Another round of violence in a mixed Sunni-Shia neighborhood occurred over the weekend, this time in the neighborhood of Aisha Bakkar, where Future and Amal Movement supporters clashed on Saturday and Sunday nights, resulting in one death and at least 11 injuries. The Lebanese army intervened to break up the fighting on both Saturday and Sunday, and soldiers arrested a dozen of those thought to have been involved in the clashes on Monday.

Remnants of burning tires and shattered glass still littered the streets on Monday morning, and many residents, dressed in black, did not open their shops, heading instead to the site where Zeina al-Miri was killed the night before. Miri, a 30-year-old mother of five who worked at a small grocery store, had been standing on the balcony of her parents’ house when she was shot by militiamen on the streets. The armed men were not residents of the area, locals said, but had come from other mixed neighborhoods in the city and may have had relatives in Aisha Bakkar.

“Zeina helped her father in the small groceries store; she supported her husband and her five children,” said Mrs. Maey, a neighborhood resident who bought her groceries from Miri. “She was not even from here; she lived in Dahiyeh and only worked here,” she said, echoing the grief and sense of despair many locals voiced to NOW Lebanon on Monday.

What really happened?

The clashes reportedly started after Future Movement leader Saad Hariri was appointed prime minister Saturday afternoon by President Michel Sleiman. Future Movement supporters were setting off fireworks in Aisha Bakkar when they clashed with Amal members in the street. Residents of the neighborhood told NOW that armed Amal members came from Hay Al Lija, Ain al-Mraisseh and other areas and started shooting at residents.

For those who lived through the events of May 7, 2008, this weekend’s fighting was a painful reminder of the sectarian and political divisions that often turn violent in mixed neighborhoods of the city. “Even worse,” said 40-year-old local resident Jamal. “On May 7, no one was killed here in our streets, but now we have one person killed and many wounded.”

As he spoke, his nine-year-old son, Saad, sat on the roadside, crying. “He used to spend the day at Zeina’s vegetable store. You see, we’re not well off in this neighborhood, and when times get tough, we all got extra fruits and vegetables from Zeina. She was very generous, that woman,” he said.

One Hariri supporter who wished to remain anonymous said that because the Future members on the street were not armed, they asked for help from al-Jamaa al-Islamia, and fighting broke out between the opposing sides on Saturday evening. The army briefly intervened to break up the fighting.

The next day, according to eyewitnesses, Amal militiamen took to the streets, blocked roads and fired at buildings. “What do you expect us to do when our homes are being attacked? The army had asked us to stay in our homes, but we were attacked in our homes, and we had to protect our families, so I went down to the street,” Jamal said.

A young man who identified himself as Maher said that Zeina was shot because she was on the balcony telling Hariri supporters that the Amal militants were coming from behind them and that they needed to hide. His friend said that both sides were armed and that the fights started because of celebratory fireworks and gunfire.

“Why shouldn’t we be able to celebrate?” 26-year-old Jad said. “We were simply celebrating with fireworks when they felt the need to cut our celebrations short.”

The role of the army

Though troops were deployed on Saturday and Sunday nights and intervened to break up the fighting, it wasn’t until Monday that the Lebanese Armed Forces began to take a more active roll, arresting people thought to have participated in the fighting.  In a statement released on Monday, the LAF also declared that it would shoot at any person in the neighborhood if he refused to drop his weapons. “There will be political cover for no one; we will not allow unrest,” the statement read.

But people on the streets are wondering what took the army so much time.

The problem, many locals believe, is that army is in essence unable to take action without getting clearance from political leaders, which for people translates into incompetence and injustice.

“I didn’t feel the army was protecting me today; I felt it was a liability if anything,” Jamal said.

Sunni-Shia divisions

Political and religious figures roundly condemned the fighting, with some March 14 MPs saying that behind the violence there was a political message that the opposition wanted to hinder the formation of the new government.

“The timing and the way in which the events took place make us think it was politically loaded,” MP Ahmad Fatfat told NOW on Monday. “There was a major security breach, although the army was able to tighten its grip afterward.”

Fatfat said that this would probably not affect the consultations Hariri is carrying out concerning the formation of the cabinet this week, adding that “The culture that fosters the idea that violence achieves political goals is faulty and may be the cause for more trouble in the future.”

Beirut MP Bassem al-Shaab, however, told NOW that trying to find a political message in the fighting is a bit far-fetched, though he agreed with Fatfat that the clashes would not influence the consultation process. “These incidents should not be repeated; the state should be able to control the streets, and there should be no political cover for anyone,” he added.

According to Wassif Awada, a journalist with pro-opposition daily As-Safir, the core of the problem is the longstanding divisions between the Sunnis and the Shia, who he said both receive weapons from their political parties. 

“The reasons why clashes start are often silly and can start with stupid words. Celebratory gunfire and what ensued were shameful acts… But the problems between the two sects are turning into real issues, and coupled with years of tension and hate speech, they have grown to become a real threat to civil peace,” he said. “Beirut should be an arms-free city because it’s full of mixed neighborhoods.”

Perhaps the reason for the fights is a combination of hostility, negligence and a belief that political parties will cover for their supporters’ violent acts. But political figures and the LAF are vowing to put an end to this behavior. Whether the LAF will be able to effectively intervene, and whether political leaders stop covering for their supporters’ bad behavior has yet to be seen. For Zeina Miri, who will be laid to rest on Tuesday, it is already too late.