Dahieh

Dahieh (الضاحية الجنوبية, Banlieue Sud de Beyrouth, Dâhiye de Beyrouth) is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb, located south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It is composed of several towns and municipalities. It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks. There is also a minority of coexisting Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is located north of the Rafic Hariri International Airport, with the M51 Freeway that links Beirut to the Airport passing through it. The area was severely bombed by Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War. Dahieh is the Beirut stronghold of Shia militant group Hezbollah, and it had large auditoria in Haret Hreik, Hadath, Mount Lebanon and Bourj el-Barajneh, where Hezbollah followers gathered during special occasions. In the 14th century, a sizeable Shiite community inhabited Bourj Beirut. The community was mentioned in a decree by the Mamluk viceroy in 1363, which was issued against the Shiites of Beirut, Sidon and the surrounding areas. In Ottoman tapu tahrir tax records of 1545, Bourj had a population of 169 households, 11 bachelors and one imam, all Shia Muslims. Shia of Bourj were also identified in al-Duwayhi's writings in 1661, and the town was then known as Burj Beirut (lit. "the tower of Beirut"). Prior the civil war, Dahieh was part of the increasingly urbanized rural settlements outside of Beirut, with both Christians and Shias. Between 1920–1943 many Shias flocked from Southern Lebanon and Beqaa Valley to Dahieh, escaping the French mandate crackdown on Shiite rebels in June 1920. Neglected by the state, more and more Shiites arrived in early 1960s escaping financial hardship, forming the poverty belt in southern and eastern Beirut. By the start of 1975, there were 319,000 Shiites living in all of Beirut. Dahieh's population further increased in the civil war. In December 1975–1976, around 100,000 Shias were displaced from East Beirut canton in following sectarian violence in Black Saturday and Karantina massacre, and most re-settled in Dahieh.