Beirut Spring

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Politics move quickly and opinions evolve. There's a good chance I no longer hold some of the opinions expressed in the post below
—Mustapha

“Arabian Details”

October 4, 2010 · Mustapha Hamoui

In an otherwise nice article on Hamra in the New York Times, Seth Sherwood writes this paragraph:

But the boom has come at a cost. Older buildings, full of wonderful Arabian details, have been demolished. People on five-figure incomes have been priced out.

I wonder what he means by “Arabian details”. There is no such thing in old Beirut buildings, which are either Ottoman (Islamic), Modernist or of a Lebanese typology (those nice stone villas with three arches windows), none of which has “Arabian details”. This is New York Times exotic fetishism at its best..