LEBANON – BROKEN AND REMADE

THE FRENCH MANDATE 1920 – San Remo conference confers the mandate for Lebanon on France : the creation of “Greater Lebanon” 1926 – The Lebanese Republic emerges 1941 – British and Free French forces liberate Lebanon 1943 – Lebanese Independence declared

Syria and Lebanon c. 1924

The National Pact Unwritten agreement Shared power between “confessions” –President a Christian –Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim –Speaker of the Assembly a Shi’i Muslim –Government offices to be split 6:5 Applied to civil service Affected the army as well

1948 – 1952 Period of Change Palestinian refugees enter Lebanon –Unarmed and denied citizenship The revolution in Egypt shifts finance to Beirut –Growth in the Lebanese economy

The 1950s and 1960s Change in Lebanese demography –More Palestinians (Sunni non-citizens) –Fewer Christians (due to outmigration and slightly lower birth rates) –Dramatic increase in Shi’i population

1958 Revolution in Iraq and unrest in Lebanon US Marines come ashore at Beirut Fuad Chehab replaces Camille Chamoun

1968 Israel undertakes first retaliatory raids Palestinian commandos and destroys 13 airplanes at Beirut International Airport

Arab defeats and PLO Military defeat created space for the PLO Allowed the PLO to claim that it provided defense against Israel Allowed the PLO to base its own legitimacy on “armed struggle”

The Phalange, a militia based in the Maronite Christian community, re-emerges November – the Cairo Agreement is signed PLO headquarters is transferred to Beirut from Jordan

1975 – Year of Detonation February – demonstrations in Saida April – Phalange attack Palestinians at Ain al-Roumaneh May – Phalange resigns from govt; Solh resigns as PM Fall : civil war between the Lebanese Front and the National Movement

1976 January – blockade of refugee camps; Syria sends PLA to Lebanon March – Lebanese army disintegrates; PLO-National Movement offensive threatens to take power June – Syrian troops enter Lebanon on the side of the Lebanese Front; Palestinian movement fractures August – Capture of Tal Za’tar

Questions: Would Lebanon be partitioned? Could the Palestinians be disarmed (the Chtaura agreement)? Would Lebanon become a “frontline” state in the conflict with Israel? –If so, would it be a launching pad for Syrian forces or a through-way for Israelis?

1978 Israel invades Lebanon to the Litani Withdraws after UNSCR 425 UNIFIL troops in place Emergence of “Fatahland” in the south –In the absence of a state the PLO again creates one

THE 1982 WAR Cross-border shelling between PLO and Israel Assassination attempt on Israeli ambassador in Britain Israeli forces invade Lebanon and in four days reaches Beirut PLO forces leave Beirut in August; massacre at Sabra and Shatila by Phalange

What It Meant The PLO was defeated as a military force and removed from the “front line” The Amal movement hoped to represent the Shi’i Another movement, Hizbullah, emerged which would ultimately supplant Amal –It would become the primary organizer of the Shi’i –Based legitimacy also on resistance

Al-Amal

Hezbullah

The Civil War Continued into the 1990s Cost Lebanon ~ 150,000 dead Never resolved the conflict between communal and political power Made Lebanon into a battleground for proxy wars between Arab states and between Israel and the Arab states