The Real Reason Jounieh is Cracking Down on Pubs?
I hate not knowing the real reason behind the authoritarian actions taken by big corporations and/or the government in Lebanon. Remember when MTV went on an all-out war on LBC and Al Jadeed? I felt it was fishy then, and brought you the real reason they suddenly became ultra-conservative and really took on the role as Fox News of Lebanon: bad ratings that didn’t live up to how big they hype themselves up.
Last weekend, Jounieh’s municipal police went into a club called Allure and pepper-sprayed the shit out of people there. Witnesses have said that the club was asked to turn off its music and shut down. The club’s management asked for a few more minutes to settle everyone’s bill and not ruin their patrons’ night. It ended up with the municipal police (who thank goodness are not armed in Lebanon, and should never be) pepper spraying people. Some patrons were even taken to hospital for respiratory complications.
This is outrageous on so many levels, that I will break it down into segments below.
Municipal Police Jurisdiction
This untrained, unchecked local police force is scary, and every time someone mentions they should be armed, a chill runs down my spine thinking what these undisciplined, untrained people would do if given a real weapon. Just look at the damage they caused with just pepper spray.
It’s unacceptable that municipal employees would storm a nightclub, force it to close down and use violence when the compliance wasn’t quick enough. We need to know more about the jurisdiction the municipal police has, and if they have the right to use non-lethal weapons against innocent taxpayers for whatever reason they got flustered with the club’s management.
Someone Tell Jounieh’s Municipality About All the Brothels
The thing about corrupt and opaque government bodies, is that they think the rest of us are just as stupid as they are. How do they expect us to believe that it’s neighbors’ noise complaints that justify this excessive use of force, when at least 3 or 4 brothels operate nearby, with dozens in Jounieh’s jurisdiction.
What kind of fucked up neighborhood resident isn’t bothered by illegal sex trafficking, that takes advantage of refugees and trafficked sex slaves from abroad, but bothered by a pub’s music just a smidge after midnight? I wonder why they don’t crack down on all the brothels *cough* bribes *cough* commission *cough*
The Real Reason: New Management, New Dynasty and Elections Soon
Pub owners aren’t usually Keserwen voters. Many of the residents nearby are however. What better way to appease a local population than by complying to their requests in such a mafioso, macho way? You complain about noise, the guys come in pepper-spraying young men and women having a good time, much to the delight of the allegedly angry neighbors. Add to that absurd slogans like “we are fighting the tourism of drugs and prostitution”, and you get a nice campaign slogan (knowing that the dealers and pimps still roam free and unhindered).
The more important reason though, is that the new head of municipality is from the FPM, and thus has virtually unchecked power with a president from that party and a handful of ministers and top government employees.
Of course, no such action can be explained without a monetary incentive pushing this attack on the nightlife industry (at least the part that doesn’t sell sex and drugs). Looks like Jounieh has caught the “villages” syndrome, where wealthy individuals decide to open up several pubs/restaurants in close proximity to each other in the heart of residential areas.
It seems there are plans to open such a project, including a mall, in the stretch near Saniour right above Maameltein. The first phases of this project might open as soon as this summer, so it’s super important to try and kill the competition before such a project sees the light of day. Already 3 pubs in Jounieh’s main street have shuttered up their businesses after constant harassment by the municipal police. Another example of “new mangement” trying to kill off the established ones is 2 summer festivals in Jounieh this year (does that mean twice the traffic too?).
Just the other night, while having a beer with some friends in a Jounieh pub, a grumpy, old municipal policeman and ordered everyone to turn off the music, three times in the span of less than 15 minutes. It wasn’t even 5 minutes past 11PM. He’d just stare down everyone in the pub from the street, like some stalker. So, the harassment is real, and I saw it for myself, a person who barely every goes to pubs, much less in Jounieh. Yet, even that one time, I got a front row seat to the gestapo-style behavior that definitely is not good for business.
Advice to the Jounieh Authorities
If you want us to take you seriously, start with the brothels. After the Chez Maurice catastrophe, do you really expect people to believe that a standard club or pub is the pertinent issue your city faces? (I say standard cause the brothels call themselves “super” night clubs). Come on, put a little more effort if you want more people to buy your alibi.
If it’s about business, look at what these malls and resto/pub complexes do to residential areas: clog up traffic, increase noise pollution and drive up the rent for local residents (minor noise complaints are kinda better than a rent hike, no? Unless of course you’re landowner like those in power. Hmmm). Can you imagine even more traffic on the Sahel Alma highway? Come on, have a little mercy.
Shutting down competitors by abuse of power is not new, and Jounieh itself was a victim of it not so long ago. Back when Downtown Beirut wasn’t a ghost-town to beat protesters in, during Hariri senior’s days, choking checkpoints would be set up near the Nahr El Kalb tunnel on the way to Jounieh. The reason was to annoy the fuck out of everyone going to Jounieh/Kaslik for dinner or drinks. The purpose of doing that? Encourage people to switch to the Central District in Beirut, instead of the usual hotspot for a nice drink or bite. It kinda worked back then unfortunately. Let’s hope it doesn’t now. This time though, it’s the area’s own municipality doing the abuse of power, not someone trying to switch Jounieh/Kaslik clientele to Beirut.
The Allure incident might have been just one, but the policy of harassing nightlife businesses in the area is not new. It started when the new municipality took power. Now, the fact brothels remain untouched, while pubs and clubs get pepper-sprayed, poses serious questions on why this is happening. The plans to build the project in the area now dubbed “New Sahel Alma”, seems to put things into perspective.
Will this continue? Will we see smaller pubs and nightlife establishments get harrassed out of business, so that this large complex and whoever is behind it can take their business? Who knows, but given Lebanon, and the sudden surge in already sky-high corruption scandals with this new “3ahd”, I’d say probably yes.
