The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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August 2015 back issue
by Marion Normand
Walkie-talkies allow information to flow between men at Bab el-Tebbaneh. A new confrontation is about to break out
between fighters in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Tripoli and snipers are perched on the opposite hill: Jabal
Mohsen. This district with its Alawite majority has been their nemesis for over 30 years.
We must act quickly. Armed men lead children away from their homes; inside, brides and mothers remain hidden. They
have already created food reserves to prevent the necessity of leaving the home and being under fire. Hiding in the
safest part of the bullet-riddled apartment, they cook for the soldiers while the children play, or fill arms with ammunition
for their fathers. Outside, tarps were strung between buildings to protect the people from enemy snipers. Only the eyes
of the the martyrs whose faces are posted on every street corner are visible from the balconies. Here neighbors
exchange news from the front, as well as cooking ingredients. Stashed in an abandoned movie theater or behind a little
wall overlooking Syria's demarcation line, young men ready themselves to fight and risk their lives. They do this to
protect their families.
For the majority of the inhabitants of the Land of the Cedars, Bab el-Tebbaneh is a jihadist landmark devoid of morality;
a hopeless territory of which we can only condemn the existence and attempt to isolate. Women and children try to live
between bursts of bullets, locked in a cycle of violence that they cannot escape. But between two mortars and a patrol
of army tanks (the area once dubbed "golden door" for its rich market) you can see a young married couple in the
process of moving, a young man running to class at the University, and his sister running to her football training. And
Salwa , Oussama Mansour's wife, confesses , as she sits between a gun and its bullet clip that she hopes her unborn
child will be a girl.
A mother on her balcony. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
A young couple’s apartment. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
A bus departing for Beirut. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Rim and Racha.
Woman at the window, Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Mother and son. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
A young couple’s bedroom. Bab al Tabanneh, Tripoli.
Pregnant woman, Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Decoration, Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Checkpoint in Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bedroom. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Bombardment. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
Young, dead child. Bab el Tebanneh, Tripoli.
