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Syrian Occupation of
Lebanon
Preview
Syria and Lebanon had normal and pleasant
relations, once upon a time. The two nations shared many cultural and
social aspects. But, after the Second World War, they stepped into two
different directions.
While Lebanon moved toward democracy and free-market trade, adapting the
West European model, Syria gradually allied itself with the Soviet Union
and adapted its totalitarian political system and its communist economical
system. By the end of the sixties, the cliff between the two countries was
growing wider; Lebanon made its way toward democracy and prosperity
claming for itself titles such as ‘the only democracy among Arab
countries’ and ‘ Switzerland of the Middle East’, while Syria was subject
to consecutive coups with a torn-economy and week political system that
hardly survived a short-lived union with the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Dictatorship in Syria
In November of 1970, Hafez Assad of Syria led a coup and
proclaimed the Arabian Baath Party of Syria as the ruling party of the
nation, banning all other parties. Assad took advantage of the state of
war between Israel and the Arab countries to achieve his dream of annexing
the small, well prospered-and-advanced, country of Lebanon at the same
time enforcing a socialist dictatorship in Syria based on persecuting his
opponents and brutally massacring tens of thousands of Syrians to maintain
his power.
The Syrian Military's Occupation
of Lebanon
The Syrian Invasion Begins
The Syrian regime gained the opportunity of the disorder in Lebanon and
started interfering by forming Saheka guerillas, a Syrian-Palestinian
guerrilla that operates in Lebanon. In 1970, Jordan expelled the
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from its territories sending
many civilian refugees and armed guerillas into Lebanon. The dictator of
Syria, Hafez Asad, clearly declared his intentions of annexing Lebanon on
August 8, 1973 by announcing that ‘Lebanon and Syria are one country and
one people but have two governments’. While arms and funding were flowing
to Lebanon and many political parties were turning into armed forces, the
Syrian regimes worked on weakening the Lebanese government and hence the
Lebanese army by supporting various militias to grow disorder and spark
sectarian conflicts. In 1973, Saheka, a Syria-Palestinian militia attacked
the village of Der Ashash in North Lebanon, killing three priests and
displacing its residents. Several similar attacks followed that incident
creating a mounting temper in Lebanon. On April 13, 1975, Palestinian
gunmen killed four Christian Lebanese in front of a church east of Beirut,
while Christian militiamen ambushed a busload of Palestinians later of the
same day. A brutal fight broke up the war in Lebanon then. November 2,
1975, an entire Battalion of Syrian Special Forces entered Lebanon through
Bekaa Valley. In January of the following year, Syrian Vice President
announced to Kuwaiti newspaper “Lebanon is a part of Syria, and Lebanon
will be returned to Syria…this should be clear to everyone”. One week
later, a battalion from the Palestine Liberation army, under Syrian
command, entered the Bekaa and started confrontations with the Lebanese
army, while more Syrian and Palestinian forces entered Northern Lebanon
attacking Lebanese police and security forces. By end of January 1976, the
Syrian-Palestinian forces had committed a great massacre in Damour village
killing hundreds of its residents and displacing the rest and leaving
nothing but rubble. In May of 1976, the Syrian army invaded the Lebanese
northern region of Akkar, and advanced into the Bekaa valley east of
Lebanon. A month later, the Syrian dictator, Hafez Assad, delivered his
infamous speech in the Syrian capital stating that he sent the Syrian army
to Lebanon without permission from any authorities. By the end of 1976,
the Syrian troops in Lebanon were estimated to be around 25,000 thousand
(ie: one soldier for every 100 Lebanese citizen).
The Syrian Regime Enforces its Positions in
Lebanon
The League of Arab Countries sent peacekeeping troops to Lebanon. In the
following year, the Syrian troops harassed the Arab forces forcing them to
leave Lebanon in order for them to operate loose on the Lebanese
territories. By 1977, The Syrian forces in Lebanon exceeded 30,000 troops.
Palestinian and other pro-Syrian militias were bringing to an end Syrian
control by occupying their own positions in Lebanon. The Syrians forces
turned over them and disintegrated them, then turned to the Christian and
rightist forces and destroyed the areas they control while worked on
paralyzing the Lebanese army. The Syrian troops in Lebanon launched a war
to silence the Lebanese voices that were criticizing its martial
interference. Syrian forces attacked Lebanese magazines and newspapers,
assassinated Lebanese national and religious figures such as the Druze
leader Kamal Jumblat. The Syrian forces kept occupying cities in northern
Lebanon, central Lebanon and in Beirut with several attempts to occupy the
Lebanese army headquarters.
The Palestinian militiamen continued launching attacks against Northern
Israel from the areas they controlled in South Lebanon. The Israeli
response was more severe and often impacted Lebanese civilians. The
attacks developed into an Israeli invasion of Southern Lebanon in March
1978. The United Nations Interim Forces were deployed in South Lebanon to
reduce the tension, and the Israeli forces pulled back.
The Syrian army continued to gradually occupy more regions in Lebanon
including parts of the capital Beirut. They continued their policy in
disintegrating and swallowing Lebanon; Several Christian Priests and
Muslim clerks were assassinated, not to mention journalists and western
diplomats and ambassadors in the period between 1978 and 1982. The
Palestinians in South Lebanon were encouraged by the Syrians to create the
disruption in Lebanon which was necessary for the Syrians to enact their
plans.
(1982-1988) Syrian Forces Destroying Lebanon
Capturing More of its Land
In June 1982, the Israeli forces invaded Lebanon reaching into Beirut. A
multinational force made up of US and West European troops were deployed
in Beirut after an international mediation took place. The agreement
called for PLO, Syrian and Israeli forces to pull of Beirut. Thousands of
PLO militiamen were deported from Lebanon while the Syrian and Israeli
army were withdrawing from Beirut.
In September 1982, the Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel was
assassinated which disrupted the agreement. In the following year,
Syrian-sponsored groups launched suicide-bombing attacks against the
peacekeeping US and French military barracks killing 300 of them. The
multinational troops were forced to leave Lebanon while the Syrian troops
advanced in Beirut and launched several attempts to occupy the Lebanese
Ministry of Defense and presidential palace. On September 9, 1983, the
Lebanese government notified the UN and the European governments that the
Syrian and the Palestinian forces are fighting to bring down the legal
government of Lebanon.
In 1985 Israel withdrew most of its forces from Lebanon keeping a strip
along its borders controlled by Israeli troops and proxy guerillas. On
December 27, 1985, the Syrian regime tried to impose an agreement on the
Lebanese parties to maintains its control over Lebanon. The plan was
turned down in bloody fight.
Syria continued its policy of spreading its homogony on Lebanon using
extreme violence against the Lebanese people. On the other hand, it used
hostagetaking against American and West-European countries while
sponsoring communist and radical groups.
(1988-1990) The final Confrontations
In 1998, Syrian troops and their allies worked on preventing the election
of a new Lebanese president in order to completely paralyze the Lebanese
authorities. The Lebanese president then, used his constitutional
prerogative and appointed the Lebanese Army Commander as a Prime Minister
of interim government before ending his term. The Syrians opposed the
Lebanese Government and shelled the Lebanese civilian areas with heavy
bombs and artillery. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Primer managed to gain
popularity by enforcing the role of the Lebanese army over the militia,
activating the governmental departments and working for political and
economical reforms. The Lebanese Government launched a war of liberation
against the Syrian army demanding the scheduling of a Syrian withdrawal
from Lebanon. The Syrian occupation troops pressured Lebanese politicians
in the areas it occupied to oppose the Lebanese government; they had even
assassinated the highest Sunni Muslim clerk, mufti of Lebanon because of
his rejection of the Syrian fight against Lebanese.
Syrian Complete Occupation of Lebanon
In August of 1990 Iraq invaded its neighboring country of Kuwait, and
attracted the international community’s attention to the occupation of the
small oil-rich-country and the threats to the world-largest oil reserve of
Saudi Arabia. The Syrian regime gained the opportunity and promised not to
side with Iraq in return of controlling Lebanon. On October 13, 1990, the
Syrian troops launched aerial and ground attacks and occupied the Lebanese
presidential palace and the ministry of defense defeating the reminder of
the Lebanese army. The Syrian regime appointed their own proxy government
and president in occupied Lebanon and started a large-scale persecution
operation against Lebanese people: arresting, abducting, torturing and
killing whoever opposes its occupation.
The Syrian-appointed government in occupied Lebanon exiled the Lebanese
Primer to France and 'legitimized' the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Syria
took drastic measures to enforce its military and political presence in
Lebanon. It occupied more than 90% of Lebanon, including the capital, the
airport, the harbors and all major cities. Syria disarmed most of Lebanese
militia except for those affiliated with it such as Hizballah, Amal and
radical Palestinian militias. The Lebanese army was restrained from
performing any major activities and was directed to internal security
functions. The Syrian puppet regime of Lebanon amended the Lebanese
constitution, and drew several agreements with the Syrian regime giving
Syria advantages of using the Lebanese natural resources and abusing the
free-market benefits in Lebanon. The Lebanese community, especially
universities, youth, engineers, physicians, lawyers and teachers started a
peaceful revolution to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 520
that calls for Syria to completely withdrawal from Lebanon.
In the year 2000, Israel retreated from South Lebanon
per the UN resolution 425, and in respect to the Lebanese international
borders. Serving Syrian interests, Hizbollah guerillas refused to disarm
and enroll in the civilian social and political life after the Israeli
withdrawal, which deprived it from most of its Lebanese popularity
(Details). It occupied the Southern territories that were evacuated by the
Israelis, while the Syrian regime prevented the Lebanese army from
deploying in these territories.
Post Israeli withdrawal, more national, regional and international voices
pressured the Syrian regime to remove its troops from Lebanon. The Syrian
Baath regime tried to bring a conflict with the United Nation and Israel
over ‘Shebaa Farmland’ in order to keep tension between Lebanon and Israel
and divert the calls for Syrian withdrawal (Details).
Syrian Military, Security and Intelligence
Control of Lebanon
Syria stationed its commanding supervision at the Lebanese Ministry of
Defense east of Beirut. Syrian Colonel Ghazi Kanaan, the Syrian Security
and intelligence Chief in Lebanon, became the direct ruler of the occupied
country. The presence of Syrian soldiers and intelligence members
(mukhabarat) in Beirut, at Syrian checkpoints and several official
departments became daily occurrences for the Lebanese. By the year 2003,
approximately 30,000 Syrian troops and 25,000 intelligence members were
deployed in Lebanon (that is 1Syrian soldier for every 50 Lebanese). The
Lebanese military personnel were forced to attend Syrian academies for
their officer training in lieu of the US and West-European academies
pre-Syrian occupation. The Syrian occupation forces depended on
terrorizing the Lebanese people by searching out, arresting and abducting
people for no particular reason; and subjecting them to torture and death.
Some were transferred, in contrast with all international laws, to Syrian
prisons such as Mazze, Palmyra and Tadmor in addition to the Syrian
detention facilities in occupied Lebanon; in Tripoli, Beirut, Shtura and
Anjar. Neither were public charges made against the accused, nor were
trials held against the detainees. Meanwhile, the Syrian mukhabarat
continued monitoring telephone conversations of Lebanese citizens, and
recording visits to religious figures such as the Maronite Christians
Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfier.
Syrian Massacres Against
Civilian Lebanese
Syria's brutal conquering of Lebanon and the continuous
persecution of the people caused more than one hundred thousand
casualties, led to the destruction of entire cities and imposed the
displacement of hundreds of thousands. Some of the documented Syrian
crimes against the Lebanese people are presented on the following page.
Click here to watch part of the cruelty of the Syrian Regime and terrorist
atrocities
this regime is accountable for in Lebanon.
Please be advised, the presented images may be
disturbing to sensitive individuals
Syrian Torture and Use of WMD Against Lebanese Detainees in Syrian Prisons
Syrian Political Dominance over the Lebanese Political Life
Syrian Organized Ethnic Cleansing Against Lebanese
Syrian Destruction for the Lebanese Economy
Syrian Control of the Lebanese Media
Syrian Destruction for the Lebanese Social and Cultural System
Closure
To conclude, the Lebanese do not hold the
Syrian people, rather Syrian regime responsible and accountable for all
the crimes that regime has been committing against the Lebanese community
and the human race in general. The Syrian people, as well as every
individual and institute in the free world, are responsible for refraining
from acting to cease the crime against the Lebanese nation.
Sources:
AlAhram Newspaer, Egypt, Sep. 26, 1975.
Conflict and Violence in Lebanon: Confrontation in the Middle East, Walid
Khalidi, 1984
From Israel to Damascus, Robert Hatem, 1999.
Lebanon Country Report on Human Rights for 1998, US Department of State,
February 1999.
New York Times, May 9, 1997.
DOLID, Semaine D’Action Et De Soutien Des Libanais Detentus Dans Les
Prisons Syriennes, Paris, January 26, 1998, February 1, 1998 and February
20 1998.
Syrian Intervention in Lebanon: The 1975-76 Civil War, Naomi J.
Weinberger, NY, 1986
The Syrian Involvement in Lebanon Since 1975, Reuven Avi-Ran, 1991
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