BEIRUT: An eerie calm filled the Beirut streets Tuesday as fewer people braved to venture out amid fears the recent political troubles could spill into street fighting.
As reports emerged that groups of Hizbullah supporters had assembled in parts of the city in the early hours, anxious parents took their children out of school and people avoided going to work as more police and soldiers deployed to the capital in a bid to reassure residents.
“My son was in school and called me in a panic saying that parents had all come and taken their children home,” said Monique Khoury. “He was scared and wanted me to come pick him up but I was far away and had to send a taxi.
“When I heard that his teachers would not let him go without parental permission, I got really worried. Anything could have happened. I can’t even imagine what I would do if he was hurt.”
Although schools officially stayed open, some chose to close their doors after the majority of students failed to show up for class or were taken out by concerned relatives early in the day.
West Beirut institutions were the worst affected, but calm seemingly returned by the early afternoon after clashes failed to materialize and the Hizbullah supporters disbanded.
“Schools and universities are supposed to open normally tomorrow, unless something bad happens, God forbid,” Education Minister Hassan Mneimneh told The Daily Star.
“We ask parents to watch the news and God willing nothing bad will happen,” said Mneimneh, who is among caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s team of ministers.
Dozens of people were killed across the country in 2008 after clashes erupted between rival pro-government and March 8 factions, following an attempted government crackdown on Hizbullah’s private telecoms network.
Although all sides have now issued reassurances not to resort to violence, tension has significantly mounted over the indictment issued Monday by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The U.N.-backed court’s prosecutor submitted the indictment for review by the tribunal’s pre-trial judge. The indictment is widely believed to point the finger at members of Hizbullah, who have denied involvement and slammed the court an Israeli project.
“My three children were on their way to school today when I heard the reports about groups of men deploying in the streets and decided to pull them out,” said Suhair Bindakji. “I think it was the best thing to do to avoid a major panic later … But, if things stay the same, I expect my children will go back tomorrow. You can’t just stop your life every time you hear something on the news,” said the mother of three. “Of course I am going to be careful but this is Lebanon, you have to learn to deal with the uncertainty.”
Shops and restaurants in Downtown Beirut, which hosted a months-long takeover by Hizbullah forces in 2008, remained open.
According to several establishment owners, the additional security in place since 2008 has helped transform the area to one of the safest, abating fears of tourists and shoppers alike. “We can’t know all the news and we get conflicting reports all the time,” said general manager of popular Downtown restaurant Karamna. “Some are true and some turn out to be false but that is the way it is in this country. So far the situation is calm and I hope that it will stay this way.”
Despite the optimism, however, security forces closed a road in central Beirut leading to the government offices and several foreign embassies, while the army beefed up its presence along the airport road.
Some university students currently grappling with final exams also chose to stay away from central campuses fearing violence could spill into the streets.
“Quite a few students have not come to class or have been banned from coming to university by their parents,” said American University Beirut student Zeina Najjar. “But it’s the middle of our exams. We need to be here studying, not hiding away … I think Beirutis have gotten used to scares like this and are not so easily frightened.” – Additional reporting by Wassim Mroueh
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