ISRAEL AND THE LEBANON CIVIL WAR
By the 1970s, Lebanese society was marked by rapid urbanisation, internal migration and deepening inequality, often across sectarian lines. Muslims made up 75% of the industrial working class, while Christians dominated the commercial and banking sectors. These divisions created fertile ground for political tension, which was further inflamed by elite fear-mongering targeting poor migrants, Palestinian
three PLO leaders, and killing a number of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians.
The war is often framed purely as a civil war between different segments of Lebanese society, but this obscures the extent to which it was heavily driven by foreign imperialist and Zionist machinations. The LNM was a coalition of leftist, secular, and reformist parties which included: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) A socialist party rooted in the Druze community, playing a leading role in organising opposition to Lebanon’s sectarian order Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) A Marxist-Leninist party that mobilised workers, peasants, and intellectuals. Closely aligned with Palestinian factions, it advocated for secular, class-based reform Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) A secular, pan-Syrian nationalist party calling for a “Greater Syria.” Militarily active, with shifting alliances, often aligning with pro-Syrian forces Amal Movement A Shi’a political and militia movement that emerged in the 1970s to represent historically marginalised Shi’a communities
refugees, and the predominantly working class Shi’a population.
Amid rising chauvinism – particularly towards Palestinians – in the spring of 1975, violent clashes started to escalate between various political forces, including the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) and the Christian right- wing Phalange. The LNM was strongly allied with the Palestinian struggle and was composed of a variety of Lebanese groups fighting against the class divisions within Lebanese society and against the sectarian Lebanese political system that was set up by the French Mandate, which privileged Christians through the logic of minority alliances. Hostility towards Palestinians hardened as the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) established a base in Lebanon in the early 1970s, with the agreement of the Lebanese military. This presence provoked acts of aggression and violations of Lebanese sovereignty by Israel. In April 1973, Israeli forces carried out a seaborne invasion on Beirut and assassinated
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease