How much do you know about Lebanon?
Want a quick introduction? Watch three movies and a four episode Showtime thriller, read a recently published non fiction book that reads like a novel, and toss in an article from Wikipedia or the Encyclopedia Britannica. I’ll tell you a little about each of these below. First, though, here’s some historical context.
The Beginning
The trouble in Lebanon had its beginnings in 1943 when the nation gained independence from France. At that time, an unwritten agreement called the National Pact divided power among the three largest faiths according to the 1932 census: Maronite Christians were to hold the presidency and a majority in parliament; a Sunni Muslim was to be appointed prime minister; the speaker of parliament would be a Shiite.
Dates to Remember
1958: A civil war erupts but is short lived after after Lebanese President Chamoun asks US President Eisenhower for help. Ike authorizes Operation Blue Bat on July 15, 1958. US troops land on the beaches of Beirut and remain in the city until October.
1975: Per Wikipedia: Gunmen from the Phalanges, a Lebanese Christian group, ambush a bus in Beirut, killing 27 of its mainly Palestinian Muslim passengers, initiating the Lebanese Civil War, mainly between Christians (with Israeli support) and Muslims.
1982: Israel launches a full-scale invasion of Lebanon. launching Operation Peace for Galilee. Israelis circle West Beirut, the stronghold of Arafat’s PLO. Pro-Israeli president-elect Bachir Gemayel is assassinated. Bachir’s elder brother Amine Gemayel is elected president.
800 US Marines arrive but stay only a short time. Later the same month (September), a multinational peacekeeping force of French, Italian, and US troops deploy in Beirut.
April 1983: A suicide bomber attacks the US Embassy in Beirut. 49 Embassy staff are killed and 34 are injured.
October 23, 1983: Terrorist bombing attacks against US and French armed forces in Beirut claim 299 lives. The attacks hasten the removal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon in February 1984. Responsibility is claimed by a group calling itself Islamic Jihad, a largely unknown cell whose known figures are later associated with Hezbollah (Britannica).
October 1990: The end of the civil war.
Three Movies
1958
By 1958 the population make-up of Lebanon has changed. There is an outbreak of hostilities and President Eisenhower sends in the Marines to restore peace. The American military intervention called Operation Blue Bat begins on July 15, 1958, and is the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine, a policy designed to protect regimes that are considered to be threatened by international communism.
The Christians and Muslims form militias.
The film 1958 by the Lebanese director Ghassan Salhab provides insight into these happenings. You can watch it for free on Vimeo. The film takes place in both Senegal – a place of emigration for the Lebanese – and Lebanon. The film is not for everyone – it’s slow and moody and can be a bit confusing at first – but it provides insight into the conflict of the period and serves as a preamble to the civil war of 1973.
West Beirut
By the early 1970s, there is a newcomer in Lebanon’s demographic mix. When the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is forced to leave Jordan in 1971, its leader, Yasser Arafat, sets up operations in West Beirut, effectively creating a state within a state.
The entertaining (and sometimes comedic) film West Beirut (1998) tells the story of the Lebanese civil war through the eyes of two teenage boys. It paints a changing picture of the city as the war unfolds in 1975, emphasizing the escalating violence and the numerous social and religious rifts in Lebanese culture.
The film is available for free on YouTube.
Beirut Kidnappings
Between 1982 and 1992, during the height of the Lebanese Civil War, over 104 individuals are taken hostage. Twenty-one national origins were taken, primarily Americans and Western Europeans. Most were chosen because of their nationality and the ease of kidnapping. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappear after being abducted (Wikipedia).
Almost all the kidnappers are affiliated with Hezbollah. Imad Mughniyah (see Ghost of Beirut below) is involved. The motive for the hostage-taking was to stop the US and others from retaliating against Hezbollah for killing 241 Americans and 58 French in the Marine barracks and embassy bombings in Beirut in 1983. Some say the Iranians played a major role.
The movie Beirut tells the story of one kidnapping. The blogger Nick LaRovere says: “Set primarily in 1982, Jon Hamm stars as Mason Skiles, a former diplomat whose retirement from the State Department came after an earlier family tragedy in the city. Now a drunk, negotiating local labor disputes, Skiles is once again put in a position of intrigue when a former friend is kidnapped by a terrorist splinter group. Asked by name to negotiate a deal, Skiles finds that there’s a lot more at stake in the war-torn capital of Lebanon than first meets the eye.”
If you like Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, you’ll probably like the film. You can learn more about it here.
A Four Part Series on Showtime
Ghost of Beirut
Ghost of Beirut describes itself as “. . . a fictional account of deeply researched events.”
The series explores the real-life manhunt for Imad Mughniyeh, the leader of the group known as Islamic Jihad, forerunner of Hezbollah. US and Israeli officials have long accused Mughniyeh of being directly involved in the Beirut barracks bombing and the US embassy bombings, both of which took place in 1983, as well as the kidnapping of dozens of foreigners in Lebanon in the 1980s. American intelligence officials have accused him of killing more United States citizens than any other man prior to the September 11 attacks.
I watched the series on Paramount Plus.
Targeted: Beirut: A New York Times Best Seller
I came across this recently published book by the thriller writer Jack Carr and the military historian James M. Scott quite by accident. I’m so glad I did. The first page of the book sets the stage:
. . . the Paris of the Middle East” had become a battle ground, with Maronite Christians, Druze Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, militias, and terrorist groups all vying for a piece of the rubble. Tensions had already hit their boiling point, but there was more destruction to come.
By the time I finished Chapter 3, I had the historical understanding necessary to better understand the roots of today’s conflict. I’ve only read through Chapter 8, but highly recommend this work based on what I’ve learned to date.
Watch a video introduction to the book and then buy it on Amazon.
Axis of Resistance
The Axis of Resistance consists of armed groups supported by Iran that are dedicated to countering American and Israeli influence in the Middle East. The network includes Hamas, Hezbollah, the Syrian government, the Houthis of Yemen and armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
The groups receive Iranian support and share Iran’s hatred of Israel and the United States, but they also have their own interests and are not completely controlled by Tehran. Their shared goal is a desire to destroy the Jewish state.Iran has invested tremendous resources to build each group’s fighting abilities and connect them to one another.
Hezbollah
Based in Lebanon, Hezbollah is a militant Shiite Muslim group formed under Iranian auspices in the 1980s. It was created to fight the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000. The group’s status in the Arab world skyrocketed after it effectively fought Israel to a standstill in 2006.
The group has grown into a powerful political force in Lebanon, and performs a leadership role in the Axis of Resistance. It has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and other countries.
The group began trading missiles across its border with Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Although it first appeared that both Hezbollah and Israel wanted to avoid a broader war, the situation has changed and no longer seems to be the calculus.
Want to know more?
If you’re interested in a more serious exploration of the situation in Lebanon access MERIP’s primer on Lebanon. You’ll find it here.
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Photograph by Salim Shadid (Flickr)
