Ramlet al-Baida is a public beach in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
. The beach is situated along the southern end of the
Corniche Beirut
The Corniche Beirut is a seaside promenade in the Central District of Beirut, Lebanon. Lined with palm trees, the waterfront esplanade has views of the Mediterranean and the summits of Mount Lebanon to the east. Corniche Beirut has its foundat ...
promenade where
Avenue General de Gaulle
Avenue Général de Gaulle is a seaside, palm-lined street in Beirut, Lebanon. The avenue, which was named in honor of the French general and president Charles de Gaulle, forms with Avenue de Paris the Corniche Beirut promenade. The avenue runs n ...
meets Avenue Rafic Hariri and ends at Rue Venezuela. Despite the beach's location in
Moussaitbeh, close to the upscale district of
Ras Beirut
Ras Beirut ("Tip of Beirut") is an upscale residential neighborhood of Beirut. It has a mixed population of Christians, Muslims, Druze, and secular individuals. Ras Beirut is home to some of Beirut's historically prominent families, such as th ...
, the beach is popular with a predominantly male clientele from Beirut's low-income
southern suburbs. The beach is also a popular cruising area.
History
The beach was the location of major events during the war in Lebanon. On April 10, 1973, a seaborne Israeli commando unit that landed in
Dora, departed from Ramlet al- Bayda after assassinating PLO officials,
Muhammad Al Najjar
Muhammad Youssef Al-Najjar ( ar, محمد يوسف النجار; 11 June 1930 – 10 April 1973), commonly known as Abu Youssef, was a Palestinian militant who was assassinated by Israel over alleged involvement in the 1972 Munich massacre.
Li ...
,
Kamal Adwan
Kamal Abdel Hafiz Adwan (1935 - April 10, 1973), also spelt as Kamal Udwan, was a Palestinian politician and one of the top leaders in the Palestinian Liberation Organization. He was killed during a 1973 Israeli raid in Lebanon.
Early life and ...
, and
Kamal Nasser
Kamal Butros Nasser ( ar, كمال ناصر; 1925 – 9 or 10 April 1973) was a Palestinian political leader, writer and poet.
Early life
Nasser was born in Gaza in 1924 to a Palestinian Christian family. He was educated at Bir Zeit school (n ...
. The corpse of
Francis Meloy, the incoming U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, was discovered on this beach on 16 June 1976. In 1983, a terrorist group, believed to be Iranian-backed, bombed the barracks of the French peacekeepers that were stationed four miles from the beach area. The attack killed 58 French soldiers.
Beau Rivage
Hotel
Beau Rivage, which overlooked the beach, was the headquarters of the Syrian intelligence in Beirut from 1997 to 2005. The hotel became the center for detaining Lebanese dissidents and synonymous with torture and human rights violations. After the Syrians withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, the hotel was renovated and in 2008, it was reopened as a civilian luxury hotel.
References
{{Reflist
Beirut