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111101 entriesfrom the booksonly where the books disagree
chronologiesallThe road to war 1968–1974The Lebanese war 1975–1990After the war 1991–2005July 2006, as the books tell it 2006Since 2005 2005–2025
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18 entries on 17 dates · the books disagree on 18

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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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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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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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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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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November 1982

Sunday, 21 November 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

In a message addressed to the nation, the chief of State declared : 'Lebanon will recover its independence by all means.'

Other date in the books: Monday, 22 November 1982

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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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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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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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