A group of young people violently attacked activists at the "Beirut International Book Fair" as they entered the venue along the Beirut waterfront to express their discontent over the presence of Iranian flags and images of Major General Qassem Soleimani near several booths, chanting: “Beirut is free, Iran get out.” This was not well received by a group of Hezbollah supporters, who severely assaulted Nelly Qandil and Shafiq Badr, escalating to Badr, whose mobile phone was forcibly taken from him and he was dragged out of the fair.
Security forces intervened to restore order and began an investigation, but the incident did not stop there as activists rallied to show solidarity with the victims. This incident was seen as a result of the Iranian influence in what is supposed to be a cultural fair representing all Lebanese and Arab publishing houses, especially since the management of the “Arab Cultural Club” decided to make the fair international after the end of the civil war, without any political connotation.
The fair had been absent for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned for its 63rd edition under the slogan “Beirut Resilience... Beirut Does Not Break”. The fair opened with a notable absence of Arab and local publishing houses, attributed to some not being prepared for the early opening date. Sources indicated that some publishers lacked the financial capacity to cover booth rental costs, and the closure of several local publishing houses contributed to their absence.
The "Lebanese Publishers Union" had decided to boycott this year’s fair, leading most publishers to comply, resulting in a shift away from the Lebanese identity in favor of Iranian presence. Visitors notably observed the participation of ten Iranian publishing houses, which sources described as a “cultural invasion,” with Soleimani’s image greeting visitors, suggesting an occupation of their state.
This Iranian participation was distinctly overwhelming, as images of Soleimani and Iranian flags stirred emotional responses among Lebanese intellectuals who viewed the fair as a cultural demonstration reflecting Lebanon's civilized face. Hala Ramadan, head of the “Bikar” band, recounted that her group organized a musical evening at the fair titled "Roots." According to "Lebanon News," as soon as the band began performing the song “Oh Lebanon, Your Soil Has Entered,” they sensed unusual commotion behind the scenes and were ordered to stop immediately.
Ramadan expressed her disbelief at the situation, stating, “While artist Hossam Tershishi was performing a song, as he reached the line ‘No matter how much you destroy, it will be rebuilt,’ someone approached and asked me to stop the event because some publishing houses threatened to close.” She refused to bow to this pressure, asserting, “I rejected their request; I cannot allow our voice to be silenced at the Beirut Fair, but we faced harassment, which even led the organizers to cut off power to the equipment to prevent us from singing. Sadly, they want to silence music that celebrates Beirut.”
According to the same source, the party that was disturbed by the songs and music were the Iranian publishing houses, although the "Bikar" band had received prior approval, and the organizers were aware of the full schedule. Visitors to the Beirut Book Fair felt disconnected from their city, as the fair did not carry the identity of Beirut but that of its occupier, which works every day to destroy it. Lebanese publisher and bookstore owner Issa Ahouch expressed to “Xinhua” that he noticed a significant drop in book sales at his store, doubting there would be good demand for books in this edition of the fair.
