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Lebanon Sleeps under a ‘Truce,’ Fears the Next Day

Members of the Lebanese army in the area of clashes in Beirut (Reuters)
Members of the Lebanese army in the area of clashes in Beirut (Reuters)
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Lebanon Sleeps under a ‘Truce,’ Fears the Next Day

Members of the Lebanese army in the area of clashes in Beirut (Reuters)
Members of the Lebanese army in the area of clashes in Beirut (Reuters)

Clashes in the Tayouneh area of the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, have left new holes in buildings that witnessed the 1975 civil war. These bullet holes come to warn of what awaits Lebanon if the course of things does not change.

What stands out is that the clashes erupted in the very same area that witnessed the event that sparked the civil war a few decades back.

Unidentified shooters fired at a rally of demonstrators, an assault that prompted a retaliation in kind. The gunfire was so heavy that even the army took a while before it could intervene and contain the violence.

The clashes reinforced the symbolism of the Christian area of Ain El Remmaneh and the Shiite suburb of Chiyah. After transforming the two areas into a war zone for hours, the clashes exhausted the memory of the elderly, who were forced to relive a glimpse of the civil war once again.

“We thought we buried the war forever, but it’s coming back,” said Abu George, a shop owner in Ain El Remmaneh.

“This is not a passing problem, it is a prelude to a new war, and we will defend ourselves once again and will not allow them to violate our territories,” he added as he closed his shop under heavy gunfire.

“We resisted all campaigns aimed at eliminating our existence, and this is no different from others since the days of the Ottomans,” noted Abu Geroge’s neighbor.

The streets of Ain El Remmaneh were almost empty during the clashes as the army had cordoned the area and set up mobile checkpoints to prevent violence with neighboring Chiyah.

After the clashes ended, flocks of residents rushed to escape the scene as they feared the fighting would renew in the evening.

One of the residents recites an old Lebanese proverb: “Do not sleep among the graves so that you do not see nightmares.”

“I will go back to my village in Kesrouan for a few days, and then we will see,” the resident noted.

“We are full. They kill us and use us to fight, then we elect them again,” they added with a sigh.

A Lebanese security reference told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army is now taking the lead in the area that witnessed the clashes. Still, the main fear is that some will take advantage of the matter to do something similar in other parts of the country.

For the time being, the Lebanese will sleep with anxiety while the military will stay wide awake without guaranteeing that the tragedy will not be repeated.

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Israel's Bedouin Communities Use Solar Energy to Stake Claim to Land

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
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Israel's Bedouin Communities Use Solar Energy to Stake Claim to Land

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA

At the end of a dusty road in southern Israel, beyond a Bedouin village of unfinished houses and the shiny dome of a mosque, a field of solar panels gleams in the hot desert sun.

Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation.

The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid.

Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels.
Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hardline government officials.

Demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities plague Bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction.

But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organisation Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim.
"It secures their land rights forever," he told AFP.

"It's the only way to settle the Bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy," he added, calling it a "win, win".

For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it.

Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognised by the government.

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
Villages that are not formally recognied are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land.

Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away.
A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads.

"Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognized villages," Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organization Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev.

"Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades."

Tribes just want to "live in peace and dignity", following their distinct customs and traditions, he said.

Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in Bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among Bedouins across the Negev.
Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added.

"Then everyone will benefit -- the landowners, the country, the Negev," he said. "This is the best way to move forward to a green economy."

In Um Batin, a recognised village, residents are using solar energy in a different way –- to power a local kindergarten all year round.

Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played.

Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order.

"It was not clean or comfortable here before," said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten.
"Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television."

Hani al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was "very positive".

"Without power you can't use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy," he said.

The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna.

Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more.

"We need people to collaborate with us to move this forward," he said, adding that he would "love to see a solar energy system in every village".