Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Syria Street in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, has become a conflict zone. Echoing the war, the two districts it separates were torn apart in violent fighting. Bab el-Tebbaneh, the Sunni neighborhood, took the side of the opposition, while Jabal Mohsen, the Alawite, joined that of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A microcosm of the civil war raging in Syria.
For a few dollars, young, idle Lebanese people transformed themselves into fanatics, ready to die for a cause that was not theirs. The fighting with heavy weapons left hundreds dead and destroyed businesses and homes. The name of Rue de Syria, which has become a front line, is more justified than ever.
For years, the war in Syria greatly destabilized Lebanon's small neighbor and almost dragged the entire country into a fratricidal war. Although this did not happen, the conflict had a lasting political and economic impact on the Land of the Cedar.
More than ever, Syria Street in Tripoli symbolizes the close relations that unite the two neighboring countries, for better and for worse. Today, the fighting has stopped and calm has returned to Bab el-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, the two neighborhoods separated by this narrow strip of concrete bearing the name of another country. The Lebanese enemy brothers have now reconciled, but the peace is fragile and the wounds remain raw.
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