32 entries on 31 dates · the books disagree on 32
April 1969
Wednesday, 23 April 1969
The road to war · From the books
Security forces fire on pro-Palestinian demonstrations; Karami resigns.
Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigned after violent protests, notably in Tripoli: in Beirut and Sidon the army and security forces had fired on mass demonstrations backing the Palestinian resistance, leaving dead and wounded, and in Sidon a march from Ain al-Hilweh camp became an army-commando battle. A cabinet crisis of over seven months followed.
Sources differ: Hanf places Karami's resignation after President Helou's television address of 6 May; Traboulsi and de Clerck & Malsagne put it on or right after 23 April. The length of the crisis is 215 days (Traboulsi) or 216 days (de Clerck & Malsagne). Hanf names Sidon and Ain al-Hilweh; Traboulsi Sidon and Beirut; de Clerck & Malsagne Beirut.
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March 1970
Monday, 23 March 1970
The road to war · From the books
A Palestinian funeral convoy is fired on at Kahhale.
Palestinians died when a convoy carrying a guerrilla's coffin to Damascus for burial and the residents of Kahhale, a Maronite village, traded fire. Who shot first, and how many were killed, is disputed. Hanf places the incident among the first serious clashes between Palestinians and armed Christians.
Sources differ: De Clerck & Malsagne: a Kataeb attack, 18 Palestinians dead. Hanf: ten dead; he reports both sides' versions and judges it likeliest that villagers took Palestinian shots into the air for an attack.
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January 1973
Tuesday, 23 January 1973
The road to war · From the books
The army fires on tobacco growers, killing two.
Two peasants died on 23 January 1973 when soldiers fired on protesting tobacco growers. About 20,000 rallied in Beirut in support, and clashes spread across Lebanon.
Sources differ: Place: Nabatieh (Traboulsi) or Kfar Remmaneh-Nabatieh (Tufaro). Aftermath: 20,000 in Beirut 'a few days later' (Traboulsi) or a march from the South to Beirut the next day (Tufaro); possibly the same event.
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October 1975
Tuesday, 21 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kamal El Assad was reelected president of the Chamber by 47 votes against one. At the same time, Beirut was still under fire and the list of victims, whether kidnapped, executed, or shot by snipers or mortar shells, kept growing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 October 1975
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January 1976
Wednesday, 21 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books 21-22 January
Army helicopters and boats evacuate Jiyeh but not Damour or Saadiyat.
Damour and Saadiyat, defended only by National Liberal Party militiamen, were not evacuated, while on 21 and 22 January army helicopters and boats took refugees from neighbouring Jiyeh to Jounieh.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Ta'labaya, near Zahleh, falls to the PLA.
Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh's diary records the dawn fall of Ta'labaya, a Bekaa village, to a surprise assault by the Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk brigades, and the forced departure of its Christians.
Sources differ: Hanf (p. 210) dates a Palestinian seizure of Ta'labaya, with its people expelled, to December 1975; de Clerck and Malsagne (p. 154) record 35 killed there from that month.
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March 1976
Sunday, 21 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Holiday Inn ' occupied by the Phalange Party fell in the hands of the Mourabitun and their allies.
According to some sources, the Phalange Party succeeded in evacuating some of its militiamen who took with them seven dead bodies, three of which were young girls. According to other sources, 65 militiamen were able to run away using an underground passage. The Holiday Inn had been subject to repeated assaults for the past ten months.
What the books addMourabitoun and Palestinian fighters, backed by Lebanese Arab Army artillery, took the 24-storey Holiday Inn after a fight waged floor by floor, day and night, from 20 to 22 March 1976 (Traboulsi dates the fall to 22 March). The Kataeb withdrew to the Fattal building near the port. The five-month Battle of the Hotels was over, and Beirut was split along the Green Line.
Art and memory- novel Rabee Jaber's novel Birds of the Holiday Inn (2011) is set around the hotel during the battles for downtown Beirut.
- photograph In November 2002 Haugbolle photographed the ruined Holiday Inn behind a huge banner of the Roman temple at Baalbek; the picture illustrates his discussion of nostalgia.
- novel George Shami's documentary novel What Is Left of the Fighting (Madha baqa min al-qital, 2003) followed young militiamen through the 1976 hotels battle.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 March 1976, Monday, 22 March 1976
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Tuesday, 23 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Beirut Battle ' continued amid shelling.
The past 48 hours resulted in 150 deaths and 300 injuries. The control of downtown was at stake. Moslem-Progressive forces backed by Palestinian organizations were determined to eliminate any Phalangist presence West of the Martyrs Square. The new front was established on the axis Starco Hilton, while Phalangist militiamen faced assaults launched from the Riad El Solh and the Nejmeh Squares towards the Port area. In the Mountain where artillery duels continued, a common Palestinian Progressive breakthrough attempt was turned down in Mansourieh.
What the books addHanf traces the line that went on dividing the city along the Damascus road and across Martyrs Square to the harbour. It was set once the Kataeb, losing the Holiday Inn, had no positions left in West Beirut.
Art and memory- film Jocelyne Saab's 1976 documentary Beyrouth, jamais plus captures a Beirut that was disappearing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 22 March 1976
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January 1977
Friday, 21 January 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Front's seminar defines Lebanon as a 'plurality of civilisations'.
Lebanese Front leaders met in seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent. They discussed partition, dismissed the independence-era institutions as outdated and called Lebanon a set of 'civilisational groups'. The Front also issued constitutional reform proposals.
Sources differ: Original entry 110 dates a three-day Lebanese 'Forces' seminar at Broumana to 23 January; it may be the same meeting.
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Sunday, 23 January 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In Broumana and in presence of 25 delegates, the week of the Lebanese Forces was held under the sign of coexistence.
This three-day seminar adopted the principle of diversity in respect of heritage and cultures. The seminar emphasized the need to solve Lebanon's economic problem using modern solutions.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne put the Lebanese Front's seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent, not Broumana, on 21 January 1977. Its leaders, they report, judged the independence-era institutions obsolete, raised partition and defined a 'plurality of civilisational groups'. The body was the Lebanese Front, the Christian leaders' coalition, not the Lebanese Forces militia.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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March 1978
Tuesday, 21 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces a ceasefire in the south; Operation Litani ends.
Fisk puts the cost of Operation Litani at as many as 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead and 20 Israelis. On 21 March, its last day, Israel announced a ceasefire, but its guns shelled Tyre from nine that morning; it held the south up to the Litani except the Tyre pocket.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978
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Thursday, 23 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The first UNIFIL troops, French paratroopers, enter Tyre.
Armed Palestinian fighters still held Tyre's streets when Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroop battalion, the vanguard of the new UN force, drove in. At the handover of the Hassan Borro barracks, a quarrel between Palestinians and Lebanese officers came close to gunfire.
Sources differ: Entry 179 dates the first arrival of UN troops to 22 March.
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October 1979
November 1979
Friday, 23 November 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Tunis summit was disappointing. Lebanon received only a solemn proclamation of support doubled by a financial assistance up to 2 billion dollars, but the Southern Lebanon problem remained unsolved, the summit having just called the State and the resistance to get along.
What the books addThe Arab summit met in Tunis from 20 to 22 November 1979.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 November 1979
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January 1980
Monday, 21 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese army projected to deploy in South Lebanon while Israel was strongly opposed to this project.
What the books addDeploying the army, Sarkis insisted on his return from an Arab meeting at Ta'if in February 1980, should come before political reform (Traboulsi). Amal and the Phalange newspaper al-Amal also called for the army to be sent south (Traboulsi; Hanf).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 20 March 1980
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February 1980
Saturday, 23 February 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Criminal madness was unleashed in Lebanon. An odious assault was reported in the Sursock district. A car bomb killed 8 persons including Maya, Bechir Gemayel's 20 months old daughter, and injured 20 others. This explosion was aimed at the chief commander of the Lebanese Forces.
What the books addMénargues writes that Bashir Gemayel usually took Maya to her grandmother's on Saturdays but, sick after the sea crossing from Jerusalem the day before, had her governess and his bodyguards take her in his car, which was blown up less than a kilometre from his home. He blames the Palestinians there; later he says an inquiry into Aman el-Mandoubine, a network run by a Fatah intelligence officer, led to the arrest of two Christians who planted the bomb. One annex dates the attack 21 February.
Art and memory- memorial Ménargues reports that the Lebanese Forces' secret military plan, shown to the Israelis on 5 March 1982, was called 'M' in memory of Bashir's daughter Maya.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 21 February 1980
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December 1980
Sunday, 21 December 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The situation worsened in Zahleh under heavy bombardments. These confrontations between Zahliotes and soldiers from the Arab Strike Force continued until December 26 when a cease-fire eased the tension.
What the books addThe crisis began on 20 December when Elias Hannouche, a former Tiger commander backed by Syria, seized the old National Liberal office in Zahle. After an ambush inside the town killed five Syrian soldiers on 22 December, Syrian artillery opened fire on it (Ménargues; Hanf counts an officer and five soldiers). De Clerck and Malsagne date the bombardment to 21 December and call it the first round of the battle of Zahle. Most of the former Tigers then joined the Lebanese Forces, and Syrian troops stayed positioned around the town until the siege of spring 1981.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1980, Monday, 22 December 1980
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July 1981
Tuesday, 21 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
What the books addMénargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 July 1981
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April 1982
Wednesday, 21 April 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six successive raids were reported within 90 minutes against Aramoun, Naameh and Damour, putting an end to a cease-fire that lasted 9 months. This new aggression claimed the lives of 80 victims.
What the books addFisk, on the coast road when it began, dates the Damour raid to 22 April: Israeli jets struck for over two hours, killing at least 19 Palestinians; Israel cited the death of a soldier on a mine in the south. For Fisk it previewed the invasion.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 22 April 1982
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August 1982
Monday, 23 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel was elected President of the Lebanese Republic at the second round, by 57 votes against five abstentions.
What the books addHeld at the Fayadiyeh military academy after the 19 August session at Villa Mansour was put off. Some deputies arrived under escort; the quorum of 62 was met soon after midday, and Bashir won the second ballot with 57 votes and five blank. Hanf notes that only half the Greek Orthodox and a quarter of the Sunni deputies came. That night the homes of West Beirut deputies who had attended were burned.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 19 August 1982
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November 1982
August 1983
Sunday, 21 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first signs of an imminent Israeli redeployment in the south of the Awali river multiplied. Lebanon urged the United States to intervene in order to delay this initiative.
What the books addIsrael announced the pullback on 20 July. On 16 August Moshe Arens told Gemayel in East Beirut that Israel would leave the mountains even if the fighting had not stopped, and he announced a withdrawal for 15 September. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, the United States tried without success to dissuade Israel.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 16 August 1983
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October 1986
Tuesday, 21 October 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Hussein Husseini was reelected Speaker of the National Assembly. A seventh US national, Edward Tracy was kidnapped in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 September 1986
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December 1988
Friday, 23 December 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal and Arafat's Fatah conclude an agreement.
Amal and Arafat's Fatah reached an accord to calm relations. The Palestinians left the Christian village of Maghdouche and Amal gradually eased its blockade of Rashidieh camp. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead of the war of the camps at 2,000 to 3,000.
Sources differ: De Clerck (pp. 91-92) dates the Arafat-Berri reconciliation to early 1988, before this formal agreement.
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April 1990
Monday, 23 April 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the blockade war rages between the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Forces, the President of the Republic declines Geagea's offer to surrender to him the barracks of Jbeil and the Kesrouan.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 February 1990
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May 1990
Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
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August 1990
Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
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September 1990
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
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October 1990
Sunday, 21 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The leader of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun, his wife Ingrid and his two kids Tarek and Julian were savagely assassinated in there home in Baabda.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne count the murder of Dany Chamoun, his wife and two of their children as the last act of violence between Christian factions. The place is given as Baabda (Confluences) or 'his east Beirut home' (Fisk). Chamoun had backed Aoun, though critically, and was opposed to Syria's presence. Hanf notes that many blamed Syria, but judges that killing a whole family suggests a militia vendetta; Fisk likens it to the Phalangists' earlier killing of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby. Samir Geagea was later tried for the murder (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
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November 1990
Friday, 23 November 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces begin leaving Beirut.
On 23 November the Lebanese Forces began leaving Beirut, with a parade to show their strength. They had wanted pro-Syrian militias out of the Metn; the government did give the Kataeb its offices back and posted to Ashrafieh troops from the mostly neutral Sarba garrison rather than units that had fought for Aoun.
Sources differ: Entry 1217 says the Lebanese Forces had to leave Ashrafieh by 19 November at the latest.
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July 2006
Sunday, 23 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Israel begins to look for an exit; Syria threatens to join a ground war.
On Sunday 23 July, with no quick victory in sight, Olmert's office first weighed a political end to the war, and the defence minister's office debated ceasefire terms. Israeli units in the South readied an attack on Bint Jbeil; a Syrian minister warned that a ground offensive in Lebanon would bring Syria into the war.
Sources differ: The archive names the Syrian minister Mohsen Bilal as information minister, not foreign minister.
Reports at the time: Archive: 'Moshen Bilal, the Syrian information minister'.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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May 2008
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
The Doha agreement ends the crisis.
Talks in Doha under Qatari and Arab League mediation ended the fighting. The parties undertook to elect a president at once, renounce political violence, lift the opposition sit-in, form a unity government with an opposition blocking third and redraw constituencies for 2009. Hezbollah's weapons went unmentioned.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's narrative (pp. 462-463) has 21 May; their chronology (p. 578) has 25 May, combining the Doha accord with Sleiman's election.
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