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Mapping the Blurred Lines of Beirut’s Languages

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by Kaveh Waddell - city lab - A sign across from a quiet Beirut park advertises a taxi service: “For everyone, everywhere,” the sign reads in French. “Day and night,” it says in Arabic on the other side of the sign. Two sheets of printer paper are taped up on a wall nearby. One advertises an apartment for rent, delivering different pieces of information in English, French, and a transliteration of Arabic into Latin letters. On the wrinkled page pasted next to it, a hookah delivery service lists its flavors in Arabic—alternating between Arabic and Latin script—and entices customers with an offer of “free delivery” in English. Beirut, Lebanon’s cosmopolitan capital, is famous for the chaotic jumble of languages it contains. Arabic, French, and English mix and mingle in writing and in conversation. For visitors and locals alike, it can be hard to pin down just how they interact, and the unwritten rules for how they’re used. To try and sort out Beirut’s complex linguistic landscape, a team of more than 40 undergraduates from the American University of Beirut wandered through the city with their smartphone cameras trained on writing in public spaces. Over the course of two years, they snapped photos of everything from street signs and shop awnings to billboards and graffiti. Their photos were tagged with various characteristics: their location, the languages and scripts used, the meaning of the words, whether anything was misspelled. For Mario Hawat, one of the researchers, the exercise changed the way he looked at the city. “It ruined walking in the street for me,” said Hawat. “It used to be such a peaceful exercise.”

The result is a collection of maps that reveals the contours of the polyglot city’s famed linguistic diversity. In most cities, one or two languages dominate the landscape, except for in small patches, like immigrant neighborhoods. But in Beirut, blends of Arabic, French, and English turn up everywhere in the city—sometimes alongside other languages, like Armenian and Amharic—and they’re rarely alone. “There's a messy vernacularity to the streets of Beirut that parallels the beautiful code-switching that takes place in Lebanese conversations,” said David Wrisley, who leads the mapping project. His students began collecting data with smartphones in 2015, back when he taught English at the American University of Beirut. Now, he’s a professor of digital humanities at New York University in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, but he still oversees the project. Shops that sell clothing and shoes often use a nonsensical amalgam of Romance languages, like “Bella Rêve”—Spanish or Italian plus French, with bonus points for an Arabic transcription: بيلّا ريڤ.

Code-switching is built into spoken Lebanese Arabic, which is studded with French and English—a product of the country’s colonial history and its close ties with the West. It's more than just the occasional word, thrown in the way an American English speaker might unthinkingly toss off a Spanish word here and there. Instead, whole phrases and sentences in English or French crop up in the middle of Arabic conversations. Often, English and French words become so ingrained in Lebanese Arabic that they take on Arabic characteristics. Hawat offered an example: “If I wanted to be very jock-like and greet my friends, I would say, ‘Hi, broite.’” Yes, that's “Hi, bro” with a Lebanese Arabic possessive ending. The blurred lines of Lebanese vernacular show up in writing, too. Although Arabic is written in a different script than English and French, the two writing systems often mix freely here. Many establishments write out their names in Latin letters, even if the names are made up of Arabic words. Signs for corner stores and bakeries, by contrast, might include “سناك” or “ميني ماركت”—words which, if read aloud, sound like the English words “snack” and “mini-market,” respectively.

In addition to playing with scripts, the majority of the signs the researchers analyzed included more than one language. One might expect a sign in Arabic, French, and English to contain roughly the same information in each. Instead the researchers found that the ideas communicated in each languages are often complementary, but different: To understand the entirety of a sign, the reader must be able to read and understand two or even three languages. Signage with different information in different languages is unusual, said Lorna Carson, a linguistics professor at Trinity College Dublin. But the pattern is a reflection of the reality here in Beirut: Bilingualism and trilingualism are normal, and not just among the highly educated. “There is an assumed multilingual literacy among the people of Beirut,” said Wrisley.

Lebanese foreign minister skips Arab League meeting

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What Iran is doing against some Arab countries calls for taking more than one measure to stop these violations, interferences and threats, which are carried out through many various means," Hossam Zaki, Arab League Assistant Secretary, told Asharq al Awsat newspaper in an interview. "Stopping them requires a joint Arab policy." He said the meeting would send a "strong message" for Iran to step back from its current policies Egypt's state-owned newspaper Al Ahram cited an Arab diplomatic source saying the meeting may refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council. The emergency Arab foreign ministers meeting was convened at the request of Saudi Arabia with support from the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait to discuss means of confronting Iranian intervention, Egypt's state news agency MENA said. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir told Reuters last week the kingdom's actions in the Middle East were only a response to what he called the "aggression" of Iran. "Unfortunately countries like the Saudi regime are pursuing divisions and creating differences and because of this they don’t see any results other than divisions," Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state media Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting in Antalya with his Russian and Turkish counterparts about the Syria conflict. Lebanon's state-run NNA media said the country's the foreign minister would not attend the Cairo meeting. Lebanon will be represented by its representative to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam, it said. After French intervention, Hariri flew to France and met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday. Speaking in Paris, Hariri said he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut in the coming days. He said he would take part in Lebanese independence day celebrations, which are scheduled for Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia also accuses Hezbollah of a role in the launching of a missile at Riyadh from Yemen this month. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Iran's supply of rockets to Houthi militias was an act of "direct military aggression". Yemen's civil war pits the internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, against the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Iran denies charges it supplies Houthi forces.

According to local media, Lebanon objected to the designation. Gheith said that he would not "rule out going to the United Nations Security Council as a next step," during a press conference after the assembled foreign ministers held a closed session.

Saudi crown prince's drastic moves viewed as destabilising

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by Bloomberg and New York times - RIYADH (Saudi Arabia) • With the tacit backing of his father, Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old crown prince has established himself as the most powerful figure in the Arab world, rushing into confrontations on all sides at once. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the arrest of 11 princes in his royal family and nearly 200 members of the Saudi business elite, and has begun to take power from the kingdom's conservative clerics. He has blockaded neighbouring Qatar, accused Iran of acts of war and encouraged the resignation of Lebanon's prime minister. And in Yemen, his armed forces are fighting an Iranian-aligned faction in an intractable war that created a humanitarian crisis. The crown prince has moved so quickly that United States officials and others worry that he is destabilising the region. Signs of potential blowback are growing. Investors, nervous about his plans, have been moving money out of the kingdom. Prince Mohammed has sought to counter the capital flight by squeezing detainees and others to surrender assets. He has presented the arrests as a campaign against corruption, but his targets call it a shakedown, and he has turned for advice to a former Egyptian security chief who has been pilloried at home for brutality and graft.

Prince Mohammed's supporters say he is simply taking the drastic measures needed to turn around the kingdom's graft-ridden and oil-dependent economy while pushing back against Iranian aggression. But analysts around the region debate whether the rush might be driven more by a desire to consolidate power before a possible royal succession, desperation for cash to pay for his plans or simply unchecked ambition to put his stamp on the broader Middle East. And despite US President Donald Trump's enthusiasm for the prince, some in the State Department, the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies say they fear that his impulsiveness could both set back his own goals and destabilise the region. Prince Mohammed's supporters argue that Saudi Arabia's recent threats against Iran and Lebanon came in response to provocations beyond his control. "He's decided he doesn't do anything cautiously," said Mr Philip Gordon, the White House Middle East coordinator under President Barack Obama. But, he said, "if the crown prince alienates too many other princes and other pillars of the regime, pursues costly regional conflicts and scares off foreign investors, he could undermine the prospects for the very reforms he is trying to implement." The extrajudicial arrests have spooked investors enough, analysts say, to extinguish the prince's plans for a public stock offering of Aramco, the Saudi state oil company, in New York or London next year. It had been a centrepiece of his overhaul.

The crown prince's threats against Iran and Lebanon have raised the spectre of wars that the Saudi military, already bogged down in Yemen, is ill-equipped to fight. Riyadh would be forced to depend on the United States or Israel in any new conflict. The Hariri episode appears to have convinced Washington and Riyadh that their interests are better served by stability in Lebanon than instability, even though that approach requires some cooperation with Hezbollah, the dominant political faction. A Saudi official told me that the kingdom plans to work with the United States to support Lebanese institutions, such as the army, that can gradually reduce the power of Hezbollah and its patron, Iran. MBS seems to have recognized that combating Hezbollah is a long game, not a short one.

His corruption purge at home, meanwhile, risks alienating parts of the royal family and the financial elite at a moment that would appear to demand unity, either to smooth a succession or to face off against Iran. As many as 17 people detained in the anti-corruption campaign have required medical treatment for abuse by their captors, according to a doctor from the nearest hospital and a US official tracking the situation. With the decline in the price of oil in recent years, Saudi Arabia has frozen projects and spent more than a third of its financial reserves, draining them to about US$475 billion (S$644 billion) in recent months from a peak of US$737 billion in August 2014. At that rate, the kingdom has only a few years to lift its revenue or slash its spending to forestall a financial crisis. Against that backdrop, the prince's supporters argue that the anti-corruption campaign aims to recapture hundreds of billions of dollars that have leaked from the state budget through graft and self-dealing - money he needs to fund his development plans. Prince Mohammed had appealed to the kingdom's wealthy for months to invest in his modernisation programme. But some groused privately that his plans - like a new US$500 billion business hub "for the dreamers of the world," built from scratch and fuelled entirely by clean energy - were ill-conceived and grandiose, and instead of investing at home they quietly moved their assets abroad. Now, he is no longer merely asking.

The Saudi government is pressing some of those detained and others still at large to sign over large sums in exchange for better treatment, according to a US official briefed on the crackdown and associates of the royal family. Saudi authorities estimate they may be able to recover as much as US$100 billion from settlement talks, a senior official told Bloomberg. Suspects are offered settlements to avoid trial, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. If they accept, talks are then carried out by a special committee to work out the details. The talks involve the amounts authorities believe suspects have amassed illegally, not their entire wealth, and authorities estimate the state could recover between US$50 billion and US$100 billion, the official said. Prince Mohammed's supporters argue that Saudi Arabia's recent threats against Iran and Lebanon came in response to provocations beyond his control. As he was preparing his anti-corruption roundup, they say, Teheran's allies in Yemen launched an Iranian-made missile in the direction of Riyadh, where it was intercepted over the outskirts of the city. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad AlHariri resigned the same day with a televised speech from Riyadh that accused Iran and its Lebanese client Hizbollah of sowing "discord, devastation and destruction" in the region. But many, including current and former US diplomats, say Prince Mohammed's boldness also reflects his conviction that he has the support of Mr Trump. Mr Trump chose Saudi Arabia for the first foreign trip of his presidency, and Prince Mohammed and Mr Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law and adviser, have built such a strong rapport that other US officials say they are not briefed on what the two discuss. NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG

The Latest: France sees 'negative' foreign sways in Lebanon

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Saad Hariri (right) and Emmanuel Macron

Lebanon’s embattled prime minister, Saad Hariri, met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday and insisted he would return to Beirut on Wednesday, marking a new chapter in the odd political drama that has thrust Lebanon into the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The visit, equal parts diplomacy and political theater, was meant to dispel speculation that Hariri was being held hostage in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, from where he declared his surprise resignation as prime minister two weeks ago. Since then, both allies and opponents of Hariri have demanded his return to the Lebanese capital so that he can formalize or back down from his resignation in person. “I will attend … the Independence Day celebrations in Lebanon.… All of my political positions will be launched from there, after seeing the president of the republic,” he said in a short televised news conference from the Elysee Palace after meeting with Macron. “You know that I have tendered my resignation and … in Lebanon we will speak about this.” Hariri arrived in France with his wife for what was billed as a lunch meeting with Macron, who warmly embraced the Lebanese leader on the steps of the Elysee Palace and patted him on the back before they turned to greet the crowd. Hariri seemed relaxed, the smile on his face extinguished only when he turned to enter the building. Even Hariri’s closest confidants were reportedly blindsided on Nov. 4, when he announced his resignation on a Saudi-owned news channel. They pinned the blame on Iranian meddling in Lebanese affairs.

by AP The Latest on developments surrounding Lebanon's crisis with Saudi Arabia in the wake of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation (all times local):

8:50 p.m. The French presidency says it is essential to protect Lebanon from "negative" foreign influences because the country needs a "strong state." A high official in French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Saturday that France aims to see Lebanon "regain its stability." The official didn't name any specific foreign countries allegedly interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs but said Lebanon should be protected from the "dangers that regional crises can pose to it." The official said France supports Lebanon's policy of "decoupling" itself from regional crises. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy, was speaking after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Macron at the French presidential palace and said he'll return to Lebanon in the coming days. ———

7:20 p.m. The French presidency says France is not worried that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri left two of his children in Saudi Arabia before coming to France, adding that he will return to Lebanon in the coming days. A high official in French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Saturday "we have no reason to be concerned about this." "He left two of his children in Riyadh because dad and mom thought it best to leave two children in Riyadh," the official said, answering questions about whether, as some have suggested, Saudi Arabia could use the children's whereabouts to maintain pressure on Hariri. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy. After a face-to-face meeting with Macron, Hariri was joined by his wife and their eldest son for a lunch at the Elysee, the French presidential palace. ———

3:15 p.m. Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he will return to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations adding that he will make his political stance clear upon his arrival. Hariri spoke to reporters in Paris Saturday after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during which he thanked France for the "positive political role" it is playing in the Middle East. Hariri was joined for lunch at the Elysee Palace by his wife and older son along with Macron and his wife. Hariri made a short statement in French and similar one in Arabic in which he said: "As you know I have resigned and we will speak about this matter there (Lebanon)." Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept the resignation that was made through a TV broadcast in Saudi Arabia, and accused the kingdom of holding Hariri against his will. ———

12:15 p.m. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after a tense stay in Saudi Arabia that unleashed fears of a new political crisis in Lebanon. Hariri arrived Saturday in France on Macron's invitation, and pulled up to the Elysee Palace courtyard in a convoy before being greeted by the French leader on the steps. It's Hariri's first appearance outside Saudi Arabia since he made a strange resignation announcement Nov. 4 that some feared was Saudi-engineered. Hariri insisted that he was not a Saudi hostage. Lebanese state-run National News Agency says Hariri told Lebanese President Michel Aoun that he would return for independence day ceremonies Wednesday. Macron has sought to mediate in the crisis. France has centuries old ties to Lebanon. ———

10:15 a.m. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency is reporting that President Michel Aoun has received a telephone call from Prime Minister Saad Hariri after his arrival in Paris and Hariri informed him that he will take part in Independence Day celebrations in Beirut next week. Lebanon will mark Independence Day on Wednesday and there have been concerns about whether Hariri will attend the annual celebrations. The ceremony is usually headed by the president, prime minister and parliament speaker. It is the first official comment on when Hariri is likely to be back in Beirut since his Nov. 4 resignation through a broadcast on a Saudi-owned TV station from Saudi Arabia. NNA quoted a presidential statement saying that Hariri informed the president that he arrived in Paris with his wife earlier Saturday. ———

9:45 a.m. The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he has arrived in Paris with his wife from Saudi Arabia without mentioning two of his children. The statement says Hariri will meet French President Emmanuel Macron later and have lunch with him along with his wife, Lara, and older son Hussam. The statement did not mention Hariri's younger son, Abdul-Aziz, and daughter Loulwa. Lebanese local media outlets say Hariri's younger children are still in Saudi Arabia where they are attending school. Hariri's older son, Hussam, studies in Britain and arrived in Paris to meet his parents. Hariri's cousin and close aide, Nader Hariri, was seen walking into the Paris residence Saturday morning. Nader Hariri told the local LBC TV that he arrived alone in Paris without other family members from Lebanon. Hariri's resignation in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia Nov. 4 has thrown Lebanon into a serious political crisis. Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept it, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will. ———

7:45 a.m. Lebanese TV stations have shown Prime Minister Saad Hariri arriving in France from Saudi Arabia amid political turmoil. The stations showed Hariri walking out of his car outside his Paris home and moving straight into the building without speaking to journalists. The prime minister was accompanied by his wife Lara al-Azm on Saturday, but none of his three children appeared in the footage. Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis. Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept it, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will. ———

6:40 a.m. Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri says his stay in Saudi Arabia has been to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbors. He dismissed as "rumors" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom. Hariri's tweet on Friday came hours before he was expected in France two weeks after his surprise resignation in Saudi Arabia. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said Hariri was expected in Paris' presidential palace by midday Saturday. Macron said Hariri will be received "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.

Lebanese FM May Not Attend Arab League Meeting, to Decide Sunday: Senior Lebanese Official

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's foreign minister may not attend an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Sunday and a final decision will be taken in the morning, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters on Saturday. The official said Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil wanted to avoid an anticipated confrontation at the meeting with Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies over the regional role of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah.The emergency Arab foreign ministers meeting is being convened at the request of Saudi Arabia with support from the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait "to discuss means of confronting Iranian intervention in the internal affairs of Arab states," the Egyptian state news agency MENA said.

Lebanon's Hariri leaves Saudi Arabia for France on Friday

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, meets with recently resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the latter's residence in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

BEIRUT (Reuters) By Laila Bassam, Lisa Barrington - Saad al-Hariri, who sparked a crisis by resigning as Lebanese prime minister on Nov. 4 during a visit to Saudi Arabia, is on his way to the airport, he said early on Saturday, before his flight from Riyadh to France. Hariri’s abrupt resignation while he was in Saudi Arabia and his continued stay there caused fears over Lebanon’s stability. His visit to France with his family to meet President Emmanuel Macron is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis. “I am on the way to the airport,” he said in a Tweet. However, Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariri’s Future Movement, said that after Hariri’s visit to France, he would have “a small Arab tour” before traveling to Beirut. Macron, speaking in Sweden, said Hariri “intends to return to his country in the coming days, weeks”. The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the bitter rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shi‘ite Hezbollah group. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted. On Wednesday, Macron invited Hariri to visit France along with his family, providing what French diplomats said might be a way to reduce tensions surrounding the crisis by demonstrating that Hariri could leave Saudi Arabia. Lebanese politicians from across the political spectrum have called for Hariri to return to the country, saying it is necessary to resolve the crisis. Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who heads President Aoun’s political party, said on Thursday Beirut could escalate the crisis if Hariri did not return home. “We have adopted self-restraint so far to arrive at this result so that we don’t head towards diplomatic escalation and the other measures available to us,” he said during a European tour aimed at building pressure for a solution to the crisis.

Russia warns against foreign meddling in Lebanese affairs

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Fie Photo (archive)

MOSCOW – Russia has spoken out against foreign interference in Lebanese affairs following the surprise resignation of the Lebanon's prime minister. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday at a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Gibran Bassil, that "Russia invariably stands for supporting the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon." He added that the crisis should be settled internally in Lebanon, without foreign interference, and through dialogue. Bassil is visiting world capitals as part of a tour to clarify Lebanon's position following Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's surprise resignation in a Nov. 4 broadcast from Saudi Arabia, which has thrown the small country into turmoil. The resignation of Saudi-aligned Hariri was seen by some as engineered by Riyadh, raising concerns that it could drag Lebanon into a battle for regional supremacy.

Lebanese president hopes ex-prime minister’s visit to France will end political crisis

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, meets with recently resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the latter's residence in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, meets with recently resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the latter's residence in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. (RANIA SANJAR / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

by reuters - BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Saad al-Hariri is expected to leave Saudi Arabia for France within 48 hours, before flying home to Beirut to officially submit his resignation as Lebanese prime minister, a source close to Hariri told Reuters on Thursday. Hariri announced his resignation in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, and has not yet returned to Lebanon. He said on Wednesday he would return soon. Lebanese President Michel Aoun tweeted on Thursday that he hoped the country’s political crisis was over following Hariri’s acceptance of the French

“I await the return of PM Hariri to Beirut so we can decide on the situation of the government – if he wants to resign or rescind his resignation,” Aoun said, according to presidential sources. Aoun has previously said he will not accept Hariri’s resignation until he returns to Beirut to tender it and explain his reasons. The resignation of Hariri pushed Lebanon to the center of an intensifying regional rivalry between Shi‘ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. Lebanese presidential sources quoted Aoun on Thursday as saying Lebanon remained committed to its policy of “disassociation, especially among Arab states”. The disassociation policy is generally known in Lebanon to mean staying out of regional conflicts. In his interview on Sunday, Hariri repeatedly called for disassociation to be respected. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Wednesday that he had invited Hariri to France after speaking to him and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The invitation is to visit for a few days and is not an offer of political exile, Macron said, speaking in Germany. Hariri is expected to go to France with his family, the source close to Hariri said. Hariri traveled to Riyadh on Nov. 3 before abruptly resigning a day later, and he has remained in the Saudi capital since then. Top Lebanese officials and senior politicians close to Hariri have told Reuters he was forced to quit. Hariri and Saudi Arabia have both denied he is being held in Riyadh or was coerced to resign.