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56-601: On the 5 October 1927, in Bhamdoun , Greater Lebanon , during a congress of several Kurdish notables, Xoybûn was founded by members of the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan , Azadî (Kürdistan Teali Cemiyeti), Kürt Teşkilat-ı İçtimaiye Cemiyeti and Kürt Millet Fırkası. Prominent members of the congress were Kamuran Bedir Khan , Celadet Bedir Khan , Memduh Selim, Mehdi Saïd (the brother of Sheikh Said ) and Haco Agha amongst others. In

112-575: A disintegrative effect on the country, closely linked to the political polarization that preceded the 1958 Lebanese crisis . Christians mostly sided with the Western world while Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists mostly sided with Soviet -aligned Arab countries . Fighting between Lebanese Christian militias and Palestinian insurgents , mainly from the Palestine Liberation Organization , began in 1975 and generated an alliance between

168-519: A position in the four-man cabinet that was subsequently formed. Estimates of the Phalange's membership by Yezid Sayigh and other academic sources put them at a few thousand. Non-academic sources tend to inflate the Phalanges membership. What should be kept in mind was that this insurrection was met with widespread disapproval by many Lebanese who wanted no part in the regional politics and many young men aided

224-406: A sniper reportedly killed a popular figure in the city, the former Mayor of Sidon , Maarouf Saad . Many non-academic sources claim a government sniper killed Saad; however, there is no evidence to support such a claim, and it appears that whoever had killed him had intended that what began as a small and quiet demonstration to evolve into something more. The sniper targeted Saad right at the end of

280-531: A war could be fomented toward Israel. They participated in the fighting by directing armed forces against the government security in the city of Tripoli according to Yezid Sayigh 's work. In 1958, President Chamoun was unable to convince the Maronite army commander, Fuad Chehab , to use the armed forces against Muslim demonstrators, fearing that getting involved in internal politics would split his small and weak multi-confessional force. The Phalange militia came to

336-679: A war with Chamoun, referred to as the War of the Pashas . In 1956, tensions with Egypt escalated when the non-aligned President, Camille Chamoun, did not break off diplomatic relations with the Western powers that attacked Egypt during the Suez Crisis , angering Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser . This was during the Cold War and Chamoun has often been called pro-Western, though he had signed several trade deals with

392-551: Is why in later years the PLO guerrilla factions had found it easy to enter Lebanon and set up bases, as well as take over army barracks on the border with Israel as early as 1968. Early skirmishes saw the army lose control over its barracks to the PLO and lose many soldiers. Even prior to this, president Chamoun was aware of the country's vulnerability to outside forces. His Lebanese pan-Arabist Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Rashid Karami supported Nasser in 1956 and 1958. Lebanese Muslims pushed

448-649: The Beqaa Valley in the east; and Druze and Christians populated the country's mountainous areas. At the time, the Lebanese government was under the influence of elites within the Maronite Christian community . The link between politics and religion was reinforced under the French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, and the country's parliamentary structure favoured a leading position for Lebanese Christians, who constituted

504-462: The Bhamdoun synagogue . There are four Greek Orthodox churches, two Maronite , one Protestant but was not reconstructed after the war , and Druze Khalwa. Most of the population is Orthodox Christian, but there also is a large Druze and Maronite minority with a smaller Sunni Muslim one. The Bhamdoun synagogue, built in 1910, was one of three grand synagogues in Lebanon. It was abandoned shortly before

560-542: The Cold War . Chamoun asked for assistance proclaiming that Communists were going to overthrow his government. Chamoun was responding not only to the revolt of former political bosses, but also to the fact that both Egypt and Syria had taken the opportunity to deploy proxies into the Lebanese conflict. Thus the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), led by George Habash and later to become the Popular Front for

616-731: The Multinational Force in Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon , were stationed in Lebanon during this time. In 1989, the Taif Agreement marked the beginning of the end for the fighting as a committee appointed by the Arab League began to formulate solutions to the conflict. In March 1991, the Parliament of Lebanon passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes that had been perpetrated prior to

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672-699: The Persian Gulf region spend their summer vacation in Bhamdoun. Kuwaiti citizens own more than 30% of the properties in Bhamdoun Station since the 1950s. A branch of Kuwait Airways and the National bank of kuwait reopened in 2001. The town also contains the Safir Hotel , Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, Carlton Hotel, Alsheikh Hotel and many others. Bhamdoun has seven churches , two mosques built by Kuwaitis , and

728-481: The Soviet Union (see Gendzier). Nasser had attacked Chamoun because of his suspected support for the U.S. led Baghdad Pact . Nasser felt that the pro-western Baghdad Pact posed a threat to Arab nationalism . President Chamoun looked to regional pacts to ensure protection from foreign armies: Lebanon historically had a small cosmetic army that was never effective in defending Lebanon's territorial integrity, and this

784-761: The Vichy French forces, left Lebanon in 1946. The Maronites assumed power over Lebanon and economy. A parliament was created in which both Muslims and Christians each had a set quota of seats. Accordingly, the President was to be a Maronite, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of Parliament a Shia Muslim. In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine led to civil war in Palestine ,

840-565: The 1960s, the center for armed Palestinian activities had been in Jordan. They were forced to relocate after being evicted by King Hussein during the 1970 Black September in Jordan . Fatah and other Palestinian groups attempted to mount a coup in Jordan by incentivizing a split in the Jordanian army , something that the ANM had attempted to do a decade earlier by Nasser's bidding. Jordan responded, and expelled

896-681: The Cedars , Lebanese Youth Movement , Tyous Team of Commandos ) and formed an umbrella militia known as the Lebanese Forces (LF) which acted in unity, and were politically known as the Lebanese Front coalition. Before 1975, Maronite militias were reportedly supplied by weapons from Bulgaria , and by the onset of the war were receiving support from Iraq , Jordan , Pahlavi Iran , West Germany , Israel, and Saudi Arabia , who temporarily cut off their funding after Black Saturday . This funding enabled

952-674: The Israeli invasion of 1982 and was replaced by the Lebanese National Resistance Front , known as Jammoul in Arabic. Throughout the war most or all militias operated with little regard for human rights, and the sectarian character of some battles, made non-combatant civilians a frequent target. As the war dragged on, the militias deteriorated ever further into mafia -style organizations, with many commanders turning to crime as their main occupation rather than fighting. Finances for

1008-479: The Lebanese National Movement wished to bring about a more secular and democratic order, but as this group increasingly included Islamist groups, encouraged to join by the PLO, the more progressive demands of the initial agenda was dropped by January 1976. Islamists did not support a secular order in Lebanon and wished to bring about rule by Muslim clerics. These events, especially the role of Fatah and

1064-563: The Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a faction of the PLO, were deployed to Lebanon by Nasser. The ANM were a clandestine militia implicated in attempted coups against both the Jordanian monarchy and the Iraqi president throughout the 1950s at Nasser's bidding. The founding members of Fatah , including Yasser Arafat and Khalil Wazir , also flew to Lebanon to use the insurrection as a means by which

1120-613: The Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) the French invaders took control of the area under what they called the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon under the League of Nations . The French created the state of Greater Lebanon as a safe haven for the Maronites, but included a large Muslim population within the borders. In 1926, Lebanon was declared a republic, and a constitution was adopted. However,

1176-549: The PLO / Fatah to transform the Western Part of Beirut into its stronghold. Fatah constituted 80% of the membership of the PLO and Fatah guerrillas now controlled most of its institutions. The PLO had taken over the heart of Sidon and Tyre in the early 1970s. It controlled great swathes of south Lebanon, in which the indigenous Shiite population had to suffer the humiliation of passing through PLO checkpoints and now they had worked their way by force into Beirut. The PLO did this with

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1232-668: The Palestinian forces into Lebanon. When they arrived, they created "a State within the State". This action was not welcomed by the Lebanese government, and this shook Lebanon's fragile sectarian balance. Solidarity with the Palestinians was expressed by the Lebanese Sunni Muslims, with the aim to change the political system from one of consensus amongst different sects, towards one where their power share would increase. Certain groups in

1288-528: The Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists. The conflict deepened as foreign powers, namely Syria , Israel , and Iran , became involved and supported or fought alongside different factions. Over the course of the conflict, these alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably. While much of the fighting took place between opposing religious and ideological factions, there was significant conflict within some faith communities, especially amongst both Christians and Shias. Peacekeeping forces, such as

1344-459: The Phalange in their suppression of the insurrection, especially as many of the demonstrators were little more than proxy forces hired by groups such as the ANM and Fatah founders as well as being hired by the defeated parliamentary bosses. In the 1960s Lebanon was relatively calm, but this soon changed. Fatah and other Palestinian Liberation Organization factions had long been active among the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanese camps. Throughout

1400-545: The Tripoli Islamist movement known as Tawhid, in changing the agenda being pursued by many groups, including Communists. This ragtag coalition has often been referred to as left-wing, but many participants were actually very conservative and had religious elements that did not share any broader ideological agenda. Rather, they were brought together by the short-term goal of overthrowing the established political order, each motivated by their own grievances. These forces enabled

1456-654: The activities for Kurdish independence which amounted to the closure of Xoybuns activities in Aleppo in 1928. Under the leadership of Celadet Alî Bedirxan, Kamuran Alî Bedirxan, Ekrem Cemilpaşa , Memdûh Selîm and others, Xoybûn decided to promote Ihsan Nuri, a former officer in the Ottoman and Turkish armies, to general (pasha) and sent him to Erzurum with 20 comrades. They published a newspaper named Agirî . The Republic of Ararat declared its independence on 8 October 1927. The central committee of Xoybûn appointed Ibrahim Heski , who

1512-541: The aim to assassinate Mustafa Kemal . The Ararat rebellion was subsequently put down by Turkish forces in 1931. Bhamdoun Bhamdoun ( Arabic : بحمدون ), is a town in Lebanon 23 km (14 mi) from Beirut on the main road that leads to Damascus and in the suburbs of the main tourist city of Aley , lying at an altitude of 1,150 m (3,770 ft) above the Lamartine valley. Two separate villages compose

1568-499: The assistance of so-called volunteers from Libya and Algeria shipped in through the ports it controlled, as well as a number of Sunni Lebanese groups who had been trained and armed by PLO/ Fatah and encouraged to declare themselves as separate militias. However, as Rex Brynen makes clear in his publication on the PLO, these militias were nothing more than "shop-fronts" or in Arabic "Dakakin" for Fatah, armed gangs with no ideological foundation and no organic reason for their existence, except

1624-457: The canton, in Maronite towns and villages no garbage littered the streets, gas was one-fifth the price charged in West Beirut and the price of bread was controlled to levels comparable to pre-war pricing. Maronite Christian militias acquired arms from Romania and Bulgaria as well as from West Germany, Belgium and Israel, and drew supporters from the larger Maronite population in the north of

1680-2327: The civil war which started in 1975, but the shell of the structure still stands. In 2000, a winery called Chateau Belle-Vue began planting vines, creating few jobs in the village. It began producing wine in 2003. The "Renaissance 2003" blend that it produced won the International Spirits and Wine Competition's Gold Medal Best in Class award in 2005. Lebanese civil war [REDACTED] Lebanese National Movement [REDACTED] PLO (1975–83) [REDACTED] ASALA [REDACTED] Hezbollah (1985–1990) [REDACTED]   Iran (from 1980, mainly IRGC and Army paramilitary units) [REDACTED] Syria [REDACTED] Lebanese Armed Forces [REDACTED] UNIFIL (from 1978) Multinational Force in Lebanon (1982–1984) [REDACTED] Arab Deterrent Force (1976–1982) [REDACTED] Bachir Gemayel   † [REDACTED] Amine Gemayel [REDACTED] William Hawi   † [REDACTED] Elie Hobeika [REDACTED] Samir Geagea Etienne Saqr [REDACTED] Georges Adwan [REDACTED] Saad Haddad # [REDACTED] Antoine Lahad [REDACTED] Menachem Begin [REDACTED] Ariel Sharon [REDACTED] Rafael Eitan [REDACTED] Avigdor Ben-Gal [REDACTED] Kamal Jumblatt   † [REDACTED] Walid Jumblatt [REDACTED] Inaam Raad [REDACTED] Abdallah Saadeh [REDACTED] Assem Qanso [REDACTED] George Hawi [REDACTED] Elias Atallah [REDACTED] Muhsin Ibrahim [REDACTED] Ibrahim Kulaylat [REDACTED] Ali Eid [REDACTED] Yasser Arafat [REDACTED] George Habash [REDACTED] Hagop Hagopian [REDACTED] Monte Melkonian [REDACTED] Subhi al-Tufayli [REDACTED] Abbas al-Musawi [REDACTED] Michel Aoun Second phase: 1977–1982 Third phase: 1982–1984 Fourth phase: 1984–1990 Cantons and puppet states The Lebanese Civil War ( Arabic : الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah )

1736-532: The constitution was suspended in 1932. Various factions sought unity with Syria, or independence from the French. In 1936, the Maronite Phalange party was founded by Pierre Gemayel . World War II and the 1940s brought great change to Lebanon and the Middle East. Lebanon was promised independence, which was achieved on 22 November 1943. Free French troops, who had invaded Lebanon in 1941 to rid Beirut of

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1792-467: The country, they were generally right-wing in their political outlook, and all the major Christian militias were Maronite -dominated, and other Christian sects played a secondary role. Initially, the most powerful of the Maronite militias was the National Liberal Party, locally known as "Ahrar", who were politically led by the former president Camille Chamoun . The NLP had its own militia which

1848-455: The demonstration as it was dissipating. Farid Khazen, sourcing the local histories of Sidon academics and eyewitnesses, gives a run-down of the puzzling events of the day that based on their research. Khazen reveals, based on the Sidon academic's work, that Saad was not in dispute with the fishing consortium made up of Yugoslav nationals. The Yugoslavian representatives in Lebanon had negotiated with

1904-445: The differences between the fishermen and the consortium, and his acceptance of a place on the board made him a target of attack by the conspirator, who sought a full conflagration around the small protest. The events in Sidon were not contained for long. The government began to lose control of the situation in 1975. In the run-up to the war and its early stages, militias tried to be politically orientated non-sectarian forces, but due to

1960-550: The end of Mandatory Palestine , and the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. The ongoing civil war was transformed into a state conflict between Israel and the Arab states in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . This led to Palestinian refugees crossing the border into Lebanon. In July 1958, Lebanon was threatened by a civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslims. President Camille Chamoun had attempted to break

2016-576: The fact their individual members were put on the PLO/ Fatah payroll. In February 1975, the strike by fishermen at Sidon could be considered the first important episode that set off the outbreak of hostilities. That event involved a specific issue: the attempt of former President Camille Chamoun, also the head of the Maronite-oriented National Liberal Party, to monopolize fishing along the coast of Lebanon. The injustices perceived by

2072-404: The fisherman's union to make the fishermen shareholders in the company. The company offered to modernize the fishermen's equipment, buy their catch, and give their union an annual subsidy. Saad, as a union representative, and not the mayor of Sidon at the time as many erroneous sources claim, was offered a place on the company's board. There has been some speculation that Saad's attempts to narrow

2128-482: The fishermen evoked sympathy from many Lebanese, and reinforced the resentment and antipathy that were widely felt against the state and the economic monopolies. The demonstrations against the fishing company were quickly transformed into a political action supported by the political left and their allies in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The state tried to suppress the demonstrators, and

2184-579: The formal end of the hostilities in 1990. In 1860, a civil war between Druze and Maronites erupted in the Ottoman Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon . The war resulted in the massacre of about 10,000 Christians and at least 6,000 Druzes. World War I was hard for the Lebanese. Most of the Arabs fought in the Ottoman army against the British and French invaders. With the defeat and dissolution of

2240-467: The government to join the newly created United Arab Republic , a country formed out of the unification of Syria and Egypt, while the majority of Lebanese and especially the Maronites wanted to keep Lebanon as an independent nation with its own independent parliament. President Camille Chamoun feared the toppling of his government and asked for U.S. intervention. At the time the United States was engaged in

2296-553: The law's time of enactment. In May 1991, all of the armed factions that had been operating in Lebanon were dissolved, excluding Hezbollah , an Iran-backed Shia Islamist militia . Though the Lebanese Armed Forces slowly began to rebuild as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian armed institution after the conflict, the federal government remained unable to challenge Hezbollah's armed strength . Religious tensions, especially between Shias and Sunnis , persisted across Lebanon since

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2352-408: The majority of the population. However, Lebanon's Muslims comprised a large minority and the influx of thousands of Palestinians —first in 1948 and again in 1967 —contributed to Lebanon's demographic shift towards an eventual Muslim majority. Lebanon's Christian-dominated government had been facing increasing opposition from Muslims, pan-Arabists , and left-wing groups . The Cold War also exerted

2408-528: The newly formed Lebanese Forces militia to establish itself in Maronite-dominated strongholds, and rapidly transformed from an unorganized and poorly equipped militia into a fearsome armed group that now had its own armor, artillery, commando units (SADM), a small Navy, and a highly advanced Intelligence branch. Meanwhile, in the north, the Zgharta Liberation Army served as the private militia of

2464-558: The president's aid instead to bring a final end to the road blockades which were crippling the major cities. Encouraged by its efforts during this conflict, later that year, principally through violence and the success of general strikes in Beirut, the Phalange achieved what journalists dubbed the "counterrevolution". By their actions the Phalangists brought down the government of Prime Minister Karami and secured for their leader, Pierre Gemayel ,

2520-668: The same month the Xoybûn achieved a treaty with the Armenian Revolution Federation (ARF/Dashnaktsutyun). The treaty was negotiated in Beirut on the 29 October by Vahan Papazian for the ARF and by Celadet Bedir Khan, Mehmet Şükru Sekban, Ali Riza (the son of Sheik Said and others on the side of the Xoybun. The Xoybûn had two separate sections, an armed section and a political one. The armed wing

2576-505: The sectarian nature of Lebanese society, they inevitably gained their support from the same community as their leaders came from. In the long run almost all militias openly identified with a given community. The two main alliances were the Lebanese Front, consisting of nationalist Maronites who were against Palestinian militancy in Lebanon, and the Lebanese National Movement, which consisted of pro-Palestinian Leftists. The LNM dissolved after

2632-411: The stranglehold on Lebanese politics exercised by traditional political families in Lebanon. These families maintained their electoral appeal by cultivating strong client–patron relations with their local communities. Although he succeeded in sponsoring alternative political candidates to enter the elections in 1957, causing the traditional families to lose their positions, these families then embarked upon

2688-505: The town, Bhamdoun-el-mhatta (literally meaning "Bhamdoun the station") and Bhamdoun-el-day'aa ("Bhamdoun the village"). A railroad used to link Bhamdoun to Beirut with the train station being a prominent feature of the town for many years. The station and railroad were eventually abandoned when cars became more popular. During the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon , the Druze spared

2744-461: The village of Bhamdun from attack, due to appeals of the resident American missionary to prevent violence. Before the Lebanese civil war , Bhamdoun was one of Lebanon's most renowned and favorite summer resorts. Today, the town has regained some of its past tourism industry as most of its hotels, restaurants and entertainment centers have been renovated or rebuilt. Tourists, especially from Kuwait and

2800-530: The war effort were obtained in one or all of three ways: As central government authority disintegrated and rival governments claimed national authority, the various parties/militias started to create comprehensive state administrations in their territory. These were known as cantons , Swiss-like autonomous provinces. The best known was " Marounistan ", which was the Phalangist/Lebanese Forces territory. The Progressive Socialist Party's territory

2856-483: Was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon . The religious diversity of the Lebanese population played a notable role in the lead-up to and during the conflict: Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Sunni Muslims comprised the majority in the coastal cities; Lebanese Shia Muslims were primarily based throughout southern Lebanon and in

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2912-507: Was elected as its president as well as Süleymniyeli Kerim Rüstem Bey, Memduh Selim, Mehmet Şükrü Sekban, Haco Agha, Ramanlı Emin, Ali Rıza, Bozan bey Shahin and Mustafa bey Şahin were elected as members of the first central committee of Xoybûn. The Xoybûn can be viewed as a counterweight to the SAK led by Seyyit Abdul Kadir , who favored autonomy for the Kurds instead of independence. Turkey severely opposed

2968-641: Was founded in 1968 and led by Camille's son Dany Chamoun , the Tigers Militia . Another party was the Kataeb Party , or Phalangists, which was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936. Kataeb similarly had its own militia which was officially formed in 1961, the Kataeb Regulatory Forces led by William Hawi until 1976 when Bachir Gemayel succeeded him. Kataeb Regulatory Forces merged with Tigers Militia and several minor groups ( Al-Tanzim , Guardians of

3024-406: Was led by Ihsan Nuri , an Ottoman soldier. The political wing was based in Damascus , represented in several western countries and mostly by members of the Bedirxan family. The Xoybûn presented itself as a progressive but pragmatic organization, which had an independence as a goal wanted to learn from former decisions which led to the failure of the Sheikh Said rebellion . Celadet Alî Bedirxan who

3080-448: Was one of the chieftains of Jalali tribe, to the governorship of Agirî Province and Ihsan Nuri Pasha to the post of general commander of the Kurdish Armed Forces. Xoybûn also made appeals to the Great Powers and the League of Nations , but under pressure from Turkey the British Empire and France restricted the activities of those involved in the Xoybûn. Turkey accused Kurdish and Armenian rebels several times to have invaded Turkey with

3136-404: Was the " Civil Administration of the Mountain ", commonly known as the Jebel-el-Druze , a name which had formerly been used for a Druze state in Syria. The Marada area around Zghorta was known as the "Northern Canton". Wilton Wynn, a TIME correspondent, visited the East Beirut Christian canton in 1976, the same year as its foundation. He reported that compared to the villages outside of

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