Beirut's cultural decline
Deutsche Welle
The explosion in Beirut was a shock for Mary Cochrane, a member of one of Lebanon’s most prominent aristocratic families. Sursock Palace, where the family lives, was severely damaged in the blast, but there‘s no money to save it.
Beirut's reputation as the "Paris of the Middle East" was built on the city's many historic structures. These architectural gems elegantly combined both European and Middle-Eastern influences. After the explosion in early August, thousands of these buildings now lie in ruin. Most of them are privately owned, but their owners currently lack the means to secure them. Beirut's cultural scene is sounding the alarm: the destruction of these buildings threatens the soul of the city. But there is no money to rescue them. Donations are currently their only hope. Mary Cochrane is struggling to reconstruct the family home, or at least make it winter-proof. After all, Sursock Palace is one of the most famous landmarks in Beirut's Christian quarter, Ashrafieh. A report by Theresa Breuer and Vanessa Schlesier.
After the explosion in Beirut - the art scene draws hope | Arte TRACKS
ARTE
The explosion in the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020 changed everything. TRACKS visits two artists in the destroyed city in Lebanon.
We meet Raymond Essayan, artist and pianist, who was almost thrown off the roof of his Mar Mikhael neighbourhood by the blast. And we meet the rapper "Chyno With A Why?". The founder of the first battlerap league in the Middle East recently signed his first international record deal. His album "Mamluk" is scheduled for release in 2021. TRACKS talks to him about hope and his way out of the crisis.
Lebanon after the explosion in Beirut
Deutsche Welle
The explosions in Beirut's port turned property agent and party king Johnny Assaf into an activist. He's coordinating the protests against Lebanon's politicians, accusing them of leaving the people to pick up the pieces.
They have no recourse but their own initiative. Volunteers are coming to Beirut from all across Lebanon, bringing food, helping to clean up and caring for the wounded. Especially hard hit are the quarter of a million Syrian refugees living in Beirut, most of them in the port's immediate vicinity. Now, many of them have lost what little they had. Discontent had already been smoldering in Lebanon for months. Critics blame the country's rigidified and corrupt political system for the ongoing economic crisis. They say the explosions in the port were only the last gasp of an epic and wide-ranging failure of the state. Will the Lebanese give themselves over to resignation or allow their fury to ignite a revolt? A Report by Theresa Breuer and Vanessa Schlesier.
Who owns the Holy Land?
ARTE
Two German Jews move into a settlement near Bethlehem. The reason: they dream of a life in the Holy Land. Under international law, Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are considered illegal. But the settlers believe they have a right to this land. What attracts Germans to the settlements? And how do they imagine living together with the Palestinians?
What drives people from Europe to exchange their comparatively comfortable lives for a much more complicated and dangerous one in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel? Chaya Tal from Cologne and Nethanel von Boxberg from Bonn have done just that: they have moved to the Gush Etzion settlement block near Bethlehem in the West Bank. Both are convinced that Judea and Samaria, as they call this area, belongs to the people of Israel, i.e. to the Jews. Under international law, however, the area is considered illegally occupied by Israel, even though Israel's government does not accept this. Chaya and Nethanel are not the only Europeans among the approximately 450,000 settlers in the West Bank - Belgians, French, Swiss or Dutch have found a new home in Gush Etzion. And especially among the Europeans are many who live an astonishing contradiction: on the one hand, they occupy land that belongs to the Palestinians, and at the same time they advocate peaceful coexistence with them. How does that work? Chaya speaks fluent Arabic and has friends in the Palestinian villages, which Israeli citizens are actually strictly forbidden to enter.
Visiting Gaza Strip as a Palestinian
DEUTSCHE WELLE
German-Palestinian Nidal wants to return from Berlin to his family in the Gaza Strip. But will Israel allow a Palestinian to pass through the country? And will the Palestinian Hamas government let him enter?
This documentary follows Nidal Bulbul, a naturalized German citizen born in Gaza, on an exciting and emotional journey. He has not seen his parents or his ten siblings for over four years. A former reporter, he set up a successful café in the German capital. He’s made new friends, built a new life. But he always worries about his family back in his old home - a feeling that many who have found shelter from war or persecution in Europe know all to well. When everything points to a new escalation between Israel and Gaza, Nidal drops everything from one day to the next. He sells his café, gives his dog to friends and leaves for Gaza. But there are only two ways to get there: through Egypt or through Israel. Nidal wants to try the Israeli route, but it is unclear whether the Israeli authorities will accept his German passport and let him though the country to Gaza. And even if they do, will the radical Islamist Hamas government allow him in?
Palestinians and Israelis : Between the front
Y-KOLLEKTIV
Nabi Saleh, a Palestinian village in the West Bank. On the hill opposite: the Jewish settlement of Halamish. When the settlers built a fence around the nearby water source in 2010, the Palestinians responded with demonstrations and stone-throwing. Often it is children who are on the front line. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is about religion, politics, culture and above all - home. Reporter Vanessa Schlesier experiences both sides of the conflict in the West Bank.