Before the 1970’s Lebanon was known
as the Switzerland of the Middle East and its capitol, Beirut, was known as the
Paris of the Middle East. In the early 60s President Chehab tried to improve
the well being of Lebanon. After his term the financial gap between the poor and
the rich widened. By the early 70s a “poverty belt” was surrounding Beirut. That
socioeconomic gap was exacerbated when Palestinian refugees started pouring
into the country. On April 13th 1975 tensions between Muslims,
Maronites, and the Druze exploded into bloodshed when an unidentified gunman
fired shots into an East Beirut church, killing four people. Hours later thirty Palestinians were killed.
Maronites,
Muslims, and Druzes fought with another in a back in forth struggle that included
Battle of Hotels, the Karintina Massacre, the Damour Massacre, and Black
Saturday. Eventually Syria and Israel entered the fray with Syria coming into
the north towards the north helping the Muslims first, then the Maronites, and
then the Muslims again. Israel troops came from the south and initially stopped
their infiltration of the country at the Litani River. Israel aided the
Maronites, but they really wanted to drive the Palestinian Liberation
Organization of the country. After 1981 Israel expanded their strategy and set
their eyes north.
In 1981 Israel started bombing Beirut.
This attack drew the ire of the international community 300 Lebanese civilians
were killed and 800 were wounded. Matters were made worse when Israel was laid siege
to Beirut in June 15th 1982. Israel was also held responsible for
allowing the massacre of 3,000 refugees at the Sabra and ShatilaI camps. In response
a multinational force (including the US) was sent to Beirut to oversee the
withdrawal of Israeli troops, Syrian troops, and PLO members from the capitol. The
US and France withdrew its forces in 1983 after the 1983 Beirut Barrack bombings.
The country’s institution’s deterioration was highlighted by the fall in value
of the Lebanese pound and the failure to elect a new president in 1988. In March
1989, General Aoun took leadership and declared a “war of liberation” in order
to drive out the remaining Syrian troops. His clashes caused great damage to
Eastern Beirut. He was stripped of control of the Lebanese army, but he still
retained some influence.
In October 1989, the Ta’if Agreement
signaled the end of the war. The Lebanese government was modified to reduce
Maronite influence and allow equal representation of Muslims and Maronites in
government posts. This agreement allowed Syria to hold some influence in
Lebanon and called for Israel to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon. Rene
Moawad was elected as the new president, but he was assassinated in November 22nd
1989. Elias Hrawi was elected soon after. General Aoun opposed both the Ta’if Agreement
and the legitimacy of President Hrawi. In 1990 Lebanese and Syrian forces
attacked Aoun’s stronghold, killed many of his troops, and forced General Aoun
into exile. The war claimed the 120,000 lives.
I always looked at lebanon as a sad example of the extreme benefits and risks of maintaining an extremely diverse country. When times were peaceful, the diversity made it one of the most intellectually and culturally rich locations in the world, but when times got stressful the diversity caused it to turn upon itself. I also look at it as an example of the unfortunate reality that, no matter how successful a small country is, they always run the risk of interference from larger neighbors. Great entry on a fascinating but unfortunate topic.
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