Squatting Vacant Buildings: A Report on the Illegality of Evictions During the War
During the Israeli war on Lebanon, the use of vacant buildings proliferated as a prominent way to access housing due to the lack of alternatives. In an attempt to understand these practices, this report documents the legal and political tools used for evictions and eviction threats in 3 case studies in Beirut, highlighting their illegitimacy. It also calls for challenging the criminalization of squatting, particularly during war, and emphasizes the role of these practices in restoring the social value of vacant buildings.
The Reconstruction Draft Law repeats the Mistakes of the past:
Reviving destroyed villages can’t happen only through buildings
After a ceasefire was implemented in Lebanon on November 27, the Lebanese government held a special session on December 7 in the southern city of Tyre and approved a draft law for rebuilding homes destroyed by Israeli attacks, as they were before. Regardless of its immediate issues in terms of content, it appears that the proposed law does not address the previous or emerging challenges we are facing and risks repeating the mistakes of past failed reconstruction experiences.