarters of Beirut.

Like many others, Raji worries that Beirut is losing its identity to become more like Dubai, famous for its splashy megaprojects but often criticized as being artificial and lacking character.

“Modernization should not be at the expense of history,” Raji said.

However, Saliba said that modernizing mess is seen by some as Lebanon’s charm.

“Strangely enough this visual chaos is appreciated more by … foreigners, by Westerners who come to Beirut, who fall in love with this chaos,” Saliba said.

The professor added: “But we don’t.”

Source: FOX News

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