Date: Wed Nov 19 18:07:40 2014
What Is Behind the Continuous Violence in Tripoli?
* By Changiz Varzi
<http://www.fairobserver.com/author/Changiz%20Varzi>
* . November 19, 2014
http://fon.fairobserver.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/piereg_users_files
/7991/file_3287874674-120x120.jpgChangiz Varzi
<http://www.fairobserver.com/author/Changiz%20Varzi>
Changiz M. Varzi is an Iranian journalist who has worked for
Persian-language media for over 14 years. He holds a Master's degree in
Journalism, Media
.... Read more <http://www.fairobserver.com/author/Changiz%20Varzi>
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Lebanon <http://www.fairobserver.com/tag/lebanon/> poverty
<http://www.fairobserver.com/tag/poverty/> Syrian Civil War
<http://www.fairobserver.com/tag/syrian_civil_war/> Tripoli
<http://www.fairobserver.com/tag/tripoli/>
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The latest clashes in Tripoli in north Lebanon are not just a result of
Islamic extremism or a spillover effect from the Syrian war. [Please scroll
down for the mini gallery.]
A group of men sat on the sidewalk, drinking Arabic coffee in
<http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Tripoli> Tripoli's old souks. The wall
behind them was covered with the shahada (Islamic testimony of faith), which
is also written on the flag of the
<http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Islamic+State> Islamic State (IS). I pointed
the camera at them, but before I could push the shutter, one of them angrily
got up from his seat and approached me while saying in Arabic: "La, la, la,
la sorah!" (No, no, no, no photo!). This was five days after the deadly
clashes of late October in <http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Lebanon>
Lebanon's second largest city, or as the Lebanese call it: the capital of
the north.
The latest fighting in Tripoli started on October 24 and ended after four
days when the Lebanese army retook control of the al-Tabanneh
<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Oct-28/275606-residents-
return-to-tripoli-as-lebanese-army-pursues-gunmen.ashx#axzz3IwbzQhAj>
neighborhood. During the clashes, 11 soldiers, eight civilians and 22
militants were
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/28/uk-mideast-crisis-lebanon-idUKKBN0
IH17H20141028> killed and more than 100 wounded. Although this was not the
first time that the people of Tripoli had fallen asleep to the noise of
explosion and gunshots in the background, the latest round of violence was
unique in its scale and causes. To fully understand the situation in the
city, it is vital to explore the deeper reasons behind the recurring
violence in Tripoli.
A New Dimension of Fighting in Tripoli
There has been a long and constant history of armed confrontations in
Tripoli. Clashes between the <http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Sunni> Sunni
al-Tabbaneh and the <http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Alawite> Alawite Jabal
Mohsen neighborhoods are not new phenomena. The rivalry between the two
communities is deeply rooted in the history of northern Lebanon and goes
back to the Ottoman Empire and <http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=France>
French colonization - an enmity that reached its climax during Lebanon's
Civil War.
North Lebanon, with its predominantly Sunni population, has been the home of
various rebel movements since the end of the civil war in 1990. The Dinnieh
(27 kilometers northeast of Tripoli) uprising in north Lebanon in the early
2000s is one example of this. In 2007, the army fought Fatah al--Islam
militants in Nahr al--Bared (16 kilometers north of Tripoli) for three
months. Though the polarizing events of the
<http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=Syria> Syrian Civil War helped exacerbate
the current clashes, these confrontations are also rooted in other important
reasons.
During the latest clashes, however, these rival groups from Alawite and
Sunni neighborhoods were not fighting each other. An assault from Sunni
militants on army forces in the heart of Tripoli sparked the clashes that
rapidly spread to the entire city. The attack was triggered by the arrest of
Ahmad Salim Mikati, who the army accuses of being affiliated with Islamists
in Syria and recruiting young Lebanese to fight against the army.
The four-day fighting in Tripoli was on a larger scale than before. This
round of clashes was also not limited to al-Tabbaneh or Jabal Mohsen. The
gun battle started in Tripoli's old souks, a candidate for UNESCO World
Heritage status. Other neighborhoods of the old city such as Bab al-Hadid,
Zahrieh, al-Tall, al-Dafatir, and al-Moutran also became battlegrounds and
for the first time even Mina neighborhood, located near the sea, was
<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Oct-27/275466-lebanese-a
rmy-pushes-toward-militant-stronghold-in-tripoli.ashx#axzz3Il7wqfpq>
affected.
_____
There are two possible endings for the current security turmoil in the city.
The first one is that, the army enters the infamous neighborhoods and
disarms all militants. If they don't do that, the second scenario will
happen, and conflict will be inevitable.
_____
This was the second time that the Lebanese army was involved in a major
battle with Sunni militants in less than three months. The first battle
happened in
<http://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/syrian-civil-wa
r-lebanons-hostage-crisis-99285/> Arsal, a northern town close to the Syrian
border, in the first week of August. That clash was between the army and
Islamists who have been fighting in Syria. The latest fighting demonstrated
that the Lebanese army is not just targeted by militants fighting in Syria,
but also by certain groups inside Lebanon that have started to confront the
army. The emergence of these groups is a threat to Lebanon, which, 24 years
after the end of the civil war, still lives with the fear of another major
domestic conflict.
These recent clashes have shown how fragile Lebanon's current security and
stability is. Because of the country's sharp political divisions, any spark
of conflict spreads to different regions and cities. Two weeks before the
latest battle in Tripoli, people were waiting for another armed
confrontation. After years of living in a conflict zone they could predict
what was going to happen. At that time, a woman in Tripoli's Mina
neighborhood, who did not want to be named, told Fair Observer: "There are
two possible endings for the current security turmoil in the city. The first
one is that, the army enters the infamous neighborhoods and disarms all
militants. If they don't do that, the second scenario will happen, and
conflict will be inevitable."
What Is Behind the Tripoli Clashes?
During the Tripoli clashes the Muslim Scholars Committee was mediating
between the army and militants to stop the conflict. When the committee's
spokesperson, Sheikh Adnan Ammama, was
<http://www.kataeb.org/en/news/details/431570/Nusra+gives+Lebanon+Army+open-
ended+deadline+before+soldier+execution%0D%0A> asked about the affiliation
of the militants, he said: "Some say they are with Nusra [Jabhat al-Nusra],
others say they are with ISIS. The affiliations aren't clear at this point."
A security official also
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/lebanese-army-battles-gunm
en-tripoli-2014102592151943.html> told AFP news agency that most of the
fighters were Lebanese and that "some of them are Islamists, while others
are wanted thugs."
Apart from these vague reports regarding the identity of militants, it is
difficult to find detailed information about their ambitions. Some people
prefer to label them as
<http://stateofmind13.com/2014/10/25/khaled-hoblos-the-sheikh-who-roused-up-
the-terrorists-against-the-army-in-tripoli/> terrorists without "a
functioning head above their skulls" or jihadi groups who "
<http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22237> have not learned their lesson"
from previous experiences. Others accuse the army of looking for an
<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Oct-26/275371-daher-deni
es-terror-links-blames-hezbollah.ashx#ixzz3IJypEb2Y> excuse "to kill north
Lebanese." These simplified assessments of the current situation in Lebanon
are misleading. Even reducing the latest fighting in Tripoli to a spillover
effect from the Syrian Civil War would be an oversimplification of the
complicated situation in Lebanon.
The mainstream media has mainly framed the Tripoli clashes as a consequence
of Islamic extremism. However, there are other fundamental causes for the
fighting in north Lebanon that have been neglected. Some Sunnis from
northern Lebanon accuse the central government of neglecting their
political, social and economic necessities and civil rights. Amongst other
Sunni figures, Sheikh Khaled Hoblos
<https://soundcloud.com/elie-e-fares/khales-hobros> pointed at these
inequalities as the main reason for the clashes in the Tripoli area. Social
privilege, economic opportunities and Lebanon's cultural offerings are
largely concentrated in the capital Beirut. As a result, many middle-class
young people from Tripoli have moved to the capital in search for more
social and economic opportunities.
The economic situation of northern Lebanon is another reason for the
unending clashes in this region. According to a
<http://www.fairobserver.com/?s=United+Nations> United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) field <http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/64335> survey from
2011, 67% of the population in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli
lives below the upper poverty line, with 33% below the lower poverty line.
In these two neighborhoods, 50.4% of families have a monthly income of less
than $333 and 82% under $533, significantly below the national average. The
same data shows that Tripoli's share of bank loans to the private sector in
Lebanon does not exceed 2%, compared to 83% in Beirut and its suburbs.
_____
They recalled the recent clash as if it were nothing out of the ordinary:
They spoke as if these were increasingly a routine part of life. When asked
whether they thought the clashes would end soon, they just gave a hopeless
smirk.
_____
After the recent clashes in Tripoli national media outlets such as LBCI
highlighted the city's economic situation. In early November, two
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPjATp6oeT0> videos on
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrAfmZfsKZw> LBCI went viral on social
media: Both showed people in Tripoli criticizing their economic situation. A
young man from Tripoli, who did not want to be named and now lives and works
in Beirut, believed that the main reason for the clashes in Tripoli is
economics. He told Fair Observer: "It is all about the fight between the
bourgeois and poor. Tripoli's rich people can save the entire city, but they
prefer to invest their money outside the country." It is important to
acknowledge that the long-term violence in northern Lebanon is rooted in and
fueled by decades of economic and social neglect and inequality.
Hopeless Smirk
Five days after the end of the Tripoli clashes, shop owners in the old souks
were still cleaning up the mess from the fighting. Many shops in the city's
historic quarter were burned down during the fighting. During this author's
visit, merchants were removing broken glass and repainting the walls that
were blackened by explosions and fire. They recalled the recent clash as if
it were nothing out of the ordinary: They spoke as if these were
increasingly a routine part of life. When asked whether they thought the
clashes would end soon, they just gave a hopeless smirk.
There are many Lebanese who have the same answer when asked about the future
of their country. But at the same time, they are afraid of the coming days.
They are worried that the security situation could get even worse. This
anxiety is not tied to a specific region in the country and is noticeable
everywhere. Even Beirut on some days changes its seductive face and looks
more like a barrack.
It is not just the sectarian divisions that have fueled the recent clashes
and instability in Lebanon. It is very difficult to find political consensus
to resolve the country's domestic problems. In the presence of political
strife, what has been forgotten are people's daily economic, social and
cultural issues. Subsequently, Lebanon is likely to remain volatile. This
vulnerability can be easily exacerbated by the regional crisis such as the
Syrian Civil War or domestic rivalries between Shia and Sunni groups.
Although the impact of these crises on the country's situation is
undeniable, they are not the fundamental causes of Lebanon's instability.
The current situation will not improve unless Lebanon's politicians find a
way to reach a consensus on the country's most pressing issues. In the
absence of an agreement to find solutions for fundamental issues such as
security, socioeconomic backwardness and sectarianism, Lebanon will continue
to face future challenges.
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