152 entries on 143 dates · the books disagree on 39
dates 1–60 of 143 next
January 1973
Monday, 22 January 1973
The road to war · From the books
Thousands of tobacco growers occupy the Régie offices in Nabatieh.
On 22 January 1973 thousands of tobacco growers seeking 20 per cent more for their leaf marched in Nabatieh and occupied the offices of the Régie, the tobacco monopoly, after years without results.
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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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January 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
324 striking teachers are dismissed as 'agitators'.
From January to July 1973 state school teachers were on strike again, and movements nationwide rallied to their sit-ins and hunger strikes. Saeb Salam's government sacked 324 of them as agitators; the Maronite Church's call for their reinstatement went unheeded.
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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.
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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.
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April 1973
Tuesday, 10 April 1973
The road to war · From the books
Israeli commandos kill three PLO leaders in rue Verdun, Beirut.
During the night of 9 to 10 April, Israeli commandos came ashore and drove into West Beirut in hired cars. Fatah's Abu Yusuf al-Najjar and Kamal Adwan and the poet Kamal Nasser, PLO spokesman, were killed at home, within about a hundred metres of a police barracks; commandos also landed at Sidon. By the time the army was alerted, the raiders had left.
Sources differ: Operation name: 'Verdun' (de Clerck & Malsagne chronology), 'Wrath of God' (de Clerck & Malsagne, p. 50) or 'Aviv Ne'urim' (Ménargues). Fisk adds that the wife of one leader was killed; de Clerck & Malsagne mention civilian collateral victims. Hanf alone mentions targets in Sidon.
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Monday, 30 April 1973
The road to war · From the books
Fatah members with explosives are arrested at Beirut airport.
Four Fatah members with explosives in their luggage were stopped at the airport before a flight to Europe; a day later, near the US embassy, five Democratic Front guerrillas were held.
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mid-April 1973 (days after 10 April): day not established
The road to war · From the books
Huge funerals for the PLO leaders; Prime Minister Salam resigns.
When Saeb Salam demanded the removal of the army commander, General Iskandar Ghanem, Frangieh refused and Salam resigned. Huge crowds mourned the three leaders; Traboulsi says they were angry at an army used against Lebanese, not for defence.
Sources differ: Crowd size: a quarter of a million (Traboulsi) or nearly 100,000 (de Clerck & Malsagne).
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April 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Amin al-Hafiz forms a new government.
The army's assault on the Palestinian camps overshadowed the brief premiership of Amin al-Hafiz, a Tripoli MP on good terms with the PLO, who had presented his cabinet as a revised 'youth' government.
The road to war · From the books
The Unified Syndicate of Tobacco Farmers is founded.
Tobacco growers set up their own Unified Syndicate of Tobacco Farmers.
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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).
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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June 1973
Thursday, 14 June 1973
The road to war · From the books
Amin al-Hafiz resigns; Taqi al-Din al-Sulh succeeds him.
On 14 June 1973, a month after Melkart, Amin al-Hafiz resigned. Chamoun, Gemayel and Frangieh kept Jumblatt from the interior ministry under Taqi al-Din al-Sulh, chosen chiefly for his Iraqi leanings.
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June 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
The future Lebanese National Movement is launched at the Byblos Cinema.
In June 1973 opponents of a draft law curbing political parties met in force at the Byblos Cinema and founded the Rally of National and Democratic Parties and Personalities, later the Lebanese National Movement.
Sources differ: De Clerck & Malsagne date Jumblatt's leadership of the National Movement from 1969; Traboulsi dates the launch of the Rally that became the LNM to June 1973. The two may refer to different stages.
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after May 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Christian parties buy arms abroad; officers train the militias.
After May 1973 the Christian militias bought arms in Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Bulgaria, had Jordanian and Saudi aid, paid for weapons the army imported and were trained by Christian officers; Hanf traces this to their leaders' view that state and army could no longer defend Lebanese sovereignty. Fatah armed and trained Musa al-Sadr's new militia.
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July 1973
July 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
In Dekwaneh, Palestinian gunmen fight the army, the Phalange and Eddé's supporters.
According to Traboulsi, Dekwaneh, the suburb beside Tall al-Za'tar camp, saw the first fight pitting armed Palestinians against the army, Phalangists and Raymond Eddé's supporters. It was already public knowledge that the Phalange and Chamoun's party were giving their members weapons and training.
Sources differ: Picard dates 'the first serious skirmish' between fedayeen and Kataeb, in Beirut's northern suburbs, to July 1974; Hanf already records Kataeb-Palestinian fighting at Dekwaneh in March 1970. Same month, different years: possibly one event misdated, possibly two.
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August 1973
Tuesday, 28 August 1973
The road to war · From the books
The labour confederation holds a general strike.
The government met the CGTL general strike with a decreed 5 per cent rise, higher minimum wage and family allowances, and curbs on sacking unionists. Strikers also wanted commercial profits capped and cooperatives aided: for Traboulsi, the unions' first challenge to the commercial oligarchy.
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August 1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
The government announces 140 appointments and the end of sectarian quotas in the top civil service.
The Sulh cabinet's 140 administrative appointments of August 1973 came with a declared end to civil-service sectarianism: junior posts split evenly between Christians and Muslims, director-general posts no longer held by one sect. Traboulsi sees the real aim as swapping Chehabist officials for the returning notables' men.
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October 1973
Saturday, 6 October 1973
The road to war · From the books range (6–25 October 1973)
Israel wrecks the Barouk radar in the October War; Lebanon stays out.
During the October War Israel destroyed the Mount Barouk radar Lebanon had lent Syria, and its jets crossed the Bekaa to strike Damascus, though Lebanon took no part. In Zahle the bishop and residents sent relief to Damascus for the Syrian army and nursed wounded soldiers at Tal Chiha hospital.
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Saturday, 20 October 1973
The road to war · From the books
Armed robbery of the Bank of America in Beirut.
This raid on the Bank of America was the first major hold-up, coming before the war; once fighting began, bank robberies became common.
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1973
1973: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Pierre Gemayel leads a Phalange delegation to Damascus.
In 1973, according to Traboulsi's chronology, Pierre Gemayel led a Phalange delegation to Damascus.
The road to war · From the books
A ministry of industry is created; its minister denounces the import monopolies.
Weeks after taking the new ministry of industry, long sought by industrialists, the businessman Pierre Helou told the press that the trading monopolies ran the government and were thwarting his efforts to shield local industry.
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January 1986
Wednesday, 1 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
It is a bad beginning of the year for the Lebanese Forces. A conflict emerged within the party, causing exchanges of rockets and gunshots in Zalka and Nahr El Mott. Ten persons were killed or wounded. The signature by Elie Hobeika of the tripartite agreement in Damascus, triggered the fight.
What the books addHanf says that once the Tripartite Agreement had been signed, on 28 December 1985, Hobeika turned Lebanese Forces units against militias loyal to President Gemayel and the Kataeb.
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Monday, 13 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
13 hours of combats and military operations opposed the Phalangists, followers of the President of the Republic, to Elie Hobeika and his men. The Army intervened to separate the belligerents.
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Tuesday, 14 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The eleventh Gemayel-Assad summit was a total failure.
What the books addFor Gemayel, says Traboulsi, the accord robbed the presidency of its arbitrating role; they last met on 13-14 January 1986.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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Wednesday, 15 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In eight hours of violent fights, 100 persons were killed, and the chief of staff of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, evinced Elie Hobeika sending him into exile.
What the books addHistorians date Geagea's takeover to 15 January 1986 (de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard's chronology dates Gemayel's rejection of the accord to the same day). Traboulsi's narrative gives 12 March 1986 instead. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead at about 800, far above the 100 given here. Hobeika was flown out by army helicopter after an army mediation backed by the patriarch, was briefly exiled in France, then settled in Zahle under Syrian protection.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 March 1986
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Thursday, 16 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Confrontations started on the Northern Metn front. The shells kept falling intermittently during several months on Bickfaya, the Metn and the Kesrouan. The population in these regions was living in the fear of car bombs and blind bombardments.
What the books addHanf dates the main offensive, by SSNP fighters with Syrian support toward Bikfaya (at Douar and on the Baskinta-Bikfaya road), to the second half of February; it was stopped by the Lebanese army.
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Sunday, 26 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese radical opposition called President Gemayel to resign.
What the books addHanf writes that Prime Minister Karami joined Jumblatt and Berri in boycotting cabinet sessions chaired by Gemayel, whose resignation the two had demanded after the Tripartite Agreement failed.
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January 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A wave of assassinations targets Communist and pro-Iraqi Baath leaders.
Assassins killed a number of leading figures in the Lebanese Communist Party and the pro-Iraqi Baath.
Sources differ: Entry 902 places the killing of the Communist leaders Khalil Nous and Souheil Tawileh in late February.
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late January 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syria's allies boycott President Gemayel; the cabinet stops meeting.
Jumblatt, Berri, Prime Minister Karami and Selim al-Hoss refused to attend cabinet sessions chaired by Gemayel, whom Syria and its Lebanese allies boycotted after the Tripartite Agreement collapsed; the cabinet went months without meeting.
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February 1986
Wednesday, 12 February 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A bomb exploded in Ain El Remmaneh next to the entrance of a building where a Phalange Party office was located. Two persons lost their lives and 17 others were injured.
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Monday, 17 February 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Two Israeli soldiers are captured at Beit Yahoun in South Lebanon.
At Beit Yahoun, a South Lebanese village, two Israeli soldiers were captured.
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Monday, 24 February 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Islamists killed a communist leader, Souheil Tawileh, in Mazraa. Four days earlier, another communist leader, Khalil Nous, was assassinated. Meanwhile, terrorist-killing attempts continued in the Eastern regions. A car bomb exploded on the Salomeh intersection, causing 4 dead and 16 injured.
What the books addPicard places the wave of killings of Communist and pro-Iraqi Baath leaders in January 1986.
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late February 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian-backed attacks on the Metn are stopped by the Lebanese army.
Late in February 1986 the army stopped two Syrian-backed SSNP attacks towards Bikfaya, at Douar and on the Baskinta road. A Syrian push on the northern edge of the Christian region failed too. Earlier that month Syrian guns had shelled East Beirut irregularly.
Sources differ: Entry 894 dates the start of fighting on the northern Metn front to 16 January.
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March 1986
Wednesday, 5 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Islamic Jihad announced the execution of Michel Seurat. The French sociologist was kidnapped on the 22nd of May at the same time as the journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann.
What the books addSeurat and Kauffmann were taken on the airport road on 22 May 1985. Fisk says Seurat died of cancer in captivity, his kidnappers claiming an 'execution' with a photograph of the body. Imad Mughniyeh is suspected of a direct role (Aurélie Daher, in Confluences); Hezbollah's leaders always denied it.
Art and memory- book Historians of the war still rely on Michel Seurat's study of Tripoli's Bab al-Tebbaneh district.
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Saturday, 8 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Four Antenne 2 journalists are kidnapped in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Revolutionary Justice Organisation claimed the abduction of a four-man crew from the French television channel Antenne 2.
Sources differ: Entry 905 (Text field) gives 9 March; entry 965 gives 21 June.
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Sunday, 9 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The black series continued. Terrorism hit this time Jeetaoui where a car bomb killed 3 persons and wounded 40 others.
Four French journalists from Antenne 2 were kidnapped in Bir El Abed.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the kidnapping of the Antenne 2 crew to 8 March 1986. It was claimed by the "Revolutionary Justice Organisation".
Other date in the books: Saturday, 8 March 1986
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Friday, 21 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A sad gift for mother's day in the mountain: shells fell on 20 villages in the Metn and the Kesrouan. Violent combats were reported in the mountain, killing 3 and injuring 21 persons on this 'usual' day.
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Wednesday, 26 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car stuffed with explosives and inflammable material exploded in Achrafieh, while a timing bomb ravaged a Phalangist office in Tahouita. Together, the two explosions killed 10 persons and wounded 80 others. The bombardment of the Eastern regions continued in the meantime.
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Thursday, 27 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After the Fatah claimed responsibility for the Katioucha shots on Kiryat Shmona, the Israeli aviation attacked the camps of Mieh Mieh and Ain El Heloueh. Ten persons were killed and 30 others were wounded.
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Friday, 28 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Two British teachers are kidnapped in Hamra.
Outside a Makhoul Street nightclub, armed men abducted Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, British teachers. Their bodies were found in mid-April.
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April 1986
Friday, 4 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The 45 French observers in charge of observing the dividing lines in Beirut and in the Mountain, left Lebanon. Their departure was probably due to political changes in France.
What the books addHanf cites the observers' heavy casualties and a ceasefire nobody respected, which left them nothing to do.
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Tuesday, 8 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Suddenly, horror hit the heart of Jounieh. A car bomb exploded killing 11 persons and wounding 89 others, spreading an indescribable panic and ravaging four residential buildings.
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Wednesday, 9 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A French teacher from the Collge Protestant Franais, Michel Brian, was kidnapped in Hamra, thus increasing the number of French nationals held hostages in Lebanon to 9.
Mgr Achille Silvestrini, the special envoy of Pope John Paul II, arrived in Lebanon to meet Lebanese and Syrian leaders, in an effort to end the crisis in the country. He left on April 14 after having partially failed in his mission.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date Mgr Silvestrini's mission to March 1986 and consider that it overreached, showing the limits of Vatican influence.
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Friday, 11 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The French teacher, Michel Brian, kidnapped on April 7, was released in the Bekaa. Another Irish teacher, Brian Kenaan was kidnapped in West Beirut. To protest against the kidnapping of foreign professors, schools and universities in West Beirut went on strike on April 14.
Art and memory- book Anne Maguire's For Brian's Sake tells how Brian Keenan's sisters campaigned for his release.
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Thursday, 17 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The British teachers John Leigh Douglas and Philip Ralph Patfield, kidnapped on the 28th of March 1986, were executed and their bodies were thrown on the Roueissat-Sofar road. A cameraman, John McCarthy, was kidnapped on the Beirut International Airport road. An extremist organization announced the hanging of Alec Colett, a British journalist who was working at the UNRWA. The dead body of Peter Kilburn, librarian at the AUB, who was kidnapped on the 3rd of December 1984, was also found. Furthermore, the British embassy in Zokak EL Blatt was partially destroyed and burned by rocket shots.
What the books addFisk: Libyan agents in Beirut had bought Kilburn and both British teachers from freelance kidnappers; the deaths were reported the night of the US raid on Libya.
Art and memory- book John McCarthy and Brian Keenan, held together in Beirut, later wrote Between Extremes together, about a journey they had planned while in captivity; it is listed in 111101's References.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 March 1986
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Saturday, 19 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Maronite Church had a new Patriarch in the person of Mgr Nasrallah Sfeir. A triple task was waiting for him. He had to reinstate the authority of the church, clean up the inter-religious relations, and reconcile the executive power with Syria.
What the books addHanf dates Sfeir's election to April 1986 and notes that the Lebanese Forces had lobbied for a more hard-line churchman.
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Sunday, 20 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
38 Westerners including 35 British left Beirut. By the end of April, all Western nationals had left West Beirut fearing to be kidnapped or killed.
What the books addSome Westerners stayed: Fisk counts four Western journalists still working in West Beirut.
Art and memory- testimony Robert Fisk's Pity the Nation describes 1986 in West Beirut from inside the fear of kidnapping, when only four Western journalists remained.
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May 1986
Saturday, 3 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardments continued in Beirut and its suburbs, the army closed all crossing points for security reasons, except the road of Hadeth Mreyjeh. Beirut was cut into two.
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dates 1–60 of 143 next
