35 entries on 32 dates · the books disagree on 8
January 1969
early 1969 (after the airport raid): day not established
The road to war · From the books
Prime Minister Yafi resigns; Rashid Karami forms a new government.
Rashid Karami, who pledged to consult and coordinate with the Palestinians, was President Helou's choice to replace Abdallah al-Yafi; the army command took charge of internal security. Yafi had quit under fire from two sides: public fury at the undefended airport, and Tripartite Alliance charges of tolerating armed Palestinians.
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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.
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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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Thursday, 24 April 1969
The road to war · From the books
A state of emergency is declared.
Under a state of emergency from 24 April, the day after the shootings, Jumblatt said curbs on the guerrillas helped only Israel, while Karami held that Lebanon must defend its sovereignty.
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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.
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August 1969
August–September 1969: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Israel's first air raids on Lebanon hit Hasbaya and southern villages.
Hasbaya and several villages in the south were bombed in August and September, the first Israeli air raids on Lebanon.
Sources differ: Fisk gives no date for the Israeli shelling of Hasbaya he describes (48 dead, 45 wounded), so it is unclear whether it is the same attack.
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October 1969
mid-October 1969: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Syria shuts the border as the army moves on guerrilla supply routes.
Acting alone, the army command moved to cut the guerrillas' supply routes from Syria. Damascus responded by massing troops at the frontier, closing the border and imposing economic sanctions; Saiqa and PLO fighters attacked Bekaa border posts; Palestine Liberation Army units occupied Bekaa villages and assaulted Rashaya; the Beirut–Tripoli road was blocked.
Sources differ: Traboulsi dates the army's last attempt to the end of September; Hanf and Picard to October (Hanf: mid-October).
\_this day in full
late October 1969: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Faruq al-Muqaddam's '24 October Movement' takes over Tripoli's citadel and several police stations.
As Palestinian groups opened other fronts to ease army pressure on their fighters cut off in the Arqoub, Karami's populist rival Faruq al-Muqaddam led his '24 October Movement' in taking Tripoli's citadel and several police stations.
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November 1969
Monday, 3 November 1969
The road to war · From the books
The Cairo Agreement is signed between the Lebanese army and the PLO.
Only Raymond Eddé and his bloc voted against the agreement, which deputies ratified without seeing its full, secret text. Concluded in Cairo through Egyptian mediation by Yasir Arafat and army commander General Emile Bustani, it affirmed Lebanese sovereignty but let guerrillas keep armed units in the camps and observation posts near the border and move to and from the Arqoub.
Sources differ: Three dates: 3 November (de Clerck & Malsagne, Traboulsi's chronology; Hanf's negotiation of 1-3 November ends that day), 8 November (Traboulsi's chapter 9) and 13 November (Picard). 3 November has the most, and mutually independent, support; Traboulsi contradicts himself.
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Wednesday, 26 November 1969
The road to war · From the books
Karami's national unity cabinet gives Kamal Jumblatt the Interior Ministry.
Kamal Jumblatt became interior minister, in charge of carrying out the Cairo Agreement, in the government of national union Rashid Karami formed once the Syrian border reopened, ending a cabinet vacancy of over seven months.
Sources differ: 26 November (Traboulsi, twice) or 25 November (de Clerck & Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 25 November 1969
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1969
1969: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Sadiq al-'Azm's 'Critique of Religious Thought' is published in Beirut.
Dar al-Tali'a, a Marxist publisher in Beirut, issued the Syrian philosopher Sadiq Jalal al-'Azm's 'Naqd al-fikr al-dini' in 1969. It angered the Mufti of Beirut and led to his prosecution; Kamal Jumblatt, the interior minister, left him alone, and Democratic Front activists got him into Syria.
Art and memory- book Picard cites Sadiq al-'Azm's 'Naqd al-fikr al-dini' (Critique of Religious Thought), published by Beirut's Dar al-Tali'a in 1969, as evidence of lasting ties between Syrian and Lebanese elites; he was called a 'child of the two cities'.
The road to war · From the books
Teachers and students strike three times in one year.
In 1969 teachers and students of state and private schools came out three times, without result, for pay rises and mutual aid funds. The Lebanese University strike resumed that year; police intervention and dismissals of teachers ended it.
The road to war · From the books
The Higher Islamic Shi'i Council is set up, with Musa al-Sadr as president.
In 1969 Imam Musa al-Sadr became president of the new Higher Islamic Shi'i Council, the body that a law of December 1967 had provided to speak for the Shi'i community.
Sources differ: Picard dates the council to 1967 (the law); Traboulsi distinguishes the 1967 law from the council's creation in 1969.
The road to war · From the books
Al-Tanzim, a Christian armed organisation, is founded.
Al-Tanzim ('the Organisation'), later one of the minor Christian militias of the war, was founded in 1969.
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January 2002
January 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Elie Hobeika is killed by a car bomb near Beirut.
The former Lebanese Forces intelligence chief, widely held responsible for Sabra and Shatila and a minister after the war, died shortly before he was to testify in the Belgian case against Ariel Sharon.
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February 2002
Thursday, 14 February 2002
After the war · From the books range
Assaad Shaftari's war confessions appear in al-Hayat.
In three interviews with Hazim al-Amin, Hobeika's former aide described his militia years, including orders to execute captives, and called for the truth to be told so that the next generation might forgive.
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March 2002
Sunday, 31 March 2002
After the war · From the books
Israel threatens to strike Syria over its support for Hezbollah.
On 14 April, two weeks after that threat, Ariel Sharon charged Syria and Iran with supporting Hezbollah's attacks.
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April 2002
Wednesday, 3 April 2002
After the war · From the books
The government announces Syrian troop withdrawals from parts of Mount Lebanon.
The move was presented as an application of the Taif Agreement.
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May 2002
Saturday, 25 May 2002
After the war · From the books
On Liberation Day Nasrallah declares Hezbollah's support for the Palestinian intifada.
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August 2002
August 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Sharon calls a Lebanese water pump on the Wazzani a cause for war.
A war over the Council of the South's plan to supply some fifty villages from the Wazzani, a Hasbani tributary, was averted by American, Russian and European mediation.
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November 2002
November 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Before-and-after photographs of downtown go on show in Place de l'Étoile.
Haugbolle calls the book version, 'Beirut's Memory', propaganda: a Solidere-linked bank published it in the name of Hariri's photographer Ayman Traoui. On site, paired 1990 and 2002 views ringed the clock tower.
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December 2002
December 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Rustom Ghazaleh replaces Ghazi Kanaan as Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon.
Kanaan had ruled from Anjar since 1982, vetting candidates and shaping the 2000 electoral map; his recall signalled Bashar al-Assad's tighter grip on Lebanon. Ghazaleh, his replacement, was implicated in Al-Madina bank's 2003 collapse.
Sources differ: Farewell ceremony 9 October 2002 versus replacement in December 2002.
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2002
summer 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Much of rebuilt downtown Beirut is inaugurated as 'Beirut reborn'.
Posters ('Le Liban vit'), full-page press advertisements and television spots hailed the completion, with no reference to the war.
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February 2012
February 2012: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Fighting in Tripoli between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen (February-December 2012).
From February to December, Tripoli's pro-regime Alawite quarter of Jabal Mohsen and its Sunni quarter of Bab al-Tebbaneh, which backed the Syrian opposition, clashed.
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June 2012
Monday, 11 June 2012
Since 2005 · From the books
The Baabda Declaration commits Lebanon to 'dissociation' from regional conflicts.
The declaration, agreed at President Sleiman's National Dialogue, pledged 'dissociation' from regional conflicts and border control, mainly towards Syria; Picard considers the promise empty from the outset.
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October 2012
Friday, 19 October 2012
Since 2005 · From the books
Intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan is assassinated.
Seven people died along with Wissam al-Hassan, head of ISF intelligence and an investigator of Hariri's assassination, in a Beirut car bombing.
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2012
2012: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Former minister Michel Samaha is arrested.
Picard treats the arrest as evidence that Syrian-paid agents took part in the unrest after the 2005 withdrawal.
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January 2015
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Since 2005 · From the books
Israeli strike near Quneitra kills Hezbollah fighters, including Jihad Mughniyeh.
An Israeli helicopter strike near Quneitra, on the Syrian-held Golan, killed six Hezbollah men, including local military chief Jihad Mughniyeh, and Iranian military personnel; Hezbollah hit back at an Israeli convoy in the Shebaa enclave.
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Friday, 30 January 2015
Since 2005 · From the books
Nasrallah declares that Hezbollah no longer recognises separate battlefields.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah reserved the right to confront the aggressor whenever, wherever and by whatever means it chose.
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May 2015
Sunday, 24 May 2015
Since 2005 · From the books
On the anniversary of Israel's 2000 withdrawal, Nasrallah says Hezbollah will fight wherever needed in Syria.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah would be wherever in Syria the battle required, speaking on the fifteenth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from the South.
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July 2015
Friday, 17 July 2015
Since 2005 · From the books
Rubbish collection stops in Beirut: the garbage crisis begins.
Sukleen's collection contract expired on 17 July and the post-war dump, meant to last five or six years, was overflowing; with politicians unable to agree on a new site, rubbish piled up.
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summer 2015: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
The heights between Qaa and Ras Baalbek become a front of the Syrian war.
Pushed out of the Qalamoun, groups claiming al-Nusra, FSA or, later, Islamic State allegiance used Sunni villages of the eastern Bekaa as rear bases.
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August 2015
Saturday, 22 August 2015
Since 2005 · From the books range
'You Stink' protests fill central Beirut (22-23 August).
Protests called by the citizens' collective 'You Stink' denounced government incompetence; clashes between more than ten thousand people and police left dozens injured. Reder says the movement helped bring about the Beirut Madinati list.
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November 2015
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Since 2005 · From the books
Double suicide bombing in Burj al-Barajneh, the deadliest since the civil war.
Two suicide bombers struck in quick succession beside a community centre and a bakery in Burj al-Barajneh, in the Shi'i southern suburb; the Islamic State claimed responsibility. Parliament had sat that day for the first time in months.
Sources differ: Dead: 43 in de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology, 44 in their epilogue and Quéméner's calendar, 50 in his narrative, which also places the attack in 'Dbaiyeh', evidently a slip, since the calendar says Burj al-Barajneh.
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