In the Tripolitan market, where stalls of displayed colorful clothes, fruits, and vegetables were bustling with the hollers of vendors and the voices of people just hours ago, nothing has remained intact. A massive fire has engulfed the place, turning everything into piles of ash, iron, and glass shrapnel.
Amidst this rubble, a small camera was wandering among people, allowing their voice to be heard and documenting the losses they had suffered in their sole source of survival.
Elsewhere, at another time, the camera was conveying the suffering of the people of Tripoli with the city’s infrastructure, from the potholes all over the streets, the open sewers and the unpleasant odors, to the garbage mountain extending from the edges of Nahr Abou Ali to the shore. The camera was documenting both images and sounds that showed the situation, trying to pressure the municipality, hold it accountable, and monitor its work.
Among neglect, stereotypes and a media blackout, the camera takes directions different from those usually taken by the mainstream media, moving “on the streets”, to cover the stories of the people of the city and show images of its beauty, history and culture. The camera wanders with “Taxi El-Ward” (meaning “Taxi of Roses”), making several stops, on its own way, at various political, social and artistic spots, or it becomes a “Motafarija” (meaning a “Viewer”), giving the platform to the women of the city who would like a chance for their voices to be heard.
This is the story of a local media initiative, whose protagonists are young women and men of different nationalities, who live in the city and share the hopes and concerns of its people.

Rabee Karazoun

In the Tripolitan market, where stalls of displayed colorful clothes, fruits, and vegetables were bustling with the hollers of vendors and the voices of people just hours ago, nothing has remained intact. A massive fire has engulfed the place, turning everything into piles of ash, iron, and glass shrapnel.
Amidst this rubble, a small camera was wandering among people, allowing their voice to be heard and documenting the losses they had suffered in their sole source of survival.
Elsewhere, at another time, the camera was conveying the suffering of the people of Tripoli with the city’s infrastructure, from the potholes all over the streets, the open sewers and the unpleasant odors, to the garbage mountain extending from the edges of Nahr Abou Ali to the shore. The camera was documenting both images and sounds that showed the situation, trying to pressure the municipality, hold it accountable, and monitor its work.
Among neglect, stereotypes and a media blackout, the camera takes directions different from those usually taken by the mainstream media, moving “on the streets”, to cover the stories of the people of the city and show images of its beauty, history and culture. The camera wanders with “Taxi El-Ward” (meaning “Taxi of Roses”), making several stops, on its own way, at various political, social and artistic spots, or it becomes a “Motafarija” (meaning a “Viewer”), giving the platform to the women of the city who would like a chance for their voices to be heard.
This is the story of a local media initiative, whose protagonists are young women and men of different nationalities, who live in the city and share the hopes and concerns of its people.

Rabee Karazoun

The Abou Ali Bridge Fire

The stallholders in Tripoli’s Nahr Abou Ali market had no idea that their workplace would be destroyed in a massive fire that night. They were going about their work as usual, unaware of the impending tragedy: their displayed colored clothes, fruits, and vegetables would soon turn into gray piles of ash, fire brigade sirens would replace their calls over their goods, and customers and street vendors alike would suddenly turn into firefighters and paramedics trying to extinguish the fire and rescue the injured.
The night of July 14, 2019 single-handedly wiped out a market that used to support workers who were already facing economic hardship. The market is located in a vital area that forms a meeting point between the two most populated regions in Tripoli: Kobbet Al-Nasser in the northeast and Abou Samra in the southwest. It was said at the time that the fire was caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder in the roofed market. However, except for a car that had caught fire and exploded, people could not distinguish the various sounds of explosions. The fire was extinguished around 2 AM, thanks to the hard work of the firefighting teams, civil defense, and Tripoli’s Municipality workers. As a result, six firefighters suffered from suffocation and burns of varying degrees, but, fortunately, no one died.
The next morning, Salah picked up his small camera and went to the market to document the consequences of the previous night. Upon reaching the region’s entrance, Salah was surprised to see absolutely no evidence of what had happened. It was a summer morning just like any other. There was no trace of yesterday’s smoke in the blue sky, the Dome of Victory was shining brightly under the sun, and people went about their usual shopping tours.
Salah continued walking until he reached the market, and as soon as he laid eyes on the scene, an overwhelming feeling of sorrow engulfed him. Black and gray invaded the place, the roof was uprooted, and hundreds of shops and stalls were incinerated.
It was difficult to wander in the market littered with ashes, iron, and glass shrapnel. Still, the tragedy was evident. It was said that the losses amounted to approximately two hundred thousand dollars. The place was pretty desolate, and if it were not for the castle of Saint-Gilles on the west bank of the river, Salah would have forgotten that he was still in Tripoli.
In his report for the “Ana Hon” platform, Salah described the misery he saw, saying: “Huge damage. People have been terribly affected by this.”

Excavations

The construction work machinery’s noise rises and fills the place with dust, exhausting both the region’s pedestrians and residents. Years passed without completing the excavation and mining work in Marj Al-Zuhour roundabout, and thus the surrounding streets are still closed. This hinders the movement of the city’s residents, who are waiting impatiently for the conclusion of work in the roundabout, whose name (“Marj Al-Zohour”, which means “Flower Meadow”) has nothing to do with its appearance.
The roundabout is located on a main street in Abou Samra, connecting Al-Bahsas region to Al-Nour Square. Although it is located in a vital area, this did not limit the spread of sewage pipes and mud pools that smudge everyone and everything nearby.

Excavations on Tripoli’s roads continued for days and weeks on end throughout 2017. Days pass by as officials blame each other for the delays while the municipality blames the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the contractors, who, in turn, accuse the municipality of dereliction. Between this and that side, the Tripolitans are the only victims of this irresponsibility and corruption.

Upon his arrival at Marj al-Zuhour roundabout, Salah saw a picture of a smiling politician hanging on a tree, under which was written: “The Great Patriotic Man.” Salah stared at the photo for a while, and then noticed that the place where it hung resembled a ruin… A ruin greater than the great leader himself. The roads were dug up and blocked. Rusted iron, corroded pipes, gravel, and stones littered both sides of the streets, not to mention the open sewers and unpleasant odors emanating from them. The bulldozers and machines were moving non-stop as if we were witnessing a model of hard and diligent work, but nothing was actually being executed. The contracting company ruined the street and left it unrepaired.

“We tried to talk and raise our voices, but to no avail,” said one of the residents of the region, summarizing their frequent attempts to end the excavations.

About four hundred meters away lies a vast pit that can swallow anything or anyone. One of the residents there says: “People in charge here care about no one but themselves, and no one is held accountable.” This negligence resulted in the injury and hospitalization of one of the citizens. In front of the pit, Salah describes the situation: “It seems that the digging operations to find the lost treasure are still ongoing.”

The people of Tripoli have become fed up by the municipality’s actions, which prompted them to pass a motion of no-confidence against it, only a year and a half after its election, with the purpose of changing its president. During that period, Salah and his companions established a media platform under the name “Ana Hon” (meaning “I am here”) to document the municipality’s poor performance and present their findings to the public, in an attempt to force officials to improve their performance and increase productivity.
The team followed a simple procedure: they selected one of the many problems plaguing the city, documented it with their cameras, and finally chose a fitting and relatable title for it that is likely to provoke viewers to raise their voices against it.

Tripoli’s Garbage Crisis

To the untrained eye, a garbage container here would easily pass for a miniature landfill, but then you realize you’re on a sidewalk in the “Paris of the Middle East”, Beirut, where the unpleasant odors are more potent than any expensive French perfume. The Lebanese chanted the slogan “You Stink!” in the demonstrations that followed the 2015 trash crisis which had hit the capital Beirut harder than any other region. Instead of working to find appropriate and sustainable solutions, government officials chose to deploy temporary and easy solutions. As a result, Beirut’s waste was transferred to Tripoli, to a landfill between the Fawwar and Beddawi regions. People could not bear it for long, and in 2017, the people of Tripoli protested against it for fear that it might cause the spread of cancer among them. Residents staged a sit-in in Al-Tal Square to demand a solution to the “garbage mountain” consisting of 450 tons of untreated waste, which extends from the edges of Nahr Abou Ali to the shore.

On that day, the people of Tripoli unexpectedly found a media platform that covered their demands. This platform was “Ana Hon”, whose aim was to be the voice of those who were marginalized by the mainstream media. Later on, this platform would attend every movement to close the Fawwar landfill, hoping that it may help in jolting the municipality’s attention. On its social media pages, “Ana Hon” highlighted the waste and corruption methods practiced by the municipality, and gradually, the latter was forced to act and its officials found themselves forced to adjust their performance. Eventually, after significant civil pressure, various initiatives, and road-blocking sit-ins, it was announced in August of 2019 that the construction of a landfill in Fawwar would be halted. With this decision, the teams of “Ana Hon” realized that it could be an actual and effective influence on the municipality’s performance by holding it accountable and monitoring its work in the media.

"Taxi El-Ward"

Between critical comedic sketches and interviews with media, social and human rights activists, “Taxi El-Ward” (“Taxi of Roses”) turns into a mobile studio that presents the reality of the city to all Lebanese regions.

تشغيل الفيديو

The Emergence of "Ana Hon"

Saad picked up the phone to find Hussein, who works for a Beirut-based NGO, asking him to set a meeting to discuss a media initiative for a platform that would be “different from the prevailing media scene”. The two agreed on a date, and Saad was particularly enthusiastic because of his passion for journalism, the only profession he like well enough to work hard for.

In the meeting, the two decided to create a social media platform aimed at allowing young people connect, talk about their ideas, and express their views concerning society, economy, and politics. They agreed the last point should be approached cautiously and better refrained from, unless the subject matter was directly related to public interest. They both wanted the platform to connect the audience to the media on the one hand and to create a space for communication between the citizens on the other hand.

They also wanted to spread awareness and motivate young people to express themselves in an engaging and humorous manner, while covering daily matters, calling for action, and supporting individual and community initiatives.

Saad grew up in a family of activists, which provided him with a sense of social responsibility and a desire for change. Although he had lived outside Tripoli for many years, he still developed a great attachment to his city that further motivated him to help its residents.

After partnering with Hussein, Saad had the following task: composing a team that will manage and produce the interactive content of the platform, with members from the most media-marginalized regions, namely Tripoli, Bekaa, and Sidon. The founders decided on a parity quota for males and females on the team, and chose to include multinational members, such as Syrians and Palestinians, in addition to the Lebanese.

Saad began his search for the Tripoli team. It occurred to him that the Tripolitan director, Ghassan Al-Khoja, by virtue of his work as a professor at the Faculty of Media, might help him find suitable young people for the project. Indeed, Al-Khoja introduced him to Fatima and Nagham, who had recently graduated from Jinan University, and they became the first to join the team. Saad later met Nehma, a Syrian activist and journalist residing in Tripoli, at the Rashid Karami Book Fair in Tripoli, and he told her about ​the initiative. When the two met again, Nehma came with her two friends, Sarah and Assem, who also worked in the media and wished to be part of the project, thus bringing the number of members to five in total. Then Ahmad suggested bringing in Aishan, a young taxi driver who is known for his sense of humor. Saad called him, and the young man immediately agreed, eager to join the experience. Finally, Saad met Salah, a young man eager to engage in the world of media and social life, in one of the city’s cafes on day. With all seven members on board, the Tripoli team was complete.

Sometime later, the teams from the various regions met at the Commodore Hotel in Beirut and began a series of back-to-back meetings. Many teams shuffled and replaced their members, but Tripoli’s team was the only one that kept all of its initial members. Over the course of the following days, the team would undergo intensive training in journalism under the supervision of experienced trainers and journalists. After discussing several options for the platform’s name, the team decided on “Ana Hon”, which means “I am here”. They began producing seven reports per day dealing with different topics relating to each member’s interests.

Saad welcomed Salah’s desire to be a reporter, because the latter’s enthusiasm was an indispensable landmark in their team. On the other hand, Aishan’s sense of humor, satirical style, and taxi car were all present in his comedy show, “Taxi El-Ward” (“Taxi of Roses”), which sarcastically tackled social, political, and economic issues and later hosted politicians and social activists. Fatima’s and Nagham’s show “On the Streets” explored Tripoli’s cultural and historical aspects, while, Nehma, Assem, and Sara worked on “Motafarija” (“The Viewer”), a show that deals with social issues with a focus on women’s role in the societal and professional fields.

"بين الشوارع"

كاميرا “أنا هون” تمشي “بين الشوارع”، لتنقل حكايات أهل المدينة وتقدّم صوراً عن جمالها وتاريخها وثقافتها..

The Journey of "Ana Hon"

– “For free?”

– “Inshallah, you are most welcome!”

This is how the grey-haired vendor in Tripoli’s market responded to Saad’s humorous question about whether he was distributing his goods for free during the month of Ramadan. From the heart of the vegetable market in Tripoli, during Ramadan, Saad and Salah recorded the first “Ana Hon” reports, followed by more than a hundred videos. At first, the page received modest audience interaction, and getting to the threshold of 100 likes and 1,000 views was reason enough to celebrate. However, members were determined to expand their reach without resorting to paid ads. They joined efforts to share their content on their personal accounts and send page invitations to their friends. They indeed stretched their outreach to the point that several months later, when one of their videos would get 1,000 likes, the team members would feel frustrated at the less-than-satisfactory reception.

In order to organize their work, the participants used to meet on a weekly basis to distribute tasks and agree on topics and dates for filming, editing, and later publishing. Since they all lived in Tripoli and had first-hand experiences of its daily life, “Ana Hon” members had little need for tips on what topics to cover or how to do so. All they had to do was look around and mingle with people to figure out what they had to talk about. Saad believes that “Ana Hon” played an essential role in fostering activism and change on the ground, and its participation in the October 2019 demonstrations and in subsequent movements was proof enough. The platform significantly contributed to increasing the number of demonstrators in Tripoli’s main square through its coverage of events and initiatives taking place in the street.

"Motafarija"

A show that deals with public issues related to women in Tripoli, “Motafarija” (the woman viewer) compensates for the limited space provided for women in the media.

During the revolution

The “Ana Hon” team was witness of the pervasive poverty in Tripoli, its marginalization by the government, and its misrepresentation in the media. The city was deprived of vital facilities, whose presence might have otherwise eased the suffering of the city’s people. The team members are familiar with the city’s streets; they have shared the joys and sorrows of all Tripolitans. So, when it came to their media role, they worked together to convey a more realistic picture of Tripoli’s daily life and strived to change the status quo. It was only natural that they were among the first to participate in the demonstrations that erupted on the 17th of October, 2019, when the Lebanese came together for the first time in a long while to protest the economic crisis and the existing political system.

When Al-Nour Square was bustling with crowds,” Ana Hon” was present to broadcast and document the people’s uprising and their hope for change. However, this was not enough for the team members who rushed to be part of the organization of the event itself, taking over the management of the platform that was set up in Al-Nour Square, and managing the work of the photography and audio teams.

In addition to broadcasting events from the square, it was important for the members of “Ana Hon” to give a platform to those who aspired change, by taking a more active part in documenting and broadcasting the discussions that were taking place in the “tent of the revolution” set up in the main square. The team also sought to address the events in its various programs, shedding light on women’s role in the demonstrations in the show, “Haki Banat” (“Girl Talk”), and hosting social and media activists participating in the demonstrations in the segment “Heading to Al-Nour Square?” in “Taxi El-Ward” …

This phase was the culmination of the platform’s activity, but after a year and a half of work, funding stopped, and members had to choose either to continue on a voluntary basis or to leave the project. Today, despite the slow pace of publishing and the absence of a clear production scheme, “Ana Hon” is still present as one of the best media pages specialized in live broadcasting in Tripoli. The page remains active in documenting and following up on every significant event in the city, for the sake of maintaining communication with the people of Tripoli and allowing their voices to be heard.

"Taxi El-Ward"

Between critical comedic sketches and interviews with media, social and human rights activists, “Taxi El-Ward” (“Taxi of Roses”) turns into a mobile studio that presents the reality of the city to all Lebanese regions.

تشغيل الفيديو

"Motafarija"

A show that deals with public issues related to women in Tripoli, “Motafarija” (the woman viewer) compensates for the limited space provided for women in the media.

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Story, Photos and Videos: Rabee Karazoun
Translated From Arabic: Rawan Mokdad
Photo Story: Sarah Alwn
Multimedia Supervision: Fourate Chahal El Rekaby
Design: Ibrahim Charara
Editing: Rida Hariri, Sabah Jalloul
Development: Jaafar Charara, Rawan Houri
Editor: Ibrahim Charara

A media platform that aims at strengthening the use of multimedia storytelling in journalistic production.
The stories published on the platform were produced by young journalists and content creators who were trained by the StoryLeb team.
The project benefitted from the financial assistance of the European Commission within the framework of the project Shabab Live, a joint project of Deutsche Welle Akademie, Arab Resource Center for popular Arts and Al Khatt.

Executive Editor: Ibrahim Charara
Multimedia Supervision: Fourate Chahal El Rekaby
Editing: Rida Hariri, Sabah Jalloul
Development: Jaafar Charara, Rawan Houri
Design: Ibrahim Charara
English Translation: Sabah Jalloul, Rawan Mokdad

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“This platform has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Commission within the framework of the project Shabab Live, a joint project of Deutsche Welle Akademie, Arab Resource Center for popular Arts and Al Khatt. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of StoryLeb and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Commission or the project partners”.

The subjects of the stories published on the StoryLeb platform were chosen by the young journalists and media creators who participated in the first training session of the project.
This project benefitted from the financial assistance of the European Commission within the framework of the project Shabab Live, a joint project of Deutsche Welle Akademie, Arab Resource Center for popular Arts and Al Khatt. The content of this video is the sole responsibility of StoryLeb and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Commission or the project partners.