24 news for the 2nd, 22nd of February, September, November, December
with the booksNovember 2, 1975sunday
Chuchu, the famous actor died from a hart attack. His real name was Hassan Alaeddine, the friend of younger and older kids was the most popular comedian on stage and on TV.
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December 22, 1975monday
Thousands of armed elements attempted to invade Zahleh
The army riposted and hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets, fell on the Town. Simultaneously, bloody fights were reported in Tripoli.
\_this day in full the books also date it 20 December 1975 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Bishop Yuhanna Bassul's diary records 500 shells hitting Zahleh on the night of 22 December, with some 15,000 fedayeen gathered in the plain; at his appeal the army's Maghawir commando regiment came to help. Hanf writes that 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade had entered from Syria on 20 December and besieged the town, which Syrian positions also shelled.
September 22, 1976wednesday
Bechir Gemayel announced the creation of an army to defend Lebanon.
\_this day in full the books also date it 25 March 1976, 31 August 1976 \_on this day
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Ménargues dates the formal unification of the Christian militias under Bashir Gemayel's command to 31 August 1976; Yara El Khoury has it announced to President Frangieh in early September 1976. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, 'Lebanese Forces' was not the official name until 1981, but the unified command was officially founded on 25 March 1976.
September 22, 1979saturday
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.
\_this day in full the books also date it 13 March 1979 \_on this day
November 22, 1979thursday
For the first time since 1974, the Lebanese celebrated Independence Day with showiness.
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Hanf 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.
November 2, 1981monday
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.
\_this day in full the books also date it 11 September 1981 \_on this day
September 2, 1982thursday
November 2, 1982tuesday
Sister Theresa arrived in Beirut for a short visit of several days. She offered housing to 37 young Lebanese, providing them with everything they needed.
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December 2, 1982thursday
A wide meeting in Baabda reached an agreement on the creation of a Lebanese strike force in charge of reestablishing order and security in Aley and the Chouf.
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February 2, 1983wednesday
The aggressions didn't spare the Multinational Force. Reacting to the anti-French attacks, the President of the French Republic, Francois Mitterand, ordered the reinforcement of the French contingent in Lebanon.
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September 22, 1983thursday
It was the turn of the French to react. The super-standards bombarded the artillery positions in Dhour Choueir while a bomb shower fell on Greater Beirut.
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November 2, 1983wednesday
At the Geneva conference, the Mai 17 agreement was the main subject of debates. A Gemayel-Frangieh reconciliation took place.
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Geneva's leaders agreed on Lebanon's 'Arab identity'. Fisk saw two reconciliations: Camille Chamoun ended five years of silence with Suleiman Frangieh, and Frangieh's public embrace of Amin Gemayel seemed to close their families' feud.
February 2, 1984thursday
The schools closed their doors in the Eastern sector of the capital due to the blind shelling of Beirut and its suburbs.
\_this day in full the books also date it 1 February 1984 \_on this day
September 2, 1986tuesday
The first meeting of the Dialog Committee was held at the Beirut racecourse. The ten members of the government met for the first time since November 1985. The Ministers decided to elaborate a new National Pact.
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The meetings produced no agreement (Hanf).
November 2, 1986sunday
An American, David Jacobsen, detained by the Islamic Jihad since the 27th of May 1985, was finally released.
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Fisk's account puts the kidnapping on 28 May 1985.
December 2, 1986tuesday
A general strike paralyzed the country. The Lebanese were unable to cope with the increase in prices. The leaders couldn't find any solution to the crisis. The popular discontent was on the rise.
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December 2, 1987wednesday
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.
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February 2, 1988tuesday
Jacques Merrin, a Frenchman working for the DGSE, is killed by unknown persons in the neighborhood of the Palace of Justice.
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September 22, 1988thursday
A few minutes before the expiration of his mandate, President Amine Gemayel named the Maronite commander of the army, general Michel Aoun, Prime Minister of a military government. According to the constitution, the ministers' council takes over the executive power in case of a vacancy of the presidency. However, the three Muslim Ministers withdraw immediately.
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Hanf (p. 570) says Gemayel signed the decrees at 23.45, after an ultimatum from Aoun and Geagea, and that the cabinet had six officers from six communities. Traboulsi's postscript dates the end of the term to October 1988, and Picard (p. 155) and Quéméner to August 1988; the other sources agree on 22 September.
September 22, 1989friday
A cease-fire was officially observed while general Aoun answered favorably to the Arab peace proposals.
\_this day in full the books also date it 13 September 1989, 23 September 1989 \_on this day
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The dates differ: Picard ends the 'war of liberation' on 22 September; de Clerck and Malsagne say the ceasefire took effect on 23 September. Hanf dates the troika's new plan to 13 September (de Clerck and Malsagne say 17 September). Aoun accepted it, urging the deputies to insist on a timetable for Syrian withdrawal.
November 22, 1989wednesday
As soon as the ceremonies celebrating Independence Day ended, and after President Moawad left the Governmental Serail in Sanyeh, his car was destroyed by an important load of explosives.
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Moawad had been president for seventeen days. Hanf puts the dead at fourteen, including the president; de Clerck and Malsagne say he died with 23 other people. Fisk describes a remote-controlled charge of 250 kg of explosives concealed in a disused shop, and watched bulldozers clear the rubble within hours.
