Listen to the article
On June 9, a socially significant event was organized by Saint-Joseph University in its premises in Beirut, hosting the city of Tripoli for the book release of Tripoli in the Eyes of its People and Surroundings, published by Nasser Jarrous Editions, an institution which is still alive in Lebanon’s second capital. The event did not attract media attention. Yet, it is highly relevant on the eve of the presidential election on June 14. The question of urban space, exemplified by the fate of Tripoli, persistently and crucially raises the issue of political unity that Lebanon desperately needs.
The destiny of the Lebanese Republic is quite peculiar. When the State of the Greater Lebanon was proclaimed in 1920, the city of Tripoli was hesitant to integrate into this political entity built on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Some mistakenly believe that this hesitation was motivated by religious sensitivities, as Tripoli is a significant locality with a Muslim majority. This is not the case. Bruno Dewalilly (1) shows that Tripoli did face competition from the modernized port of Beirut in the 19th century, but the State of the Greater Lebanon severed its economic and human hinterland.
In their travel narrative The Vilayet of Beirut, published in 1889, Mohamad Bahjat and Rafic al-Tamimi praised the natural splendor of this city: “Tripoli is undoubtedly the most brilliant city on the entire Syrian coast […] No other city in Syria can rival the splendor of Tripoli and boast of the sumptuousness of its site and landscapes, as well as all the wealth it holds. Unfortunately, Damascus does not have access to the sea. Even Beirut itself, the queen of the cities on the Syrian coast, does not have such a long-standing tradition of the density of so many wonders.”
Tripoli’s past places it as one of the Levant’s key centers, hosting the first French consulate in 1536 as a result of the Franco-Ottoman partnership against their common enemy, the Habsburgs. The role of a consul was difficult to define, it oscillated between that of a merchant leader and a diplomat. Gradually, it would be regulated by royal power, thanks to the Pontchartrain system, granting certain privileges to the consuls.
This “triple-city,” famous for its orange blossom trees, jasmine, gardenia, and especially tuberose, had been for centuries the natural terminal of the northern Levant, serving the Syrian coast, the Homs gap, as well as the Orontes Valley and plains all the way to Hama. As compensation for its integration into the Greater Lebanon, it received certain privileges of autonomy: the establishment of professional orders and the autonomy of the municipal administration in the real estate sector. All these factors, coupled with the departure of major educational institutions and the decline of the important industrial zone, paved the way for progressive impoverishment in a region that sought to assert its distinctiveness outside the central power. The Lebanese civil war and the emergence of Islamist movements eventually instrumentalized a negative image of the city as a stronghold of political Islamism and extremism. The 2019 uprising somewhat corrected this perception by portraying Tripoli as the “queen of the revolution,” although it did not alleviate the rampant impoverishment.
On June 9, USJ organized a presentation ceremony for a beautiful book about the city, Tripoli through the Eyes of its People and Surroundings, published by Jarrous Editions, an institution that has survived amidst the storms.
Former Minister and former Bar Association President Rachid Derbas summarized the criminal negligence towards the city and its numerous assets: “Shame on us for seeing the UNESCO list the Tripoli Fairground site [designed by Oscar Niemeyer] as a world heritage site while we allow cows to roam its premises, according to the Prime Minister’s own testimony.”
The audience enjoyed high-quality interventions by Rvd Salim Daccache, Nasser Jarrous, the Tripoli Bar Association President Marie-Thérèse Fenianos,  Maya Habib Hafez, President of the NGO Al-Tawarek, the event’s partner, as well as Dr. Tarek Mitri, former Minister.
All the speeches spontaneously focused not on Islamic-Christian coexistence, but on the city itself. It is worth emphasizing this characteristic, which stands out in Lebanon where interreligious dialogue often plays the role of a substitute for political unity. Each speaker lent their voice to the city to emphasize a central idea: the urban space remains, despite all the misfortunes, an indivisible unity even if it presents diverse specificities and functionalities that can and should be wisely exploited.
A fundamental fact was observed, that of the logic of political unity first and foremost. This unity is achieved through the city, not through the cohabitation of diverse human groups on a land. Political unity is not based on religious, ethnic, or cultural ties. The “political” or “living together” is based on the “place,” the “city” with its constitutions and laws. Tripoli is probably the only Lebanese locality that has a long tradition of “citizenship,” as highlighted by Dr. Tarek Mitri. It developed through “centrifugal expansion,” which allowed the assimilation of the surrounding rural regions. Beirut did not have the same history. It developed through the “centripetal aggregation” of rural regions and not through the expansion of the urban center. Many people reside “in Beirut,” but everyone who lives in the northern metropolis considers themselves “from Tripoli.” This city has demonstrated an assimilation power to such an extent that it is exceptional to hear the quintessential Lebanese question, “Where are you originally from?” Bruno Dewailly, from the IFPO, stated in a conference given in November 2013: “[…] I must specify that Tripoli has fascinated me so much that… I feel just as much a Tripolitan as a Lille resident. Therefore, it is indeed an “Ibn el-Balad” who will speak here, and that is why I will use the “we” and not the “you” or “them” when it comes to speaking about “us, the Tripolitans” […].” One could not better describe the immortal genius of the city, the place of non-segmented political unity in territories of hegemony and power.
It was the genius of every “invisible city,” as Italo Calvino put it, that hovered in the François Bassil auditorium on Friday, June 9, 2023. This immortal genius of the city echoed the words of B. Dewailly, that each person carries the territory of their city on the soles of their shoes. In 1920, Tripoli had hesitated to join the idea of the Greater Lebanon. Today, thanks to its sense of citadinity and urbanity, Tripoli carries a message of hope in a Lebanon that is not fragmented but properly governed in accordance with its constitutional texts. Those who wish to end the unified Lebanon should contemplate the fundamental truth that political unity, that is, the unity of coexistence, is achieved through the city, its laws, its constitutions, and its good governance.
On June 14, all of Lebanon hopes to see, at the helm of the state, a man molded by citadinity, imbued with the inclusive spirit of the city, capable of fulfilling his primary role as the guardian of laws and the Constitution.
