TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen have become known for the sporadic violence that erupts between them, leaving behind damaged properties and nervous residents who wonder whether a round of fighting will force them to flee their homes.

The signs of sectarian and political division are obvious to visitors to the mainly Sunni area of Bab al-Tabbaneh and, overlooking it on a small hill, the Alawite stronghold of Jabal Mohsen, which locals say isn’t much of a stronghold, since it’s surrounded on three sides by Sunni neighborhoods.

In Bab al-Tabbaneh one can see the Turkish flag and a huge poster of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, featuring the slogan of “victory in Sham (Greater Syria) and Gaza.” Also in evidence are black flags bearing the calligraphy that spells “there is no god but Allah,” a signal that the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group enjoys local support.

In Jabal Mohsen, posters and slogans of support for Syrian President Bashar Assad are prominent, along with the pictures of “martyrs” who have fallen victim to gunfire or shells from the rival neighborhood.

A heavy Lebanese Army presence endeavors to keep the peace, both on Syria Road, the wide boulevard that separates the two neighborhoods, as well as the smaller side streets, where military vehicles and barricades stand.

Despite the divisions, residents of the two neighborhoods are united when it comes to waiting for the authorities to process compensation formalities stemming from the last outbreak of violence, in June, when seven people were killed and nearly 60 wounded following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian demonstrators.

The process of applying for compensation, waiting for an inspection to verify damage and finally getting hold of the money has become a tedious task after each round of violence.

Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen have experienced a series of eruptions of violence over the last several decades. The most notorious incident cited by local residents took place in 1986, when Syrian troops and allied pro-Syrian parties faced off against fighters from the Islamic Tawhid Movement, resulting in the deaths of several hundred people, according to local residents. There have been sporadic rounds of violence ever since, with the latest major clashes coming in May 2008, when partisans of the March 14 and March 8 camps faced off against each other.

Khaled Soboh, a member of Tripoli’s municipal council who has been actively lobbying to see the compensation actually paid out, described Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen as a “mail box” for various groups when they want to stoke sectarian tension for political ends.

The desperation and poverty of local residents has made them easy prey for setting off such episodes of political violence, with an existing sectarian division providing the fuel for the clashes.

Soboh described the Alawites of Jabal Mohsen as politically and socially marginalized prior to Syrian tutelage over Lebanon in the mid-1970s, “but after the wartime militia the Alawite Youth Movement took shape, the community became better-organized and protected by the Syrian regime; thus, it became more economically stable.”

Residents of the larger area of Bab al-Tabbaneh, he continued, are actually more diverse, and include a number of people who were naturalized in 1994. But poor socio-economic conditions, a lack of opportunity for young people and crushing “poverty and ignorance” are endemic in Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Residents in both neighborhoods suffer from a lack of proper government services, unemployment and a host of other problems, he said.

“The problem is that most politicians bribe locals of Bab al-Tabanneh to win their votes [at election time], but in return they still haven’t fixed or redeveloped the area.”

Soboh said no Sunni political leader had yet to make inroads into Bab al-Tabbaneh, and a tour of the neighborhood, along with Jabal Mohsen, demonstrates why – initiatives to improve the area have been piecemeal, at best.

Last month, Soboh and other municipal council members found themselves obliged to donate money to help get a street lighting project on Syria Road completed during Ramadan.

The army spent a few months deployed there, but performing their task in darkness on many nights.

In a recent project, the Kuwaiti Fund for Development renovated the exteriors of a number of buildings in Jabal Mohsen, while in a Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood off Syria Road, a playground and building walls were given a fresh coat of paint this summer, thanks to the NGO Joy of Giving.

But such efforts appear to merely scratch the surface when it comes to the needs of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

Residents of both neighborhoods are now waiting for their compensation from the Higher Relief Committee for the clashes in June.

Soboh has lobbied the committee repeatedly to see that the money is paid out. The Eid al-Adha holiday is the next target date, after an earlier promise of “by Eid al-Fitr” came and went at the beginning of this month.

Securing compensation requires residents to register their request with the army, which along with HRC officials, performs inspections of the property before a check can be issued.

Soboh said out of a total of approximately 4,600 applications filed for state money to conduct repairs, two-thirds of the inspections had been completed.

HRC officials took a dim view of having to pay so many people, “for a fight that only lasted 14 hours,” he said.

Early on in the saga, he had to intervene to secure an increase in the number of committees that were tasked with processing the several thousand applications, from two to seven.

The councilman expressed the view that the government should be “generous” with its compensation payments, to make up for past neglect and delays.

According to residents, each “incident” does not necessarily mean that the check will come, or be sufficient.

Mohammad Ahmad Harrouq, 23, an unemployed resident of Bab al-Tabbaneh, said he received compensation from the government’s Higher Relief Committee after a round of fighting broke out in 2008, but added that “no one has come to inspect [property] after the recent clash.”

For Bab al-Tabbaneh resident Saad Hamoudi, 71, the experience of 2008 was bitter. While he received LL5.5 million in compensation for his damaged shop, he said he received nothing for his destroyed residence, and has been forced to sleep in his shop for the last two years.

Leila Abdullah, 44, a resident of Jabal Mohsen, complained that earlier rounds of fighting didn’t lead to satisfactory payments.

“They didn’t pay us as much as they were supposed to, because the house wasn’t ‘completely destroyed,’” Abdullah said. “We only received money once, a total of LL232,000, but the kitchen alone cost us a lot more. Our house has been hit around five times since 2008.”

Soboh said the state should be blamed for making no serious efforts to alleviate the many problems, while the slow and uneven pace of compensating people for the sporadic violence only makes things worse.

“The way Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen are treated, it’s as if people here are being told, ‘Get ready to fight.’” Soboh said.