In Lebanon Mile
Omar Kabbani
Long Artwork Is A Sign Of Peace Lebanese twins  Omar  and Mohamed Kabbani painted " salam " — the Arabic word for peace — in bright green across 82 rooftops in the northern city of Tripoli . NPR ' s Ari Shapiro speaks with  Omar  about the ambitious art project that can only be seen from the sky . ARI SHAPIRO   HOST : In Lebanon   twin brothers welcomed the new year with a work of art nearly a mile long . Mohamed and  Omar Kabbani  are 34 - year - old graffiti artists . They painted the rooftops of more than 80 buildings lime green . Seen from above   the green roofs spell out salam   which means peace in Arabic . The brothers hope it will help change how people think of their home .  OMAR KABBANI  : Whenever they talk about the Middle East or Lebanon   all they think about is extremism and terrorism . By painting a big word   salam   we want to show people that we ' re creative and positive things coming out from the Middle East . I think we made our goal happen . SHAPIRO :  Omar Kabbani  joined us from Lebanon on Skype to explain how  he  and  his  brother Mohamed put this project together . KABBANI : We had this idea almost three years ago   and we wanted to paint a big word that can be seen from space . We chose the northern part of Lebanon   an area - a region called Tripoli . It ' s the second biggest city in Lebanon . There was   like   two fighting militias fighting a small civil war between two areas   and we decided to go up and paint the word salam above this area in particular . We recruited 62 ex - militiamen or ex - fighters . KABBANI : So basically they dropped their guns and they started helping us with painting their own rooftops . SHAPIRO : And I understand some of these buildings had bullet holes . Some of them were uninhabitable . You could really see the signs of the violence in this neighborhood . It was a battle zone . There ' s plenty of bullets . The buildings were on fire . So it was funny but sad at the same moment . Like   when we used to go up to scout   they used to tell us   yeah   I used to sit here and point my sniper rifle . So ... SHAPIRO : Wow . KABBANI : It was like a really true story . Like   people who lived violence and lived   like   war started going up to their rooftop without the fear of being shot . SHAPIRO : I imagine that for some of these fighters who had sat on these rooftops with guns   to come back to those rooftops and paint them bright green to spell out the word peace must have been a very emotional experience . KABBANI : It was very challenging for us . And it was challenging for them . We stayed there for three weeks . Every day   we go up . And you can hear their stories . And you know   like   they are in rock bottom   complete poverty . So whenever someone gives them   like - I don ' t know - a small amount of money   they would go and hold the gun and start shooting . But if the people give them an opportunity to work   they will work . There are   like   really good - hearted people . They want to do something positive . And we used not just bright green paint - regular paint . We used   like - it ' s anti - leakage   and it prevents from - anti - UV also .  SHAPIRO  : Oh   like waterproof and reflecting the sun   so it cools the houses and keeps them dry . So it has - so people were really happy that we ' re in a way fixing the rooftops   you know ?  SHAPIRO  : Has the crew actually seen the finished work of art - because you can really only see it from a drone . There are photographs   but you could be standing on one of these rooftops and not know that it ' s spelling out the word salam . KABBANI : Yeah   of course . When we first briefed them about the project   we showed them what we were painting . And   like   every two days   we flew a drone to show them and for us to see the progress of the work . And of course   we showed them the end results . SHAPIRO : Omar Kabbani   thanks a lot . KABBANI : You ' re welcome . SHAPIRO :  Omar Kabbani     his  brother Mohamed and their crew painted more than 80 rooftops in the Lebanese city of Tripoli to say salam - peace in Arabic .  He  ' s looking forward to Google updating its map images so everyone who searches for the city can see the artwork . ( SOUNDBITE OF TOBACCO ' S " SPIRITS OF PERVERSION ") Copyright © 2018 NPR . Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www . npr . org for further information . NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm   Inc .  an NPR contractor   and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR . This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future . Accuracy and availability may vary . The authoritative record of NPR ’ s programming is the audio record .
Long Artwork Is A Sign Of Peace Lebanese twins  Omar  and Mohamed Kabbani painted " salam " — the Arabic word for peace — in bright green across 82 rooftops in the northern city of Tripoli . NPR ' s Ari Shapiro speaks with  Omar  about the ambitious art project that can only be seen from the sky . ARI SHAPIRO   HOST : In Lebanon   twin brothers welcomed the new year with a work of art nearly a mile long . [TGT]are 34 - year - old graffiti artists . [TGT] painted the rooftops of more than 80 buildings lime green . Seen from above   the green roofs spell out salam   which means peace in Arabic . The brothers hope it will help change how people think of their home .  OMAR KABBANI  : Whenever they talk about the Middle East or Lebanon   all they think about is extremism and terrorism . By painting a big word   salam   we want to show people that we ' re creative and positive things coming out from the Middle East . I think we made our goal happen . SHAPIRO :  Omar Kabbani  joined us from Lebanon on Skype to explain how  he  and  his  brother Mohamed put this project together . KABBANI : We had this idea almost three years ago   and we wanted to paint a big word that can be seen from space . We chose the northern part of Lebanon   an area - a region called Tripoli . It ' s the second biggest city in Lebanon . There was   like   two fighting militias fighting a small civil war between two areas   and we decided to go up and paint the word salam above this area in particular . We recruited 62 ex - militiamen or ex - fighters . KABBANI : So basically they dropped their guns and they started helping us with painting their own rooftops . SHAPIRO : And I understand some of these buildings had bullet holes . Some of them were uninhabitable . You could really see the signs of the violence in this neighborhood . It was a battle zone . There ' s plenty of bullets . The buildings were on fire . So it was funny but sad at the same moment . Like   when we used to go up to scout   they used to tell us   yeah   I used to sit here and point my sniper rifle . So ... SHAPIRO : Wow . KABBANI : It was like a really true story . Like   people who lived violence and lived   like   war started going up to their rooftop without the fear of being shot . SHAPIRO : I imagine that for some of these fighters who had sat on these rooftops with guns   to come back to those rooftops and paint them bright green to spell out the word peace must have been a very emotional experience . KABBANI : It was very challenging for us . And it was challenging for them . We stayed there for three weeks . Every day   we go up . And you can hear their stories . And you know   like   they are in rock bottom   complete poverty . So whenever someone gives them   like - I don ' t know - a small amount of money   they would go and hold the gun and start shooting . But if the people give them an opportunity to work   they will work . There are   like   really good - hearted people . They want to do something positive . And we used not just bright green paint - regular paint . We used   like - it ' s anti - leakage   and it prevents from - anti - UV also .  SHAPIRO  : Oh   like waterproof and reflecting the sun   so it cools the houses and keeps them dry . So it has - so people were really happy that we ' re in a way fixing the rooftops   you know ?  SHAPIRO  : Has the crew actually seen the finished work of art - because you can really only see it from a drone . There are photographs   but you could be standing on one of these rooftops and not know that it ' s spelling out the word salam . KABBANI : Yeah   of course . When we first briefed them about the project   we showed them what we were painting . And   like   every two days   we flew a drone to show them and for us to see the progress of the work . And of course   we showed them the end results . SHAPIRO : [TGT] . [TGT] : You ' re welcome . SHAPIRO :  [TGT]     [TGT]  brother Mohamed and their crew painted more than 80 rooftops in the Lebanese city of Tripoli to say salam - peace in Arabic .  [TGT]  ' s looking forward to Google updating its map images so everyone who searches for the city can see the artwork . ( SOUNDBITE OF TOBACCO ' S " SPIRITS OF PERVERSION ") Copyright © 2018 NPR . Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www . npr . org for further information . NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm   Inc .  an NPR contractor   and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR . This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future . Accuracy and availability may vary . The authoritative record of NPR ’ s programming is the audio record .