BEIRUT // Fighters from the Sunni Bab Al Tabbaneh neighbourhood in Tripoli are clear about who is to blame for the gun battles where their area meets the adjoining Alawite district.
"Hizbollah and Bashar Al Assad want this," said Sheikh Khodr Al Zoobi, a Salafist cleric, sometime school bus driver and militia leader. "There is a war against Sunnis in Lebanon."
With shots overhead from snipers in the Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen, he argued that Hizbollah, a Lebanese Shiite militia and political party, had grown powerful at the expense of the Sunni community. "We need to stand our ground," he said last month.
Bab Al Tabbaneh, a poor neighbourhood of rundown apartment blocks dotted with the black flags of the conservative Islamic Salafist movement, is a microcosm of a wider issue in Lebanon and Syria.
The men exchanging fire with Sheikh Al Zoobi and his ragtag band of fighters are Alawites, a branch of Shia Islam. Over the border in Syria, this conflict is being played out on a wider and bloodier scale between the Alawite-dominated government of Mr Al Assad and the mainly Sunni rebels fighting to overthrow his regime.
As the Syrian civil war escalates, tensions between the two communities in Lebanon are rising and some Sunni groups - particularly in working-class districts of the cities of Sidon and Tripoli - are itching for a fight.
Lebanon's main Sunni political party, Future Movement, yesterday pleaded with the presidency to prevent "state collapse", blaming Hizbollah for dragging the country into the war in Syria.
Iranian-backed Hizbollah militants are openly fighting for Mr Al Assad, and sectarian violence has spread to religiously mixed Lebanese cities and border towns.
"Hizbollah is serving Syria and Iran at the expense of the Lebanese," said Fouad Siniora, the Future Movement leader and a former prime minister. He said the president, Michel Suleiman, should launch an initiative "to stop the state's collapse and give the Lebanese hope".
Recent incidents have hinted at growing anger among Sunnis. The clashes in Tripoli struck up again last month, were fiercer than ever. Rockets were fired into the Hizbollah-dominated Chiyah area of Beirut in late May, after the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah made an inflammatory speech in which he admitted that his men were fighting alongside government troops in Syria. And in the southern city of Sidon, gunmen shot at a pro-Hizbollah sheikh while Salafis blocked access to a Hizbollah funeral.
Randa Slim, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, said the incident at the funeral on May 22 was "very concerning".
"When it comes to funerals there is normally some respect for the dead in Islamic culture. This was a sign of the depth of the anger people feel about Hizbollah," she said.
Fighting broke out in Sidon again yesterday afternoon. Security officials said automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were being used in the clashes between followers of a radical Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Al Assir, and unknown gunmen.
The rise of Hizbollah from a militia group to a political force to be reckoned with over the past decade has both galvanised Lebanon's Sunnis and increased tensions.
Sheikh Al Zoobi admitted that relations between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon were better before May 2008, when Hizbollah sent armed men into Sunni areas of Beirut to bend the government to its will in a spat over communications networks.
Across the political and economic spectrum, Sunnis speak of that as a watershed moment.
"After 2008, my family started talking about how Sunnis need to stick together and people became more wary of going into Shia areas," said Rania, a middle-class Sunni living in Beirut.
Now, the war in Syria has emboldened more militant Sunnis. Hizbollah has been fighting in Syria for some time, with its fighters playing a decisive role in the battle for Qusayr. They are now reported to be preparing an assault on Aleppo.
In his speech on May 25, Mr Nasrallah said that Hizbollah feared Sunni Islamists taking over in Syria and admitted that Lebanese Sunnis and Shiites have been fighting a proxy war over the border. "We disagree over Syria," he said, addressing the Sunni community. "You fight in Syria, we fight in Syria - then let's fight there."
In Sidon, the Salafist leader, Sheikh Al Assir, has formed what he calls the Free Resistance Brigade to wage war against the Syrian regime. He travelled there earlier this year, releasing photographs of him marching in Syria with a Kalashnikov in hand.
Sheikh Al Assir told his supporters in April that every able-bodied Muslim in Lebanon had a "religious duty to enter into Syria to defend its people, its mosques and religious shrines".
Fighters have also been joining the battle from the north of Lebanon, which has long been a base for Islamist Sunni groups and was the location of a three-month conflict between Salafis and the Lebanese army at the Nahr Al Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007.
There have been calls from the mosques there for men to go to Syria, including from the hardline cleric, Omar Bakri, who was deported from the UK and has based himself in Tripoli. He said about a third of the men who normally fight with him in Bab Al Tabbaneh had left to go to Qusayr.
Until now, this increased militancy has been largely limited to sections of disenfranchised working-class urban Sunni communities.
Yezid Sayigh, senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut, estimated that only 15 per cent of Lebanese Sunnis would consider themselves Salafis, and that the political class had shown little appetite for joining Syria's war.
"I don't see yet a will inside the Sunni community to fight Hizbollah," said Ms Slim, adding that "the Salafis who are trying to push that violent agenda are limited to Sidon and Tripoli - that may be why we haven't seen large-scale violence".
But she warned that Syrian war was a "wild card factor" and could tip Lebanon's fragile confessional peace over the edge.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Scoreline:
Manchester City 1
Jesus 4'
Brighton 0
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mental%20health%20support%20in%20the%20UAE
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Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm
