Political System In Lebanon

The so-called Christians or Christian Phalangists are spread over four denominations: the Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics, and the Armenian Orthodox. The Maronites play a dominating role and possess the political and economic power in Lebanon. According to the constitution, the Maronites held the position of President of the Republic. Any attempts by other population groups to acquire equality have been rebuffed by the Maronites.

The Moslems comprising the Sunni and Shiite sects as well as the Druze have fought for years for social and political reforms. The first revolt in this connection led to armed conflict during the Lebanon crisis in 1958 in which US Marines were called in to support the Maronite government. The Moslems constitute the largest, but from a military point of view, the weakest population group. Under the constitution this group is assigned the position of Prime Minister and Speaker in Parliament.

The Palestinians. In 1948, Lebanon, like the other Arab states, resisted the UN partition plan for Palestine and went to war against Israel. As the Israelis advanced, the Palestinians fled in thousands. This first wave of refugees was forced to live in refugee camps in Jordan, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. A unique Palestinian problem was created. These refugee camps soon developed into centres of anti-Israeli propaganda. From them came the soldiers for the Palestinian commandos and various guerrilla factions. Although the host countries generally supported raids against Israel, these same countries showed little interest in improving the social situation of the refugees.

As the Palestinian military forces grew stronger, they also became a threat to their host countries. In the aftermath of the 1967 war when Israel occupied the West Bank, a second wave of refugees streamed into Jordan. Among these refugees were highly trained commandos who had previous experience in conducting raids into Israel. Soon these commandos turned out to be a threat against Jordan. In Sep 70, King Hussein took military action against the Fedayeen in the so- called "Black September" operation and a third wave of Palestinian commandos poured into Lebanon.

Current estimates place the number of Palestinians in southern Lebanon at about 400,000 strong. They had, in fact, become virtually a state within a state who, with their commando and guerrilla forces, operated from Lebanese territory without any control by the government. Civil War. By 1975 the main groups dominating the political infighting were the Christian Phalangists, Leftist Moslems, and Palestinians. These were further split into various factions and militia groups and all were heavily armed.

As the activity of the Palestinians was intensified the chances of a confrontation with Israel increased. The Christians felt their position to be threatened and after a number of clashes over the next two years it was only a question of time before a fully armed conflict developed. After a series of confrontations with the Palestinians, the Christian dominated Lebanese army soon crumbled. In the course of two years the country fell to pieces both politically and socially. During the civil war Christian Phalangists battled a union of Palestinians and Leftist Moslem militias for control of Lebanon only to discover that neither was strong enough to vanquish the other.

At the request of the existing Beirut government, Arab leaders effected a cease-fire and created an Arab Peacekeeping Force (APKF) which moved in and temporarily ended the bloodshed in Nov 76.

Aftermath. The results of the civil war are briefly summary follows:

1. none of the political groups achieved their aims;
2. the country was completely paralyzed, both socially and politically, and the Lebanese people were more divided than ever before;
3. the Christians had not been able to regain the security and domination they wanted;
4. the Leftist Moslem factions did not obtain the social and political reform they fought for, but the old system was shaken;
5. the Palestinians lost much of their freedom of action, their status and goodwill with the Lebanese people; and
6. the price of the tragic war was high. About 40,000 were killed, more than 100,000 wounded and about 300,000 left homeless of a total population of three million. About 500,000 have left the country and the destruction of property was estimated at more than six billion dollars. The homeless flooded into south Beirut and became squatters in shanty towns and abandoned buildings.

The fighting did not cease, however, even after the 30,000 strong and mostly Syrian APKF entered the country. For lack of authority, a vacuum arose in southern Lebanon, and here the tragedy continued. During the deployment of the APKF, Israel made it clear that they would not tolerate Syrian troops South of the so-called "Red Line" just below Sidon. South of this line they could use artillery against Israeli territory and a major confrontation might have taken place between Israeli and Syrian troops with unforeseen consequences.

Further to the South, Palestinian and Lebanese Leftist groups could operate free of any control. From their main bases in Nabatiyah, Tyre, Naqoura, Bint Jubayl and El Khiam they attacked Israel and the Christian Phalangists who were driven into an enclave where they continued to be supported with weapons and supplies by Israel.

The largest community in Lebanon is not comprised of the Maronite denominations, Christians, the Palestinians, or the Sunni Moslems who dominate the Arab world, but the Shiites, the minority branch of Islam who are the majority in Iran. The Shiites are mostly farmers and labourers and have traditionally lived in the south, the poorest region of the country, which borders Israel.

Although the Shiites have supported the Palestinians, their main grievance against them was the fact that the PLO had used their native area for mounting raids into Israel. The PLO's presence in southern Lebanon had in turn provided the Israelis with reason to attack the area either directly or through their ally, the Christian militia leader of the de facto Forces, Maj Saad Haddad, who controls a strip of territory on the border.

As the situation developed in early 1978 with frequent military raids on border settlements and retaliatory actions, it was expected that Israel would intervene in southern Lebanon at the first opportunity.

That opportunity came on 11 Mar 78 when landed Palestinian commando groups attacked civilian vehicular traffic on the Tel Aviv - Haifa coastal road. These attacks resulted in 37 Israelis killed and about 80 wounded.