groups are against the development in a written statement, the developers deny they will be a negative impact on the environment. least the pleasure properties trust says if anything, the development will quote, see, degraded, private land transformed into beautiful and publicly accessible space. but critics are not convinced despite if it's to show the authorities that the development is not appropriate despite the fact that here it is with in cape say that the heritage elements of the plan are not adequate and don't meet the requirements of law. the authorities of going to hit and approve the development as construction vehicles role in so to do names on a petition to stop the development. activists are now hoping a court will rule against the 1st bricks being laid. robinson this algebra kept on . ah,

let's take you through some of the headlines here now just here, now, a large container ship called fire off the shoreline coast and is now thinking debris from the vessel is cause the countries worst maritime environmental disaster . and l fernandez has this update from colombo, essentially hearing that the salvage company that has been brought in by the ship owner was basically getting the logistics organized to try and tool that ship further into deeper sees. but obviously that logistical issues, there are the issues of the structure of that vessel. i spoke to the navy spokesman this morning. he said that navy personnel, especially train personnel, had assisted the salvages board the vessel this morning. obviously it's a dangerous smoking rec, in israel opposition leader. he has until the end of wednesday to declare he can

form a coalition. is in talks with the far right lead, nestali bennett, and in the occupied east jerusalem. the head of the un relief and works agency is urged his route to stop the force expulsions of palestinian families. and john ross, philip, that's the reason he says, force displacements of palestinian refugees is illegal under international law. us president joe biden is that a ceremony in the state of oklahoma. mark, within scenery of the tulsa race massacre. 300 african americans were killed by white mobs. 1921. the white house says a ransomware, a tank that shut down a meat production plant in both the us and australia probably came from russia. as a headlines, it was the. you can watch the english streaming light on i do 2 channels plus thousands of our programs award winning documentaries and get new support.

ah, subscriber, you choose dot com. forward slash al jazeera english the control holiday in. and you control the region around. and that's why it was such a bloody battle. important thing if you were walking around in bay route was not to be in the line of fire from the holiday in the battle of holiday in completed the division of the root into 2 sectors, east and west beta, the philosopher stuff for bellis and the shop for you can club me from the most powerful building in the city

for me is the holiday yet. ah, more hotels are buildings that function as normal hotels, but often in the context of real instability. ah ah ah favorite ones, a jewel in the mediterranean. but then torn upon by war, this is the seafront of the lebanese capital today, around 3 decades after the end of the civil war. the devastating

conflict lasted for 15 years. this street was the green line, dividing bay route into east and west. dominating the front line was this concrete skeleton. what was on the holiday inn? it's was still pattered by the scars of war, a grotesque witness to the years of separation, killing, and destruction. ah, my name is tom young, i'm a painter and architectural activist from england. and i've lived in beirut about 8 years and particularly inspired by the memories and the feelings, the emotions that embedded in the walls of the buildings and by the

most powerful building in the city for me is the holiday in this famous. and so i clinic, it's like a joint to wish remains in the center of the city like an unresolved scar. the the holiday inn is still a stark reminder of war. we have yet to heal, even today. oh the, the 13th of april, 1975 was the official start date of divine and this was a proxy conflict fort during the cold war era on one side, lebanese right wing parties, backed by the united states aiming to expel armed palestinian groups from lebanon,

on the other left wing parties, allied with the pillow and backed by the soviet union, who saw the right wing christians as an extension of israeli and american influence in lebanon. only 2 weeks off to be route here up to the south vietnamese, capital saigon fell to the communists, ending over 19 years of conflict in viet nam televisions. first war now came lebanon. the means of reporters and war, photographers moved from southeast asia to the middle east. and began to occupy bay route hotel rooms filled up with a news crews. and a new chapter of the cold war began, ah, most of the correspondence, tv crews, and photographers checked into this hotel, the commodore

a safe haven in the west of the city in every day. they would set off from here for downtown bay route for the main hotel district, where the holiday inn was the front lion. the in the holiday inn was a war hotel in the sense that it was part of an urban battle. a battle between 2 factions of the strategic heights, but it wasn't oppressed hotel, so none of the jury was covering the alternator. it stayed in the holiday and the holiday in became one of the 1st significant physical manifestations of the, of the conflict. my name is kenneth morrison and professor viewed a p in history. one of my key research interests in the history of war, hotel war hotels are buildings that function as normal hotels, but often in the context of real instability. so i looked at numerous hotels. saudi

was holiday in beta, it's commodore but also the hotel you'd open belfast for example, the leader palace in nicosia, cyprus, all of these hotels have continued to function throwed this p d of instability. some are with in the real midst of an urban conflict. a war hotel emerges out of a history where journalists over a long period before was start of somehow find it a congenial place to be a watering hole convenient near the center of activity in the city where the politics happens, where the culture happens, where you meet people, the hotels which made a route to the tourist center of the middle east. i'm john who will be and i've long been a reporter for reporting more over the world. and therefore, i've been in wars and most memorable amongst these was the experience of reporting from the lebanese civil war in the 1900 seventy's. this was once the richest part

of the richest city in the middle east. i 1st went to lebanon in 1972, as a young reporter. my very 1st article for a magazine here called the new statesman in which i effectively said, this place is waiting to blow. all it needs is a spark because of the complexity of this very small country, surrounded by competing nations, ah, from the 1950 to the early seventy's. they route was a magnet for the international pleasure seeking a lead they route hotel district was at the heart of its luxury tourism economy making it a favorite jet set destination. the one we speak about bay roots,

golden age as dismissal under the middle east. we are actually talking about an area the tell district that he's very specific product of a precise geopolitical project. my name is sarah for nathan. i'm a political geographer voice based at the university of birmingham. i am interested in hotels and urban conflict. holiday inn came quite late in the day. 1974. it was opened. it came quite late in the day in 2 days or tell district which was considered a playground for celebrities and politicians and diplomats and spies. the hotel district started life in the 1920s when the st. george opened for 4 decades. it was one of the most prestigious hotels on the

mediterranean during the cold war, in the 1900 fifties and sixties. the bar of the st. george was described as a revolving door of information. the british double agent can fill, be with irregular. he operated under cover as a foreign journalist. and on the 30th of january, 1963 was spotted for the last time at the bar in the st. george. before disappearing in beirut, and reappearing a few months later in moscow with more smart hotels sprang up, including the phoenician, even more luxurious than the saint george. but when the holiday inn arrived in 1974, it was not only the toilet, but also the last to open before the civil war broke out. i remember the experience of the phoenician and i went to the holiday in different

scales of hotel, but both of them pretty luxurious hotel. the phoenician was very grand indeed. the holiday inn was a holiday and but a very up market holiday and was plenty of chrome. plenty of silver, plenty of gold colored drapes. it was done very much in the style that the arab world likes. morning can i see denise san jose unassigned. how to sell the freedom lee? well, i mean comes our move over there to how to build li liability. i mean, i'm sorry on the invoice kimball, piano mclean. the 3 fund along the in the and he came suddenly z the bill of name, mom or fund was a fair amount of missed our not the see can hailey, how does it good?

hello, and to show them and be there any can finance i be the lead be elaborately bridge or can i but as a whole lot on the hello to tier bus and i can live channels to contaminate because ali who will let mr. shader medical where to him as him at home i'm going to show you can nominate, i will never levied. shall have been if someone can and i'm a hold, then i will not approve the creation ceiling to see that on our, on our be they all just told young wanted to get inside the building today. but to do that, he had to get permission. not only from the owners, but from the lebanese army, which still controls it as a strategically sensitive location. young wanted to indulge his passion painting. i finally got the chance to go inside. and my, my, my media feeling was one of just overwhelming emotion. i felt sad,

i felt i felt horror, but i felt amazing. ah, when i started my project for the holiday inn. and so i started painting it from the outside from many viewpoint. and then i discovered that the parents of a very good friend of mine, i have that still refer her parents, sammy and finance. dad. actually, not only live next to the holiday inn and have a fantastic view of it from the balcony. and that possibly one of the very few people in lebanon, who had the wedding reception dinner in the holiday,

in the family, had those at a 140 and then ah, there wasn't, let me you out about 7 can. it's how do you all holiday and be i need an on i'm a half lee. i shut off and i bought my gentlemen as the waves when i was not with them bought one half leak in it. half the henry one a 2nd cabinet that kit had we're coming from as i was in tone. my head with 2 guns, very simple mckenna, mazda and had that had been on the swing in the chart on the machine in was it going to this on the bar? ah, holly pan about i shop national minimum and has an additional idea on

the ship that that can have that comes here in tennis and not getting the muscles in and can min initially. and again, i don't want to remember only the n y that even the c d credited the nail, but the men will hold it in me seeing the building from it. if you understand the context within the city and what it must have meant in the civil war, i use this very bright red, which expresses this, the blood that's been spilled and the violence and the fire, and the hage and the anger. and every time i flash it the, the paint, it's a way of going through that anger and that violence and honoring that. and i also

raise it as if that itself is the erasure of memory. the, when the civil war started in april 1975, the p a low when the lebanese national movement for the maronite christian for lunch party, the violence was triggered by the so called, buff incident on the 13th of april. when fighters from the flange party opened fire on the bus, carrying palestinians as it drove through their stronghold of a romani, 26 palestinians were killed and dozens wounded, unleashing what became a living hell on the streets of the roof, which spread rapidly throughout lebanon. there was street fighting and shilling. there was snipers than kidnapping. i'm sick, terry and massacres across the religious divide. the,

the christian for lungess malicious, were based in east they route, but gradually took control of the main downtown streets in the west of the city. the strategic port and the hotel district, including the saint george, the phoenician, the hilton, and the holiday inn. on the 24th of october, 1975 left wing muslim militias and palestinian. all the groups under the umbrella of the national movement launched a massive offensive to try and regain control of the hotel district which straddled east and west with the battle of the hotels, 197-5976, was, was simply a battle for control of the strategic heights, he who controlled the strategic heights could essentially dictate terms. so controlling these buildings in the hotel district, the hide ice buildings became extremely important for the militias.

i had a magic. can be de soto with mr. kayla from the central had an old lady. well well, but that and when ours had been a son, george will be nice. the munition fighters started moving upwards and they started going on top of towers. one, eas, bourget. more and other one is only day in the news. a few days in to the battle of the hotels, the guests completely abandoned the entire district and evacuated to the neighboring mediterranean island of cyprus.

soon after the upper floors of the holiday inn was set on fire by intensive shilling. the fighting on the ground spread into what was called sector for where the free lunches had begun using the hilton or the 9th of 8th in the days leading up to the start of the civil war. the bay roots hilton had been preparing for its grand opening. but that never took place. instead, militias, on both sides checked in before any v i. p guests. this rare archive video shows the moment when left wing fighters seized the lobby of the hilton. after the free lunches had withdrawn to their positions in the holiday in the important thing, if you were walking around in beirut was not to be in the line of fire from the holiday. and yes, my name is tim. well,

and i was the bbc's middle east correspondence in beirut, in the seventy's, eighty's and ninety's. i was in beirut during the much of the lebanese civil war. i remember once trying to get down to the holiday inn to try and make some sort of effort get into it to interview the finances. and just as i was getting to the point in an area code, i mariah i see where you would come right round the corner into the face of the gunfire started and i scuttled back. there was a dead body lying up the streets. it was all rather sinister. i fled back to the hotel. i'm afraid it wasn't one of my brave days. but did some people did get across to the holiday inn? on the 20th of march, 1976, the so called lebanese and palestinian joint forces launched their strongest attack . yes, against the philander in the hotel district. their aim was to control all key positions

. but especially the highly strategic holiday in control holiday in. and you control the region around, so you, you took the holiday in, if you possibly could. and that's why the system a bloody battle. the holiday inn and it's surround blame for 3 days as opposing militias by the control. no one knew which way the fighting was going. not even the lebanese and foreign journalists who reported on the national movement 1st incursion into the hotel lobby fair to earlier to learn what i before. and i lemme listened. be handled. my own foot man, gunam, and short am i going to be on i'm awake in the

small group of christian for lunches, said moneys to hide inside the hotel, killed a senior national movement commander for making their way up to the top on the 24th floor by the fold. the hey philosopher suff bellis and put the stuff for you and i will love me. had i been south will study is our feedback and i'm not sure for the law. no. what i'm probably not about should be any on a lot on time. to say, i'd always thought i could always use your mike at the the images of the sniper dropping 24 floors to his death on the street under the militia, celebrating for the cameras, have become symbols of the fall of the holiday in me

through that bottle that happened the room by room floor by floor stairway stair the battle of holiday in completed the division of the route through the green line into 2 sectors, east and west beta. and this partition remained over the course of the 2 following days. and he passed by the oddity no one will ever know how many heroes died here in the holiday in. the battle lasted 3 days and 3 nights, and there were no prisoners at the end. jonathan nimble, be reported on several overseas, was for british commercial broadcaster i tv. and was one of the 1st foreign journalists to enter the holiday inn and document the aftermath of the fighting there. smouldering ruins of what had been this very popular resort

hotel. and he looked at him, the thought, this is what we do to one another as hotel. and now it's a shelf total shell. like bulbs hanging down off of the wall wall wires, chairs smashed up a piano that was in there somehow. it's was born as survived the chandeliers, all like this broken, this sort of looking bizarre. li like gargoyles staring down at what humanity had done to itself below the vision, it will not be surprising vision. but it was surprising that that could happen in beirut. oh, i

the green line, of course, in the civil war was a place where the flowers and trees grew abundant. and so it was a reference to that. but it's also a way of envisioning some brighter future kind of sense of hope that might spring up in the ruin of the past. i today around 3 decades on from the end of the civil war. the complexity of lebanon's sectarianism and the geo politics of the region means the country and its people are still struggling to recover from its effect. ah, the majority of the hotel district has been rebuilt. oh, the enormous shell of the holiday inn still towers over downtown, awaiting its fate. no more green line for it to look down on today.

but the monument to 15 years of struggle continues to attract visitors, historians, artists, and filmmakers. all seeking to understand the events of the seventy's and eighty's . ah, more than any of the ravaged building, surviving the conflict. it surely deserves the title war hotel. i reporters retreat in a brutal civil war. if a commodore hadn't been, the israeli invasion would not have been so well reported. the commodore had become a journalist center. you could be in the safe and safe, and then you went out into civil war. i started off leaving this other grand suite,

the commodore hotel, the next room i was in, was underground and a tiny prison. so as a hostage, a route the commodore war hotels on al jazeera award winning programming from international. so make one quick, so it's straight on the back of the global discussion. what guaranteed to be the right to take the fide life, giving voice to the voice here in california. almost everybody's a paycheck away from being on house program that open your eyes to view. well today, this is what the picture looks like the the world from a different perspective on how to the morning heroism and l. just they were well health stories for iconic. so she nicea area and a few dollars meeting the people in the places the site and and giving you some

writers and musicians who composed the songs from north africa on, which is hera. ah, me, this is al jazeera ah, hello, i'm adrian. so again, this is but he's alive from dough hop coming up in the next 60 minutes and environmental disaster that's getting worse. new problems with a strict and container ship off the coast of shore lanka. more political turmoil and molly as west african leaders threatened sanctions after a military coup take a 1st time to.