Once the site of ancient Phoenician civilization, Lebanon of the late 1960’s was known as the Switzerland of the Mediterranean, a cosmopolitan center of banking, commerce and society. The country borders on Israel to the South and Syria to the East and north, with the Mediterranean Sea to its west. Few countries have plunged so far, so quickly and suffered such total destruction as ravaged Lebanon during the civil wars between 1975 and 1990. It’s estimated that more than 100,000 people died, 200,000 were wounded and as many as 1 million were refugees in the civil war, which brought occupation forces from Israel and Syria, as well as UN peacekeepers.
Although Lebanon has begun the long road to recovery, its prospects are tied to resolution of the Israeli situation, its ability to maintain a government that serves the interests of diverse religious and ethnic groups and its ability to manage relations with Syria. Lebanon remains home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees housed in camps and a base for armed resistance groups opposed to Israel.

After occupying portions of southern Lebanon since1982, Israeli withdrew its forces from most of southern Lebanon in May 2000. In 2001, Syria reduced the number of troops stationed in Lebanon and redeployed most of its forces to northern Lebanon. Hizbollah guerrillas remain a significant factor in southern Lebanon and have begun the evolution from armed resistance to recognized political party.

Historical Background

Until 1926 when Lebanon became independent of French rule, there had been little distinction between the area of Lebanon and Syria. In ancient times the Levant was home to the Phoenicians who established the foundations for western civilization, inventing the alphabet, building sea-going ships and creating the first large-scale manufacturing of textiles and ceramics as early as 1250 B.C. In 332 B.C. the region was conquered by Alexander the Great and in 63 A.D. fell to Rome’s Byzantine conquest and remained under at least marginal Roman control for nearly 600 years. Christianity took firm root in the region until 636 when the Ummaia Caliphs rose to power and Damascus became home of the Caliphate, the ruling base of the fast-growing Islamic world prior to its move to Bahgdad. In the 11th century the Levant came under control of the Seljuk Turks, European Crusaders, Saladin’s Kurds, the Egyptian Mamluks and finally the Ottoman Turks in 1516. Syria remained part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years, except for a brief period of occupation by Napoleon.

Centuries of competing Christian and Muslim influence created powerful communal differences between Maronite Christians and Druze Muslims, as well as Sunni, Shia Muslims. Disagreements over land ownership led to a Maronite rebellion and the Druze massacred thousands of Maronites, prompting intervention by French forces to protect the Christians in 1860. France forced the Turks to establish a separate province of “Little Lebanon,” over which European states would have substantial influence. With European backing the Maronites assumed superiority over their Muslim neighbors.

Seeking to exploit Europe’s distraction with World War I and rid themselves of European influence, Arab nationalists revolted and established a short-lived government. After World War I, the League of Nations awarded France control over the Levant (Syria and Lebanon), a measure to protect French interests in the Iraq Petroleum pipeline from Iraq to Tripoli, while England took control over Iraq, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. France divided the region into territories, roughly based on communal differences. In 1926 Lebanon became independent. Even today some Syrians and Lebanese continue to argue for reunification of Syria and Lebanon.

In an effort to satisfy competing ethnic and religious groups, a 1943 agreement stipulated that the government be comprised of a Maronite Christian President, a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister and a Shai Speaker of the National Assembly, while Assembly seats and government jobs would be distributed on a 6 to 5 ratio between Christians and Muslims. As a result, Shia’s held relatively little political power and Maronite Christians dominated trade, commerce and wealth.

Civil War

In the late 1950’s, as Christians sought stronger western ties, Muslims demanded greater association with Egypt and Syria and riots flared into full-scale insurrection. At the request of Lebanon’s president, the U.S. sent 14,000 Marines to restore order and they were withdrawn the same year.

In the 1973 Arab-Israeli War Lebanon remained neutral but granted refuge to more than 300,000 Palestinians fleeing the war and subsequent Israel occupation. Having fled from Jordan in 1971, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) established operating bases in southern Lebanon. As Palestinian insurgents struck at Israel, the Israelis launched incursions and air attacks into southern Lebanon, galvanizing difference between Christians and Muslims. In 1975, the Lebanese Christian Phalange (the Maronite militia) launched attacks against Palestinian refuge camps and civil war erupted.

To help protect Christians from retaliatory attacks, the Lebanese government requested intervention by Syrian troops in 1976. These forces became part of the Arab Deterrent Force including troops from Sudan, Libya and Saudi Arabia. Although internal fighting diminished, Israel continued operations against Palestinians.

In 1978 Israel invaded and occupied parts of southern Lebanon, but withdrew when UN Resolution 425 introduced troops (UNIFIL) to enforce a buffer zone. In 1981, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) joined with rogue elements of the Lebanese Armed Forces to bombard the cities of Tyre and Sidon and later launching air raids targeting Beirut. In response, Syrian forces began installing Soviet missile batteries in the Bekaa valley.

The Israeli Invasion

In June 1982, Israel launched operation “Peace for Galilee” a full-scale invasion and bombardment of Lebanon. The IDF overran UNIFIL peacekeepers and laid sieg to Beirut..Beirut and Tripoli, Lebanon’s major commercial centers were virtually destroyed by IDF bombing and artillery. Israeli agents raided Palestinian facilities and confiscated historical and cultural archives from the center for Palestinian Studies. The PLO agreed to leave Lebanon under international oversight and protection.

On Sept. 14, 1982, one day after Bashir Gemayal was chosen President, he was assassinated in a bombing of Phalangist headquarters. Israel forces immediately occupied Beirut on the 15th and on Sept. 16th Chrisitan Phalangists carried out the massacre of an estimated 2,000 Palestinian refugees, including hundreds of women and children at the Sabra and Chatila camps.

Subsequent investigations have alleged Israeli culpability in the massacre and Israeli General Ariel Sharon, now Prime Minister, still faces ongoing war crimes charges by an international tribunal. (Accounts of these events are conspicuously absent from many official accounts of events during this period.)

In April 1983 a truck bomb destroyed the US embassy in Beirut, killing 63 and in October another truck bomb at US military headquarters killed 241soldiers. In early 1984, members of the Multinational Forces (MNF) from the US, France Britain and Italy withdrew from Lebanon. In mid-1985 Israel withdrew IDF troops from Beirut to a 10-mile wide buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon and remained allied with the Christian South Lebanese Army (SLA). Syrian forces remained deployed in much of the country.

Continuing Turmoil and War

Amid one-candidate elections and disputed political appointments, internal and factional political and street fighting continued. Eventually Hizbullah (Shia) defeated Amal (Shia) and these leftist Muslim groups and merged. Likewise infighting between various Christian militias also led to consolidation and eventual focus on potential political accommodation. General Awn, a pro-Israeli Maronie Christian became president in 1988 and opposed by Muslim Prime Minister al-Huss, the government became stalemated.

In September 1989, the Arab league negotiated a cease fire agreement and convened a meeting of Lebanon’s National Assembly in Taif, Saudi Arabia. The assembly ratified a peace plan known as the Taif Accord. This agreement maintained a Maronite Christian president indirectly elected by the parliament, but it transferred many executive powers to the prime minister, a Sunni Muslim, by agreement. Parliament is evenly split between Muslim-Druze and Christians. In 1989, President Muawwad was assassinated. Former president General Awn holed-up in the Presidential palace, refused to recognize the election of al-Harawi as new president and his ratification of the Taif Accords.

In late 1990, Syrian troops drove Awn from the Presidential palace and into exile. Despite Syria’s continuing military presence and intervention, the Assad regime has generally supported political moderates and acted to limit the influence of foreign interests supporting Chrisitian minorities. Syria is often criticized for tolerating Hizbullah extremists (a US designated terrorist group) and its support from Iran, but is, perhaps unfairly, given little credit for moderating Hizbullah’s influence and operations.

In May 2000, Israel began the long-awaited withdrawal of IDF forces from the 10-mile wide buffer zone in southern Lebanon, with the SLA expected to remain. However, when the SAL abandoned their positions and sought asylum in Israel, Hizbullah assumed control, captured over 1500 SLA troops who have been tried as traitors by the Lebanese government. In June 2001, Syria surprised observers by withdrawing 6,000 troops from Beirut, but retains about 20,000 in northern and eastern Lebanon.

With political reforms in place, Lebanon is continuing its economic recovery and reconstruction against a backdrop of insecurity and potential renewed conflict. Areas of concern are focused on the Lebanon-Israel border from which Hizbullah operates, the Golan Heights and Shi’ba farms, territories in dispute between Syria and Israel, and the large Palestinian refugee camps, awaiting resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Israel continues to occupy the Shi’ba Farms area, currently a part of Syria, but also claimed by Lebanon. This remains the only active target of Hizbullah operations. In September 2000, Hizbullah guerrillas captured 3 Israeli soldiers and abducted a retired IDF colonel. They have also launched occasional rocket attacks toward IDF forces.

America’s invasion of Iraq and subsequent saber rattling at Syria and Iran has added new uncertainty and risk to an always-volatile region. In February 2005, Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a massive car bomb, sparking protests against Syria, whose government is believed to have had a hand in the assassination. On Fberuary 28th, pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami resigned and dissolved Lebabnon's government.

Karami's resignation has been greeted as a step toward democracy and possible withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, but the country's turbulent history and factional politics could as easily descend into a new era of conflict.

Although Shia’ Muslims are the single largest population group, the National Pact stipulated the Lebanon’s president must be a Christian and the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim. The Shia’ would be represented by a powerless the Speaker of the Assembly. As Lebanon developed into a cosmopolitan hub of banking and commerce, its wealth and power remained in the hands of Maronite Christians. The rural Shi’ites were destined to a permanent underclass status, and as they migrated to the cities, namely the ghettoes of Beirut, this fact of life became readily apparent and Shia frustrations grew. By 1975, many Shi’ites lived in Palestinian refugee camps and became targets of Maronite militia’s pogroms in the first stage of the civil war. This galvanized Muslim and Christian sects and politicized the Shia.

When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982 and allied themselves with Christian militias, Muslims, recognizing the sectarian nature of the conflict consolidated and identified an ideological basis for their resistance movement. The recent Iranian Revolution presented a convenient, rational and apparently successful model, and was adopted by Hizbullah.

The Israeli invasion and occupation claimed over 20,000 lives (mostly Shi’ites), destroyed dozens of Shai villages and interned thousands of Lebanese Muslims. When the PLO was driven from Lebanon in 1982, Hizbullah was amply motivated to take its place in the Lebanese Resistance Force. After Israel withdrew partially into the 10-mile buffer zone, Hizbullah focused its attention on driving out the Israeli occupation forces and attacking Israel’s supporters, namely U.S. troop stationed in Lebanon as part of the Multinational Force (MNF).

When Iran stepped in, sending over 1000 military advisers to train and equip Hibzullah guerrillas, Syria found itself in an untenable position. Faced with serious internal conflict against elements of the Muslim Brotherhood and threatened by the Israeli invasion, Syria was unable and unwilling to also confront Khomeini’s revolutionary Iran. As a result, Syria accepted Iranian support for Hizbullah and tolerates training bases in the Bekaa Valley.

Subsequently, Hizbullah merged with the Amal Shia’I militia, a former competitor, expanding its base and influence. This ability to reconcile differences was evidence of the Hizbullah’s pragmatism. Since its inception the organization has evolved with the times and crafted a thoughtful blend of religious ideology and political realism.

According to Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, author of Hizbu’llah Politics & Religion, “Hizbullah has been able to both ensure its political survival and develop its political thought without compromising its principles or losing its intellectual consistency – an ability which distinguishes the party from most other Islamic groups which, in the face of political reality, have either remained ideologically rigid or severely compromised their principles.” He also points out that Hizbullah is the only Lebanese party that has not tainted by charges of corruption.

Many analysts and government sources continue to demonize Hizbullah’s by quoting its ideology and political platform as published in 1985, nearly 20 years. A typical claim is that, “the groups leaders preach religious extremism against Israel and disseminate Iranian ideology.” However, Saad-Ghorayeb describes how Hizbullah has evolved under its various leaders, abandoned its original intolerant exclusivity to pursue participation in the secular, democratic political system and later adopting themes of Christian-Muslim reconciliation and co-existence.

As the Iraqi Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis work to build a functional Iraqi political system it would not be surprising to witness the mergence of a political party influenced by Hizbullah’s ideology and intellectual foundations.