There has been much fanfare about the removal of political signs and posters from Beirut, as part of a reported reconciliation deal between the parties/militias/old men that run this country. I have to admit, I was surprised to see the decades-old Amal mural painted over on Spears Street.
The Daily Star reported that Hezbollah had even removed posters of martyrs in Saida, though advertisements for the party’s museum remain up.
But what the Star didn’t report is that as posters came down for some groups, a massive billboard campaign went up commemorating the life of slain prime minister Rafik Hariri. The billboards promoted a political rally for his party that would be held on the day of his assassination last week.
The billboards are literally ubiquitous across the city. From downtown:
To Hamra:
The highways:
The northern suburbs:
Multiple images on the same panel:
Even three billboards on one street:
I wonder if this campaign was excluded from the reconciliation deal and why.
Look out for my column next month in Bold Magazine for more on Beirut’s history with political posters, how the latest crackdown compares to previous removal campaigns and what is often left out of the process.
4 comments
It is not mentioned because the daily star is a hariri whitewash, duh..
I think these billboards are up temporarily. Remember it’s the week of Feb 14th, it’s clearly a temporary thing.
I think the law is targeting permanent posters that have been there since i was a teenager perhaps (90s).
But then does that allow other parties to start canvasing the streets for their events and political rallies? I’m not sure how temporary this can be because Lebanese parties are constantly having events and commemorations of dead or martyred leaders.
Yalla remove all of them including Gemayel, Geagea, evertyhing.