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Did a Rainstorm Save Lebanon?The real story behind the street battles in Beirut.

By Mitchell Prothero
Posted Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, at 2:36 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

The youngsters who led Sunday's rioting might be from the same communities as Hezbollah and AMAL, but they are motivated by economic jealousy rather than dreams of martyrdom. Just as Christian, Sunni, and Druze leaders incite their supporters by stoking fear of an Iranian takeover of Lebanon, Shiite leaders not only invoke Israel and the United States but also Starbucks, plentiful electricity, and economic possibilities just a few miles away in downtown Beirut—facilities so inaccessible to Shiite kids from the suburbs that they might as well be in Israel. Those kids are jealous of all the Beirut clichés of rich folks nightclubbing with hot girls in miniskirts while they live the clichéd lives of their own: those of the underemployed, bored, xenophobic Arab street. The only difference from much of the rest of the Arab world is that they can actually ride their scooters just a few miles down the road to see the life they're missing.

Just as the pro-Western leaders fail to mention that their positions do more for the United States and Saudi Arabia than they do for Lebanon, Nasrallah and AMAL chieftain Nabi Berri never explain to their supporters that anti-Israel resistance probably benefits Iran's geopolitics at the expense of their economic development. And nobody except Nasrallah mentions the corruption that keeps the leaders in power but costs Lebanon billions in development annually. The billions stolen for patronage or outright corruption have crippled Lebanon's finances (the nation has highest debt ratio in the world), as well as hampered essential services such as electricity. This climate of corruption extends to people throughout the country refusing to pay their electric bills; in the case of the southern suburbs of Beirut, bill collectors can't even try—they'd be chased out of town.

So, the Shiite kids were already pretty angry before someone started shooting at them Sunday night. Now they're furious and calling for revenge. It's a very bad sign that the army is thought to be partially responsible, because it has been the only Lebanese institution seen as credible by both sides throughout the drama of the last year. Should revenge-seeking hotheads from the opposition attack the army in the coming days, things could deteriorate rapidly, since they'd be attacking the only glue that still binds the nation together. And it's unclear, after a year of uncorking small amounts of this anger for their political demonstrations, if AMAL and Hezbollah will be able to control it once it spills out completely. People are dead, and the Lebanese tend to like revenge.

In Ain Roummaneh, they aren't waiting to be blamed. By nightfall Sunday night, just yards from the Shiite demonstrators, the Christian neighborhood's own version of the scooter kids had taken to the darkened street corners armed with sticks, rocks, and a few guns. From time to time, black SUVs filled with bulky men with shaved heads and leather jackets—the leadership of the Lebanese Forces political-party-cum-militia—would stop by to check on defenses and offer assistance to the "troops." When asked what the nearby rioting was about, a block organizer named Milo, a fortysomething veteran of the civil war replied, "Outsiders."

"They come to our country as guests. And they demonstrate, throw rocks at our army, and burn our cars. We are only defending our land from these foreigners," said Milo, speaking of Lebanese who have lived their entire lives just a few hundred yards from his home.

Fear of the other has always been part of the Lebanese mentality, and now it seems to be making a powerful comeback.

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Mitchell Prothero is a writer and photographer based in Beirut. He covers conflict and terrorism issues throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe.
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