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| Mood in the Middle East Published: October 11 2001 14:30GMT | Last Updated: April 28 2002 17:55GMT |
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 Exclusively to FT.com, correspondents throughout the Middle East provide their insights into the mood in the region since September 11. Contributions to this diary of a crisis come from Roula Khalaf, the FT's Middle East editor; James Drummond and Heba Saleh in Cairo; Guy Dinmore in Tehran; Gareth Smyth in Beirut, and Harvey Morris and Avi Machlis in Jerusalem. Read the latest contribution below, or scroll down for selected links to other FT.com special reports and the world wide web. Anti-US sentiment rises By Gareth Smyth in Beirut When Majd Tabbah threw Roberto Powers, the American consul, out of her restaurant, she can't have expected it to be so good for business. But such is the anti-American feeling prompted by US support for Israel that Syrian, Lebanese and other Arab diners have been flocking to Oxygen in the old Christian quarter of Damascus. Ms Tabbah has even received an offer of marriage. Her suitor is already married, but given the circumstances, his existing wife said she wouldn't object. "I haven't done anything heroic," said Ms Tabbah, who is herself married with three children. "But people have been coming from Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to meet me, and I've had telephone calls from Kuwait and Bahrain. The Palestinians' case is just, and we are all very upset about their situation. "I have no hatred towards the American people, and I welcome American tourists. I fired out the symbol of [President George] Bush, who is supporting Ariel Sharon [the Israeli prime minister]. We hear all the time Bush calling Sharon his friend." A largely spontaneous boycott of US goods started in several Arab countries after Mr Sharon's military offensive in the West Bank last month, and especially since the destruction of Jenin refugee camp. "I am hardly selling any Marlboro cigarettes anymore, and they used to be very popular," said one shopkeeper in Beirut. The Lebanese army discreetly posted soldiers outside McDonald's outlets when the US started bombing Afghanistan last November, but events in the West Bank appear to have hit sales. Jean Zoghzoghbi, the franchisee for McDonald's in Lebanon, has taken out newspaper advertisements saying that his business is 100 per cent owned, financed and managed by Lebanese people. Money saved on Big Macs is going to help the Palestinians. Lebanese newspapers have been listing points where readers can make donations, and even parents at the American Community School have raised $7,000. An exception to the wave of sympathy came in an ad from a US Jewish group condemning a "vicious campaign of Palestinian terrorism" that was published by the International Herald Tribune, which appears jointly with Lebanon's English-language Daily Star. Its publisher, Jamil Mroueh, is being prosecuted for inciting racism. But this has been a rare example of official involvement. While Lebanon and Syria have long maintained strict economic boycotts of Israel, neither government supports an embargo against the US. Both have offered to co-operate with Washington's war on terrorism, especially against al-Qaeda, but Beirut and Damascus are not prepared to see it extended to Palestinian or Lebanese groups that they regard as movements of national liberation. Ironically, Lebanon, which buys only 7 per cent of its imports from the US, may benefit economically from the growing estrangement between the west and the Arab world. While Saudis' applications for US visitor visas have fallen 75 per cent since September 11, Lebanon is enjoying a mini-boom in tourists, with leading hotels fully booked since Christmas. In February, the number of Arab visitors was up 83 percent from February last year, with the number of Saudis up by 156 per cent. previous diary entriesChaos at Arab summit Snowballs in Damascus Beirut: Thoughts of home Jerusalem: Voices of war Cairo: Normality returns Beirut: At school with Hizbollah Gaza: Sunbathing at Eretz Tehran: Making an exhibition of "The Great Satan" Beirut: A family's grief Cairo: Unreceptive states of mind Beirut: Expats on the alert again Jerusalem: Shas chief shows conciliatory colours Tehran: Political football Beirut: Broadcasting the word of God Cairo: Few immune to bin Laden's appeal Jerusalem: Gas mask collection Jerusalem: Of hats and other headgear Beirut: looking on the bright side
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