Transcript Lebanon, Israel & the Hezbollah mis(fit)

Boston, Brookline, & Newton Public Libraries
6, 7, 8 October 2009
Lebanon, Israel & the
Hezbollah mis(Fit)
Boston Public Library
October 6, 2009
Demographics Lebanon
Population: 4,017,095
(July 2009)
Ethnic groups:
Arab 95%
Armenian 4%
other 1%
Religions:
Muslim 59.7%
(Shia 27%, Sunni 24%, Druze 5%, Isma'ilite,
Alawite or Nusayri)
Christian 39%
(Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite
Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian
Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean,
Assyrian, Copt, Protestant)
other 1.3%
note: 17 religious sects recognized
Demographics Israel
Total population
7,424,400
(2008)
Ethnic groups:
Jewish
76.4%
non-Jewish 23.6%
(mostly Arab)
Religions:
Jewish 76.4%
Muslim 16%,
Arab Christians 1.7%
other Christian 0.4%
Druze 1.6%
unspecified 3.9%
Israeli Military – Political Leadership
Place of Birth
Paramilitary
activity before
Israel is created
IDF RANK
GOVERNMENT
David BenGurion
Poland (Russian
Empire)
HaShomer
guarded isolated
Jewish
communities
Established IDF
out of various
paramilitary
forces
Prime Minister
Minister of
Defense
Moshe Sharett
Ukraine
(Russian
Empire)
Haganah
Pre-IDF
established a
Jewish Auxiliary
Police Force to
ward off Arab
attacks
Levi Eshkol
Kiev Russia
Development of
Haganah,
Director General
Prime Minister
Minister of
Defense
Yigal Allon
British Mandate
Palestine
Haganah and cofounder of the
Palmach
Commander in
Chief
Interim-Prime
Minister
Deputy Prime
Minister
Yitzhak Rabin
British Mandate
Palestine
Haganah and
Palmach
Chief of Staff
Prime Minister
Minister of
Defense
NAME
Foreign Minister
Prime Minister
NAME
Menachem Begin
Place of Birth
Paramilitary
activity before
Israel is created
IDF RANK
GOVERNMENT
Belarus (Russian
Empire)
Irgun and
Commander of
the Etzel,
When Irgun
dismantled
Begin entered
politics
Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir
(admired the
IRA and wanted
to emulate their
struggle)
Poland (Russian
Empire)
Stern Gang and
Lehi
Mossad
Prime Minister
Shimon Peres
Poland/Belarus
(Russian
Empire)
Haganah
Director General
President
Prime Minister
Ehud Barak
British Mandate
Palestine
(Too young)
General
Prime Minister
Minister of
Defense
Ariel Sharon
British Mandate
Palestine
Gahdna gang,
Haganah
General
Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert
British Mandate
Palestine
Irgun
IDF
Prime Minister
Mayor of
Jerusalem
(too young)
Captain IDF
Prime Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu
Only Israeli
Prime Minister
born in ‘Israel’
Litani River (in yellow)
PLO

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The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a political and
paramilitary organization founded in 1964.
Recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian
people," by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and
has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.
The PLO was considered a terrorist organization by the US Government until the
Madrid Conference in 1991, two years before the signing of the Oslo accords. In
1988, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as
making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the
right of return to land belonging to Palestinians prior to 1948.
In 1993, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel in an official
letter to its prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin.
In response to Arafat's letter, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate
representative of the Palestinian people. Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO
Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by
Mahmoud Abbas.
Demographics Lebanon
Population: 4,017,095
(July 2009)
Ethnic groups:
Arab 95%
Armenian 4%
other 1%
Religions:
Muslim 59.7%
(Shia 27%, Sunni 24%, Druze 5%, Isma'ilite,
Alawite or Nusayri)
Christian 39%
(Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite
Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian
Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean,
Assyrian, Copt, Protestant)
other 1.3%
note: 17 religious sects recognized
SIDON and TYRE
Lebanese Militias During Civil War

Christian
Phalange- Bashir Gemayel
Lebanese Forces-(founded by Gemayel) Samir Geagea
Marada Brigades- Franjieh family
South Lebanon Army SLA- Saad Hadaad

Muslim
• Shia-
AMAL Musa Sadr
• Sunni
Murabitoun Camille Chamoun
Druze
PSP- Jumblatts

Others
Lebanese Communist Part (LCP), Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SNP), Baath
Taif Agreement
The Taif Agreement (also "National
Reconciliation Accord)
•Changed the ratio of Parliament to 50:50
among Muslims and Christians and reduced the
power of the Maronite Christian president.
An agreement reached to provide "the basis for
the ending of the civil war and the return to
political normalcy in Lebanon.“
• Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was
designed to end the decades-long Lebanese civil
war, politically accommodate the demographic
shift to a Muslim majority, reassert Lebanese
authority in South Lebanon (then occupied by
Israel), and legitimize the Syrian presence in
Lebanon.
•Although the agreement set a time frame for
Syrian withdrawal and stipulated that the
Syrians withdraw in two years. It was signed on
October 22, 1989 and ratified on November 4,
1989.
Blue Line Map
May 17th Agreement
May 17th 1983
The May 17th Agreement was a failed US-backed attempt to
create peace between Lebanon and Israel during the
Lebanese civil war, after Israel invaded Lebanon and
besieged Beirut in 1982.
The country was under both Syrian and Israeli occupation
during its negotiation.
The agreement terminated the state of war between Israel
and Lebanon that had lasted since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
and provided for a staged withdrawal of Israeli forces, on the
condition of the establishment of a Lebanese Army “security
zone” in South Lebanon along the border area.
The Lebanese Army collapsed in 1984 and could not keep
their side of the agreement.
Shabra and Shatila Massacre
Operating on “authoritative” information that there were about 2,000 PLO guerrillas
harboured in the Shabra and Shatila camps, Sharon gave the go ahead to Phalangist
militias to enter Sabra and Shatila and destroy the remnants of the PLO’s
infrastructure.
With Israeli tanks standing guard, 150 Phalangists entered the camps on the evening
of September 16 182 and for three days went on a rampage, killing perhaps as many
as 2,000 defenceless civilians – women and children included. When it was
established that Israeli troops saw what s happening but did nothing to stop the
killing, the outrage worldwide was vociferous and damning of Israel. Its standing as a
country that held the moral high ground, already damaged by the bombardment of
Beirut was now in tatters. The perception of Israel as a small country fighting for its
survival against hordes of Arabs bent on its destruction was shattered.
The US joined with other members of the UN Security Council that ordered
the IDF to vacate Beirut within 24 hours.
1982
Hezbollah
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A Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is
also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and
agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force
in Lebanese politics.
Hezbollah is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab and
Muslim world. Several western countries regard it in whole or in part as a terrorist
organization.
Hezbollah first emerged as a militia in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon,
also known as Operation Peace for Galilee, in 1982, set on resisting the Israeli
occupation of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war.
Hezbollah, which started with only a small militia, has grown to an organization with
seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite television-station, and
programs for social development. Hezbollah maintains strong support among
Lebanon's Shi'a population, and gained a surge of support from Lebanon's broader
population (Sunni, Christian, Druze) immediately following the 2006 Lebanon War.
Despite a June 2008 certification by the United Nations that Israel had withdrawn
from all Lebanese territory, in August of that year, Lebanon's new Cabinet
unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah's existence
as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied
lands."
Since 1992, the organization has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its SecretaryGeneral
South Lebanon
Hezbollah Rockets
2006 War Casualties


The conflict resulted in 1,191
deaths in Lebanon and 4,409
injured. More than 900,000
people fled their homes.
In contrast, Israeli losses in the
war were 5 civilians and 113
soldiers.
Cluster Bombs

Since August 2006, more
Lebanese civilians have been
since killed (50) and more
injured (300) by unexploded
cluster bombs than were Israeli
civilians in both the 2006 war,
the rockets from Gaza or during
the Gaza war itself
Lebanon Political Coalitions

March 14th
• Named after the date of the Cedar Revolution
• An alliance of anti-Syrian political parties and independents in Lebanon
• Led by Prime Minister Designate Saad Hariri, Samir Geagea president
of the Lebanese Forces, former President Sheikh Amine Gemayel.

March 8th
• Opposition to the March 14th alliance
• Name dates back to March 8, 2005 when different parties called for a
mass demonstration in downtown Beirut in response to the Cedar
Revolution. The demonstration thanked Syria for helping stop the
Lebanese Civil War and the aid in stabilizing Lebanon and supporting
the Lebanese resistance to the Israeli occupation.
• Main parties are Hezbollah, Amal Movement, Marada Movement,
Lebanese Communist Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party
• The alliance favors diplomatic relations with toward Syria
Shebaa Farms
In the war’s final 72 hours, Israeli warplanes carpeted the south
with cluster bombs, munitions designed to spread indiscriminate
damage over a wide area. In three days, it is thought that
Lebanese soil was showered with up to four million bomblets
About 300 civilians have since been killed or maimed by cluster
bombs, according to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre, with
children -- who mistake the bomblets for toys -- accounting for of
the victims.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=105326
http://www.france24.com/en/20090513-israel-hands-over-cluster-bomb-maps-united-nations-force-lebano
Norgaard Principles
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The Norgaard Principles devised by Carl Norgaard, President of the
European Commission on Human Rights, to determine amnesty after
Namibian independence.
The Criteria include:
•
•
•

The motivation of the offender (political or personal)
The target (civilian or government)
The gravity of the act
The Norgaard approach is tolerant of ‘due obedience’ contrary to
Nuremberg where orders were deemed no excuse. Those granted
amnesty under these kinds of conditions will receive total indemnity from
any civil and criminal prosecutions which may have resulted from such
offenses.
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March 14, 1978 (in response to a Palestinian militant raid two days earlier), some
25,000 Israeli soldiers crossed the Lebanese border in Operation Litani, named for
the Litani River that crosses South Lebanon, not 20 miles from the Israeli border.
Almost all the 2,000 people the Israeli invasion killed were civilian. In comparison, 23
Israeli soldiers were killed during the invasion.
Twice during the 1990s, Israel launched major air and ground operations, for the
declared purpose of ending Hezbollah rockets being fired into Israel and to make it
difficult for Hezbollah to continue using southern Lebanon as a base for attacking
Israeli forces.
The first such operation, in late July 1993, labeled “Operation Accountability” by
Israel, lasted seven days. Israeli operations resulted in the deaths of some 120
Lebanese civilians, injured close to 500, and temporarily drove an estimated 300,000
villagers and Palestinian refugees from their homes. That week Hezbollah fired 151
rockets across the border, according to Israeli authorities, killing two civilians and
wounding 24.
On April 11, 1996 Israel initiated a major military operation in Lebanon, dubbed
“Operation Grapes of Wrath.” By the time it ended on April 27, Israeli military
operations resulted in 154 civilian deaths and injured another 351. Hezbollah fired
639 rockets into Israel, according to Israeli officials. There were no Israeli civilian
deaths, although sixty-two civilians were injured, including three seriously, and sixtyfive were treated for shock, according to the IDF.
http://middleeast.about.com/od/lebanon/a/me080316b.htm
1967 Arab – Israeli War
1973 Yom Kippur War
1978 Israeli invasion