Download Lecture 5 Lebanon File

Lebanon
People
• The population 4,125,247
• Muslim 54% (27% Shi’ite, 27% Sunni Islam),
• Christian 40.5% (includes 21% Maronite
Catholic, 8% Greek Orthodox, 5% Greek
Catholic, 1% Protestant, 5.5% other Christian)
• Druze 5.6%,
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Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918
Independence declared 8 November 1943
The last French troops withdrew in 1946.
1948, 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon
because of the war.
Israel did not permit their return after the
cease-fire.
1958 Insurrection
Civil War 1975 - 1990
2000 Hafez Al-Assad died
Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon
Modern Government
• parliamentary democratic republic
• Confessional System
• highest offices are proportionately reserved for
representatives from certain religious communities
• direct elections must be held for the parliament every 5 years
• Parliament elects a President every 6 years to a single term.
The President is not eligible for re-election fro 6 years
• Parties largely represent sectarian interests
• Full suffrage at 21
• Palestinian refugees, predominantly Sunni Muslims, 160,000225,000, are politically inactive
• judicial system based on the Napoleonic Code
• Political blocs based local interests personal/family
allegiance rather than on political affinities
• Christians
• Free Patriotic Movement, Phalange Party, National
Bloc, National Liberal Party, Lebanese Forces,
Guardians of the Cedars
• Shi‘ite
– Amal and Hezbollah
• Druze
– Progressive Socialist Party
• Sunni
– Hizb ut-Tahrir, Future Movement, Independent
Nasserist Organization, Al-Tawhid, Ahbash.
• The 1943 National Pact,
divided 6-to-5 ratio of
Christians to Muslims
• based on 1932 Census
• Taif Agreement of 1989
evened the ratio at 1 to
1
• In the past, the system
worked to produce a
viable democracy.
Events and
demographic trends,
have upset the delicate
Muslim-Christian-Druze
balance
Civil Civil War 1975-1990 - 1990
• In 1975, coalition of Christian
groups against the joint forces
of the PLO, left-wing Druze
and Muslim militias.
• 150,000 fatalities, 100,00
major casualties, 900,000
displaced
• 3500 Car bombs
• Cold War Tensions Maronites
sided with the West while Left
Wing and pan-Arab groups
sided with Soviet aligned Arab
countries
• by the end of the war, nearly
every party had allied with and
betrayed every other party at
least once
• June 1976 Syria sent in
troops
• 1982, the PLO attacks
from Lebanon on Israel
led to an Israeli invasion
‘Operation Peace for
Galilee’
• militias deteriorated into mafia-style
organizations with many commanders turning
to crime as their main occupation rather than
fighting
• Sources of income
– Outside support: Notably from Syria and Israel.
Other Arab governments and Iran
– Road checkpoints as taxation
– Smuggling: During the civil war, Lebanon turned
into one of the world's largest narcotics producers
End of the War
• The 1989 Taif Agreement
• Parliament in defiance of the President
instituted constitutional reforms
Hezbollah
• Formed in 1982 Response
to Israeli invasion
• Trained by 1500, IRGC
Forces in the Bekaa
• 1992 The State within the
State ,Seats in Parliament,
TV broadcasts and
Military wing
• Social Services operates
at least four hospitals,
twelve clinics, twelve
schools and two
agricultural centres
• Syrian military presence faced criticism and
resistance from the Lebanese population.
• 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri was assassinated in a car bomb explosion
• marked the beginning of a series of
assassinations that resulted in the death of many
prominent Lebanese figures
• triggered the Cedar Revolution, a series of
demonstrations which demanded the withdrawal
of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the
establishment of an international commission to
investigate the assassination.
• 26 April 2005 all Syrian soldiers departed
2006 War
• 12 July 2006, Hezbollah launched a series of rocket attacks
and raids into Israeli territory
• where they killed three Israeli soldiers and captured a
further two.
• Israel responded with airstrikes, artillery fire ground
invasion of southern Lebanon, resulting in the 2006
Lebanon War.
• Ended 14 August 2006,
• 1,191 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
• Beirut's southern suburb was heavily damaged by Israeli
airstrikes where Hezbollah was deeply embedded
• In 2012, the Syrian civil war threatened to spill
over in Lebanon, causing more incidents of
sectarian violence
• Fear that the country’s sectarian based
political system is being undermined
• 1.2 Million Refugees