Lebanon entered a complacency phase. All sides seemed decided to wait for important regional developments to unfold in order to re-evaluate the situation and define the course of action. The situation was very tense in the South where the Israelis were shelling the Hasbaya region.
The bad weather provoked considerable damages. Following strong showers during the weekend in the North, landslides made several routes impracticable whereas, for the first time in twenty years, a flood was reported in Nahr El Kebir, which constitutes the Northern frontier between Lebanon and Syria. The El Arida metallic bridge collapsed.
Members of the Commission of Justice requested the adoption of a law prohibiting the sale of lands to non-Lebanese. In the south, it seemed that many lands have been sold to non-Lebanese.
The disappearance of the Imam Sadr was back on the news. Seven young Lebanese Shiite militiamen hijacked the MEA Boeing 720, in order to attract the world's attention on the sequestration of the Imam. The militants affirmed that General Kadhafi, who was vigorously opposed to the Palestinian settlement in Lebanon, detained Imam Moussa Sadr. The hijackers surrendered to the Lebanese justice at night.
The Israeli army launched a triple air, ground and sea operation against Arnoun, Aichieh and the costal region. These events caused 16 dead, 12 injured and 25 prisoners. Concurrently, the Security Council renewed the UNIFL mandate until Beirut elaborated a program re-establishing its authority in Southern Lebanon.
One of the closest collaborators of Yasser Arafat, Ali Hassan Salameh, nicknamed of Abou Hassan, died in an explosion. The attack that took place in the Snoubra sector caused 11 dead and 17 injured.
What the books addAccording to de Clerck and Malsagne, a Mossad agent detonated a bomb in a Volkswagen as Salameh's Chevrolet passed. His wife, Georgina Rizk, had been Lebanon's first Miss Universe.
Brian Urqhart, the assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, examined with Lebanese officials the modalities of the Army's deployment in the South next to the UNIFL Israel nevertheless rejected the program.
Wednesday, 14 February 1979
Added from the books
Revolution in Iran: Lebanon's Shi'is find a patron abroad. Iran became an Islamic Republic after the Shah's overthrow; its new defence minister, Mustapha Chamran, had directed a technical school in south Lebanon founded by Sadr. With Musa al-Sadr's disappearance in Libya, the revolution quickly mobilised the Shi'is of Beirut and the south and gave Amal fresh strength.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1979 for the birth of the Islamic Republic; Hanf and Traboulsi date the overthrow of the Shah to January 1979. These may be different stages of the revolution.
Saudi troops decided to withdraw from the Arabic Strike Force. The Lebanese tried to dissuade them.
What the books addThe Saudis announced their departure in March 1979 (Ménargues). Picard has Syria's partners, among them Saudis, Sudanese and Emiratis, leaving two years after the 1976 summits; de Clerck and Malsagne call the ADF wholly Syrian from 1979.
Tuesday, 13 March 1979
Added from the books
Parliament adopts a law to rebuild the army and send it south. The new defence law set up a Higher Defence Council and a Military Council, allocated military posts by sect among the six main communities, allowed the army to be used only with national consensus, and planned its deployment to the UNIFIL area in the south.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 13 March 1979 in their text and 13 May in their chronology, where the entry sits between February and March, so 13 May is probably a slip. Picard gives March 1979.
Saudi soldiers packed and got ready to leave Lebanon without warning. The next day, after it had been decided that 1200 Lebanese soldiers would replace them, the Saudis changed their minds.
A car bomb containing explosives operated by remote control, parked next to the military council of the Phalange Party was found. This attack aimed at the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Bechir Gemayel.
Thousands of women demonstrated in the southern suburbs. A feminine walk was taking place in Furn el Chebbak and Ain el Remmaneh to celebrate mother's day and the international year of the child. Demonstrators brandished banners claiming, among other things, security in the Southern suburbs, an army presence, the return of displaced persons, the indemnification of bombardment victims, and reconstruction loans.
Finally, 600 Lebanese soldiers replaced the Saudis in East Beirut in an atmosphere of popular emotion.
What the books addMénargues: once the Saudis said in March 1979 they would hand their positions to the army, an army–militia clash looked inevitable; intelligence chief Johnny Abdo reopened contact with Bashir.
While Hoss was claiming the revision of the taking over operation, arguing that there are not enough soldiers nor material, combats were raging in the Batroun region between the Phalange Party and the Marada, followers of President Frangieh.
Monday, 26 March 1979
Added from the books
Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty; the Lebanese balance shifts. In Lebanon the Israeli-Egyptian treaty, signed in Washington, had deep effects. The Lebanese Forces strengthened their cooperation with Israel, and Syria moved closer to the PLO, letting it return in 1979 to its earlier positions south of Beirut. For Traboulsi, the peace process undermined the Sarkis regime.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard give the month only; de Clerck and Malsagne give 26 March.
A general strike to protest against the insufficient salary increase paralyzed the country. The syndicates granted a delay of 3 months to the government.
Israel launched a double air strike against military targets in Tyr and Damour. 3 people dead and 15 injured were reported. President Hoss began an Arab tour trying to obtain the renewal of the mandate of the Arabic Strike Force.
Thursday, 12 April 1979
Added from the books
Damascus says Syria will leave Lebanon only once its aims are achieved. In a Le Monde interview, a Syrian leader, probably Foreign Minister Abd al-Halim Khaddam, said Syria would withdraw from Lebanon when its aims were met; Picard cites it among examples of Damascus's high-handed treatment of Lebanese leaders.
An army battalion deployed in the UNIFL zone in the South, despite bombardments by Saad Haddad’s militias against the Lebanese soldiers. The latter have come all the way from Yarze. The same day, the rebel officer Saad Haddad proclaimed the State of Free Lebanon. He was dismissed from the Lebanese army the following day.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne and Picard agree that Haddad declared his 'State of Free Lebanon' at Marjayoun on 18 April 1979, in reaction to the army being sent towards the UNIFIL area under the March 1979 defence law; de Clerck and Malsagne put its size at 250 square kilometres and call it entirely reliant on Israel. Hanf has Haddad's troops stopping the battalion; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard, Israeli aircraft bombing it; Fisk, Israel letting its militia shell it. Traboulsi dates Haddad's break to his Army of Free Lebanon of June 1976, Ménargues to a secession at the end of 1977. Hanf adds that once Haddad had lost his rank and been dismissed in disgrace, Israel paid his men.
The United States reaffirmed through their ambassador in Lebanon, their support to President Elias Sarkis and considered Saad Haddad and his men as rebels.
In a new episode of the vendetta opposing the Zghoriotes to the Phalangists, a massacre was perpetrated in Shmout, in the caza of Jbeil, where the Marada shot 11 Phalangist militiamen.
Added from the books
Attack on Nahariya; Israeli officers set up a secret bombing front in Lebanon. Senior Israeli officers answered a Palestinian raid on Nahariya, in northern Israel, by creating the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', manned by Lebanese of several communities. Up to 1983 its bombs killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians, civilians and fighters alike. Prime Minister Begin was told of it only in June 1980.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne attribute the Nahariya attack to the PFLP.
A big scientific study was concluded with 888 Lebanese who are 16 to 22 years old. The results were as follows: 73% of the Lebanese youth were interested in politics 91% read everyday one or two political newspapers 56% sympathized with parties 34% adhered to parties 32% had fought One girl out of eight carried arms 74% of the youth conceived their future in Lebanon only 40% were optimistic 37% saw their death directly tied to war
The Israeli aviation, aiming at a Palestinian target, killed five innocents and injured 15 others in a wedding ceremony in the Akkar. All the victims were Lebanese with, among them, several kids.
President Elias Sarkis urged the United Nations and the Arabs to assume their responsibilities. The chief of the State violently condemned the repeated Israeli aggressions against Lebanon qualifying them of flagrant challenge to human principles.
In Bablieh, seven children were killed by a bomb they were manipulating.
Saturday, 12 May 1979
Added from the books
Fighting between the Kataeb and the NLP militia breaks out in Furn el-Chebbak. Bashir Gemayel's Kataeb and Camille Chamoun's National Liberal Party (Ahrar) first fought in Furn el-Chebbak, in Beirut's eastern suburbs; the fighting then reached every spot where their militias faced each other and, by its end in July 1980, had claimed dozens of victims.
Amine Gemayel, deputy of the Northern Metn and member of the Phalange Party's political bureau, escaped from an assassination attempt that nearly cost him his two children's life. A plastic explosive (20 kg of TNT) tied to a 122 mm bomb placed in a trunk of a tree, exploded at the time Amine Gemayel's car went by. He was injured in the face. This incident caused a general strike in the Eastern regions.
The Phalange Party and the LNP merged under the sign of cooperation with the State.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the fighting between Kataeb and National Liberal Party militias to 12 May 1979, at Furn el-Chebbak; clashes recurred in various places until July 1980.
At the meeting of the Security Council, Lebanon claimed the reinforcement of the UNIFL. Moreover, Beirut requested the condemnation of Israel and the re-activation of the Armistice Commission.
Pierre Gemayel, Chief of the Phalange Party, escaped a killing attack in Nahr el Kalb. The explosion slightly injured his head and killed one person and wounded about 10.
After having renewed the UNIFL mandate for six months, the United Nations proclaimed the validity of the Armistice Commission. The Security Council deplored Israeli aggressions and asked all parties to cooperate with the blue helmets.
After murderous combats, the Lebanese authorities decided to send the army to Ain el Remmane at the beginning of the week.
What the books addBashir Gemayel's men fought a bloody battle with army units sent, at Pierre Gemayel's and Camille Chamoun's request, to separate the Kataeb and National Liberal militias, at war since 12 May. De Clerck and Malsagne call it the first serious armed clash between the army and a Lebanese militia, dating it once to 14 June and once to 18 June.
Monday, 18 June 1979
Added from the books
The army enters Ain al-Rummaneh and clashes with Bashir Gemayel's militiamen. Unable to stop the fighting between their own militias, Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun turned to President Sarkis, who sent in the army. In Ain al-Rummaneh the troops clashed bloodily with Bashir Gemayel's Kataeb fighters, the first serious confrontation between the army and a Lebanese militia, and relations between the army and the Lebanese Forces worsened thereafter.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne put the Ain al-Rummaneh turning point on 18 June (p. 275) but have the army called in on 14 June in another passage (p. 321). Original entry 272, of 16 June, expected the army to move in early the following week, which fits Monday 18 June.
Violent combats with heavy armaments opposed the Lebanese army and the Arab Strike Force at the jurd of Akoura killing 7 Lebanese and injuring 19 persons, 13 of which were militiamen.
Syrians and Israelis faced each other in the sky of Damour. Four Syrian Migs were shut down. At the Southern border, shelling continued between Progressive Palestinians on one side and the militia of Saad Haddad and Israel on the other.
The 'race for peace' organized by the Lebanese Federation of Athletics under the patronage of L'orient-Le Jour was a manifestation of the Lebanese sportsmen in favor of national unity. Departed from Achrafieh, the 66 participants representing 18 clubs from all the Lebanese regions met in Manara after having crossed the Fouad Chehab Ring.
Unrest spread in West Beirut where Shiite militiamen manifested their anger against the eventual visit to Beirut of Colonel Kadhafi. The Lebanese government cancelled, under pressure from both officials and Shiite masses, the visit of the Libyan president.
Two months after the resignation of the Hoss Cabinet formed at the end of the 75-76 war, Selim El Hoss announced the formation of his second Cabinet. The ministerial team included: Selim El Hoss: Prime Minister - Fouad Boutros: Vice-president of the Council and Minister of Foreign affairs - Charles Helou: Minister of State - Bahige Takieddine: Minister of Interior and Tourism - Joseph Skaff: Minister of Defense and Agriculture - Anouar Sabbah: Minister of Resources and Industry - Ali El Khalil: Minister of Finance - Nazem Kadri: Minister of Social Affairs - Boutros Harb: Minister of Education and Public Works - Talal Merhabi: Minister of Health and Economy - Youssef Germanos: Minister of Justice and Information
A Lebanese cargo airplane from the freight company 'Trans Mediterranean Airway' crashed on one of the Beirut Airport runways. The six occupants of the four engine aircraft died.
Tension reached its peak everywhere in Lebanon. Heavy fights opposed the Lebanese Forces to the Lebanese army at the Beirut River's Corniche and in Oyoune el Simane.
The Lebanese weightlifter Mohammed Traboulsi won several gold medals during the 11th Asian championship of weightlifting that was taking place in Tokyo.
While the truce was being confirmed at the port and downtown, the situation escalated in the South where the Israeli artillery and Saad Haddad's artillery bombarded several localities. In the North, the Marada attacked a Phalange checkpoint in Barbara located between Jbeil and Batroun. The operation resulted in 3 dead and 5 injured among the Phalangist militiamen.
A deluge of fire fell on Tyr and Nabatyeh and hit a religious monastery causing 4 deaths and 28 injuries. The shelling was extended to the borders of Saida and Jezzine.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr, a general strike paralyzed Beirut. For the first time Sheikh Mohammed Mehdi chamseddine accused the Libyans of his disappearance.
Three commandos hijacked an Alitalia airplane. Their objective was to denounce Kadhafi in front of the international opinion. 141 passengers out of 175 were released at the airport of Rome. The air pirates surrendered to the Iranians the next day.
Dalida fascinated her fans at the Piccadilly. September 11 A confrontation between the Phalangists and the Tachnag (Armenian militia) caused 24 dead, 30 wounded and 40 hostages in Nabaa and Bourj Hammoud.
What the books addDalida also sang at the new Summerland hotel in Jnah in September 1979 (de Clerck and Malsagne). The Kataeb-Tashnag clashes of 11 September belong to a series: Hanf records hostilities in May and September 1979, settled amicably; de Clerck and Malsagne date fighting to November; Traboulsi says that in 1978-1979 the Phalange and Chamoun's Tigers gradually subdued the Armenian militias, which would not pay them taxes.
Art and memory
place During the war West Beirut residents went out to the Summerland, a Jnah hotel built in 1979; Dalida sang there in September 1979, among other foreign stars.
The notables of Zghorta and Becharreh reconciled under the aegis of Patriarch Khoreiche. In a common declaration, the notables requested the deployment of the army in their region.
Several hundreds of women gathered at the Arts and Crafts garden and head towards the office of the Prime Minister. Most of them were originally from the South and they were claiming peace.
President Elias Sarkis delivered an important speech, in which he emphasized the overriding role the army should play. Without it 'the State will be a body with no soul', he said. He insisted that the Arabs should stop to shilly-shally about Southern Lebanon.
The Minister of Foreign affairs, Fouad Boutros, called upon the United Nations to end Israeli aggressions in the South, to freeze the activities of the Fedayin, to reinforce the UNIFL, and to dissociate the Lebanese problem from the regional crisis.
Phalangist armed elements set up a surprise checkpoint in Ainata, the road leading to the Cedars, and took 70 hostages from Zghorta. The Marada retaliated by taking 230 hostages that were released on October 12, following a call launched by Pope John Paul II.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne put October 1979 abductions in the North at 500 to 1,000 people.
A wooden Christ that has been in the Ain Trez Greek Catholic convent since the last century could be the work of Michel-Angelo. The authenticity of this work had been guaranteed with 90% confidence by a first appraisal in Rome last September.
The Lebanese government who had just launched a wide offensive against barratry and smuggling, adopted serious measures to insure the supervision of the coasts and to prevent pirate cargos from accosting in the clandestine ports.
A car bomb exploded in basta, next to the office of the Army of Arabic Lebanon provoking 8 deaths and 32 injuries. The attack was followed by a strike in West Beirut.
Israel stiffened its position. While Hoss discussed with Abou Ayad a Lebanese Palestinian understanding platform, Israel laid two conditions for peace: the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the end of Palestinian raids, according to what Menahem Begin affirmed to the American delegate, Philip Habib in Jerusalem.
The work document that Lebanon was going to present in Tunis, contained 6 main points: exercising pressure on the United States to end Israeli aggressions, freezing the actions of the Fedayin, laying the Lebanese authority in the South, banning any illegal armed presence, re-activating the Beiteddine Committee, and grouping guerillas in some specified zones.
For the first time since 1974, the Lebanese celebrated Independence Day with showiness.
What the books addHanf writes that West Beirut's Sunnis sided with the Shi'is on National Day, which became a protest against every foreign armed presence; cedar flags hung all over the city.
The Tunis summit was disappointing. Lebanon received only a solemn proclamation of support doubled by a financial assistance up to 2 billion dollars, but the Southern Lebanon problem remained unsolved, the summit having just called the State and the resistance to get along.
What the books addThe Arab summit met in Tunis from 20 to 22 November 1979.
For the first time in Lebanon, a particularly delicate surgical intervention was successfully undertaken. Professor Wafic Sinno performed an implantation of an artificial crystalline at the Hotel-Dieu hospital.
An ongoing manifestation in Tripoli went out of control. The demonstrators protesting against the increase of the cost of living, vandalized Tripoli's seraglio and molested the Mohafez of Northern Lebanon. The administrations and public services clerks in Tripoli decided to stop working for 3 days.
Efforts intensified to free the Zghortiote hostages. Sleiman Frangieh set the deadline to December 31.
1979: day not established
autumn 1979
Added from the books
Kamal Jumblatt's book "Pour le Liban" is allowed in Lebanon. 'Pour le Liban', Kamal Jumblatt's 1976 interviews with the journalist Philippe Lapousterle, came out in Paris in 1978, after he was killed, and was banned in Lebanon until autumn 1979. Its fierce criticism of Christian supremacy unsettled many Christians.
Art and memory
book Kamal Jumblatt, Pour le Liban (Paris, 1978), English edition I Speak for Lebanon (London, 1979), interviews recorded in 1976.
May 1979
Added from the books
Israeli bombing of the Armenian quarters of Beirut. While discussing ASALA, the Armenian Secret Army, which worked with the Palestinians, de Clerck and Malsagne mention that Israel bombed the Armenian districts of Beirut in May 1979.
May 1979
Added from the books
Clashes between the Kataeb and the Armenian Tashnag militia. Refusing to pay the Christian militias' levies, the militia of the Armenian Tashnag party, which had largely kept out of the 1975-76 war, clashed briefly with the Kataeb. Fighting resumed later in the year before the dispute was settled.
Sources differ: Hanf gives May and September 1979 (the original has a clash on 11 September); de Clerck and Malsagne give November.
September 1979
Added from the books
The Marada open their radio station, the "Voice of Unified Lebanon". The Marada, the Frangieh clan's militia, went on air with the 'Voice of Unified Lebanon', joining the militia radios that broadcast propaganda, rumours and the dollar rate.
November 1979
Added from the books
Haddad's "Voice of Hope" radio goes on air in the south. Major Haddad's Army of Free Lebanon launched the 'Voice of Hope'. Fisk says an American evangelical foundation paid for it and that it broadcast threats against UNIFIL and local Muslims between Bible readings and country songs.
Art and memory
testimony Fisk's description of listening to Haddad's "Voice of Hope" with UNIFIL soldiers in the south.
late December 1979
Added from the books
Arms shipment landed for the Christian militias near Tabarja. At the end of 1979 a Ghanaian-flagged ship delivered arms, LAW anti-tank rockets among them, to a small cove near Tabarja. Around midnight Syrian ceasefire observers tried to take the cargo; Bashir Gemayel had the churches toll their bells and called for help on Voice of Lebanon radio, and hundreds of people converged on the cove. The weapons were landed and split equally between the Kataeb and the NLP.
