one of the last vestiges of Ain el Mreisseh is about to fall prey to ruthless ‘development’. its roof is being dismantled and a high rise will be standing
in its place soon unless we act to prevent further bulldozing of our history.
The Association for the Protection of the Lebanese Heritage has notified the Ministry of Culture and is waiting for a reply in the next 36 hours to know if the demolition will be halted and the house saved.
To all supporters, members, admins of cultural groups: Save Beirut Heritage,
Le Mouvement Des Jeunes, the Green Party, every heritage-related group and
organization, we are notifying you that, should the Ministry of Culture be non responsive, you are invited to join us to make a stand against this ongoing cultural massacre, in a sit-in in front of the house, at a date which we’ll communicate to you.
Local and international press is urged to cover this stand
and show that despite the absence of government, there’s a collective and
responsible will to preserve and protect Lebanon’s memory for the sake of our future and that of our descendence.
STAY TUNED to ‘Stop Destroying Your Heritage’ and to www.protect-lebaneseheritage.com/blog
We know it’s a short notice but this is an emergency where we’re together to prevent historical and cultural murder.
The cycle of destruction does not begin on construction sites in Beirut. It begins but the destruction of our natural heritage by the savage extraction of sand and rocks from our mountains…let’s protest against all this cycle
dear roger, it is indeed a vicious and interconnected cycle fed by greedy politicians and yes, should the sit-in happen
everyone who’s coming is invited to write their demands on a big cardboard and make sure the cameras see them.
Sad but true! but why don’t yo make petitions to help it out????
hello,
well, i have never seen petitions that were able to achieve anything other than making people feel good that they added their name on a list and continue doing whatever they were doing. will the concerned parties read the petition? will they abide by the will of people? it very rarely happens in civilized countries so doubt it could happen in lebanon.
petitions are passive action.
however, direct action like sit-ins, manifestations, squatting in an endangered house and filming it on youtube, this is active response and this is what we prefer to do because people involved are directly connected to their cause.
stay tuned! and thanks for visiting
JH
Just learned that the Minister of Culture approved the request to save this building and signed against its demolition. Mabrouk and thank you !!
hello maya, thank you for your support, yes indeed the demolition is halted and now we need to follow up to make sure the owner of the house restored it back to shape. you never know with these people: the temptation of a 40 floor tower can be too much! every lebanese citizen is asked to report to us if they see anywhere in lebanon but particularly in beirut, a traditional house being dimantled or demolished so we can take quick action. usually such fishy demolitions take place by night and you wake up next morning to see a flat field where an old house once stood. this is the sad reality and this is how greedy people work.
keep in touch and good nite!
JH