Post by Janjoon-Lebanese on Dec 21, 2006 10:13:25 GMT -5
Downtown Beirut business owners: 'This is not Hezbollah land'
Beirut, Lebanon
Pub and restaurant owners in downtown Beirut have been angered by pro-Syrian opposition protestors who have been camping out since December 1 in their street, accusing them of bothering their clients and stopping their businesses.
Businessmen who own restaurants or pubs which serve alcohol decided last week to defy the open-ended protests by the opposition, which are led by the radical Islamic Hezbollah and their allies the Shiite Amal movement, and started to open their doors for their regular clients.
When the opposition decided to camp out in the streets of the two main squares in the luxurious downtown area of Beirut to force the anti-Syrian government to resign, most pubs and restaurants in the area were forced to close.
'We decided last week that since our pubs and restaurants can be reached through other main roads to open our doors to our regular customers who like to come, listen to music and have a drink,' said a pub owner who gave his first name as George.
'But the adventure on our behalf proved to be dangerous, as a nearby pub faced a problem when customers were engaged in a verbal confrontation with some Muslim protestors who tried to prevent them from reaching the area,' the pub owner said.
The Lebanese media reported Monday that owners of the Taboo nightclub managed after negotiations with Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army to open their pub's doors on Saturday night.
But as one customer was entering the pub he got into a verbal confrontation with some of the demonstrators, which prompted 'Hezbollah discipline' men, in charge of the security of the protestors, and the army to intervene to stop the confrontation from escalating.
'This is not Hezbollah land. Downtown is for all the Lebanese, for anyone who wants to drink, bring his girlfriend and have dinner as well as listen to music,' said the angry owner.
'The interior decoration of my pub cost almost 400,000 dollars, and now we have been closed for 17 days. We tried but we were not encouraged by the experience of others,' the businessman said.
'We understand the protest is a show of democracy, but when it gets to be that we need Hezbollah discipline men to (create) a human shield between the shops and the protestors to protect our businesses and customers, we prefer to stay closed and lose money,' he added.
The restaurant owners who lost a lucrative summer season due to the July-August war between Hezbollah and Israel say the current political crisis which has closed major roads in the central district could force them out of the area.
'We are thinking to relocate our business if downtown wants to stay an area where accounts between the various political factions are settled,' restaurant manager Raja Saad said.
This is the second time Beirut's downtown has been taken over by protestors.
Its wide squares were filled in 2005 by protestors who blamed Syria for the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
The demonstrations then helped to force Damascus, which has vehemently denied any links with the Hariri assassination, to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, thus ending 30 years of military presence.
But the scene Monday was reversed: the Syrian-backed opposition has now taken over the squares, sleeping in tents and demanding the resignation of a government controlled by allies of Hariri's son, Saad, who is the head of the anti-Syrian majority.
Despite the protests, the downtown area, which was heavily renovated after Lebanon's civil war ended in 1990, aims to be the heart of Beirut's shopping and tourism district.
Beirut, Lebanon
Pub and restaurant owners in downtown Beirut have been angered by pro-Syrian opposition protestors who have been camping out since December 1 in their street, accusing them of bothering their clients and stopping their businesses.
Businessmen who own restaurants or pubs which serve alcohol decided last week to defy the open-ended protests by the opposition, which are led by the radical Islamic Hezbollah and their allies the Shiite Amal movement, and started to open their doors for their regular clients.
When the opposition decided to camp out in the streets of the two main squares in the luxurious downtown area of Beirut to force the anti-Syrian government to resign, most pubs and restaurants in the area were forced to close.
'We decided last week that since our pubs and restaurants can be reached through other main roads to open our doors to our regular customers who like to come, listen to music and have a drink,' said a pub owner who gave his first name as George.
'But the adventure on our behalf proved to be dangerous, as a nearby pub faced a problem when customers were engaged in a verbal confrontation with some Muslim protestors who tried to prevent them from reaching the area,' the pub owner said.
The Lebanese media reported Monday that owners of the Taboo nightclub managed after negotiations with Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army to open their pub's doors on Saturday night.
But as one customer was entering the pub he got into a verbal confrontation with some of the demonstrators, which prompted 'Hezbollah discipline' men, in charge of the security of the protestors, and the army to intervene to stop the confrontation from escalating.
'This is not Hezbollah land. Downtown is for all the Lebanese, for anyone who wants to drink, bring his girlfriend and have dinner as well as listen to music,' said the angry owner.
'The interior decoration of my pub cost almost 400,000 dollars, and now we have been closed for 17 days. We tried but we were not encouraged by the experience of others,' the businessman said.
'We understand the protest is a show of democracy, but when it gets to be that we need Hezbollah discipline men to (create) a human shield between the shops and the protestors to protect our businesses and customers, we prefer to stay closed and lose money,' he added.
The restaurant owners who lost a lucrative summer season due to the July-August war between Hezbollah and Israel say the current political crisis which has closed major roads in the central district could force them out of the area.
'We are thinking to relocate our business if downtown wants to stay an area where accounts between the various political factions are settled,' restaurant manager Raja Saad said.
This is the second time Beirut's downtown has been taken over by protestors.
Its wide squares were filled in 2005 by protestors who blamed Syria for the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
The demonstrations then helped to force Damascus, which has vehemently denied any links with the Hariri assassination, to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, thus ending 30 years of military presence.
But the scene Monday was reversed: the Syrian-backed opposition has now taken over the squares, sleeping in tents and demanding the resignation of a government controlled by allies of Hariri's son, Saad, who is the head of the anti-Syrian majority.
Despite the protests, the downtown area, which was heavily renovated after Lebanon's civil war ended in 1990, aims to be the heart of Beirut's shopping and tourism district.
