The Lebanese war, 1987

The Minister of Labor Selim El Hoss signed a decree raising the minimum wage to 3,200 LBP. This decision was a timid ray of light in the heavy economic sky.

What the books addHistorians describe the collapse of real wages behind such decrees: against 1974, the statutory minimum wage kept 13 percent of its buying power at the end of 1986 (Hanf, after Abou Rjaily and Labaki).

Monday, 5 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While the Camps War raged between Amal and the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front, the Salam mission, aiming at reconciling Presidents Assad and Gemayel, was resumed.

What the books addThe third 'war of the camps' had begun in the south at the end of September 1986; fighting resumed in the Beirut camps in December. By early January 1987 it had cost over 500 dead and 2,000 wounded, by a French diplomatic estimate. The books describe Amal's adversaries as PLO fighters, mostly loyal to Arafat.

Tuesday, 6 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Cassir decrees caused a fast increase in the price of fuel. Starting this day, 20 liters of gas were sold at 190 LBP, while the jar of butane was sold at 100 LBP.

Wednesday, 7 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

President Camille Chamoun escaped by miracle from a killing attempt. A car bomb exploded on the River cornice when his convoy was passing by. 4 persons were killed and 37 others were wounded. The President was injured in his arm.

What the books addHanf mentions the failed attempt on Chamoun's life early in 1987 and notes that he died in August of that year.

Thursday, 8 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Artillery duels between the two sectors of the capital on one hand and the bombing of the Beirut Airport on the other, raised the tension again.

Tuesday, 13 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The kidnapping, in West Beirut, of Roger Auque, a French journalist, raised the number of French nationals who disappeared in Lebanon to 18.

What the books addCounts differ: Hanf, after Abou Rjaily and Labaki (figures to late 1987), counts about fifty foreigners kidnapped in Lebanon, including twenty Americans and nine Frenchmen. The figure of 18 French nationals may include people who were not kidnapped; its basis is not known.

Sunday, 18 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

It was the Germans' turn to be kidnapped. Richard Cordes disappeared right after his arrival at the Beirut Airport.

Saturday, 24 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While there were still no news about West German nationals Cordes and Schmidt, three Americans and one Indian holding a US passport were kidnapped at the Beirut University College campus, in Koraytem in Ras Beirut.

Wednesday, 28 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Assad and Gemayel met for 55 minutes in Kuwait during a pan-Islamic conference to put an end to a disagreement that lasted one year. Besides, Washington decided to prohibit US nationals from travelling to Lebanon.

What the books addTraboulsi dates the break between the two presidents to their meeting of 13-14 January 1986, when Gemayel rejected the Syrian-sponsored Tripartite Accord.

Thursday, 29 January 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Mounir Abou-Fadel, Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, died from a heart attack at the American hospital where he was admitted four days earlier.

Sunday, 1 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The MEA suspended its flights therefore causing a de facto closing of the Beirut International Airport, while the few companies that were still flying into the airport (Soviet, Czech, and Bulgarian) decided to cancel their flights.

Monday, 2 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Swiss Embassy was the last embassy to close in West Beirut.

Friday, 6 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Lebanese Pound recorded a historic decline compared to the dollar which had almost reached the 100 LBP threshold. This fall worried the population.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne call 1987's currency crisis the gravest since independence, the pound losing up to 90 percent of its value; on Banque du Liban figures (Hanf), it fell from about 35 to the dollar in 1986 to some 520.

Saturday, 7 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The confrontations intensified around the Palestinian camps of Chatila and Bourj Brajneh. The risk of escalation intensified.

What the books addBy late 1986, say de Clerck and Malsagne, Chatila was 90 percent destroyed, yet 500 to 1,000 Palestinians held out inside. In the winter of 1987, Picard writes, many Palestinians in the besieged Beirut camps died of hunger.

Thursday, 12 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While the Lebanese Pound continued to fall, the chief of State Amine Gemayel, arrived in Bruxelles to request a social and economic help from the European countries.

Sunday, 15 February 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A vast military confrontation between Amal and the PSP erupted in West Beirut. It was a prelude to the entrance of 12,000 Syrian soldiers in this region. However, they didn't deploy in the Southern suburbs.

What the books addHanf has the PSP and its leftist allies overrunning Amal's Murr Tower headquarters and taking Hamra after five days of what he calls West Beirut's worst fighting, its destruction on the scale of the 1982 siege. The size of the Syrian force differs by source: 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner), two brigades (Hanf), the re-formed 85th Brigade (Fisk). The troops entered on 22 February according to most sources (see addition 1987-02-22).

Tuesday, 17 February 1987

Added from the books

The Communist thinker Hussein Mroue is assassinated.
Hussein Mroue, a prominent Marxist thinker of the Lebanese Communist Party, was murdered, one of several party officials and intellectuals killed in 1986-87 amid the rift between Hezbollah and the Communists.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne link the killings to the break between Hezbollah and the Communist Party; Hanf attributes the murders of Communist intellectuals in early 1987 to Amal supporters. Neither names the killers of Mroue specifically.

Sunday, 22 February 1987

Added from the books

The Syrian army returns to West Beirut.
Much of the population welcomed the Syrian troops who entered West Beirut at Muslim leaders' invitation after a week of fighting between Amal and the PSP and its leftist allies. Militiamen were banned from carrying arms in the streets; Amal fell back to the southern suburbs, which the Syrians left alone. Gemayel protested.

Sources differ: Date: 22 February (Hanf; de Clerck and Malsagne, twice), 20 February (Picard), 28 February (Traboulsi). 22 February has the most support and is also the date given in original entry 988. Size of force: two brigades (Hanf), 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner).

Wednesday, 4 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

After an interruption of three weeks, Lebanese-Syrian negotiations were resumed.

Friday, 6 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A decision that appeared anachronistic in a country dominated by insecurity was taken: motorcycles were prohibited in West Beirut. This decision was motivated by the need to strengthen security in the region.

Saturday, 7 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Iran dispatched a new ambassador to Lebanon where he received a triumphal welcome.

Saturday, 14 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Lebanese Force announced an assassination attempt against Samir Geagea.

Thursday, 19 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

2 persons were killed and 3 others wounded in a criminal explosion early in the afternoon in Zalka.

Saturday, 28 March 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

An anti-Syrian assault in Ramlet El Baida constituted the most serious incident since the entry of Syrian troops in West Beirut on February 22nd.

What the books addHanf writes that in June 1987 Walid Jumblatt was forced to surrender to Syria several men of the PSP intelligence branch, his security chief among them, who had joined in hit-and-run attacks on Syrian forces in West Beirut.

Sunday, 5 April 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

An agreement was concluded between the National Palestinian Salvation Front and the Amal movement under the aegis of Ghazi Kanaan. This agreement stipulated a global cease-fire and the end of the camps' blockade in Beirut

What the books addUnder the 5 April accord, reached by Amal, the PLO and the pro-Syrian Palestinian National Salvation Front with the Syrian general Ghazi Kanaan present, the blockade was to be lifted, the wounded taken out and the PLO was to leave three villages near Sidon. Food and medicine then reached Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh, the first since March. Picard dates the end of the siege to an Amal-Palestinian agreement of 11 September 1987; Hanf has Amal lifting the blockade only on 18 January 1988.

Wednesday, 8 April 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Souk El Gharb front flared up while the Syrian army was achieving its deployment around the camps in Beirut.

Thursday, 16 April 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The President of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun announced his candidacy to the 1988 presidential elections.

Thursday, 23 April 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The CGTL announces a 3-days general strike.

What the books addHanf lists five increasingly political CGTL strikes in 1987 (April, July, August, September, November), mass protests against the war more than ordinary strikes.

Monday, 4 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Prime Minister Rachid Karameh announced his resignation but refused to give a written resignation to the Head of State

What the books addBefore resigning, Karami had seen the cabinet reconvene in April to deal with the economic crisis, after months in which the Muslim ministers' boycott of Gemayel had kept it from meeting. Hanf treats his call to open the presidency to every community as the start of the contest for the 1988 presidential election.

Tuesday, 5 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Teachers call for a 2-days general strike in order to obtain their wage and professional demands.

Friday, 8 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

An Israeli raid on Ain-el Heloueh and Mieh-Mieh Palestinian camps kills 7 persons and wounds 34.

Monday, 11 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

After a 3-months interruption, Beirut Airport is open again to the traffic and the MEA flights resume.

Monday, 18 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Minister of Labour Selim Hoss signs the decree for the reajustment of salaries. The minimum salary is fixed at 4500 LBP.

Added from the books

The Marxist thinker Mahdi Amel (Hassan Hamdan) is assassinated.
Hassan Hamdan, known as Mahdi Amel, a philosopher and leading theorist of the Lebanese Communist Party, was assassinated. Hanf says his Shi'i background made him especially hated, branded an 'atheist traitor'.

Sources differ: Responsibility: Hanf names Amal supporters; de Clerck and Malsagne place the killing in the context of the Hezbollah-Communist break without naming the killers.

Art and memory

book Hanf's annotated list of Arabic writing on the war includes Mahdi Amel's 1979 work on the causes of the civil war, Theory in Political Practice, and describes its author as a Shi'i philosophy professor and Communist Party member.

Tuesday, 19 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A dilapidated building in Abu-Shaker district in the Mazraa cornice collapses, killing 11 persons.

Thursday, 21 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The abrogation by the Parliament of the Cairo Agreement was voted unanimously by the attending 45 deputies. Moreover, the abolition of May 17th Israeli-Arab Agreement was confirmed.

What the books addThe vote annulled both the 1969 Cairo Agreement on the Palestinian armed presence and parliament's earlier approval of the agreement of 17 May 1983 with Israel. For Hanf it was the period's most symbolic decision, and its most desperate.

Sunday, 31 May 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Islamic resistance integrists lead an offensive against the Army of South-Lebanon and the Israeli Army.

Monday, 1 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Prime Minister Rachid Karameh was assassinated, torn to shreds by the explosion on the helicopter that was supposed to take him from Tripoli to West-Beirut. However, his post as Chief of the Cabinet did not remain vacant: Selim Hoss was designated by presidential decree as the interim Chief of Government.

What the books addKarami had announced his resignation on 4 May. Who was responsible is disputed: Hanf (1993) writes that it was never established who planted the bomb in the army helicopter; de Clerck and Malsagne report that it was attributed to Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, and Picard notes that Geagea was later tried for it. Selim al-Hoss, Minister of Education, became acting prime minister; the cabinet never met again and governed by circulated decrees.

Art and memory

testimony Hamra Street vendors were still selling cassettes of Rashid Karami's speeches on national unity and Lebanon's Arab identity over two years after his assassination, Fisk notes.

Wednesday, 3 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A Syrian delegation led by Abdel-Halim Khaddam, the Syrian Republic's Vice-President attend the national funerals of Karame in Tripoli.

Friday, 5 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The President of the National Assembly, Hussein Husseini, announces his resignation, thus increasing the institutional gap.

Added from the books

A general strike paralyses the country for five days.
A general strike, part of the CGTL's drive for peace and an economic rescue plan, shut the country down for close to five days.

Sources differ: Hanf lists CGTL political strikes in 1987 for April, July, August, September and November, but none in June. The strike began four days after Karami's assassination, on the day Husseini resigned (original entry 1003).

Wednesday, 17 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Walid Joumblatt, leader of the PSP, and Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal militia, become reconciled under the aegis of the Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, and publish an agreement for fighting in 7 points.

Thursday, 18 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

An American journalist, Charles Glass, accompanied by the son of the Minister of Defense Ali Adel Osseirane, are kidnapped in Ouzaï.

Friday, 19 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The price of fuel goes up from 190 LBP to 290 LBP for 20 litres while the gas demijohn goes up from 110 LBP to 155 LBP. The index of livelihood cost has increased by 82,8 % since January.

Wednesday, 24 June 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While Ali Adel Osseirane is set free, hope for the quick release of the American journalist fades.

Wednesday, 1 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The American Ambassador in Lebanon confirms to President Gemayel that the policy of his country towards Lebanon hasn't changed.

Thursday, 2 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Lebanon has just lost in Kesrouan, Labaki, one of its best journalists and most fervent defenders.

Friday, 3 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

An Israeli raid against a PSNS base in Ammik in the Bekaa injures 13 persons.

Monday, 6 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The high depreciation of the Lebanese Pound breks, in the beginning of the week, all historical drop records and provokes panic on the exchange market. The national currency breaks the plateau of 162 LBP for 1 American Dollar.

What the books addPicard records an eightfold price rise and a thirtyfold fall of the pound against the dollar from summer 1984 to summer 1987.

Saturday, 11 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Walid Joumblatt, Minister of Tourism and Leader of the Progressist Socialist Party, presides this evening, the opening ceremony of the Emir Amin's Palace. Closed down since the first years of the war, this edifice, that used to belong to the Intercontinental chain of hotels, resumes its vocation as a prestigious palace.

Friday, 17 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Minister of Finance, President Camille Chamoun, publishes a decision ordering the Governor of the Central Bank, Edmond Naïm, not to intervene to stabilize the exchange market before contacting him..

Friday, 24 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A Lebanese, Ali Mohamad Hariri, hijacks an Air Africa plane in Geneva and demands the release of the hamade brothers held captive in the German Federal Republic. The operation ends with the arrest of the hijacker, killing 1 person and injuring 31.

Monday, 27 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Israeli attack against the APL (Maarouf Saad's Forces in Saida ) kills 7 persons and wounds 3.

Friday, 31 July 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Security Coucil renews the mandate of the FINUL.

Sunday, 2 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The President of the Republic's Councillor, Mohamed Choucair, who was a mediator between the Chief of State and the Muslim Opposition, is assassinated in West-Beirut.

What the books addHanf, noting that Shukair's killers stayed unknown, describes a successful businessman who had volunteered to mediate between Christians and Muslims, was well connected in both parts of Beirut and never sought office.

Friday, 7 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

President Camille Chamoun dies from a heart attack. In a communiqué, The American Department of State emphasizes that 'Camille Chamoun was the most eminent politician in Lebanon'.

Sunday, 9 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Lebanon reunites around the national funerals of President Camille Chamoun.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne note that the funeral at Deir al-Qamar, in the Chouf, could not have taken place without Walid Jumblatt's collaboration.

Art and memory

place De Clerck and Malsagne cite the Deir al-Qamar funerals of Camille Chamoun and, in 1990, of his son Dany as examples of truce and cooperation between rival leaders, made possible by Walid Jumblatt.

Friday, 14 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Central Bank decides to grant, exceptionally, credits for 4 million dollars to the EDL (Electricity of Lebanon) and to bakeries.

Sunday, 16 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A fire ravages the forest in Naccache and its surroundings destroying in its wake the olive and pine fields.

Tuesday, 18 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The hostage Charles Glass is set free. When will the other hostages be released?

Wednesday, 19 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Interim Finance Minister arbitrates a meeting of explanation between the Association of Banks and the Bank of Lebanon. This meeting results in a freezing of the application of the circular 739 (that forces private banks to block 93% of their deposits by the Central Bank).

Thursday, 20 August 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Holding hands, all dressed in white, hundreds of Lebanese, Christian and Muslim, said no to the war and to the demarcation line that had been parting the country in two for 12 years.

What the books addCitizens mobilised in a way Picard calls spectacular, if brief, in the peace marches of summer 1987; Hanf records union-called strikes, in effect mass demonstrations, in July, August and September.

Tuesday, 1 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

President Gemayel arrives in Quebec to request, in front of the Francophony Summit, the creapour demander, the creation of Special Support Funds in Lebanon.

Saturday, 5 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The Israeli Airforce conducts a murderous raid on sur Ain el-Heloueh, killing 41 persons and injuring 40.

Monday, 7 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Alfred Schmidt, a West-German hostage, is released.

Friday, 11 September 1987

Added from the books

Amal and the Palestinians agree to end the war of the camps.
Picard puts the end of the war of the camps on this day, with an Amal-Palestinian agreement. Other historians date the end of the siege differently: to a ceasefire on 5 April 1987, and to 18 January 1988, when Amal finally lifted the blockade after the Palestinian intifada had begun.

Sources differ: End of the camps war or siege: 5 April 1987 ceasefire (de Clerck and Malsagne; original entry 989), 11 September 1987 (Picard), 18 January 1988 (Hanf), January 1988 for Chatila (de Clerck and Malsagne, who date the war 1985-1987).

Sunday, 20 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

700 PSP combattants PSP and about 100 activists from the Communist Party get ready to go to Lybia in order to fight with the Lybians against the Army of Tchad.

What the books addThe numbers differ: about 800 PSP fighters (de Clerck and Malsagne, after the Washington Post of 21 September 1987) or about 1,000 Druze militiamen and 300 fighters of leftist organisations (Hanf). Hanf adds that the parties received a share of their pay and sees the episode as a sign of resignation after the Syrian return.

Wednesday, 23 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

As the Minister of Education, Selim Hoss asks universities to organize admission competotion and exams since the Baccalaureat exams couldn't be presented.

Thursday, 24 September 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Father Andre Masse is assassinated close to Saida. He was head of the USJ (Saint-Joseph University) section in South-Lebanon.

What the books addNot long before he was killed, Masse remarked that the foreign press passed over much of Lebanon's cultural, economic and political life; Picard quotes him.

Art and memory

testimony Picard quotes the Jesuit André Masse, who shortly before his murder complained that whole areas of Lebanese cultural, economic and political life went unreported abroad.

Sunday, 4 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Fouad Lahoud, deputee of North Metn and President of the Parliamentary Commission of Defense, dies.

Tuesday, 6 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

A wild race starts between the Preliminary Reajustment of Salaries and an obvious inflation. The Lebanese, despite a minimum salary raised to 8.500 LBP, already seem to be paying an increase they haven't perceived yet.

Monday, 12 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The dollar goes up again, which leads to another rising of the price of fuel..

Tuesday, 13 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While the price of bread is following the rising of the price of fuel, its price going up to 50 LBP per bread bag, handicaps on crutches and in wheelchairs go from Akkar to Beirut to express their wish to live in peace.

What the books addHanf and de Clerck and Malsagne mention an undated peace march by war-disabled people, some on crutches or in wheelchairs: Tripoli to Beirut in Hanf, Halba to Tyre in de Clerck and Malsagne. Whether this is the October 1987 march is not established.

Saturday, 17 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Torrential rain provokes catastrophic floods in Baalbeck and Hermel. 24 villages are considered as disaster-stricken zones, and the Temple of Venus is drowned under a thick layer of mud.

Monday, 19 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Teachers call for an open and unlimited strike.

Friday, 23 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

During his trip in the Middle-East, Richard Murphy, American Sub-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, transmits to President Gemayel ideas suggested by Damascus to stabilize the situation.

Monday, 26 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The dollar comes close to 500 LBP in Beirut. This staggering drop of the Lebanese Pound finds its explanation in the important drain of capitals out of Lebanon and the decrease of currency transfers into the country.

What the books addWith a budget deficit near 80 percent, the government leaned on central bank loans, then on printing money (Hanf). Inflation in 1987 was 450 or 620 percent depending on the index (de Clerck and Malsagne; Hanf), and close to one Lebanese in five was poor (Picard).

Thursday, 29 October 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Two French policemen are killed and a third one injured in a murder attempt in Dora. This incident represents a new challenge for France and a hard blow for Lebanon.

Thursday, 5 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The CGTL announces an open general strike, followed a few days later by a mass demonstration in Beirut and in other Lebanese regions.

What the books addHanf: the union-backed peace movement peaked in November 1987. Police estimated 60,000 people from East and West Beirut at the Museum crossing, its largest rally; others took place in Tripoli, Jbeil, Sidon and Tyre (see addition 1987-11-museum-demonstration).

Wednesday, 11 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The explosion of a suitcase-bomb in Beirut Airport provokes panic amongst the travellers, kills 3 persons and wounds 65.

Saturday, 14 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The attempt against the American Hospital is a first in the annals of terrorism. Tjis is the first time hospitals are attacked. It killed 6 ersons and wounded 37.

What the books addThe statement that hospitals had never before been attacked needs qualifying: Fisk records Israeli artillery hitting Beirut's main hospitals, the American University Hospital among them, in the 1982 siege, and Hanf reports pro-Iranian groups attacking vehicles bound for the American University and its clinic.

Monday, 16 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Saida city went through a day of combats and bombing, killing according to a first toll, 6 people and injuring fourty. The confrontation was between Palestinian combatants and the Nasserian Popular Organization's militiamen.

Monday, 23 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

President Gemayel, during a trip in Europe, makes a stop in Bonn to ask the German Government for economic help.

Friday, 27 November 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

November seems to end with a sign of hope for the hostages in Lebanon. Jean-Louis Normandin, kidnapped in March 86, and Roger Auque, kidnapped in January 87, are set free.

Wednesday, 2 December 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

While credits are unblocked to buy fuel and service stations are reopened, Victor Cassir, Minister of Industry and Oil, authorizes private companies to import fuel subject to a previous authorization by the Ministry of Oil.

Tuesday, 8 December 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

The storm is raging in the country. Floods provoke important damages and kill 5 persons. On the other hand, electric power becomes rare.

Monday, 28 December 1987

111101 entry in the original chronology

Charles Malek dies at the age of 82 ans following a long period of illness. The news of the death of the former Council's Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs saddens the political, as well as the academic and intellectual sets. The American President Ronald Reagan addresses an emotional tribute to the memory of the academic, the philosopher and the politician.

1987: day not established

1987

Added from the books

Toxic waste from Italy is smuggled into Lebanon.
The Lebanese Forces took part in a 1987 traffic that brought toxic waste from Italy into Lebanon illegally: some 15,800 barrels and 20 containers. After the public outcry of 1988 only about 5,500 barrels were sent back; the rest was burned, dumped on the coast or at sea, or buried in the Kesrouan mountains.

1987

Added from the books

The worst currency crisis since independence.
The Lebanese pound collapsed in 1987: worth about 35 to the dollar in 1986, it stood at some 520 in 1987, having lost up to 90 percent of its value. Inflation ran at 450 to 620 percent according to the measure used, and nearly one Lebanese in five was poor.

Sources differ: Inflation for 1987: 620 percent retail prices (Hanf) against 450 percent for the Beirut consumer price index (de Clerck and Malsagne); the two measure different things. The original entries 979, 1011, 1033 and 1038 give the daily stages (about LL 100 in February, 162 in July, near 500 in late October).

January 1987

Added from the books

Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy, disappears in Beirut.
In January 1987 Terry Waite, who had negotiated for the Western hostages, was taken hostage himself. He had returned to Beirut without an invitation from Islamic Jihad and asked to meet it again; Fisk says he wanted to show he had no part in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages affair.

February 1987

Added from the books

Syrian troops kill some twenty Hezbollah members in Beirut.
About twenty Hezbollah fighters were killed when Syrian troops enforcing the arms ban stormed a Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut. Fisk wrote that month of killings of prisoners held by Syria in Beirut.

Sources differ: Hanf places the killing of 23 Hezbollah fighters right after the Syrian entry of 22 February, and Fisk writes of Syrian killings of prisoners in Beirut in February 1987; de Clerck and Malsagne date the storming of Hezbollah's headquarters and the killing of about twenty members to the end of 1987. The Confluences article is by the same two authors, so it is not independent confirmation. February has the better support.

February 1987

Added from the books

Gunmen loot the Commodore Hotel, the journalists' base in West Beirut, which closes.
Days after Druze and Palestinian gunmen looted the Commodore, taking its staff's money and passports, the owner, Yussef Nazzal, shut the hotel and laid off nearly all the employees.

February 1987

Added from the books

The Communist Party's radio, Voice of the People, goes on air.
The Lebanese Communist Party started its own radio, the 'Voice of the People'. Like the militias' stations, it read out the dollar exchange rate at regular intervals.

March 1987

Added from the books

President Gemayel puts forward proposals for political reform.
Gemayel presented reform proposals that Picard counts among the drafts later taken up in the Taif Accord.

April 1987

Added from the books

The cabinet meets for the first time in over a year, to face the economic crisis.
Little came of the Karami cabinet's meeting on the fast-worsening economy, its first since the Muslim ministers' boycott began in January 1986. Karami resigned weeks later.

April 1987

Added from the books

Clerics propose an Islamic republic for Lebanon, with a draft constitution.
Amal's leaders distanced themselves from an Iranian-style draft constitution by Iranian and Lebanese clerics: all laws to follow Islamic law, an all-Shi'i council to design the new order, autonomy for minorities where they were the majority.

Sources differ: Hanf's footnote 220 dates the same Hottinger article to 6 May 1987, his bibliography to 6 April 1987.

May 1987

Added from the books

The last fighting along the Green Line.
Hanf observes that by then the old civil-war camps had almost stopped fighting each other: the Beirut demarcation line last saw combat in May 1987, and the wars of 1986-88 were waged within each camp.

June 1987

Added from the books

Walid Jumblatt hands over to Syria PSP men accused of attacking Syrian troops.
Jumblatt had to surrender several PSP intelligence men, his security chief included, to the Syrians after they had taken part in hit-and-run attacks on Syrian soldiers in West Beirut.

mid July 1987

Added from the books

The French ambassador, Paul Blanc, escapes an assassination attempt.
On 17 July 1987 France severed relations with Iran and sent naval vessels to protect French oil tankers in the Gulf. In the same period Paul Blanc, France's ambassador in Beirut, came through a first attack.

September 1987

Added from the books

Hunger riots in Beirut.
Hungry crowds in Beirut rioted unprompted, looting widely and robbing banks. From 1984 prices there had climbed three times faster than wages, and 40 percent of the employable population had no work.

September 1987

Added from the books

Amal and Hezbollah clash in the south.
Amal and Hezbollah fighters clashed in southern Lebanon, the two movements already at odds over Lebanon's future, recruitment and Iranian money. Their open war began in April 1988.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the Amal-Hezbollah conflict to a Syrian assault on Hezbollah at the end of 1987, and its first phase to 5 April 1988.

November 1987

Added from the books

Some 60,000 people from both halves of Beirut rally at the Museum crossing.
Antoine Bechara, president of the CGTL, was carried aloft from the Museum crossing into West Beirut and back by a crowd that police put at 60,000, from both halves of the city and chanting for national unity. The union-backed peace movement also rallied in Tripoli, Jbeil, Sidon and Tyre. Death threats followed against Bechara and his Communist deputy.

November 1987

Added from the books

Rafiq Hariri presents reform proposals to President Gemayel.
Rafiq Hariri, then a businessman, put forward reform proposals that Picard counts among the drafts the Taif Accord later drew on.