Lebanese Civil War - Formation of militias, The PLO and regional conflict

(1975–1990) A war sparked by the killing of 27 Palestinians in a bus passing through a Christian neighbourhood in April 1975. Its roots lay in a distribution of government office by sectarian community which many believed gave Christians a disproportionate share of political power. In its first phase alone (1975–6) 30 000 died before an Arab peace-keeping force separated the combatants. The war passed through a number of phases, drawing in most of Lebanon's diverse sectarian communities and its neighbours, notably Syria and Israel. It was marked by the fragmentation of the country and the division of the capital city Beirut into a Christian E and a Muslim W half, over which the central government had no control (particularly after the collapse of the Lebanese army). Notable events of the war include the Israeli invasion and siege of Beirut (1982), the massacre of defenceless Palestinian non-combatants at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps (1982), the suicide bombings which claimed 241 US and 58 French marines (1983), the hijacking of a TWA airliner (1985), and the taking of Western hostages. A framework for reconciliation was agreed in 1989 by Lebanese parliamentarians meeting in the Saudi Arabian city of Taif, which was haltingly put into practice.

Lebanese Civil War (Phase I)
Date 1975 - 1977 Location Lebanon Result ADF-enforced ceasefire de facto Syrian control over Lebanon
Combatants
Lebanese Front Syrian Army	LNM PLO
Commanders
Bachir Gemayel Dany Chamoun	Kamal Jumblatt Yasser Arafat

Lebanese Civil War (Phase II)
Date 1975 - 1977 Location Lebanon Result

Lebanese Civil War (Phase III)
Date 1977 - 1982 Location Lebanon Result PLO's departure from Beirut

Lebanese Civil War (Phase IV)
Date 1984 - 1989 Location Lebanon Result Taif Agreement

Lebanese Civil War
Phases 1975–77 • 1977–82 • 1982–83 • 1984–89 Engagements Black Saturday – Karantina – Damour – Tel al-Zaatar – Sabra and Shatila – War of the Camps

The multi-sided Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) had its origin in the conflicts and political compromises after the end of Lebanon's administration by the Ottoman Empire and was exacerbated by the nation's changing demographic trends, Christian and Muslim inter-religious strife, and the involvement of Syria, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). After a short break in the fighting in 1976 due to Arab League mediation and Syrian intervention, civil strife continued, with fighting primarily focused in south Lebanon, controlled first by the PLO, then occupied by Israel.

During the course of the fighting, alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably.

By the time of the Taif Agreement in 1989, Israel held on to a security zone in southern Lebanon that it justified as a buffer to prevent attacks on northern Israel. The Israeli Army eventually withdrew in 2000, only to see Syria fill the void from areas it had occupied in northern and western Lebanon since the mid-70s.

Formation of militias

History of Lebanon
Ancient Lebanon
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Lebanese Civil War
Cedar Revolution
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
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Constitutionally guaranteed Christian control of the government had come under increasing fire from Muslims and secular left wing groups in the 1960s, leading them to join forces as the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) in 1969.

The two sides were unable to reconcile their conflicts of interest and began forming militias, first for self-protection, but as things escalated ever more in parallel to the regular army.

Throughout the war most or all militias operated with little regard for human rights, and the sectarian character of some battles, made non-combatant civilians a frequent target. But much else was also smuggled, such as guns and supplies, all kinds of stolen goods and regular trade - war or no war, Lebanon would not give up its role as the middleman in European-Arab business.

The major militias

Most militias claimed that they were non-sectarian forces, but in fact they recruited mainly from the community or region of their chiefs.

For military balance see Lebanese National Movement and Lebanese Front.

Christian militias

Christian militias acquired arms from Romania and Bulgaria as well from West Germany and Belgium, and drew supporters from the larger and poorer Christian population in the north of the country.

The most powerful of the Christian militias was that of the Kataeb, or Phalange, under the leadership of Bachir Gemayel.

Shi'a militias

The Shi'a militias were slow to form and join in the fighting. The Palestinian movement quickly squandered its influence with the Shi'a, as radical factions ruled by the gun in much of Shi'a-inhabited southern Lebanon, where the refugee camps were accidentally concentrated, and the mainstream PLO proved either unwilling or unable to rein them in.

The Palestinian radicals' secularism and arrogant behaviour had alienated the traditionalist Shi'a community, but simultaneously presented a model for revolutionary politics that appealed to the young of Lebanon's poorest and most downtrodden community. Later, in the early 1980s, a hard line faction would break away to join with Shi'a groups fighting Israel to form the Hezbollah guerrillas, who to this day remain the most powerful militia of Lebanon.

Sunni militias

Some Sunni factions received support from Libya and Iraq, and a number of minor militias existed, the more prominent with Nasserist or otherwise pan-Arab and Arab nationalist leanings, but a minor few Islamist.

The Druze

The small Druze sect, strategically and dangerously seated on the Chouf in central Lebanon, had no natural allies, and so were compelled to put much effort into building (and breaking) alliances.

Non-religious groups

Although several Lebanese militias claimed to be secular, most were little but vehicles for sectarian interests.

Examples of this was the pro-Moscow Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) and the more radical and independent Communist Action Organization (COA).

The Palestinians

The Palestinian movement, which had relocated most of its fighting strength to Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan in the events known as Black September in 1970, was formally under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) - by itself undoubtedly Lebanon's most potent fighting force. This undermined both the PLO's operative strength and the sympathy of the Lebanese for the PLO, as the organization's outside image was increasingly being set by Communist radicals, whose "revolutionary order" rarely turned out to be anything other than protection rackets.

The mainstream PLO, represented by Arafat's powerful Fatah guerrillas, initially hesitated to take sides, but was eventually dragged into open conflict by more radical Palestinian factions.

In 1974, a stone was added to Arafat's burden with the near-formal breakup of the PLO.

The PLO and regional conflict

As a result of the Cairo Agreement brokered by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1969, the Lebanese were forced to allow a foreign force (the PLO) to conduct military operations against Israel from their own territory. The PLO were granted full control over the refugee camps, but soon much of southern Lebanon fell under their effective rule. As fighters poured in from Jordan after the Black September destruction of the PLO's apparatus there, the PLO's presence became overbearing to many of inhabitants of these areas. Much the same way that the PLO had lost its welcome in Jordan, Muslim support for the Palestinians began to erode in Lebanon.

A significant left-wing opposition also started to evolve within Fatah, as radical veteran fighters from Jordan began pouring into its ranks, to the worry of Arafat himself. Still, Arafat set about building a "state-within-the-state" in southern Lebanon, to create a secure base area for the PLO, headquartered in the Bekaa Valley and West Beirut.

The PLO was welcomed, however, by the Sunnis - who thought of them as a natural ally in sectarian terms - and by the Druze.

First phase of the war, 1975-77

Sectarian violence and civilian massacres

Throughout the spring of 1975, minor clashes had been building up towards all-out conflict, with the LNM pitted against the Phalange, and the ever-weaker national government wavering between the need to maintain order and cater to its Christian constituency.

In a vicious spiral of sectarian violence, civilians were an easy target. Another effect of the massacres was to bring in Yassir Arafat's well-armed Fatah and thereby the PLO on the side of the LNM, as Palestinian sentiment was by now completely hostile to the Lebanese Christian forces.

Syrian intervention

In June, 1976, with fighting throughout the country and the Maronites on the verge of defeat, President Suleiman Frangieh called for Syrian intervention, on the grounds that the port of Beirut would be closed and that is how Syria received a large portion of their goods. Syria had its own political and territorial interests in Lebanon, which harbored cells of the Islamists and anti-Ba'thist Muslim Brotherhood, and was also a possible route of attack for Israel.

At the President's request, Syrian troops entered Lebanon, occupying Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley, easily brushing aside the LNM and Palestinian defences.

In October 1976, Syria accepted the proposal of the Arab League summit in Riyadh. This gave Syria a mandate to keep 40,000 troops in Lebanon as the bulk of an Arab Deterrent Force charged with disentangling the combatants and restoring calm. The Civil War was officially ended at this point, and an uneasy quiet settled over Beirut and most of the rest of Lebanon. In the south, however, the climate began to deteriorate as a consequence of the gradual return of PLO combatants, who had been required to vacate central Lebanon under the terms of the Riyadh Accords.

An uneasy quiet

The nation was now effectively divided, with southern Lebanon and the western half of Beirut becoming bases for the PLO and Muslim-based militias, and the Christians in control of East Beirut and the Christian section of Mt.

In East Beirut, in 1977, Christian leaders of the National Liberal Party (NLP), the Kataeb Party and the Lebanese Renewal Party joined in the Lebanese Front, a political counterpart to the LNM.

In March the same year, Lebanese National Movement leader Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated.

Second phase of the war, 1977-82

Israel intervenes in South Lebanon, 1978

Operation Litani

PLO attacks from Lebanon into Israel in 1977 and 1978 escalated tensions between the countries. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for immediate Israeli withdrawal and creating the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with maintaining peace.

The Security Zone

Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, but retained control of the southern region by managing a 12-mile wide "security zone" along the border. To hold these positions, Israel installed the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a Christian-Shi'a proxy militia under the leadership of Major Saad Haddad. The hard-line Israeli Prime Minister, Likud's Menachem Begin, compared the plight of the Christian minority in southern Lebanon (then about 5% of the population in SLA territory) to that of European Jews during World War II (Smith, op.

Violent exchanges resumed between the PLO, Israel, and the SLA, with the PLO attacking SLA positions and firing rockets into northern Israel, Israel conducting air raids against PLO positions, and the SLA continuing its efforts to consolidate power in the border region.

Conflicts between Syria and the Phalange

Syria, meanwhile, clashed with the Phalange, a Maronite militia led by Bashir Gemayel, whose increasingly aggressive actions - such as his April 1981 attempt to capture the strategic city of Zahle in central Lebanon - were designed to thwart the Syrian goal of brushing aside Gemayel and installing Suleiman Frangieh as president.

Israel plans for attack

In August, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin was re-elected, and in September, Begin and his defense minister Ariel Sharon began to lay plans for a second invasion of Lebanon for the purpose of driving out the PLO.

Sharon also wanted to ensure the presidency of Bashir Gemayel. In January 1982, Sharon met with Gemayel on an Israeli vessel off the coast of Lebanon and discussed a plan "that would bring Israeli forces as far north as the edge of Beirut International Airport" (Time, 15 February 1982, cited in Chomsky, op.

Israel-PLO security situation

Thus far, no major provocation had been launched from Lebanon. In fact, during the entire effective period of the cease-fire, August 1981 to May 1982, there was a total of one PLO rocket attack from Lebanese territory, in May. The attack was a retaliation for Israel's 9 May bombing of PLO positions in Lebanon, which was itself a retaliation for the PLO bombing of a Jerusalem bus. 196-7.) This particular exchange highlights a central problem with the cease-fire from the Israeli perspective: it applied only to the border with Lebanon, meaning that PLO attacks from other locations, such as Jordan and the West Bank, could (and did) continue unabated, while an Israeli response directed against the PLO in Lebanon would technically be a violation of the cease-fire.

Arafat, for his part, refused to condemn attacks occurring outside of Lebanon, on the grounds that the cease-fire was only relevant to the Lebanese theater. At the same time, it violated the terms of the cease-fire by committing "2125 violations of Lebanese airspace and 652 violations of Lebanese territorial waters" from August 1981 to May 1982, including the abovementioned 9 May bombing and the 21 April bombing of coastal PLO targets south of Beirut (Chomsky, op.

Third phase of the war, 1982-83

Israeli invasion of Lebanon

Argov assassination

On 3 June 1982, the Abu Nidal Organization attempted to assassinate Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in London. Abu Nidal had assassinated numerous PLO diplomats, and attempted to kill both Arafat and Mahmud Abbas, and was in fact condemned to death by the PLO (Chomsky, op.

The PLO responded by launching a counterattack from Lebanon with rockets and artillery, which also constituted a clear violation of the cease-fire. Meanwhile, on 5 June, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution (UNSCR 508) calling for "all the parties to the conflict to cease immediately and simultaneously all military activities within Lebanon and across the Lebanese-Israeli border and no later than 0600 hours local time on Sunday, 6 June 1982."

June 6, 1982: Israel invades

Israel launched Operation Peace for Galilee on June 6, 1982, attacking PLO bases in Lebanon. Israeli forces quickly drove 25 miles into Lebanon, moving into East Beirut with the tacit support of Maronite leaders and militia. When the Israeli cabinet convened to authorize the invasion, Sharon described it as a plan to advance 40 kilometers into Lebanon, demolish PLO strongholds, and establish an expanded security zone that would put northern Israel out of range of PLO rockets. After the invasion had begun, the UN Security Council passed a further resolution on 6 June 1982, UNSCR 509, which reaffirms UNSCR 508 and "demands that Israel withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon" . However, on 8 June 1982, the US vetoed a proposed resolution that "reiterates [the] demand that Israel withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon" , thereby giving implicit assent to the Israeli invasion.

Siege of Beirut

Main article: Siege of Beirut

By 15 June 1982, Israeli units were entrenched outside Beirut. The United States called for PLO withdrawal from Lebanon, and Sharon began to order bombing raids of West Beirut, targeting some 16,000 PLO troops who had retreated into fortified positions. Meanwhile, Arafat attempted through negotiations to salvage politically what was clearly a disaster for the PLO, an attempt which eventually succeeded once the multinational force arrived to evacuate the PLO.

The fighting in Beirut resulted in approximately 6,700 deaths, 80 percent civilian, with 1,100 PLO deaths against 88 for the IDF. Fierce artillery duels between the IDF and the PLO, and PLO shelling of Christian neighborhoods of East Beirut at the outset gave way to escalating aerial IDF bombardment beginning on 21 July 1982 .

Negotiations for a cease-fire

On 26 June, a UN Security Council resolution was proposed that "demands the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces engaged round Beirut, to a distance of 10 kilometres from the periphery of that city, as a first step towards the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the simultaneous withdrawal of the Palestinian armed forces from Beirut, which shall retire to the existing camps" ;

Finally, amid escalating violence and civilian casualties, Philip Habib was once again sent to restore order, which he accomplished on 12 August on the heels of IDF's intensive, day-long bombardment of West Beirut. The Habib-negotiated truce called for the withdrawal of both Israeli and PLO elements, as well as a multinational force composed of U.S. Marines along with French and Italian units that would ensure the departure of the PLO and protect defenseless civilians.

International intervention: 1981–84

A multinational force landed in Beirut on August 20, 1982 to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon and U.S. mediation resulted in the evacuation of Syrian troops and PLO fighters from Beirut.

However, Israel claimed that some 2,000 PLO militants were hiding in Palestinian refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut.

Sabra and Shatila Massacre

See Sabra and Shatila massacre

After conferring with Phalange leaders, Sharon and Eitan bypassed the Israeli cabinet and sent Israeli troops into West Beirut, violating the Habib agreement;

The Kahan Commission, set up by the Israeli government to investigate the circumstances of the massacre, held Sharon and Eitan indirectly responsible, concluding that the Israeli officials should have known what would happen if they sent 200 anti-Palestinian militants into Palestinian refugee camps.

The massacres made the headlines all over the world, and calls were heard for the international community to assume responsibility for stabilizing Lebanon. As a result, the multinational forces that had begun exiting Lebanon after the PLO's evacuation returned as peacekeepers.

May 17 Agreement

On May 17, 1983, Amin Gemayel's Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed an agreement (text) on Israeli withdrawal that was conditioned on the departure of Syrian troops; The agreement stated that "the state of war between Israel and Lebanon has been terminated and no longer exists."

In August 1983, Israel withdrew from the Chouf District (southeast of Beirut), thus removing the buffer between the Druze and the Christian militias and triggering another round of brutal fighting.

Resurging violence

The virtual collapse of the Lebanese Army in February 1984, following the defection of many Muslim and Druze units to militias, was a major blow to the government.

This period of chaos witnessed the beginning of attacks against U.S. and Western interests, such as the 18 April 1983 suicide attack at the U.S. Embassy in West Beirut, which killed 63.

During these years, Hezbollah emerged from a loose coalition of Shi'a groups resisting the Israeli occupation, and splintered from the main Shi'a movement, Nabih Berri's Amal Movement.

Fourth phase of the war, 1984-89

Worsening conflict and political crisis

Between 1985 and 1989, sectarian conflict worsened as various efforts at national reconciliation failed. Heavy fighting took place in the War of the Camps of 1985-86 as a Syrian-backed coalition headed by the Amal militia sought to rout the PLO from their Lebanese strongholds. (Fisk, 609)

Major combat returned to Beirut in 1987, when Palestinians, leftists, and Druze fighters allied against Amal, eventually drawing further Syrian intervention.

The Aoun government

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rashid Karami, head of a government of national unity set up after the failed peace efforts of 1984, was assassinated on June 1, 1987.

Muslim groups rejected the violation of the National Pact and pledged support to Selim al-Hoss, a Sunni who had succeeded Karami. Lebanon was thus divided between a Christian military government in East Beirut and a civilian government in West Beirut.

Aoun's "War of Liberation"

By March 1989, Aoun launched what he termed a "war of liberation" against the Syrians and their Lebanese militia allies.

The Taif Agreement

The Taif Agreement of 1989 marked the beginning of the end of the fighting.

Mouawad was assassinated 16 days later in a car bombing in Beirut on 22 November as his motorcade returned from Lebanese independence day ceremonies.

Infighting in East Beirut

On January 16, 1990, General Aoun ordered all Lebanese media to cease using terms like "President" or "Minister" to describe Hrawi and other participants in the Taif government.

In early 1990, Aoun's forces clashed with the LF, after Aoun had stated that it was in the national interest for the government to "unify the weapons" (i.e.

In August 1990, the Lebanese Parliament, which didn't heed Aoun's order to dissolve, and the new president agreed on constitutional amendments embodying some of the political reforms envisioned at Taif.

In October, Syria launched a major operation involving its army, air force and Lebanese allies against Aoun's stronghold around the presidential palace, where hundreds of Aoun supporters were executed .

William Harris claims that the Syrian operation could not take place until Syria had reached an agreement with the United States, that in exchange for support against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War, it would convince Israel not to attack Syrian aircraft approaching Beirut. Aoun claimed in 1990 that the United States "has sold Lebanon to Syria" (Harris, p.

End of the Civil Strife

In March 1991, parliament passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes prior to its enactment. In May 1991, the militias (with the important exception of Hezbollah) were dissolved, and the Lebanese Armed Forces began to slowly rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution.

Conclusions

Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Following the cease-fire which ended the July 12 Israeli-Lebanese conflict, the army has for the first time in over three decades moved to occupy and control the southern areas of Lebanon.

Lebanon still bears deep scars from the civil war.

Car bombs became a favored weapon of violent groups worldwide, following their frequent, and often effective, use during the war.

The country made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty after the end of the war, establishing a political system that gives Muslims a greater voice in the political process. ISBN 0-415-28716-2 The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967-1976 Khazen Farid El (2000) (ISBN 0-674-08105-6) The Bullet Collection, a book by Patricia Sarrafian Ward, is an excellent account of human experience during the Lebanese Civil War. Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92 O'Ballance Edgar (1998) (ISBN 0-312-21593-2) Crossroads to Civil War: Lebanon 1958-1976 Salibi Kamal S. Bulloch John (1977) (ISBN 0-297-77288-0) Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions (Princeton Series on the Middle East) Harris William W (1997) (ISBN 1-55876-115-2) The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians Noam Chomsky (1983, 1999) (ISBN 0-89608-601-1) History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine, Vol. (1979) (ISBN 0-8156-2210-4) Lebanon: Fire and Embers : A History of the Lebanese Civil War by Hiro, Dilip (1993) (ISBN 0-312-09724-7) Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War Fisk, Robert (2001) (ISBN 0-19-280130-9) Syria and the Lebanese Crisis Dawisha A. (1980) (ISBN 0-312-78203-9) Syria's Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process Deeb Marius (2003) (ISBN 1-4039-6248-0) The War for Lebanon, 1970-1985 Rabinovich Itamar (1985) (ISBN 0-8014-9313-7) Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, fourth edition, Charles D.

Online Reference

Lebanese groups unite over Syria-BBC News 13 December 2004 Lebanon Facts-PBS Frontline Series May 2003 Links and Resources-PBS Frontline May 2003 Lebanon's Forgotten Civil War-Washington Post Foreign Service 20 December 1999 Pictures of Battle Scared Beirut-Travel Adventures.

Additional Resources

Center for Lebanese Study-Oxford University Country Profile: Lebanon-BBC News Timeline: Lebanon A chronology of key events-BBC News 14 February 2005 A detailed chronology on the Lebanese War-Cederland

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