The year started like the previous one ended : everyone was talking about a new security plan for the mountain and the Southern suburbs of Beirut. Nevertheless, the fights continued intermittently in these regions between the Army and the Lebanese Forces on one side and the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal on the other.
What the books addOn 29 January the Druze resumed attacking the army at Souk al-Gharb, after Shi'i militia sniping at the army and French troops from mid-January, Hanf's next escalation.
A double Israeli raid in the region of Baalbeck caused tens of victims and buried many persons under the debris. In Beirut, the electric power was severely rationed by the EDL due to damaged installations in the Iqlim El Kharroub. The acts of resistance against the Israeli occupation continued in South Lebanon. Until the end of 1984, not a single day passed without one, two or three killing attempts perpetrated against Israeli troops or the local militias that they created.
What the books addCounts of attacks on the Israeli army vary by source and period: Fisk reports 15 ambushes a week on average by February 1984 and a hundred attacks in December 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne put suicide attacks at about a hundred a month in 1984.
An anti-French killing attempt at the Résidence des Pins killed a paratrooper and wounded two others. Attacks against US and French troops of the Multinational Force continued until their departure in March.
Added from the books
The New Jersey shells pro-Syrian positions after Syrian and Druze guns fire at US planes. The battleship New Jersey shelled pro-Syrian positions in response to an attack on American reconnaissance aircraft by Soviet-supplied Syrian and Druze anti-aircraft batteries.
One person was killed and many others were wounded in Achrafieh in a blind bombardment of residential areas. These bombings continued until July 4, causing thousands of deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, the dollar broke a new record in Beirut, reaching 5.55 LP.
What the books addSources differ on when the shelling stopped: the original entry has it continuing until the security plan of 4 July, while de Clerck and Malsagne date the systematic bombardment of Christian residential districts from the 17 May 1983 agreement to its abrogation on 5 March 1984.
Saad Haddad, commander of the Army of Free Lebanon, died from a generalized cancer. He was 47 years old and was buried in his birthplace, Marjeyoun.
What the books addSources disagree on the date of Saad Haddad's death: Ménargues gives 13 January 1984; Hanf and Fisk give January 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne give December 1983. No supplied book gives 16 January. Ménargues also gives his birth year as 1937 and his origin as Marjayoun, consistent with the age stated here.
Blind bombardments killed 16 persons and wounded 75 others in Beirut. Anxiety and fear prevailed. Schools and hospitals received their daily lot of bombs, amid international indifference. Panic reached the Lebanese stock exchange market where the Dollar amounted almost for six Lebanese Pounds.
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the killing attempt that cost the life of Malcolm Kerr, President of the American University in Beirut, shot in front of his office.
What the books addHanf writes that Kerr was murdered by unknown assailants; Fisk says he was shot in the head by 'Islamic Jihad' on campus. De Clerck and Malsagne give 18 January 1984 in one chapter but list the murder among the reverses of 1983 in another. The wording 'killing attempt' understates it: Kerr was killed.
Walid Joumblatt, president of the Progressive Socialist Party, requested the resignation of the Lebanese government.
What the books addHanf: Gemayel had undertaken at Geneva to negotiate a new agreement with Israel and had not; for that, Jumblatt and Berri demanded he resign at the end of January. Traboulsi cites Jumblatt, early in 1984, vowing to fight on until Gemayel's government went. Neither confirms the day, 22 January.
Wednesday, 25 January 1984
Added from the books
Kfar Rumman's pro-Israeli militia leader is shot dead. Attacks on Israeli troops and their collaborators were mounting when, on 25 January 1984, Kfar Rumman's pro-Israeli militia chief, Mohamed Atef Farhat, was shot dead near his home.
Sunday, 29 January 1984
Added from the books
The Druze attack the army at Souk al-Gharb in a new offensive. The army had held Souk al-Gharb since September 1983, keeping the Druze from Baabda and East Beirut; now they opened a fresh offensive on it.
Wednesday, 1 February 1984
Added from the books
The army tries to push into Beirut's southern suburbs. To sever the link between West Beirut's Shi'i militias and the Chouf Druze, the army set out on 1 February to push into the southern suburbs. Fisk, at Galerie Semaan, found soldiers and Phalangists fighting side by side against Shi'i militiamen in the Bourj al-Barajneh slums.
President Gemayel announced his intention to form a national union government and presented a program of 8 points to save the country. He also convoked a new conference for national reconciliation in Geneva on February 27. The resignation of the Wazzan government presented on September 26, 1983, was finally accepted.
What the books addIn Fisk's account Wazzan submitted his resignation that day, insisting it be accepted at once. This looks like a fresh resignation rather than acceptance of the one tendered on 26 September 1983, though Fisk also has the cabinet resigning in September 1983. Hanf has Berri appealing to Shi'i soldiers not to fire on their own people on the day the army began shelling the southern suburbs, at heavy civilian cost.
Added from the books
The army shells the southern suburbs; Berri calls on Shi'i soldiers not to fire. Nabih Berri, saying he could no longer work with Gemayel, urged Shi'i soldiers not to fire on their own community as army shelling of southern Beirut took a heavy civilian toll. That afternoon on the airport road Fisk saw soldiers leave three tanks and go into the suburbs on foot.
In a matter of hours, Amal took control over West Beirut. The capital was heavily bombed, while the Army gave up the control of the Western sector of the Capital to Amal and to the Islamic militias.
What the books addThe books describe a joint Amal and PSP (Druze) offensive, not Amal alone; the mainly Shi'i Sixth Brigade went over to Amal. Hanf dates the last Christian soldiers' withdrawal to the east, and so the completed division, to 7 February. De Clerck and Malsagne record the uprising's name, 'the 6 February movement'. About 50,000 Christians moved east, almost half the public radio's 400 staff left their posts, and Télé-Liban split. A later Sunni militia took its name from the date (Hanf).
Art and memory
place The 6 February 1984 uprising gave its name to a later Sunni militia in West Beirut, the 'Sixth of February Movement'.
Added from the books
Army units loyal to Gemayel shell West Beirut through the night. On the night of 6 February, with West Beirut in militia hands, Gemayel's loyal army units, all Christian, shelled it with new US-bought artillery; Fisk counts almost a hundred civilians dead.
Tuesday, 7 February 1984
Added from the books
Beirut is divided again; Washington announces the Marines' 'redeployment' to the ships. Beirut was split along the Green Line again on 7 February as the last regular troops in West Beirut, mostly Christians, pulled back east; Hanf notes that the Lebanese had never before divided their capital themselves. Washington said that day the Marines would 'redeploy' to ships offshore.
Sources differ: Hanf treats 7 February as the date of the army's collapse; de Clerck and Malsagne and the original (733) use 6 February.
The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.
What the books addDruze militiamen in Tibiyat, east of Beirut, visited by Fisk on 13 February, said the New Jersey's shelling of the Metn and Chouf foothills had killed 24 civilians and wounded 115 (their figures). De Clerck and Malsagne note the ship's frequent misses and its Arabic nickname 'New Jersa' ('new shame').
Art and memory
testimony On 13 February 1984 Fisk heard survivors in the Druze village of Tibiyat describe the New Jersey's shelling; his own archive held a large fragment of one of its shells.
Added from the books
The British MNF contingent leaves Beirut. Sailing from Jounieh, the British were the first Multinational Force contingent to go; Fisk says they abandoned two military trucks on the quay and told their partners nothing.
Amal and PSP met in Khaldeh, while only Souk El Gharb was still controlled by the Army in the mountain.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1984 for the PSP's capture of the Chahhar district, part of a week-long uprising in Beirut and the mountain.
Added from the books
The PSP takes the Chahhar. During the week-long February uprising in Beirut and the mountain, the Druze PSP took the Chahhar district.
The Marines withdrew from Beirut. The Italian contingent of the Multinational Force was soon to follow. The capital was left on its own.
What the books addSources date the Marines' departure differently. Hanf: the US announced the 'redeployment' to the ships on 7 February. De Clerck and Malsagne: the evacuation ran from 7 to 26 February, and their chronology dates the MNF withdrawal 26 February - 31 March. Fisk: a last Marine detachment guarding the embassy left on 31 July 1984. The Italians left on 20 February (Hanf).
Art and memory
book Hanf cites Eric Hammel's The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982 - February 1984 for the Marines' own verdict on their mission: of 200 interviewed, about half said it had achieved 'nothing'.
Monday, 20 February 1984
Added from the books
The Italian MNF contingent withdraws. The Italian contingent left Beirut after seventeen months spent guarding Palestinian civilians.
Sunday, 26 February 1984
Added from the books
The evacuation of the US Marines ends. The withdrawal of the Marines, ordered by the White House and begun on 7 February, was completed. De Clerck and Malsagne's chronology dates the MNF's departure to 26 February-31 March.
Sources differ: The original (739) gives 17 February for the Marines' departure.
President Amine Gemayel visited Damascus. The observers expected a normalization soon after. Indeed, the Syrian President approved the opening of new round Israeli-Lebanese negotiations.
What the books addMénargues gives two different days for this visit: 24 February in his prologue and 26 February in another passage. Hanf and Fisk both give 29 February. Fisk notes a 21-gun salute; Hanf says Gemayel told Assad he was ready to abrogate the 17 May agreement.
Thursday, 1 March 1984
Added from the books
The USSR vetoes a UN force to replace the MNF. A Soviet veto in the Security Council killed France's proposal for UN troops to replace the Multinational Force.
The Wazzan government met under the presidency of Gemayel and abrogated the Israeli-Lebanese agreement of May 17. A new reconciliation conference was to be held on the 12th of March in Lausanne.
What the books addTraboulsi notes Gemayel never signed the agreement, which his government formally repudiated.
Wednesday, 7 March 1984
Added from the books
CNN's Beirut bureau chief Jeremy Levin is kidnapped. Kidnapped in West Beirut while going to work, Jeremy Levin escaped or was freed in February 1985.
The Lausanne conference began and lasted until March 20. The observers considered it a camouflaged failure. The participants decided to execute a security plan, stop slanderous campaigns, create a constituent assembly, and resume the dialog under the patronage of the chief of State.
What the books addMost sources give 12-20 March 1984. Picard's main text gives April 1984 and Fisk says 'spring of 1983'. Traboulsi's chronology lists Lausanne under 1983. Hanf says the conference agreed on a ceasefire and a commission on the constitution, which may be what 'constituent assembly' refers to. He also says Frangieh blocked any radical reorganisation.
Friday, 16 March 1984
Added from the books
CIA Beirut station chief William Buckley is kidnapped. William Buckley was abducted leaving his home in Raouche; officially a political attaché at the American embassy, he died in captivity in 1985.
Sources differ: Fisk contradicts himself: 'a week' after 7 March in one passage (about 14 March), May 1984 in another. De Clerck and Malsagne give 16 March, which agrees with Fisk's first account.
It was the French contingent's turn to leave Beirut while the Eastern regions remained the target of blind and murderous bombardments.
What the books addHanf and de Clerck and Malsagne date the departure of the last French MNF soldiers to 31 March 1984; 25 March may mark the start of the French withdrawal, which the books do not mention. France left soldiers in Beirut as ceasefire observers.
While a deluge of fire fell on residential areas killing 26 persons and wounding 148 others, 40 French observers arrived in Beirut to supervise the cease-fire. The high political and military committee created during the Lausanne conference held its first meeting in Baabda.
Added from the books
A raid on Jibchit by Israel's militia kills Khadija Atwi. Khadija Abbas Atwi, 18, bled to death in Jibchit; her gravestone gives 28 March 1984. Militiamen sent in by Israeli troops to hunt 'terrorists' shot her and other villagers, women among them.
Friday, 30 March 1984
Added from the books
The US Sixth Fleet leaves the waters off Beirut. The US Sixth Fleet remained off Beirut until 30 March 1984, a month after the Marines had been evacuated between 7 and 26 February.
Saturday, 31 March 1984
Added from the books
The last French soldiers of the Multinational Force leave Beirut. France, first to arrive, withdrew its last MNF soldiers once every other contingent had gone; some stayed on as ceasefire observers.
Sources differ: The original (744) gives 25 March for the French departure.
The retired General Antoine Lahd took his functions as head of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) created and financed by Israel. This new militia replaced Saad Haddad's Army of Free Lebanon. Artillery duels continued in Beirut and in the mountain, making the month of April one of the worst months in the Lebanese crisis. In Tripoli, the confrontations between the Islamic Unification Movement and the Arab Democratic Party continued violently for several months.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the name 'South Lebanon Army' to April 1985; in 1984 Lahad took over Haddad's existing militia. Hanf says he was a Maronite general from the Chouf, close to Chamoun; de Clerck and Malsagne say he came from Kfar Qatra and had headed army intelligence. Hanf confirms that fighting in Tripoli flared again in 1984.
The forces disengagement plan was to be applied on the demarcation line in Beirut, in the suburbs, and in the mountain. An interposition force of 1,8000 men and French observers would separate the fighters.
An agreement was signed during the new Assad-Gemayel summit in Damascus. It included the following points: forming a national union government, consolidating of the cease-fire, and reorganizing the Army.
The new national union government was as follows: Rachid Karameh: President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Osseirane: Minister of Defense and Agriculture Nabih Berri: Minsiter of Hydroelectric resources and Justice Camille Chamoun: Minster of Finance, Housing, and Cooperatives Pierre Gemayel: Minster of Posts and Telecommunications, Health and Social Affairs. Walid Joumblatt: Minister of Public Works, and Tourism Selim Hoss: Minister of Labor and National Education Joseph Skaff: Minister of Information Abdallah Racy: Minister of Interior Victor Cassir: Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry and Oil
What the books addPicard dates the government to the beginning of May 1984. Portfolios differ by source: de Clerck and Malsagne give Jumblatt Public Works and Transport, Tourism, and a Ministry of State for Reconstruction and the South. Picard says the 'Ministry of the South' was created in 1984 for the Shi'is, that is, for Berri. Picard also counts Frangieh's son-in-law among the ministers.
Tuesday, 1 May 1984
Added from the books
Pope John Paul II devotes three letters to Lebanon. On 1 May 1984 John Paul II issued three letters about Lebanon, addressed to its people, the world's Catholic bishops and Maronite Patriarch Antoine Khoraiche. The Patriarch's letter faulted him for not uniting the Christians around reconciliation.
A new round of murderous violence killed 22 persons and wounded 107 others. The bombardments reached the Baabda Palace, forcing the organizers of a peace walk to express national dissatisfaction, to cancel the event.
The Greek Orthodox school of Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation in Achrafieh was bombed, killing one student and wounding 23 others. All schools were shut in protest against this barbarian act.
The US embassy in Beirut announced that it will open a temporary office in East Beirut. It also confirmed that extremists were preparing an anti-American attack in Beirut.
It was impossible to put an end to the blind shelling. No one, neither a national union government, nor a 4-party military commission, was able to stop the bombardment of the residential areas which started 24 hours ago and had caused 5 dead and 37 injured persons so far.
This is one of the most violent days since 1976. No words are enough to describe the ongoing butchery. 90 persons lost their lives and 353 were wounded on this single day.
While Lebanon was burying its dead, the Parliament voted the confidence by 53 votes against 15, and 3 abstentions. The Chamber extended its mandate for 2 years.
Thursday, 14 June 1984
Added from the books
Shin Bet agents kill an Amal official at Bidias. Morshed Nahas, an Amal official, was shot dead in Bidias on 14 June 1984 by plain-clothes Shin Bet men carrying passes signed by an Israeli colonel. Israel said he resisted arrest; the Amal leader Daoud Daoud said he had been told to join its village militias.
54 days after its formation, the Karameh government adopted a new security plan as well as a new defense law. A military council comprising six members was created and Michel Aoun was appointed commander in chief of the Army. Michel Aoun was born in 1935 in Haret Hreik, in the Southern suburbs of Beirut. He started his military carrier in 1955 when he was 20 years old. He specialized in artillery, and accomplished several military trainings in France and the United States before spending 2 years, from 1978 to 1980, at the Ecole de Guerre (War Academy) in Paris. Back to Lebanon, he was promoted to corporal and, on the 24th of June 1984, he became commander in chief of the Army.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 23 June 1984 for Aoun's appointment, which contradicts the '24th of June' in the entry's own biography text. Hanf calls Aoun, commander of the Souk al-Gharb front, well liked by soldiers of both religions, and says the security plan was accepted only once the six-member command council was in place.
The Army was deployed in Greater Beirut. The crossing points were reopened, thus unifying the Eastern and Western sectors of the Capital.
What the books addHanf gives 3 July 1984 for the security plan's entry into force; this entry and entry 725 use 4 July. Hanf adds that the Green Line barricades were cleared at the end of July.
Talal Salman, chief editor of the newspaper As Safir, was seriously injured by a killing attempt. The Press went on strike for 24 hours to protest against this incident.
An rocket attack was perpetrated against the Soviet embassy in Mazraa. The 'organization of the sharp sword', an unknown organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Lebanese hijacker captured an MEA airplane connecting Abou-Dhabi to Beirut, to protest against the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. He surrenders to the authorities after harsh negotiations. The airplane had 138 passengers and 9 crewmembers aboard.
In Tripoli, a violent battle opposed Islamists from Sheikh Said Chaabane's Islamic Unification Movement to the Arab Democratic Party's Red Knights. A deluge of metal and fire hit the capital of the North. These fights killed 15 persons and injured 60 others.
What the books addHanf calls the Arab Democratic Party militia the 'Pink Panthers'; de Clerck and Malsagne call the pro-Syrian militia of Jabal Mohsen the 'Red Knights' (Cavaliers rouges), as here.
'There is no more East or West', declared the commander of Beirut. The unification of the capital seemed to have succeeded.
Tuesday, 31 July 1984
Added from the books
The last US Marines leave Beirut. Helicopters lifted the Marines' rear guard, about a hundred men left to protect the British-American embassy compound in West Beirut, to US warships offshore.
Sources differ: Other books end the Marines' story in February (see 739 and the 26 February addition); this was a residual guard.
A catastrophe was avoided at the Beirut International Airport where an Air France Boeing 737, hijacked during its flight from Frankfurt to Paris, was authorized to land in Beirut. The negotiations with the Lebanese authorities failed and the engine flew back amid general confusion. It almost hit several firefighter vehicles that were parked across the runway in order to prevent the airplane from moving.
The exchange rate of the dollar reached 6.20 LP. The rise of the American dollar continued until the end of the year. The depreciation of the Lebanese Pound was due to political as well as economic difficulties in the country. Besides, the government was profoundly divided and unable to meet.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 8.7 pounds to the dollar for 1984 (no month stated) and date the start of the pound's collapse to the last quarter of 1984 (30% devaluation that year). Picard: prices rose eightfold from summer 1984 to summer 1987.
It was almost hell in Tripoli, as combats continued between the Islamic Unification Movement and the Arab Democratic Party. 54 deaths and 150 injuries were reported during the 48 hours of fight.
The Army's chief of staff, General Nadim Hakim and eight of his companions were killed in a helicopter accident that departed from Ehden in the North. An investigation commission concluded that it was a simple accident.
Pierre Gemayel, head of the Phalange Party and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and Health died from a heart attack. An official three-day mourning was announced, as well as a general one-day closure. (bio)
What the books addHanf names Pierre Gemayel's successor at the head of the Kataeb as 'Elie Karami' (Elie Karameh). Ménargues's 'October 1984', placed beside Sheikh Pierre's death, most likely dates Fadi Frem's removal from the Lebanese Forces command, not the death.
Sunday, 2 September 1984
Added from the books
Jumblatt inaugurates a memorial to the PSP's dead at Beiteddine. Beiteddine palace, seat of Walid Jumblatt's Civil Administration of the Mountain, hosted a lavish commemoration of the Mountain War, at which he unveiled a big memorial to PSP martyrs on its esplanade.
Art and memory
memorial After 1983 Walid Jumblatt reshaped Beiteddine, renamed the 'People's Palace': Emir Bashir's tomb was razed, poems to Bashir Jumblatt replaced inscriptions praising the emir, and PSP martyrs got a memorial in 1984.
Joseph Hachem was appointed Minister of Health and Posts and Telecommunications in replacement of Pierre Gemayel. Malek Salam was appointed president of the Council for Development and Reconstruction. The mandate of Michel El Khoury, Governor of the Central Bank, was extended.
At the United Nations, the United States vetoed a Lebanese draft resolution submitted to the Security Council. This draft resolution requested from Israel, the 'occupying force', to respect civil rights in South Lebanon.
The participants in a round-table on Lebanon held in Lausane concluded that '15 billion dollars spread out on 10 years were needed for the reconstruction of Lebanon.' An international association comprising important persons from the world of economics and finance organized this meeting.
The ministerial 'conclaves' started in Bickfaya in presence of the chief of State. On that same day, Brian Urqhart, United Nations Assistant Secretary General, arrived to Beirut to prepare the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations regarding an Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon.
A car bomb exploded next to the US embassy in Aoukar. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack that caused 11 dead and 96 injured. In Sohmor in the West of the Bekaa, the Army of South Lebanon opened fire on a crowd gathered on the place of the village, killing 24 persons and injuring 96.
What the books addFisk reports that a suicide bomber, claimed by 'Islamic Jihad', blew up the new US embassy, wounding the American and British ambassadors; a British security man had shot the driver first. Sohmor he dates to late September 1984: Druze SLA men, avenging three Druze comrades shot in an ambush, opened fire on the men of the village assembled in its square, killing 13 and wounding 30. This entry's 24 dead and 96 injured may be a copying error, since 96 injured is also the embassy figure.
The increase of the dollar took dramatic proportions. The green bill exceeded 8 Lebanese Pounds. The President of the Republic held a meeting in Baabda to deal with this crisis. As a result, a series of measures were taken to discourage speculators from contributing to the rise of the Dollar, and put some order in the country's economy.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 8.7 pounds to the dollar for 1984, without a month.
Rachid Karameh delivered a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, in which he insisted on the necessity of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon. The Prime Minister reiterated his government's attachment to the application of all the resolutions of the Security Council, calling for an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Nevertheless, the American President Ronald Reagan refused to meet with Karameh, for lack of time as he said.
Walid Joumblatt announced in Beirut the birth of a new coalition, the 'National Democratic Front', grouping, besides the PSP, the Communist Party, the Baas, the Syrian Nationalist Party, and the Arab Socialist Union.
Added from the books
Fouad Abou Nader is elected commander of the Lebanese Forces. On 9 October the Lebanese Forces elected the President's candidate, Fouad Abou Nader, Amine Gemayel's nephew and Pierre Gemayel's grandson; it was seen as a Kataeb win. The 'intifada' of 12 March 1985 ousted him.
Sources differ: Ménargues says Gemayel removed Fadi Frem in October 1984; that agrees on the month.
Friday, 12 October 1984
Added from the books range
Disabled people march against the war (12-16 October). A movement of disabled people held a march against the war from 12 to 16 October 1984; the authors list it among the forms civil resistance took.
Hussein El Husseini was elected speaker of the Chamber by 41 votes against 28 votes in favor of his predecessor, Kamel El Assaad. Born on the 15th of April 1937 in Zahleh, deputy of Baalbeck and the Hermel since 1972, Hussein Husseini is one of the founders of the Movement of the Deprived, that gave birth later to the Amal movement. Then, he became Amal's General Secretary. He resigned from this post on the 17th of June 1980. He was one of the closest collaborators of the Imam Sadr at the head of the Movement of the Deprived, and Amal, as well as in the Superior Shiite Council of which he became a founding member in 1972. From 1972 to 1974, he headed the parliamentary commission of public works and hydroelectric resources. He became since 1972 member of the parliamentary financial and budgetary commission.
What the books addIn one passage Hanf says Husseini was elected Speaker in 1986; this contradicts his own account of mid-October 1984. On the biography: Hanf says Berri took over Amal from Husseini in April 1980, while the text here says Husseini resigned on 17 June 1980.
The United Nations Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, convoked a Lebanese-Israeli conference to be held on November 5 in Nakoura under the aegis of the United Nations. The negotiations aimed at making security arrangements for the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
A new round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations started in Nakoura, 8 months after the abrogation of the May 17 agreement. These negotiations resumed on November 15. But deep disagreements appeared regarding the roles of the Lebanese Army, the South Lebanon Army and the UNIFL.
What the books addThe original entries do not agree with each other: entry 792 says the talks were to open on 5 November, this entry says 7 November.
The Council of Ministers decided to charge the Military Council with the responsibility of deploying the Army from Tripoli to the Awali river.
Saturday, 24 November 1984
Added from the books
President Mitterrand visits Damascus. Mitterrand's visit to Hafez al-Assad in Damascus, a few months after the Drakkar bombing, was seen as Assad humiliating France.
The Israelis launched a wide repression operation in South Lebanon. 3,000 men searched the region for members of the Resistance and arrested several of them.
What the books addFisk counts a hundred attacks on Israeli forces in December 1984, when the Sayeret Matkal commandos searched villages east of Tyre on foot and Shin Bet men beat youths each time. De Clerck and Malsagne date the complete sealing-off of the Israeli-held zone from the rest of Lebanon to autumn 1984.
The Army's deployment plan between Madfoun and the Awali river as well as in the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally executed. The entire population went on strike in South Lebanon to protest against the military operation of December 13.
What the books addHanf dates the army's advance into the Sidon region to 9 January 1985, as Israel began pulling back. Some of the 15 December deployment may have been north of the Awali, which he does not detail. The southern strike is not in the books.
The parents of hostages divided the capital in two in a protest action.
Art and memory
testimony Wadad Halwani set up the Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in 1982; Reder notes that the state has shown no will to meet its demands.
1984: day not established
January 1984
Added from the books
An American academic and a French engineer are kidnapped in Beirut. Amal gunmen freed the American academic Frank Regier and the French engineer Christian Joubert from 'Islamic Jihad' two months after their kidnapping in January 1984.
January 1984
Added from the books
Israeli troops bulldoze Sheikh Abbas Harb's house in Hallousiyeh. Israeli troops arrested Sheikh Abbas Harb of Hallousiyeh and bulldozed his house, accusing him of steering young men towards 'terrorist organisations'.
late February 1984
Added from the books
Sheikh Ragheb Harb is murdered in Jibchit. Ragheb Harb, Jibchit's Shi'i imam, had urged no cooperation with the occupation; in late February he was shot from behind his garden wall. Israel's 'home guard' attacked men carrying his body round nearby villages.
April 1984
Added from the books
The PSP launches its radio, the 'Voice of the Mountain'. The PSP went on air with its own station, the 'Voice of the Mountain', one of the militia radios that mixed propaganda with dollar exchange rates.
May 1984
Added from the books
The network of pro-Iranian Shi'i groups takes the name Hezbollah. The name Hizb Allah (Party of God), with a flag and a slogan, was adopted in May 1984 by the pro-Iranian Shi'i factions and institutions Iran had united in early 1983. De Clerck and Malsagne say its existence was kept secret until February 1985.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology places an 'official declaration' in 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne (in both the book and their Confluences article, so not independent) say it was only made public in February 1985.
May 1984
Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces open a liaison office in Jerusalem. In June the Lebanese Forces denounced Amine Gemayel's rapprochement with Syria as 'heresy'; rejecting the end of the 17 May agreement, they had opened a Jerusalem liaison office.
June-July 1984
Added from the books
Amal and Palestinians clash for the first time in Beirut's camps. The War of the Camps opened with fighting between Amal and Palestinians inside Beirut's camps in June and July 1984.
July 1984
Added from the books
Raul Mizrahi, one of West Beirut's last Jews, is murdered. Raul Sobhi Mizrahi, 54, who kept an electrical tools shop in Sanayeh, was found dead on a beach near the airport after three gunmen took him handcuffed from his home.
September 1984
Added from the books
Reuters correspondent Jonathan Wright is abducted in the Bekaa. Jonathan Wright escaped after Palestinians kidnapped him in the Bekaa. Four Lebanese AP staff spent 24 hours in captivity a month later.
early November 1984
Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces hand Quay 5 of Beirut port back to the army. The regular army took Quay 5 of Beirut port back from the Lebanese Forces; Hanf ranks it among the state's chief revenue sources.
