Magazine

Field Watch

The Decisions of the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities:

Controlling the Refugees’ Lives and Housing Situation

The Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, sent a letter to local authorities on May 2, 2023 in order to initiate a national survey campaign aimed at enumerating and registering …

Policy Watch

No to Imposing Fees or Restrictions on Access to Horsh Beirut

In 2019, the Lebanese parliament passed a law submitted by deputy Fouad Makhzoumi establishing “The Protection of Horsh Beirut”. What is this law and what are its reprecussions? This law brings us back …

Field Watch

Ramlet Al-Bayda’s Kojak-Jaber Building Faces Demolition

The Kojak-Jaber building, a symbol of modern architecture in Ramlet El Bayda, and home to one of the region’s most prominent philosophers and thinkers, is facing the threat of demolition. Designed by Victor …

Research-Based Article

The Mar Mikhael square project: who speaks for the neighborhood?

Following the ongoing debate over the Mar Mikhael Square Project, an American University of Beirut- Urban Lab initiative, we propose to open a debate around the issue, having neighborhood committees as an entry …

Policy Watch

Saving AnNaqoura: The last witness of how the Lebanese coast once was

Located in the region liberated from the Israeli occupation, private property lot number 92, had witnessed the illegal bulldozing and destruction of the neighboring marine ecosystem.  The pressure to stop works on Property …

Policy Watch

Aley Stairs: What is Not Allowed Even For the Municipality

After activists have started mobilizing against the demolition of the “Public Heritage Stairs” of Aley, we write this commentary to show how a section of these stairs fall on private property. The stairs’ …

Investigation

Understanding the Right to the City and How Authorities Violate It

This article aims to analyze laws enacted by the Lebanese authorities between 2019 and 2022 in relation to the right to the city, which encompasses the right to housing, work, and other essential …

Narrative

The Residents of “Hind” Building Face Mass Eviction

This Story recounts the struggles of “Hind” building’s residents as they face countless harassments, pressures and threats aimed at forcing them out of the homes they have inhabited for years. “Hind” building is …

Statement

The Governor of Beirut Force Evicts and Displaces Residents During His Show Off Inspection Tour

On May 19, 2023, during an inspection tour of several neighbourhoods in the city of Beirut, the governor, Judge Marwan Abboud, issued a sudden and immediate decision, without prior warning, to forcibly evict a residential building located in the Barbir neighbourhood.

Research-Based Article

Amiri “Çiftlik” Lands in Tyre:

Social Value Under Threat

The aim of this article is to address recurring questions that arise whenever the topic of Amiri lands is discussed: What is the right known as the “usufruct right”? How is it obtained? How is it transferred? And how can we ensure justice in accessing these lands within the context of Lebanese clientelism/patronage?

Statement

The Eviction of Syrian Refugees: 

A Violation of the Right to the City, Housing, Movement and to choosing the Place of Residence

The sight of children swimming in the pool in downtown Beirut has not been unusual in recent weeks, as an organized media campaign to promote racism and hatred against Syrian refugees had considered …

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