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Tensions Between Two Clans in Baalbek Persist after Retaliation

Lebanese army are seen in military tanks in the town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanon August 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho
Lebanese army are seen in military tanks in the town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanon August 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho
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Tensions Between Two Clans in Baalbek Persist after Retaliation

Lebanese army are seen in military tanks in the town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanon August 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho
Lebanese army are seen in military tanks in the town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanon August 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho

Tensions are still running high in Lebanon's Baalbek city after armed members of the Jaafar clan killed an individual from the Chamas clan on Sunday. Tension and security chaos prevailed in the city and nearby villages, while some residents said that Jaafar clan youths closed roads carrying assault rifles and missile weapons.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Governor of Baalbek-Hermel Bashir Khadr explained that Sunday’s murder was in revenge for an incident that happened in 2017 when two brothers from the Chamas clan killed someone from the Jaafar family. One of them (Aala) was handed over to the security forces and is still in prison. The other (Abbas) was apprehended while visiting Aala in prison because of charges that had been filed against him. In the aftermath, the Jaafar clan assured Mohammed, who is the third brother for Abbas and Aala, that they would not take his life in retaliation.

“Abbas was released from prison a few days ago, and when the Jaafars could not reach him for revenge, they killed his brother Mohammed, who was in his store in Baalbek,” Khadr added.

The official stressed that Mohammed had nothing to do with the murder, which happened three years ago.

"He had been in Beirut at the time.”

Mayor Suleiman Chamas stressed that “tensions are under control so far” and said that other clans in the regions have intervened to contain the crisis. As for the intervention of parties with a strong presence in the area, notably the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, Chamas said that “they have not done so yet”, adding that the matter is left to families and clans to avoid further escalations.

Chamas believes that the Jaafar clan must hand in the murderer and stresses that the statement it released is not sufficient. He also stressed the need for the state to be present in the region and play its role to avoid such incidents' recurrence.

The statement issued on behalf of the Jaafar clan expressed its regret over what had happened between “the Jaafar and Chamas families”. The statement also mentions that the Jaafars rely on “the wisdom of the Chamas clan and prominent figures and political parties in the region to contain what happened”, and that it is ready to “cooperate to put an end to what happened.”

The area’s residents spoke of the hours of terror they underwent after the killing incident. Members of the Jaafar clan went to the Sharawneh neighborhood and celebrated their revenge, firing bullets and rockets.

Videos also circulated showing gunmen from the Chamas family roaming Baalbek’s streets amid a total absence of Lebanese security forces.

A resident from the Chamas family said that “the state's absence has become normal in such incidents, because any intervention that is not coordinated with the clans could lead to more wide-ranging security crises.”

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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)

In the quiet seaside town of Amchit, 45 minutes north of Beirut, public schools are finally in session again, alongside tens of thousands of internally displaced people who have made some of them a makeshift shelter.

As Israeli strikes on Lebanon escalated in September, hundreds of schools in Lebanon were either destroyed or closed due to damage or security concerns, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Of around 1,250 public schools in Lebanon, 505 schools have also been turned into temporary shelters for some of the 840,000 people internally displaced by the conflict, according to the Lebanese education ministry.

Last month, the ministry started a phased reopening, allowing 175,000 students - 38,000 of whom are displaced - to return to a learning environment that is still far from normal, Reuters reported.

At Amchit Secondary Public School, which now has 300 enrolled students and expects more as displaced families keep arriving, the once-familiar spaces have transformed to accommodate new realities.

Two-and-a-half months ago, the school was chosen as a shelter, school director Antoine Abdallah Zakhia said.

Today, laundry hangs from classroom windows, cars fill the playground that was once a bustling area, and hallways that used to echo with laughter now serve as resting areas for families seeking refuge.

Fadia Yahfoufi, a displaced woman living temporarily at the school, expressed gratitude mixed with longing.

"Of course, we wish to go back to our homes. No one feels comfortable except at home," she said.

Zeina Shukr, another displaced mother, voiced her concerns for her children's education.

"This year has been unfair. Some children are studying while others aren't. Either everyone studies, or the school year should be postponed," she said.

- EDUCATION WON'T STOP

OCHA said the phased plan to resume classes will enrol 175,000 students, including 38,000 displaced children, across 350 public schools not used as shelters.

"The educational process is one of the aspects of resistance to the aggression Lebanon is facing," Education Minister Abbas Halabi told Reuters

Halabi said the decision to resume the academic year was difficult as many displaced students and teachers were not psychologically prepared to return to school.

In an adjacent building at Amchit Secondary Public School, teachers and students are adjusting to a compressed three-day week, with seven class periods each day to maximize learning time.

Nour Kozhaya, a 16-year-old Amchit resident, remains optimistic. "Lebanon is at war, but education won't stop. We will continue to pursue our dreams," she said.

Teachers are adapting to the challenging conditions.

"Everyone is mentally exhausted ... after all this war is on all of us," Patrick Sakr, a 38-year-old physics teacher, said.

For Ahmad Ali Hajj Hassan, a displaced 17-year-old from the Bekaa region, the three-day school week presents a challenge, but not a deterrent.

"These are the conditions. We can study despite them," he said.