DPA: Advert campaigns rage on between rival factions in Beirut

Middle East Features
By Pakinam Amer
Dec 28, 2006, 11:41 GMT

Beirut - The cold war between rival political factions in Beirut has invaded a new sphere - advertisements, street billboards and even Christmas promotions.

Across radio channels, local television networks, and even on billboards in and around Beirut, both the opposition on one side and the government on another have launched ad campaigns to boost their cause.

After sitting-in in makeshift camps on two main squares for almost a month, the pro-Syrian opposition is now trying to pressure the government verbally.

These verbal conflicts foreshadow - in the eyes of some observers - a form of a 'civil strife' that is expected to intensify even more after the end of the 'feasts truce' that is currently in effect.
'I love life' is the title of the campaign that the government has recently launched against its rivals.

The campaign is coupled with rallies and a high-profile concert whose tickets are sold for low prices - about the price of a meal. The New Year 'government' concert is to be held in the same area in which the opposition tents are standing.

On larger than life red-and-white billboards and on banners stretched across buildings, supporters of the government - mainly the Future party led by Saad Hariri son of slain Premier Rafiq Hariri - have written that they 'love life.'

Generally, over the past few weeks, and since the anti-government pro-Syrian demonstrations began, supporters of the government deemed their rivals were 'not keen' on Lebanon's future and not so much attached to a 'peaceful life' as they are.

The opposition - led by Shiite Hezbollah and their Maronite Christian ally Michel Aoun - were held to be 'unpatriotic' in the eyes of many, and were considered bearers of 'chaos.'

The campaign was seen as an act of defiance against the opposition which has vowed to topple Prime Minister Fouad Seniora's government and has threatened 'civil disobedience' if their demands are not met.

In response to the 'I love life' campaign, many of the opposition rushed down to the protest squares with banners and signs reading: 'We love life too.'

'I love life too,' said Osama, an opposition member of the Marada faction, who gave only his first name.

'They don't love life. What kind of life do they love? They love the American and Israeli life only,' said another Maronite opposition member standing nearby.

The Lebanese cabinet has been under fire lately for holding talks with the United States, and was considered to have taken a 'passive' stance towards the recent Israeli offensive on Lebanon. 'They're not showing the truth,' said Osama.

'These (government) logos mean nothing to me,' said Robert Hanna, a Maronite supporter of Hezbollah and Marada faction, regarding the 'I love life' campaign.

'They want to make it sound like it's a war between people who love life and people who don't,' he said.

'They are also trying to turn it into a sectarian strife. Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christian leaders are both against the government. It's strictly political,' Hanna added.

In a counter campaign to that of the government, the protestors hung enormous posters and banners featuring their leaders - and most importantly a poster featuring Seniora greeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by hugging her.

The giant poster of Rice and Seniora read: 'Thank you for your patience Condi; some of our children are still alive.'

The poster was meant to remind the opposition of what they described as the 'wavering position' of the government in face of the 'American and Zionist' enemy.

The United States is seen by many Lebanese as the first and foremost ally of Israel and was strongly labelled as an 'enemy' after its failure to restrain Israel in its 33-day-war against the Hezbollah in Lebanon last summer.

It is also believed among many opposition members, one Hezbollah supporter explained that the 'US during the last war was fuelling Israel with the same weapons that Israel used to shoot down our children.'

In independent radio and television channels, the war of imagery and words is not apparent. However, the Christmas advertisement and promotion campaigns became politicized in spite of themselves.

In a radio advertisement for a Christmas gift shop, the promotion mocks - or even utilizes - the dissent between the government 'majority' and the opposition 'minority.'

'Majority or minority; they were brought together by our gift,' said the advertisement which boasts that the gift shop has united - more likely attracted - supporters of both factions.

Other Christmas store and product promotions carry lines like 'gifts for all the Lebanese' clearly playing on the line that many Lebanese are divided but these products are 'for all' - and not for a certain faction or party.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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