TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Every Sunday morning social media activists gather in a Tripoli coffee shop and discuss civic affairs for hours, after having spent the week debating online. After messaging on Facebook and WhatsApp for several months the members began a forum to discuss issues of importance to the city, as well as their most pressing thoughts and beliefs.
While the northern city has in recent months seen bouts of deadly violence between political rivals, the Internet is a place where residents of Tripoli with different views can engage in enlightened discussion and dialogue, members of the group say.
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, Twitter, among others, are allowing residents to express their opinions on all matters, essential and trivial.
Tripoli is home to growing number of bloggers and online activists popular among residents and who, over time, have built a committed follower base.
Their online social status has allowed them to hold a series of public meetings which they call “From Facebook to Reality.”
Hundreds of Tripolitans gather to attend these events to make new connections and discuss the city’s public affairs, as well as personal issues.
The group usually meets in Tripoli’s more modern neighborhoods on Aashir al-Deyeh Street.
Online activists also convene in smaller groups, such as the one that meets at the coffee shop every Sunday. Such gatherings are smaller in size but are making just as much of an impact, their participants say.
Fida Homsi, or as her comrades like to call her, Dynamo, was the first to show up to last Sunday’s meeting. She is known to bring life and energy to each rendezvous.
Others who joined the intimate gathering include Faten Kassis, a school teacher; her husband Ahmad Kassem; journalist Raed Khatib; Ahmad Jawhar; Luna Qabalan, who is visiting from the United Arab Emirates to see her parents; her friend Nour Hoda Ghreib; and Sonia al-Abyad, an employee of the Agriculture Ministry.
Such morning get-togethers have become a weekly tradition. Around eight activists convene and smoke nargileh and spend time commenting on each other’s online posts, sharing concerns and discussing the conditions of their city.
The group tackles social and cultural issues as well as political subjects – and not all of its members share the same political views.
One of the subjects discussed Sunday was the recent removal of all political signs from Tripoli’s streets and squares, especially in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square.
Some of the activists were angered by the recent comments of politicians who suggested that Tripoli is a city for Muslims only.
The activists met online, and some said they got to know each other after getting a “like” from another on Facebook, or after someone posted a comment they agreed with.
Kassis is a blogger who starts her online work every day at 5 a.m. She publishes her thoughts about love and life with some advice for readers. One time, she didn’t write a post until 6:30 a.m., so one of her loyal readers, Fida Homsi, sent her a private message to check on her.
That is how their friendship began, even though the two have diverging political views.
Homsi has been teaching for 16 years, a period during which she has made a lot of friends online, her students included.
“Some of [my students] have graduated and went on to get married and have children and I’m still in touch with them,” she told The Daily Star. “I consider my communication skills to be a talent from God and a blessing that I developed at a distance from all the political entanglements in the city.”
Homsi recalled how the group’s first meeting brought 50 people together. Now, she said, meetings gather as many as 500 participants who engage in conversation about the positive side of Tripoli, eschewing the image of a northern capital mired in military confrontations and security incidents.
“We have friends from Jounieh and Beirut who share our love for this city,” she said, “And suggestions were made to move the forum to other Lebanese areas.”
Commenting on her role as a founder and leader, and her title as the group’s “Dynamo,” Homsi said: “Maybe I am the component that gathers all those people, but I am not a president figure so long as the forum doesn’t have formal executive positions. It’s an occasion to talk about the demands and concerns of Tripoli’s residents.”
The forum was born accidentally, she added, because there was a need to fix Tripoli’s image to serve the public interest.
Khatib believes social media can usher in a movement in Tripoli that could eventually be a force for positive change.
“Action is being taken by civil society in Tripoli, our online activism needs to match the on-the-ground work,” he said.
“Our enthusiasm emanates from our desire to bring different political sides together through dialogue, for the sake of one goal: learning what the true interests of the people are,” he added, “because political diversity is both a blessing and a curse.”
