Lebanon: A cultural melting pot - Mediterranean journey | DW Documentary

Six million people live in the cultural melting pot that is Lebanon. Muslims and Christians coexist here, although not always without conflict. Journalist Jaafar Abdul Karim shows colleague Sineb El Masrar the nation where he grew up. For our 10-part series, Sineb El Marar and Jaafar Abdul Karim toured 10 nations in two years. Some of these countries underwent political and economic upheaval during this period. One of these was Lebanon, the homeland of Jaafar Abdul Karim. In the first episode of “Mediterranean Journey”, the presenter invites his colleague Sineb El Masrar to the Beirut studio where he records his program “Jaafar Talk“. He takes Sineb along on a tour of the city. It is a place that still bears the scars of civil war: Christians against Palestinians, both of these groups against Arab nationalists and all of them against Israel. The journey continues to the north of the country to Tripoli, where Jaafar meets the activist Lea Baroudi, initiator of the reconciliation project “March”. Jaafar spends the night at the eco-lodge “Beit Al Batroun“, not far from Byblos. The small estate is a slice of heaven; a dream realized for owner Colette Kahil. Back in Beirut, Jaafar meets the journalist Joumana Haddad, who runs support groups addressing the societal taboo of homosexuality. He also meets with Zeina Hawa from the initiative “Chain Effect“. She and her fellow cyclists are campaigning to make the Lebanese capital better for bikes. Together with Sineb, Jaafar explores Beirut on two wheels. The next stop on his trip is the Beqaa Valley, where he meets Syrian refugee women making clothes for the fair-trade project “Master Peace”.