TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Recent clashes and bouts of violence have flared in Tripoli, fostering negative perceptions of the country’s second largest city, once a paragon of coexistence. Previous episodes of fighting, dating back to the Civil War period, have pushed the majority of Christians out of the city while many of those who remain are adamant about “maintaining their roots.”

There is no official count of Christians residing in Tripoli, but according to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Tripoli-Koura, the population has declined from 22 percent in the 1970s to 6 percent today. “This is where we grew up and this is where we fit in. Why would we leave?” Nawfal Nawfal, a historian and university professor who lives in the Zahrieh neighborhood, told The Daily Star. [Link]