Few people know that Lebanon was once part of Syria. It was separated from Syria by Imperial France and transformed into a nominally Maronite Christian nation. Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, and Druze were also included in this newly engineered country of six million people.
Then came 100,000 Palestinian refugees, driven from their ancestral homes in what is today Northern Israel. The arrival of these Palestinian refugees inflamed Lebanon’s traditional tribal rivalries. In 1975, these tensions erupted into a major civil war between Maronite Christians, Muslims, and Druze, as well as clashes between Sunni and Shia militias. I arrived in Beirut on Day One of the civil war in 1975.
It was a horrifying affair, marked by atrocious massacres. France, the U.S., Syria, and Israel openly meddled in Lebanon’s turmoil. I had never witnessed such raw hatred, sadism, and barbarity. The conflict culminated in the massacres of thousands of Palestinian civilians—mostly women and children—at the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps, carried out by Christian militiamen with Israeli support.
After the civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon descended into further tribal hostilities and rampant corruption as this once-ancient Phoenician nation disintegrated. Nitrates carelessly stored in the port of Beirut exploded, killing hundreds. The national bank was looted.
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978, 1982, and 2006 in failed attempts to crush the Palestinian resistance, particularly the PLO. I was with the Israeli Army when it attacked southern Lebanon in 1982. Lebanese Sunni guerrillas fought back, joined by fighters from a new Shia militia, Hezbollah.
Now, the carnage has resumed with the Gaza bloodbath and Israel’s massive airstrikes on southern Lebanon from September 21-23, which killed 558 civilians and wounded 1,835 more.
This attack followed Israel’s sabotage of Hezbollah communications, which killed and injured thousands of people, leaving many blinded or with limbs or genitals blown off. It was an act of pure biblical ferocity.
Israel is relentlessly driving the Arab population from southern Lebanon. Ever since its founding in 1947-48, Israel’s right-wing factions have had their eyes on southern Lebanon. On its northern edge lies the Litani River, one of the last major water sources not yet under Israeli control. With water becoming scarce across the Middle East, the Litani is a coveted prize. Israel has long desired the two ancient seaports of Tyre and Sidon, whose historical significance dates back to biblical times. Some of Israel’s more extreme right-wing factions even claim that southern Syria should be annexed by Israel. Why stop there? Others even covet Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, which had a large Jewish population before 1948.
Israel’s current hardline government appears to have a plan to drive Gaza’s Palestinians—many of whom are already refugees from Galilee and the Haifa region—into neighboring Jordan’s deserts. Today, up to 40% of Jordan’s population are Palestinians, driven from the land that became Israel.
With this context, President Joe Biden’s recent UN speech was a symphony of hypocrisy. Biden and the U.S. Congress have provided Israel with over $300 billion in aid, with more on the way, along with the latest U.S. arms. The U.S. also supplies Israel with intelligence and blocks efforts by the UN and other nations to force Israel to halt its destruction of Gaza. As Pat Buchanan once said, “Congress has become Israeli-occupied territory.”
Israel’s strategy of gradually seizing small pieces of Arab land has worked remarkably well. So, is Lebanon next? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face court charges of bribery and corruption once this conflict ends, so he’s in no rush to make peace. The major powers that could intervene have all been compromised. Russia is at war. Only Israel, ironically, holds the power to stop this murderous conflict.
Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2024
