La Quarantaine, which is colloquially referred to as Karantina (Arabic: الكرنتينا) and sometimes spelled Quarantina, is a predominantly low-income, mixed-use residential, commercial, and semi-industrial neighborhood in northeastern Beirut.
[1] The lazaretto was to be managed by a committee made up of the Austrian, Danish, French, Greek, and Spanish consuls.
[citation needed] By the mid-1970s, the neighborhood had become a favela of 27,000 people[2] – primarily Palestinians, Armenians, Kurds, and Shia Muslims.
In January 1976, at the height of the first phase of the Lebanese Civil War, the Karantina district was deemed a danger for the residents of East Beirut and following multiple attacks by Christian militias with the purpose of clearing out the PLO elements, the population was expelled and militants were neutralized in heavy fighting, followed by the Karantina massacre by the right-wing Lebanese Front, leaving around 1,500 people dead.
[5] The southern part of the neighborhood adjacent to the highway is home to various commercial establishments, such as the Forum de Beyrouth, the multipurpose events center that hosted Beirut Rock Festival in 2009.