tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163876234969175446.post1044731337487687694..comments2024-03-22T10:56:23.359+02:00Comments on Land and People: Who owns the land?Rami Zuraykhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644937988631864952noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163876234969175446.post-62562496627672855002010-10-19T18:07:47.510+03:002010-10-19T18:07:47.510+03:00Dear Abu Ali,
Very interesting and funny article....Dear Abu Ali,<br /><br />Very interesting and funny article. Thank you for posting it.<br /><br />Historically the sunni Mamluk family were the rulers of Tyre in the 17th and early 18th century. In those days, the city was a dump of biblical proportion according to historical accounts. Still, this family was the local tax farmer for the Ottomans.<br /><br />Eventually Shias from Amil started moving in the area and took over ruling the city. It started with Daher el Omar, with Sunni making a comeback under Al Jazzar.<br /><br />The Mamluk family must surely have owned the land in Ottoman times, but since then there has been a few land surveys in Lebanon (under the French and the new Lebanese republic), and the Mamluk family claims will not hold.<br /><br />It seems to me they are just trying to make a sectarian point, reminding the Shia that the Sunni were the rightful owners of the area, just like Palestinians would make the same sort of claims<br />to their ancestral land.<br /><br />The problem here is that if the Mamluks insist too much on their ownership, the lebanese state is going to step in and make them pay back taxes on the land for the past 130 years.<br /><br />PA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com