583 entries on 528 dates · the books disagree on 153
dates 1–60 of 528 next
March 1969
spring 1969: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Army and Palestinian guerrillas clash almost daily in the south.
Jumblatt led mass protests in Tyre, Sidon, Tripoli and Beirut, Saiqa units came in from Syria and the Palestinian groups drove the Lebanese police out of the camps, all as the guerrillas resisted an army drive to clear them from the border zone and deny Israel a pretext for further raids.
\_this day in full
May 1969
Tuesday, 6 May 1969
The road to war · From the books
On television, President Helou sets Lebanese sovereignty as the limit of support for the Palestinians.
Lebanon was left without a cabinet for months after 6 May, when President Charles Helou said on television that backing the Palestinian cause must not put Lebanon's sovereignty and security at risk. He and the army had open support only from Christian politicians; no leading Sunni would take office.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1970
February 1970: day not established
The road to war · From the books
A threatened general strike forces health cover under social security.
Some 250,000 employees were due to gain health cover when the government, facing a general strike called for February 1970, started the National Social Security Fund's medical scheme. To pay less, employers laid off long-serving staff en masse.
\_this day in full
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 25 March 1970
The road to war · From the books
Bashir Gemayel is kidnapped and held in Tall al-Za'tar.
Kamal Jumblatt's intervention with Yasir Arafat freed Bashir Gemayel, the Kataeb leader's younger son, seized by Palestinians and held in Tall al-Za'tar camp.
Sources differ: Hanf: 25 March 1970, held eight hours. Ménargues: 1969, adding he was beaten. Jumblatt became interior minister after the November 1969 Cairo Agreement (Hanf), which fits late 1969 or 1970.
\_this day in full \_on this day
late March 1970: day not established
The road to war · From the books
A week of fighting between Palestinians and Kataeb around Tall al-Za'tar.
Only the Egyptian foreign minister's intervention ended a week of Palestinian-Kataeb fighting that broke out right after Kahhale, heaviest between Tall al-Za'tar and Dekwaneh, a mainly Maronite suburb beside it.
\_this day in full
May 1970
May 1970: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Israeli forces invade the south after the shelling of Kiryat Shmona.
Lebanese troops suffered heavy losses when Israel sent forces across the border to retaliate for the Palestinian shelling of Kiryat Shmona. Hanf links the rise in guerrilla raids after the Cairo Agreement to more reprisals and a new wave of villagers fleeing north.
The road to war · From the books
New government rules bar PLO rocket fire, minelaying and weapons in towns.
The Popular Front rejected, and Fatah and Saiqa accepted, the rules set by the government in May: no rocket fire from Lebanese soil, no minelaying, no carrying of arms in towns and villages. Jumblatt, as interior minister, had also sought to keep PLO bases at least a kilometre from any town or village and training out of the camps. It did not last.
The road to war · From the books
The government recognises the Shi'i council and releases aid after a national day for the south.
The government recognised the new Higher Shi'i Council and released ten million dollars of aid for the south, steps taken after an official solidarity day for the region.
\_this day in full
May 1971
Tuesday, 25 May 1971
The road to war · From the books day (planned strike)
A general strike set for 25 May is put off after a 5 per cent wage rise.
The General Workers' Union set a general strike for 25 May 1971 but deferred it when a 5 per cent wage rise was decreed. It sought 11 per cent more pay, lower rents, state imports of medicines and basic foods, a law for farm labourers and no more arbitrary dismissals.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1972
February 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
The Israeli army invades the south as far as the Litani.
Picard counts over 100 dead and over 150 houses destroyed as Israeli troops, aiming to disable the fedayeen and their Lebanese backers, drove south to several points on the Litani.
Sources differ: Picard gives one toll, 'on each occasion', for this and the September 1972 invasion alike.
\_this day in full
March 1972
March–April 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Lebanese University students launch a mass strike; private universities join.
In spring 1972 AUB, Saint-Joseph and Beirut Arab University students backed a mass strike called by NULUS, the Lebanese University students' union, now run by the left (PSP, Communists, OCA).
\_this day in full
May 1972
late May 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
After the Lod airport attack, Israel holds Lebanon responsible and strikes the south.
Israeli attacks by land, sea and air on the Rashidieh camp, Hasbaya, Dayr Ashayer and Tibnin killed about 150 people after Japanese Red Army gunmen killed 24 at Lod airport, an operation the PLO had prepared for them in Beirut. Israel now declared Lebanon's government answerable for every PLO action.
\_this day in full
February 1973
early 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Israeli paratroopers raid two Palestinian camps near Tripoli.
In one of Israel's mounting strikes of early 1973, helicopter-landed paratroopers and marines attacked two Palestinian camps near Tripoli.
\_this day in full
March 1973
March 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
First congress of the National Union of Agricultural Workers.
Delegates from 163 villages nationwide attended the National Union of Agricultural Workers' first congress.
\_this day in full
May 1973
Tuesday, 1 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
Palestinian guerrillas abduct three Lebanese soldiers.
The May 1973 crisis began when members of the Popular and Democratic Fronts abducted three Lebanese soldiers as hostages for the release of detained Palestinians.
Sources differ: Kidnappers: PFLP and DFLP (Hanf) or DFLP (de Clerck & Malsagne).
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 2 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
Heavy fighting as the army rings Beirut's Palestinian camps.
More than 100 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed in two weeks of fighting that began on 2 May, when the army deployed around Beirut's largest Palestinian camps; the CIA called these the worst clashes since 1969. Uprisings broke out in Sidon and Tripoli, and Beirut's Muslim neighbourhoods filled with demonstrators.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 3 May 1973
The road to war · From the books day (disputed)
The Lebanese air force bombs Palestinian camps in Beirut.
The Lebanese air force was used against the camps: Hanf writes that it bombed Burj al-Barajneh in response to rockets launched at the airport from inside the camp.
Sources differ: 3 May and Burj al-Barajneh (Traboulsi) against 2 May and the Sabra-Shatila area (de Clerck & Malsagne); Hanf gives Burj al-Barajneh without a day. They may be separate raids.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 2 May 1973
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 14 May 1973
The road to war · From the books day (doubtful)
Guerrillas blow up oil tanks at the Zahrani refinery.
Hanf lists the bombing of oil tanks at the Zahrani refinery, near Sidon, by Popular Front members among the provocations of the May 1973 crisis.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 17 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
The Melkart protocol ends the army-PLO fighting.
On 17 May, after Frangieh bowed to Arab pressure and halted the army, a West Beirut hotel hosted the Melkart signing: no more Palestinian raids into Israel, and a joint army-Palestinian commission. Hanf says it reaffirmed Cairo and proved as ineffective.
Sources differ: 17 May (de Clerck & Malsagne, Picard) or end of fighting on 18 May followed by the agreement (Hanf). De Clerck & Malsagne say it amended the Cairo Agreement; Hanf that it reaffirmed it.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
First congress of Bekaa peasants campaigns against fertiliser prices.
Rising fertiliser and pesticide costs were the target of a campaign launched in May 1973 by the first congress of Bekaa peasants and farmers, which also sought a new tenancy law and farmers' social security.
The road to war · From the books
Syria closes its border and sends Saiqa and the PLA into the Bekaa.
Saiqa and Palestine Liberation Army units crossed into the southern Bekaa, and Damascus shut the border to passengers and goods, threatened to close its airspace and accused Lebanon of joining an international scheme to crush the Palestinian resistance. Picard dates Syria's systematic armed intervention in Lebanon from here.
The road to war · From the books
Zahle schoolchildren march for the army; Ta'labaya answers with roadblocks.
The battle of the camps split the Zahle area: pupils in the town demonstrated for the army, while in nearby Ta'labaya Muslim residents blocked roads and set tyres alight. Bishop Bassul then gathered Christian and Muslim clerics, who declared their loyalty to the state.
\_this day in full
February 1974
early February 1974 (disputed year): day not established
The road to war · From the books
Another postponement of the general strike sets off wildcat strikes across Lebanon.
Wildcat actions broke out after the CGTL again postponed its general strike. For two days the workers' committees of Beirut's Mkalles–Tall al-Za'tar industrial belt kept the factories shut and nearby roads blocked, with about 10,000 workers. Tufaro also records some 20,000 students and workers cutting the Sidon–Beirut road, and protesters ransacking a union office in Tripoli.
Sources differ: Traboulsi dates this wave to 5-6 February 1973; Tufaro to February 1974, citing L'Orient-Le Jour of 7 February 1974 and placing it after the general strike of 28 August 1973 and months of postponements. The details are nearly identical, so it is probably one event; 1974 is preferred here because of Tufaro's dated press reference and sequence, but the day (5-6 February) comes from Traboulsi.
\_this day in full
early 1974: day not established
The road to war · From the books
A movement for church renewal forms around Bishop Grégoire Haddad.
Grégoire Haddad, Beirut's Greek Catholic bishop, later removed from his see, was in early 1974 the focus of a current seeking 'ecumenical renewal with an independent perspective'. He sought secularism and an end to religious marriage; his journal Afaq condemned the 'exploitative social system'.
\_this day in full
March 1974
March 1974 (disputed year): day not established
The road to war · From the books
Musa al-Sadr tells a mass rally in Baalbek that 'arms are the ornaments of men'.
At a Baalbek rally of tens of thousands of armed young men, Imam Musa al-Sadr proclaimed arms 'the ornament of men' and warned of civil disobedience unless the deprived got what they demanded.
Sources differ: Traboulsi puts the Baalbek rally and its slogan in March 1973; Hanf in March 1974; de Clerck & Malsagne mention it with the 1974 rallies. Traboulsi's own Bidnayil meeting of 1974, which he links to an Economist report of March 1974, may be the same rally. 1974 has more support.
\_this day in full
May 1974
Friday, 31 May 1974
The road to war · From the books
Syria and Israel sign the Golan disengagement agreement.
When the Golan disengagement took effect, UN troops stood between the Syrian and Israeli armies. Hanf concludes that Lebanon's border was now the only front open to Palestinian armed action, and that Lebanon, main arena of the conflict since 1970, bore it alone.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1974: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Over 50,000 armed Shi'is take an oath with Musa al-Sadr at Tyre.
At a Tyre rally Imam Musa al-Sadr took an oath from more than 50,000 heavily armed Shi'i followers, who pledged to fight on for their own cause and for the deprived at large. Picard mentions mass gatherings in Tyre, Sidon and Baalbek, at which Sadr drew on Shi'i history.
\_this day in full
February 1975
Monday, 3 February 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After a debate that lasted 15 days, the conclave chose unanimously a neutralist candidate. Mgr Antonios Khoreiche was the new Patriarch of Antioch and the Middle East.
What the books addAntoine Khuraych headed the Maronite Church from his election on 3 February 1975 (enthronement 9 February) until 1986, styling himself the 'patriarch of dialogue'.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 18 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Imam Musa al-Sadr preaches in a Beirut church.
Imam Musa al-Sadr, invited by Archbishop Boulos Bassim, gave a Lenten sermon at Saint-Louis, the Capuchins' church in Beirut. Amal, his movement, was already secretly training with weapons in the Bekaa.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 20 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel calls for a referendum on the armed Palestinian presence.
Kataeb leader Pierre Gemayel called for a referendum on whether Palestinian commandos should stay in Lebanon. He had already pressed the PLO to rein in its breakaway factions, and spoke of 'two governments and two armies'.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard give no day.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 26 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Troops fire on Sidon's protesting fishermen; Maarouf Saad is mortally wounded.
Maarouf Saad, the Nasserist deputy leading a Sidon fishermen's march, was shot when the army fired on it and died days later; several others were killed or wounded. The marchers opposed Protein, holder of a deep-sea fishing concession, with Camille Chamoun on its board. That evening armed men killed a soldier.
Sources differ: Hanf places the demonstration in March; the existing entry 10 gives 7 March. Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne give 26 February.
Art and memory- film Censored in Lebanon, Le Liban dans la tourmente (1975) was Jocelyne Saab's first war documentary. Filming both a wealthy, carefree bourgeoisie and cheerful children in the Palestinian camps, she asked where the hatred came from.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1975
Tuesday, 4 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Kataeb march in Beirut in support of the army.
On 4 March 1975 the Kataeb rallied in East Beirut for the army, which Muslim leaders and the Left blamed for the Sidon shooting. Hanf finds that rival pro- and anti-army marches helped brand the army a Christian instrument.
Sources differ: Picard places the march on the day after the Sidon demonstration.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 7 March 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Major events were reported in the town of Saida.
The army clashed with demonstrators protesting in favor of fishermen. Maarouf Saad, former legislator, was hit by a bullet and died from his wounds. Saida was in fire and blood. Many dead and wounded persons were reported, on the civilian as well as on the military sides. Businesses and schools shut down. Many leaders accused the Prime Minister, Rachid El Solh, of being responsible for the recent events in Saida. Nevertheless, demonstrations supporting the army were organized in Beirut.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi date the Sidon fishermen's protest to 26 February 1975. The marchers opposed Protein, a fishing company whose board included Camille Chamoun; their leader, Maarouf Saad, was shot and died some days later. Clashes between the army and armed groups in Sidon and Tyre followed at the start of March: de Clerck and Malsagne give 6 soldiers and 11 civilians killed and an army pull-out from Tyre, Hanf 5 soldiers and 11 civilians. The Kataeb staged a pro-army demonstration in Beirut. Hanf puts the fishermen's protest in March, and Picard describes the Sidon marchers as Palestinian militants.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 26 February 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 8 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad calls for a joint Syrian-Palestinian command.
Assad publicly called for Syria and the Palestinians to unite their political and military leadership. Hanf relates Syria's acceptance of Arafat's proposal for a joint supreme command to Egypt's drift towards a separate arrangement with Israel.
Sources differ: Ménargues says the PLO met the call with silence; Hanf says Syria accepted an offer from Arafat.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 12 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The cabinet transfers two officers over the Sidon shooting.
On 12 March the Solh cabinet partly yielded to Sidon and the National Movement, giving Sidon's governor a month's administrative leave and moving two army officers, which Gemayel opposed.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 19 March 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Imam Moussa Sadr remained the spiritual leader of the Shiite community until he was 65 years old.
The Imam was 48 years old. His mandate was extended unanimously by the General assembly of the Superior Shiite Council.
\_this day in full \_on this day
early March 1975: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fighting between the army and armed groups in Sidon and Tyre.
Early March fighting forced the army out of Tyre. Protests against the army in Sidon and Tyre had followed Saad's death; roads were blocked, Palestinian, Nasserist and leftist fighters attacked troops, and Muslim and leftist leaders sought a shake-up of its command.
Sources differ: Dead: 6 soldiers and 11 civilians (de Clerck and Malsagne) or 5 soldiers and 11 civilians (Hanf).
\_this day in full
May 1975
Friday, 16 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Solh Cabinet resigned due to pressures against its members.
What the books addIn a heated sitting of parliament Rashid al-Solh resigned, blaming the Kataeb for the fighting. His refusal to deploy the army had led the Kataeb ministers to leave the cabinet, and other Christian ministers had followed them.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A cease-fire ends the first round of fighting.
De Clerck and Malsagne date the ceasefire that closed this first round to 16 May; an earlier Syrian mediation had not stopped the fighting. The Solh cabinet resigned the same day (existing entry 15).
Sources differ: The existing entry 13 records a cease-fire on 15 April.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 20 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Five people were killed and 24 were wounded in Dekwaneh
Violent confrontations opposed Palestinians from the Tell El Zaatar camp and Phalange Party members. Businesses were closed in protest against the lack of security.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 23 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following the resignation of the Government of Rachid El Solh, Sleiman Frangieh, President of the Republic, put together a military government.
The new government was headed by Noureddine Rifai, a retired Corporal, and included only one civilian, Lucien Dahdah. This Government was in charge of reestablishing the peace in the country caused by bloody clashes between the Phalange Party and the Resistance. These clashes were still going on in Beirut and its surroundings.
What the books addNureddine al-Rifai was a retired Sunni officer: a general according to Hanf, a brigadier-general according to Traboulsi, an officer of the gendarmerie according to de Clerck and Malsagne.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 24 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Musa al-Sadr disowns the 'Fityan Ali' gang.
Imam Musa al-Sadr declared that Harakat Fityan Ali, a Shiite gang led by Ahmad Safwan from Nabaa and Bourj Hammoud, was not part of his Movement of the Deprived. Six days later the gang was accused of the Black Thursday killings of Christians.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 26 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The military Cabinet resigned
Islamic and leftist leaders rejected this Cabinet. The Lebanese considered it as a challenge. Karameh presented his candidature to form a new Government, in a climate of terror imposed by militias. Lootings, killings, and kidnappings continued.
What the books addThe National Movement's call for a general strike, supported by the leading Sunni politicians, Mufti Hassan Khaled, Musa al-Sadr and Raymond Edde, brought down the military cabinet on 26 May; on 28 May Frangieh appointed Rashid Karami Prime Minister.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 28 May 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 28 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Rashid Karami is named Prime Minister.
On 28 May, after the military cabinet fell, Frangieh named Rashid Karami Prime Minister. Forming a government took him a month, since most Christian politicians would not sit without the Kataeb and Jumblatt vetoed the party.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 30 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
'Black Thursday': sectarian kidnappings and killings in Beirut.
Sectarian abductions rose sharply on either side of the demarcation line after a Palestinian was killed and frightening rumours spread through Beirut. The worst came at Bashura, where Christians walking between Basta and the cemetery were abducted and some of them killed or mutilated. The Shiite gang Fityan Ali was blamed. De Clerck and Malsagne stress that this happened months before Black Saturday, often wrongly called the war's first massacre.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 31 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Zahleh's young militia takes position above the town.
Tajammu fighters, from a Zahleh group of intellectuals and young men whose first leaflet appeared on 24 May, took the Virgin statue hill at the town's northern entrance, a front-line post watching the Saadnayel road.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1976
Saturday, 7 February 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Frangieh and Prime Minister Karami go to Damascus.
Sleiman Frangieh and Rashid Karami travelled to Damascus, where, with President Assad, they agreed on the text of a 'Constitutional Document' to reform the distribution of power.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology gives 7 February as the day Frangieh declared the Document.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 14 February 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Frangieh announces the 'Constitutional Document'.
Laws would need both the president's and the premier's signatures, parliament would elect the premier, Christians and Muslims would share its seats equally, and the three top posts stayed with the same communities: so ran the Constitutional Document agreed in Damascus, which Frangieh issued as a new National Pact. The Kataeb approved it; Kamal Jumblatt and the National Movement opposed it for confirming the sectarian system.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology dates the declaration to 7 February, the day of the Damascus trip; Hanf, de Clerck and Malsagne and Yara El Khoury give 14 February. De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 296) also write that the Christian camp accepted the Document 'from 21 January', before its publication.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 February 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 23 February 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A forty-five years old fanatic locked up 35 persons at the Canadian embassy. This situation lasted 8 hours and immersed Lebanon in a torrid suspense. The hostages were then liberated in a happy ending.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1976: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel calls for the Palestinians to be shared out among the Arab countries.
By February 1976 Pierre Gemayel was proposing to disperse Lebanon's Palestinians to the surrounding Arab states, after his party had openly blamed them, once the January fighting ended, for meddling in Lebanese affairs.
\_this day in full
March 1976
Friday, 5 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christian soldiers from Akkar leave the Sarba barracks.
After the Army of Arab Lebanon attacked Qubayat, their home village in Akkar, 200 Christian soldiers walked out of the Sarba barracks in Kesrouan in protest. Their 'Lebanese Liberation Army', announced with a demand that the government protect their families, went no further.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 11 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After a day marked by the resignation of Rachid Karameh and the aggravation of the war of barracks in Tripoli, a military Coup was executed by Corporal Aziz Ahdab, commanding the place of Beirut. Corporal Ahdab was supported by the Commander of the army, 270 loyalist officers, Syria, and the Palestine Liberation Army. He claimed the resignation of Sleiman Frangieh, but the President refused to give up and locked himself in Baabda.
What the books addOn 11 March Brigadier-General Aziz al-Ahdab, Beirut garrison commander (retired, says Traboulsi), seized the television station, named himself interim military governor and called for Frangieh's resignation and an early election. Few troops stood behind him and Syria opposed him: on 15 March PLA and Saiqa units under Syrian control blocked his men and Khatib's Lebanese Arab Army on their way to Baabda. Backed by Chamoun, Gemayel and President Assad, Frangieh refused to go.
Other date in the books: Monday, 15 March 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 12 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Phalange delegation travels secretly to Israel.
Ammunition running out, Pierre Gemayel relented, and on 12 March 1976 the Phalangists Joseph Abu Khalil, Sami Khoueiry and Fouad Roukoz went by speedboat to Israel for arms. Israel shipped them within days but again ruled out intervening directly.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 14 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syria sounds out the United States on a military intervention.
Richard Murphy, the US ambassador in Damascus, heard a hint from Syria's chief of staff, Hikmat Shihabi, that Syrian troops might enter Lebanon. That day the short-lived Front for Freedom and Man in Lebanon held its last meeting.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 15 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib, chief of the ' Army of Arab Lebanon ', rejoined Ahdab's reformist movement. Barracks fell in the hands of protesters. 68 deputies signed a petition claiming the departure of Sleiman Frangieh who refused to leave his post, despite all the pressures against him.
What the books addThe deputies' petition demanding Frangieh's resignation is dated 11 March in Traboulsi's chronology and 13 March by de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard and Traboulsi's chronology count 68 signatures out of 99, Traboulsi's narrative 69. On 15 March Syrian-controlled PLA and Saiqa units halted a march on the Baabda palace by the Lebanese Arab Army and al-Ahdab's followers. Within days Khatib's force grew to a few thousand men and held most of the army's heavy weapons.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 11 March 1976, Saturday, 13 March 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 18 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad tells the US ambassador that Frangieh has asked for Syrian military help.
When Murphy raised the security of Israel's borders, Assad said he could promise nothing but hoped Washington would persuade Israel this internal Arab matter did not concern it. Frangieh, he said, had asked Syria for military help.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Kamal Jumblatt's forces launch the 'Mountain War'.
Kamal Jumblatt, head of the National Movement, attacked on two fronts, Beirut and the Mountain, to crush the Christian camp militarily. That day's Druze attacks brought several massacres of Christians, some of them Jumblatt supporters.
Sources differ: Hanf places the main Joint Forces offensive in the Upper Metn in the last week of March.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A 'Maronite summit' at Baabda endorses the Syrian plan.
At Baabda the 'Maronite summit' endorsed Syria's plan: a presidential election, a security cabinet, army reunification and Frangieh's resignation. Its statement thanked Damascus for its grasp of the crisis and its efforts to stop the bloodshed.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 24 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel sets the 'red lines' for a Syrian intervention.
An Israeli memorandum of 24 March 1976 barred any Syrian force above brigade strength or movement over 10 km south of the Beirut-Damascus road. On 23 March Israel had told Washington it would take strategic positions in Lebanon if Syria intervened.
Sources differ: Traboulsi adds that Israel publicly set the Litani as the red line on 21 April.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 March 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
dates 1–60 of 528 next
