A few years back, a group of Beiruti intellectuals from different sects and areas gathered in Modka Cafe on Hamra Street to protest the owner’s decision to close the cafe due to financial hardship. They felt the decision would be harmful to the culture and memory of the place, which had served as a venue for major cultural events. They even called on the Lebanese Ministry of Culture to save the cafe. Eventually Modka was shut down, and the trend continued. Other cafes as culturally valuable as Modka shuttered their doors as well.
Beirut’s Champs-Élysées