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The incompetence of owners, activists and officials alike bodes poorly for Dalieh — and for Beirut

Last summer, landowners erected a barrier separating Dalieh, along Beirut’s western coast, from the city and its inhabitants. It set off a tsunami of public criticism, protest and activist organizing — likely not the owners’ intent.

But just as those who erected the barrier were clearly misguided — this beast of barbed wire, chainlink fencing and concertina wire is more suited to a prison than a city — the ensuing tizzy of activism has also stepped outside the bounds of proper debate. In their zeal to protect one of the last vestiges of Beirut’s coast from development, some activists have fallen afoul of the truth, wittingly or not. The vast majority of Dalieh is not public property. Owners’ claims to the land and development rights are, as currently legislated, valid.

Most insidiously, a narrative has emerged that evil (read: rich) forces are oppressing the poor, defenseless fishers of Dalieh. Nothing could be further from the truth — a fact the became glaringly apparent when several of the fishers accepted huge settlements in return for leaving the land. At least one other, as our report on page 20 shows, is holding out for more — more cash, not more justice. Yet after police-backed bulldozers arrived in the early morning of May 2 to demolish fishers’ homes, this narrative of the oppressed fishers of Dalieh gained new currency.

Make no mistake, this magazine stands with the preservation of Dalieh and the expansion of public spaces. Beirut is already suffocating from a lack of public

OWNERS’ CLAIMS TO THE LAND AND DEVELOPMENT

RIGHTS ARE, AS CURRENTLY LEGISLATED, VALID