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| Immediate Background of Sabra and Shatila Massacre | |||||||||||||||||
| The underlying tensions, conflicts, motivations, issues and events that cumulated in the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila are multifold and extremely difficult to assemble in the detail they deserve. Furthermore, the issues leading up to the massacre have been many years in the making, as even the entrance of the PLO into Beirut is preceded by years of Palestinian refugee presence in Lebanon, and by centuries of conflict between Muslims and Christians in the region. It is, however, appropriate to highlight the immediate situation surrounding the events of the week of September 16th, 1982, and to at this point introduce the main issues, places, players, and themes that play an important role in the events that unfolded within the walls of the two camps. Even now, two decades after the Phalange entered the camps, the full details of the event itself and the issues culminating in it are not fully understood, much less resolved. In an effort to provide a fair assessment of the situation and as an aid to understanding the immediate background of the massacre, several key questions are posed and answered with a carefully gauged degree of factuality and objectivity, though the extremely controversial and disputed nature of some of these items makes neutrality a nearly impossible goal. For more information and opinions, please see the Outside Links section of this website. The following questions are answered within the thematic context of the website: | |||||||||||||||||
| What are Sabra and Shatila? | |||||||||||||||||
| Sabra and Shatila are two refugee camps on the outskirts of Muslim Western Beirut. They were established and populated after a large number of Palestinian refugees sought refuge from Israel during its 1967 six day war campaign against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. After Kind Hussein of Jordan evicted the PLO from Jordanian territory in 1970 because the organization was growing too powerful and constituted a threat to internal stability and threatened Israeli reprisals against Jordan for PLO terrorist acts orchestrated there, the PLO moved to Beirut, subsequently filling the camps of Sabra and Shatila with armed militants. In the Lebanese Christian and the Israeli terminology, these camps are often referred to as terrorist bases. When Israel entered West Beirut, it surrounded, but never entered these camps. | |||||||||||||||||
| What is the PLO? | |||||||||||||||||
| The Palestinian Liberation Organization has been endowed with the status of "sole and legitimate representative" of the Palestinian people since the 1974 Arab Summit conference in Rabat, Morocco after having been established by Arab heads of state led by Egyptian President Nasser in 1964. Since 1969 Yasir Arafat , leader of the al-Fatah guerilla organization, heads the organization as its chairman. Ostensibly dedicated to the establishment of a Palestinian State on the territory claimed/occupied by Israel, the Organization has been held responsible for a variety of international terrorist acts throughout the years. Most importantly for the context of Sabra and Shatila, the Israelis blame the PLO for attacks on northern Israel masterminded in their headquarters of Beirut. After the Israeli invasion of 1982, the PLO is forced by international pressure to leave Beirut, being guaranteed safe evacuation. Shortly before the massacre, Arafat leaves Lebanon for Tunis as part of the agreement. At the time of the Phalange?s entry into Sabra and Shatila, not all PLO fighters had left. | |||||||||||||||||
| WHAT IS THE PHALANGE AND WHO IS BASHIR GEMAYEL? | |||||||||||||||||
| The Phalange party was originally established in 1936 as a Christian nationalist youth movement. During the last years of the French mandate, the movement often organized demonstations the streets and clashed those factions opposed to an independent Lebanese state. The Phalange was against both French and Syrian control over Lebanon. Following Lebanese independence in 1943, the Phalange turned from a populist youth group into a formal political party. The Phalange established had broad support among the Maronite Christians. Though claiming secular nationalist ideology, the party frequently defended Christian political privileges outlined in the Lebanese constitution and the National Pact. Due to the changing demographics of the State and the unfair amount of Muslim participation in government, Lebanese Muslim leaders moved allied themselves with armed Palestinian groups operating in Lebanon in the early ?70s. Due to the government's inability to restrain the increasingly powerful Palestinian military in Lebanon, the Phalange formed an armed militia. After the beginning of the Civil War in 1975, Phalangist military forces under Gemayel Bashir battled Lebanese Muslim-Palestinian forces, prompting Syria to enter the country in 1976. Bashir emerged as the leader of the Phalange. Bashir created the Lebanese Forces in the late 1970s, and gradually assimilated his own militia into the newly emerging army. In 1982, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon and took over Beirut. Following this takeover, a broad coalition of Lebanese politicians elected Bashir Gemayel as Lebanese president in August. In September, however, Gemayel was assassinated. The exact nature of his assassination is unclear, as popular opinion is divided between the involvement of radical Lebanese elements and Israel. | |||||||||||||||||
| FOR FURTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION: | |||||||||||||||||
| TIMELINE OF THE MASSACRE | |||||||||||||||||
| RELEVANT OUTSIDE LINKS | |||||||||||||||||
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