54 entries on 49 dates · the books disagree on 12
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 2001
February 2001
February 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Christian opposition figures form the Qornet Shehwan Gathering.
Patriarch Sfeir informally led this anti-Syrian Christian gathering of the centre-right, whose members ranged from ex-president Amine Gemayel to Samir Frangieh, formerly of the National Movement.
Sources differ: February 2001 (Haugbolle) or April 2001 (Picard).
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March 2001
March 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
On a US tour, Patriarch Sfeir demands that Syrian forces leave Lebanon.
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April 2001
April 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
The 'Memory for the Future' colloquium breaks the silence on the war.
Amal Makarem convened it at the UN building in Beirut: Lebanese journalists, academics and lawyers met transitional-justice specialists from Germany, Rwanda and South Africa. Several organisers later set up the Association Mémoire pour l'Avenir.
Sources differ: April 2001 (Haugbolle) or March 2001 (title cited by Reder).
Art and memory- testimony Haugbolle's notes cite the 111101.net artist page and 111101.com: the artist Naji Zahar, he writes, started a war-memory discussion group in the late 1990s and later created 111101, an award-winning online memory database.
After the war · From the books
Rival demonstrations over Syria revive fears of war around 13 April.
Haugbolle notes that in April 2001 several newspapers wondered whether war could return: they reported ex-militiamen stirring in both East and West Beirut after rival rallies, some against Syria, some for the government.
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May 2001
Thursday, 24 May 2001
After the war · From the books
A national holiday marks one year since the 'liberation' of the south.
Sources differ: Abirached dates the anniversary 24 May; de Clerck and Malsagne date the withdrawal itself to 25 May (see the withdrawal entry).
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June 2001
June 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Syrian troops partly withdraw from Beirut.
In June 2001, a year after Bashar al-Assad took power, some Syrian units moved from Beirut and its eastern suburbs to the north and east, while the bulk of the army stayed. Reported troop numbers: 25,000 after 2000, 21,000 in 2001, 17,000 in 2004.
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August 2001
Saturday, 4 August 2001
After the war · From the books
Patriarch Sfeir's visit to the Chouf seals a Maronite-Druze reconciliation.
Patriarch Sfeir toured the Chouf and called on Walid Jumblatt, eighteen years after the Mountain war; thousands of villagers applauded. Yet most displaced Christians still did not return.
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August 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Hundreds of Lebanese Forces and Aoun supporters are arrested.
Reacting to the Maronite–Druze reconciliation, the security services detained anti-Syrian activists for allegedly plotting against the state, and plainclothes police forcibly broke up a protest outside Beirut's Palace of Justice. The cabinet and parliament approved the crackdown.
Sources differ: Hundreds (Picard) or 200 (Quéméner).
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October 2001
Monday, 22 October 2001
After the war · From the books
After Hezbollah strikes Israeli posts at Shebaa, Israel hits back with raids in the south.
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2001
late 2001 (after 11 September): day not established
After the war · From the books
The United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group; Beirut refuses to act.
Washington asked Lebanon to freeze Hezbollah's assets and disarm it; the government refused, citing the unfinished Israeli withdrawal.
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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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March 2016
Saturday, 19 March 2016
Since 2005 · From the books
Beirut's rubbish is finally collected and taken to new landfills.
Quéméner notes that one of the two new landfills had been sited too near Beirut's international airport.
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April 2016
April 2016: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Refugee pressure: the labour minister asks for help; Hollande pledges aid.
In April 2016 Labour Minister Sejaan Azzi, citing 25 per cent unemployment and 1.5 million Syrians, asked the US ambassador to take the refugee burden off Lebanon. Visiting Beirut that month, François Hollande announced 50 million euros a year in refugee aid for 2016-2018.
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May 2016
Sunday, 8 May 2016
Since 2005 · From the books
Beirut municipal elections: Hariri's list beats the civil-society list Beirut Madinati.
Saad Hariri's list won Beirut's council over Beirut Madinati ('Beirut, my city'), a civil-society slate that proposed deliberative urban planning and fielded engineers, architects, artists and researchers; Reder links it to the 2015 'You Stink' protests. Some 80 per cent of voters abstained.
Art and memory- artwork A 111101 project presents the 2016 Beirut municipal vote interactively, from the results and the electoral rolls (/Projects/Municipalities/results-beirut.php and voters-beirut.php).
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July 2016
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Since 2005 · From the books
A Syrian refugee camp is burned in Akkar.
A small Syrian refugee camp in Akkar, a poor Sunni region, was set on fire on the night of 5-6 July.
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summer 2016: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Beit Beirut, the memory museum in the Barakat building, is inaugurated but stays closed.
The municipality inaugurated Beit Beirut, the old snipers' building on the demarcation line, but kept it shut; its 2008-2016 restoration saw repeated quarrels among the municipality, architect and scientific committee. Paris's mayor visited in September.
Art and memory- memorial Beit Beirut, the old Barakat building on the demarcation line, was the municipality's planned museum of the city's memory. Reder finds that in 2016-2019 artists and NGOs, not the municipality, kept it alive.
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October 2016
Monday, 31 October 2016
Since 2005 · From the books
Michel Aoun is elected President after twenty-nine months of vacancy.
Aoun, 81, ended a vacancy of over two years. A surplus envelope voided the last two of three rounds held before his election, Quéméner notes.
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November 2016
Thursday, 3 November 2016
Since 2005 · From the books
Saad Hariri is designated Prime Minister.
Hariri was named three days after Aoun's election.
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February 2017
February 2017: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
President Aoun tells the UN refugee chief that Syrians cannot stay in Lebanon for good.
Aoun told UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi the refugees could not stay permanently and the world must help them home, but Lebanon would force no one back while Syria was unsafe.
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August 2017
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
The army launches operation 'Fajr al-Jurud' against the Islamic State on the eastern border.
On President Aoun's orders the army moved against Islamic State and al-Nusra fighters holding the arid hills of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, while Hezbollah attacked al-Nusra from the Syrian side, a rare tacit cooperation. The jihadists held out for several days before surrendering, and a truce let the survivors and their families go to eastern Syria.
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November 2017
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Saad Hariri announces his resignation from Riyadh.
President Aoun refused the resignation Saad al-Hariri announced live from Riyadh; in the view of some Lebanese officials he was acting under Saudi duress and being held there against his will.
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Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Hariri returns to Beirut and soon withdraws his resignation.
His return followed intense international mediation, especially by France.
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