Love and war in Lebanon: how theatre is turning rival fighters into friends
When rehearsals for a new play began in Tripoli, the actors all carried knives and one smuggled in a grenade. But this cultural collaboration has brought traditional enemies together and formed powerful friendships across a divided city... This feature article written for The Guardian, as part of the newspaper's Rockerfeller Association supported "Resilient Cities" project looks at how Lebanese actors and NGOs have developed innovative projects aimed at alleviating sectarian tension, and bringing together rival fighters, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. It was published in December 2015.
In the early 1900s Syria Street, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, was a busy, prosperous thoroughfare, lined with khans where goods making their way up the coast from Beirut were brought, before being transported onwards to destinations in modern-day Syria.
Nowadays, most of the buildings here are pockmarked with bullet-holes. Few structures on Syria Street, which bisects the impoverished neighbourhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, have escaped the scourge of violence that has plagued local residents.
Since 2008, rival militias in these neighbourhoods have engaged in at least 20 rounds of gun battles, leading to the deaths of more than 200 people and forcing thousands from their homes. These bursts of violence have increased in intensity since 2011, when the outbreak of Syria’s civil war accentuated old grudges and political divides between the two districts that date back to Lebanon’s civil war. During times of conflict, residents of Syria Street have become accustomed to sharing the area with snipers ...
(To continue reading please follow the link: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/dec/03/syria-street-tripoli-lebanon-love-war-theatre-keeps-peace)
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