57 entries on 54 dates · the books disagree on 16
January 2000
January 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
The army crushes an Islamist uprising in Denniyeh.
Special forces moved against Sunni Islamist rebels of Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian origin in deprived Denniyeh, helped by Syrian intelligence and equipment.
\_this day in full
February 2000
Thursday, 10 February 2000
After the war · From the books
A former Lebanese Forces intelligence officer apologises publicly to his victims.
Assaad Shaftari, once Hobeika's fellow LF leader, apologised in al-Nahar to all his victims, 'living or dead'. Haugbolle sees a radical break in ex-leaders' silence; few noticed it at first.
Art and memory- book Robert 'Cobra' Hatem's memoir From Israel to Damascus (1999), banned in Lebanon, accused Elie Hobeika and may have set off his political decline.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
Israeli night raids hit Lebanon again.
The raids came as Hezbollah's pressure on the occupied zone was tied to the stalled Syrian-Israeli talks.
\_this day in full
March 2000
Sunday, 5 March 2000
After the war · From the books
Israel's cabinet decides on a unilateral withdrawal from the south.
Barak's plan set 7 July 2000 for leaving the 'security zone'. Beirut, deferring to a stalled Damascus, prepared nothing.
Sources differ: Cabinet decision on 5 March (Abirached); Picard places Barak's announcement in April.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 23 March 2000
After the war · From the books
Gebran Tueni's open letter asks Bashar al-Assad to withdraw Syria's troops.
Gebran Tueni printed it on al-Nahar's front page, demanding a withdrawal timetable; Haugbolle links it to a new openness in criticising Syria's presence.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
The Clinton-Assad summit in Geneva fails.
After the Geneva summit failed, Barak announced that Israel would leave the south entirely, with or without an agreement. Mermier sees the Syrian–Lebanese track of talks with Israel ending there; Picard argues that Damascus lost the international latitude it had enjoyed over Lebanon.
Sources differ: February (Picard 2002), March (Picard 2016; 33 jours p. 210) or April 2000 (33 jours p. 176). March has the most support.
\_this day in full
April 2000
Saturday, 29 April 2000
After the war · From the books
A Syrian dissident writes that Lebanon no longer needs Syria's army.
Riyad al-Turk opened a dossier in al-Nahar's supplement with 'Lebanon no longer needs the Syrian presence': the occupation served Israeli intransigence, and the Geneva failure did not justify it.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2000
Wednesday, 24 May 2000
After the war · From the books
Israel ends its occupation of southern Lebanon.
Israel pulled out overnight on 23–24 May as the South Lebanon Army, deserting since early May, collapsed. Villagers streamed home, crowds forced open the Khiam jail and several thousand SLA men and relatives left for Israel. The Shebaa Farms, the Kfarshuba hills and Lebanon's part of Ghajar stayed occupied.
Sources differ: 24 May (Abirached, Tarraf; Picard: night of 23–24) or 25 May (de Clerck and Malsagne, book and article). Occupation lasted 18 years (from 1982, de Clerck and Malsagne) or 22 years (from 1978, Abirached).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 25 May 2000
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
Raymond Eddé dies in exile in Paris.
Picard names the National Bloc leader, who died in Paris, among the real opposition chiefs who remained in exile.
\_this day in full
June 2000
Friday, 16 June 2000
After the war · From the books
The UN Secretary-General confirms the Israeli withdrawal.
Kofi Annan confirmed Israel had left; Lebanon rejected the UN's 'Blue Line' where it departed from the 1923 border.
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
Hafez al-Assad dies; his son Bashar succeeds him.
Hafez al-Assad's death in June 2000, a month after Israel quit the south, briefly allowed freer criticism of Syria's presence in Lebanon.
Sources differ: June 2000 (Haugbolle, Picard 2016 ch. IV), May 2000 (Picard 2016 ch. V) or 10 June 2001 (Picard 2002, clearly a misprint for 2000).
\_this day in full
July 2000
Friday, 28 July 2000
After the war · From the books
UN peacekeepers deploy along the Blue Line.
A phone call with Bashar al-Assad reportedly preceded Lahoud's approval of the deployment. The Lebanese army was kept away from the border.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 30 July 2000
After the war · From the books
Lahoud says the army's role in the south will be defined 'in due course'.
Lahoud's Army Day speech left the army's role undefined, so no national strategy emerged; the government called Hezbollah's continuing fight a 'national struggle'.
Sources differ: 30 July (Picard 2002) or 29 July (Picard 2016).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 29 July 2000
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 31 July 2000
After the war · From the books
Former president Amine Gemayel returns after eight years in Paris.
Afterwards, with President Lahoud's backing, he secured the Bikfaya seat for his son Pierre. In August he and Walid Jumblatt signed a 'pact of honour', opening the way to Christian-Druze reconciliation.
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
President Lahoud declares all the missing of the war dead.
President Émile Lahoud declared all the missing dead, officially blaming no one; families had pressed for inquiries. That year a commission on the missing identified three Beirut mass graves: Mar Mitr (Ashrafieh), the Martyrs' cemetery (Horsh Beirut) and the British cemetery (Tahwita).
\_this day in full
August 2000
Wednesday, 9 August 2000
After the war · From the books
A thousand soldiers and police enter the former occupied zone.
International pressure, tying reconstruction aid to the state's presence, brought five hundred troops and five hundred internal security men. Hezbollah remained the real authority in the area.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 27 August 2000
After the war · From the books range
Parliamentary elections bring Hariri back in triumph.
The electoral law, imposed by Syria's Ghazi Kanaan, favoured his ally Hariri, whose lists swept Beirut's nineteen seats; Amal and Hezbollah took all twenty-three in the south. Government-backed candidates faced unexpectedly strong pro-independence rivals.
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 2000
Sunday, 1 October 2000
After the war · From the books
Bashar al-Assad declares the Shebaa Farms Lebanese.
Bashar al-Assad's declaration at the Arab League in Cairo that the farms were Lebanese legitimised continued resistance to Israel; Syria never confirmed it in writing to Lebanon or the UN.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 26 October 2000
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri forms a new thirty-member cabinet.
Hariri regained the premiership after the 2000 elections, but the hopes that had greeted him in 1992 were gone.
Sources differ: September 2000 (Quéméner) against October (Picard, Abirached).
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
Waves of arrests hit anti-Syrian Christian activists.
An SSNP deputy made pointed threats against Walid Jumblatt, who had spoken of a 'readjustment' in ties with Syria, and soldiers detained dozens of militants in successive waves: the state's answer around the confidence vote for Hariri's new cabinet.
After the war · From the books
The Maronite bishops openly criticise Syria.
The bishops' open criticism of Syria echoed protests by Aoun's followers and ex-Lebanese Forces members; Picard sees clergy now contesting Syria's armed presence.
Sources differ: Picard dates the bishops' communiqué to October 2000.
After the war · From the books
Hezbollah captures three Israeli soldiers near the Shebaa Farms.
Citing Shebaa, Hezbollah kept up sporadic attacks; Israel replied with artillery and bombing.
\_this day in full
November 2000
Tuesday, 14 November 2000
After the war · From the books
The UN Security Council asks Lebanon to take control of the evacuated south.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2002
Saturday, 25 May 2002
After the war · From the books
On Liberation Day Nasrallah declares Hezbollah's support for the Palestinian intifada.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full
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.
\_this day in full
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.
\_this day in full
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.
\_this day in full
January 2004
Saturday, 31 January 2004
After the war · From the books
Lebanese prisoners freed from Israeli jails return in a Hezbollah exchange.
Hezbollah ran the welcome alone and barred leftist parties, though thirty of the fifty men who came home were leftists; the left replied by recalling its role in the resistance from 1982.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 2004
Friday, 6 February 2004
After the war · From the books
Reformist communists announce a 'Democratic Left' movement.
Its founding al-Nahar statement urged the left to reform and unite against the Syrian-backed order, calling it a duty to learn from past mistakes. Members included Elias Khoury, Samir Kassir, Ziad Majed, George Hawi and Elias Atallah.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 2004
Monday, 22 March 2004
After the war · From the books
Hezbollah attacks six Israeli positions after the killing of Sheikh Yassin.
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 2004
Friday, 16 April 2004
After the war · From the books
A press campaign reveals how little the young know of the war.
Al-Nahar marked the April 2004 anniversary with interviews of ex-militiamen and a feature on the young: most said they knew only bits of the war, and that parents blamed 'the others'.
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 2004
Thursday, 26 August 2004
After the war · From the books
Hariri is called to Damascus, where Bashar al-Assad insists that Lahoud's term be extended.
Hariri had come to plead against prolonging Lahoud's term. Walid Jumblatt, interviewed by Nicholas Blanford in 2005, related that Assad told Hariri that Lahoud and Assad were one and the same.
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 2004
Thursday, 2 September 2004
After the war · From the books
UN Security Council Resolution 1559 demands the withdrawal of foreign forces.
The Franco-American resolution, passed by nine votes with six abstentions, required every foreign force to leave, every militia to disarm and the presidential election to proceed free of outside interference. Walid Jumblatt sided with the opposition, most of it Christian.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 3 September 2004
After the war · From the books
Parliament extends President Lahoud's term by three years.
Under Syrian pressure the constitutional amendment passed by 96 votes to 29; Jumblatt's deputies voted against.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 7 September 2004
After the war · From the books
Four ministers, including Marwan Hamadeh, resign in protest.
Sources differ: Hamadeh is called economy minister (Abirached) or health minister (Khayat).
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 2004: day not established
After the war · From the books
Riots shake Majdel Anjar after the arrest of an Islamist leader.
Rioting broke out in the Sunni Bekaa town the day after a presumed al-Qaeda-linked Islamist leader was detained in Beirut.
\_this day in full
October 2004
Friday, 1 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Marwan Hamadeh survives a car bomb.
The car bomb that wounded Marwan Hamadeh, a Jumblatt adviser who had resigned from the cabinet, opened a series of attacks on opponents of Syria (Picard); the Special Tribunal for Lebanon later took on his case as legally linked to Hariri's. Kofi Annan's report on Resolution 1559 came out that day.
Sources differ: Picard (2016) places the attack 'a few days' after 3 September; the others give 1 October.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 3 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Hariri hands his resignation to Lahoud.
Hariri took the 1 October attack that wounded Marwan Hamadeh as a breach of the assurances he had been given, and resigned two days later. Lahoud waited more than two weeks before accepting.
Sources differ: See 20 October: Abirached dates the resignation then.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 9 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Bashar al-Assad derides the charge that Syria invaded Lebanon in 1976.
Assad asked Lebanon's Christians, and Resolution 1559's sponsors, the US and France, where they were when Lebanese were massacred. Haugbolle reads him as calling the war internal and Syria its rescuer.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 17 October 2004
After the war · From the books
The Democratic Left Movement is formally founded.
By December it had joined Christian and Druze parties in signing the Bristol Declaration.
Sources differ: Picard dates a 'Gauche démocratique' to 1997, possibly an earlier group or a slip.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 20 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri's resignation takes effect.
He then moved openly towards the anti-Syrian opposition.
Sources differ: Presented 3 October (Khayat), effective 20 October (Abirached).
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 21 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Omar Karami is asked to form a pro-Syrian government.
In protest at Lahoud's extended term, one deputy in four stayed away from the consultations.
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 2004
Wednesday, 1 December 2004
After the war · From the books
Thousands demonstrate in Beirut for the Syrian presence and against 1559.
Sources differ: The book chronology extracted to JSON reads this as 'December' only; the PDF shows 1 December.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 15 December 2004
After the war · From the books
The opposition unites in the Bristol Declaration.
The Bristol Hotel declaration of Christian and Druze parties, Hariri loyalists and leftists demanded independence and democracy, accepted a Lebanese share in the war, and blamed the postwar crisis on a corrupt state ruling by fear.
Sources differ: 15 December (Haugbolle's text) or 12 December (his own note): the declaration may have been published before the formal meeting, or one date is a slip.
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 2004: day not established
After the war · From the books
Students, women's groups and lawyers take to the streets.
Civic protest against Syrian tutelage grew, and reprisals followed.
\_this day in full
2004
2004: day not established
After the war · From the books
The bullet-scarred Martyrs' statue returns to downtown Beirut.
Issam Khairallah, who restored the statue at Kaslik's Holy Spirit University, kept almost half its bullet and shrapnel marks and left the young man's arm missing. It was put back about a hundred metres north, nearer the sea.
After the war · From the books
UMAM Documentation and Research starts collecting the war's archives.
Founded by Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann in Haret Hreik, it built an archive of war memories; their film 'Massaker', interviewing six men who took part in Sabra and Shatila, was shot between 2001 and 2004.
Sources differ: Founded 2004 (Ismail-Allouche) or active since 2002 (Haugbolle).
\_this day in full
