Syrian Embassy In Hamra. Bold Or Clumsy?
The Syrians are in for a wild ride with their choice of embassy location. But Hamra could also provide rewards to Damascus.
Everyone loves Hamra (Reuters)
When countries choose locations for their embassies in other territories, one of the major factors deciding their choices is the level of hostility they could expect from that country in the future. This is why American embassies are isolated fortresses in the Arab world, while Swedish and Canadian embassies often occupy regular flats in big cities.
So when Syria chose Hamra, the bustling quasi-bohemian Beirut high street, to host its temporary embassy in Beirut, it wanted to send a strong, confident signal to the rest of the world: We are in friendly territory.
And yet, the location can be fraught with minefields for Damascus. Hamra is a walking distance from two American universities with a high concentration of anti-Syrian students. Anti Syrian demonstrations (say in the event of an assassination) and counter pro-Syrian ones would fill up the relatively narrow streets and bring the entire already-busy neighborhood to a standstill.
The Syrians could yet change the location if it proves too unbearable for comfort. The temporary nature of the Hamra location could prove to be a test balloon. But for now, Damascus is hopeful that the Lebanese will put the Syrian ambassador in their hearts. If not, then perhaps accept his presence in Beirut’s heart.
So what’s your take on this? Syrian embassy in Hamra: Good or Bad?
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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You may have missed the point that the SSNP has its HQ in Al-Hamra!
Dear Mustapha,
Interesting article. Since you are talking about my old neighborhood, allow me to wax geopolitical.
They are placing the embassy in an area that is relatively mixed confessionally. The implied assumption is that these open minded folks don’t riot, and have an enlightened view of Syria and realpolitiks, etc.
In the long view, calling AUB anti-Syrian is inaccurate. The Ras Beirut neighborhood, with AUB as its catalyst, is the birthplace of pan-Arab and pan-Syrian nationalism. It has also been very supportive of the Palestinian cause. I find that the simplistic pro / anti-Syrian analysis simply fails to capture the whole picture.
On a somewhat related note, it is no coincidence that the neighborhood is now the site of friction between Mustaqbal and Qawmieh.
Cheers,
Ali K
I wouldn’t look too much into the choice of location really; I mean, think about your subject here! I would say they chose it temporarily cause they own that bank’s property and thus would be able to operate there until they find a decent place where I would expect some flashy embassy would be set up.
But I totally agree with Ghassan. I came to drop a comment to note that during the May events, Hamra was infested with SSNP’ers and until very recently flags of that party were desecrating most of the streets of the mixed Hamra area.
They chose a a street that is SSNP headquarters in Beirut.
Karantina will suit them better
Being close to: Starbucks/Costa; Kebabji; several decent restaurants, and some good bookshops, with a decent range of unrestricted reading material, are all perfectly good reasons to be in Hamra.
ugh
Politics aside – Hamra’s streets are too tiny and its already gridlocked the majority of the time… adding an embassy with the inevitable roadblocks and saudi-style checkpoints is just going to make matters much much worse.
And with the saudi embassy moving to Bliss soon the whole area is going to be choked off.
This is the worst news for people who know Hamra well and spend time there. Makdessi street especially has been recently seeing more and more activity, restaurants, bars and cafes opening… this could be very bad for business.
Personally, as a student of a university in Hamra, I feel like this will be very bad for public safety: any demonstrations will block the activity and businesses in Hamra. I would have preferred to have any building subject to face riots as far away from the crowd as possible.
The government is retarded to accept this.
Bold And Clumsy
Food for thought.
We in the March 14th, as we enter the contest for March elections, should neither fear nor worry of the outcome whether favorable or unfavorable.
Why?
Under hell & high water, If we stick to our principles of Independent, Pluralistic, Democratic and Just society we can inevitably carry the day.
How?
In our system of government no coalition can rule entirely unless all are on board.
Wether M14 or M8 carries the day each group has the obligation of holding the other accountable.
I would argue, in fact, that M8 victory could be a turning point for the better for all of us. When they have the reins of the gov’t, when they have weight of the society on their shoulders, when they have the responsibility of the different ministries which provide services for the nation we’ll have ultimately two general outcomes.
1. They will meet the demands/needs of the people – we win
2. They will fail and eventually lose the legitimacy they garner from their current (wayward) constituency – we win
Our focus & priority must be on cleaning our house (M14). Let us not divert our attention by lecturing or complaining about what M8 does but only making sure we can get our house as clean/transparent as we possibly can (difficult as it may be).
Your thoughts:
Ouh! My friend is the uy in the red shirt on the left of the screen :D
I know that was random, sorry
Syrians in Hamra street, close to pubs cafes, SSNP headquarter but also close to MP Hariri’s palace… hummm
I don’t like the Saudi Embassy in Bliss…. soon their religious police is going to be chasing us girls on our way to Barometer or so…
Syrian Embassy in Beirut will represent the mutual respect that Syrians and Lebanese have for each other. Forget the politics we are neighboring countries and we need each other to progress forward. May god bless Lebanon and Syria with peace and stability in 2009.
Hamra is already too crowded…
Why not in Dahyeh?
Hamra, unlike Dahyé, Achrafiyé and other places represents more of a confessional and cultural mix. Despite the crowdedness and vanity of its shops and shoppers sometimes, it’s the hub of intellectualism, activism and the youth movements. Let alone pan-Arabism and leftist movements: think of Hamra from the AUB, to LAU, from Barometre to T-Marbouta and others.
Even though I dislike the crowdedness of Hamra, as an English-Egyptian, I always choose Hamra to stay in when I’m in Beirut and it’s where I’ll be staying next time I come to town. Understandably, the Syrians would want to have a presence and infiltration in this cross-sectarian melting pot.
That is of course not to rule out the suggestion that they probably also wanted to convey the message to the Saudis on Bliss Street and the Hariri and Amine families whose palaces are off the road from there!
Since we’re at it: let me ask this! Why is the Egyptian Embassy still in Beir Hassan? I think the Gaza war and the subsequent anger it triggered against Egypt might suggest the embassy needs to be moved…