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What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

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Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#11

Post by ecopoesis »

james-redwood wrote: post #6
rayiner wrote: post #3

Lots of places in the Middle East were more European like this before the colonial influences weakened and the Muslim majority populations got back more power over their own countries. Egypt and Iran are similar. The nostalgia is somewhat uncomfortable because in some respects things were better because they were better, but in others it’s the perception of things being better because they’re more relatable to Europe…

Lebanon became independent in 1945. Civil war began in 1975, largely as a result of radical Islamist Palestinians who had left Palestine and wanted an Islamic state in Lebanon. Lebanon beforehand, it is important to note, was not Muslim majority at all. It was Christian and Druze, and that was the very foundation of the country itself. It was never the country of Muslims in the first place. Iran was also never coloni…

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Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#12

Post by netsharc »

BigHatLogan wrote: post #5

This strikes me as tremendously sad--how a city can go from lively, productive, and engaging to something else entirely in such a short time span. The writer speaks positively about the Beirut of today. I won't pretend to know anything about Beirut, but is it really "lovelier" (author's word) today than it was back then? It's a cliche at this point to wonder whether the same thing can (or will?) happen in the United…

The date on the top of the article is August 10, 2019. Almost a year later, August 4, 2020, the port explosion happened, probably breaking all the glass of the city. Wikipedia:

> The damage from the blast affected over half of Beirut, with the likely cost above US$15 billion and insured losses at around US$3 billion. Approximately ninety percent of the city's hotels were damaged and three hospitals completely destroyed, while two more suffered damage. [...] Windows and other installations of glass across the city were shattered.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#13

Post by james-redwood »

AndyMcConachie wrote: post #8
rayiner wrote: post #3

Lots of places in the Middle East were more European like this before the colonial influences weakened and the Muslim majority populations got back more power over their own countries. Egypt and Iran are similar. The nostalgia is somewhat uncomfortable because in some respects things were better because they were better, but in others it’s the perception of things being better because they’re more relatable to Europe…

Quoted post unavailable.

While that did happen in my home country of Zimbabwe, it’s not the case for the examples that he mentioned. Especially considering that even Lebanon was under a mandate and had far more freedom to rule themselves, which in my opinion came nowhere near actual colonialism.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#14

Post by lotsofpulp »

AndyMcConachie wrote: post #8
rayiner wrote: post #3

Lots of places in the Middle East were more European like this before the colonial influences weakened and the Muslim majority populations got back more power over their own countries. Egypt and Iran are similar. The nostalgia is somewhat uncomfortable because in some respects things were better because they were better, but in others it’s the perception of things being better because they’re more relatable to Europe…

Quoted post unavailable.

That is not what rayiner wrote.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#18

Post by bnralt »

rayiner wrote: post #3

Lots of places in the Middle East were more European like this before the colonial influences weakened and the Muslim majority populations got back more power over their own countries. Egypt and Iran are similar. The nostalgia is somewhat uncomfortable because in some respects things were better because they were better, but in others it’s the perception of things being better because they’re more relatable to Europe…

France didn't control Lebanon for long, less than three decades and never as a colony. These pictures here were taken a couple of decades after Lebanese independence. I imagine the collapse of the Ottoman empire and the resulting turmoil has more to do with the upheaval we see in the region than the Europeans leaving after their relatively brief period of control.

And Iran was never colonized (Egypt's a bit more complex, though it wasn't simplistically colonized).

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#20

Post by intrestingstuff »

ecopoesis wrote: post #11
james-redwood wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lebanon became independent in 1945. Civil war began in 1975, largely as a result of radical Islamist Palestinians who had left Palestine and wanted an Islamic state in Lebanon. Lebanon beforehand, it is important to note, was not Muslim majority at all. It was Christian and Druze, and that was the very foundation of the country itself. It was never the country of Muslims in the first place. Iran was also never coloni…

Quoted post unavailable.

irrelevant comment and flamewar

i expect my comment to be downvoted (and of course flagged) instead of yours because HN

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