|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Saad HaririNajib Mikati
|pm-raw =
|area =4,015 sq mi
|gdp-year =2006
|gdp-pc =$5,500
|currency =Lebanese pound lira
|idd =
|tld =
}}
The '''Republic of Lebanon''', also called the '''Lebanese Republic''' or simply '''Lebanon''', is a country in the Middle East which borders [[Syria]], [[Israel]], and the eastern shore of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. Once known as the "Pearl of the Middle East" with historical ties to the [[Bible]], Lebanon has seen a period of civil war and partial invasion/occupation by its two immediate neighbors; [[PLO]] and [[Al Saaka]] which exacerbated Christian-Muslim divide in the 1970s, [[Hezbollah]] since the early 1980s, and other terrorist organizations, such as [[Palestinian]] groups hamper efforts at rebuilding.
==Etymology==
Palestinian refugees, predominantly Sunni Muslims, who numbered 405,525 in 2006 according to UNWRA, are not active on the domestic political scene. Nonetheless, they constitute an important minority whose naturalization/settlement in Lebanon is vigorously opposed by most Lebanese, who see them as a threat to Lebanon's delicate confessional balance. During 2002, parliament enacted legislation banning Palestinians from owning property in Lebanon. The Labor Ministry opened up professions previously closed to Palestinians in June 2005. The number of recent Iraqi refugees numbers in the tens of thousands and is believed to be growing.
===Foreign Relations===
Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialed the accord in January 2002. Lebanon also has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and is working toward accession to the World Trade Organization. Aside from Syria, Lebanon enjoys good relations with virtually all of the other Arab countries (despite historic tensions with Libya, the Palestinians, and Iraq), and hosted an Arab League Summit in March 2002 for the first time in more than 35 years. Lebanon also is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference and maintains a close relationship with Iran, largely centered on Shi'a Muslim links. Lebanon is a member of the Francophone countries and hosted the Francophone Summit in October 2002.
==Racism==
Racism is very prevalent in Lebanon.<ref>
Franklin Lamb, "Apartheid on the Beach: Racism in Lebanon," FP Journal, May 25, 2012.
<blockquote>
...Racism.
Discrimination and endemic racist practices are mainly directed against foreign female domestic workers from the Philippines, East Africa and Ethiopia who work as maids and nannies for Lebanese families, and against dark skinned men. At the same time, Palestinian refugees are even denied rights the others who are targeted receive, the most elementary civil rights to work and to own a home outside their cramped, fetid camps.
According to Human Rights Watch, some resorts do not even allow African and Asian domestic workers to wear bathing suits or sun themselves. In 2005, filmmaker Carol Mansour produced a documentary on the conditions that foreign workers encounter in Lebanon titled “Maid in Lebanon.”
Each spring and summer, reports surface in the media, of the many beaches and private swimming pools that are segregated and off limits to people of color and those judged to be of lesser socio-economic worth. Among those cited regularly for blatant discrimination are several hotels whose swimming pools off limits to, as one sign at the Sporting Beach Club warned: “Maids are not allowed.” Among the more egregious violators, according to Beirut’s Daily Star, are Villamar in Khalde, Beirut’s Coral Beach, Beirut’s Les Creneaux and Beirut’s Sporting Club but there are more than a dozen others.
Human Rights Watch has claimed that more than 50 per cent of Lebanon’s beach clubs do not allow migrant guest workers from Asia and Africa in their swimming pools, and some even physically block their entrance at the door.
Race-based discrimination is practiced not just at private beaches but also has been attempted at Beirut’s only free public beach, the nearly mile long Ramlet al Baida shore, located within walking distance of Hamra and three Palestinian refugee camps, Mar Elias, Shatila, and Burj al Barajeneh as well as the Hezbollah area of Dahiyeh. With its wide beach, excellent sand, generally sparse flotsam and jetsam from Saida’s hugh garbage mountain that Lebanon’s south to north current deposits during storms at all beaches to its north, and no entrance fee, Ramlet al Baida is popular with foreign workers and low income and refugee families from several countries in the region forced recently into Lebanon by western invasions of their country.
For years, some residents from the more than 150 high-rise apartments buildings, across from Rafik Hariri Boulevard from RAB beach, many owned by wealthy foreigners from the Gulf, have been trying to get this beach closed down in order to privatize it for their exclusive personal use. Hezbollah and some progressive civic organizations have to date blocked the theft of this priceless public space and following a series of beach cleanups, some by Palestinian ‘camp kids’ and environmental groups, the Beirut municipality, to its credit, has started regular trash collections from RAB beach and to educate beach goers to deposit their picnic waste in the recently placed trash bins.
But this has not stopped certain publicly paid lifeguards from trying to segregate this public beach and shunt certain targeted beach users including foreign domestic workers, Middle Eastern refugees from Iraq, Kurdistan, Africa and Palestine to the north end of RAB very close to where the black brook of untreated sewage from the apartment buildings across the road enters the Mediterranean.
An investigation conducted recently by the Washington DC-Beirut based Palestine Civil Rights Campaign is instructive. One particular lifeguard at RAM justified his attempts at segregation at this public facility by claiming authoritatively that “It’s better for them (those of color and refugee status).” When asked in what ways “it is better for them” his ideas became vaguer but he did offer his clear view that “Palestinians should leave Lebanon and that they do not work and anyhow they often don’t know how to read or write—most are illiterate.” The gentleman is from Tripoli and may have been unaware that Palestinians in Lebanon are barred by law from working in nearly every possible job, more than 70 professions at latest count. But he may know something about illiteracy up north where he hails from, including the recent United Nations Development Programs survey of Tripoli which reveals a 21 per cent illiteracy rate for 15-29 year olds, by far the highest in Lebanon and one of the highest in the world, due to high drop-out rates, especially among boys in the area.
By contrast, Palestinians, even while barred generally from Lebanese public schools and with school dropout and illiteracy rates higher in Lebanon’s 12 camps than in any of the 58 UNWRA organized Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan or Syria, still somehow managed in 2011 to keep illiteracy among their countrymen at 4.7 for those aged 15 years and above, including 2.1 per cent among males and 7.4 per cent among females. These figures are contained in the recent report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics’ Special Statistical Bulletin on the 64th Anniversary of the Palestinian "Nakba" [sic].
Clearly Lebanon’s Parliament needs to do much more to help their disadvantaged communities such as north Lebanon with its high unemployment rates (men more than 52 per cent, women at 97 per cent according to the UNDP study) and to allow Palestinians the same right to work as other foreigners are allowed.
Racism-driven attempts at segregation at Ramlet al Baida public beach as well as private beaches are reminiscent of South Africa’s apartheid era...
</blockquote>/</ref> Lebanon has a system known as "Kefala" in which migrant workers from East Africa, Ethiopia and the Philippines are abused and humiliated. <ref>https://timep.org/commentary/analysis/lebanons-multiple-crises-also-expose-the-racist-kafala-system/</ref><ref>Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) Tweeted ([https://twitter.com/JSchanzer/status/1500807322981093385 Mar 7, 2022]):
<blockquote>
Amazing how this piece tiptoes around the fact that Lebanon is literally an apartheid state. Laws keep the Palestinians there downtrodden.</blockquote>https://t.co/QnybpBlkze</ref><ref>
אנדי (@Shiraanani) Tweeted
[https://twitter.com/Shiraanani/status/1499620614373584897 Mar 4, 2022]):<blockquote>
@RBoydBarrett Garbage. Israel is the only country in ME that actually gives its Palestinian citizens civil and democratic rights. Their own leaders don't, and Lebanon is truly apartheid denying them citizenship, banning them from numerous professions and even the health service.</blockquote>https://t.co/4Jp3obUmsO</ref><ref>Lilac Sigan (@lilacsigan) Tweeted ([https://twitter.com/lilacsigan/status/1499466409356804106 Mar 3, 2022]):<blockquote>
Palestinian rights are crushed also by Syria and Lebanon. Pals that were born there are 2nd class citizens, no rights. These are formal Apartheid states whereas Israel, which has Arab MKs and judges, is falsely blamed for Apartheid (by raving antisemites)</blockquote>https://t.co/Nj9d55MC9b </ref> Many private beaches in Lebanon are segregated and practice racial discrimination against colored people as well as those of a lower socio-economic status. It is common for there to be signs reading: "Maids are not allowed".
==Economy==
====Beginning of the Civil War, 1975-81====
=====Palestinians=====
The [[Palestinian]] actions' effect was great in triggering the civil war (exacerbating the already existing tension between Muslims & Christians).<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/palestinian-refugees-may-yield-weapons Palestinian refugees may yield weapons], Jerusalem Post Staff. JPost, Oct 17, 2005.
''Lebanon has long viewed the armed Palestinians with suspicion, largely due to the guerrillas' role in the 1975-90 civil war.''</ref>
<ref>[https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3678223,00.html Fatah] Ynetnews, Feb 26, 2009.
''In Lebanon, Fatah and Arafat soon became pivotal players in the Civil War which enveloped the country in 1975. Pressured by the PFLP, the DFLP and the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), Fatah eventually aligned itself with the Left's Lebanese National Movement, but lost its Syrian ally – President Hafez Assad, who feared loosing control over Lebanon – in the process. Assad eventually sent his forces to fight alongside Beirut's hardliner Right against the Lebanese Left, Fatah and PLO operatives. The subsequent clashes between the sides, which went on until the early 1990's, left thousands of Palestinians dead.''</ref><ref>[https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/309331 Is Lebanon on the verge of a civil war?]. Lebanon does not face collapse, but any match could ignite a huge fire. Interpretation. Ulpan Israel Hayom, Aug 26, 2015.
"I still remember April 13, 1975, when PLO terrorists shot at a Christian bus, opening the Lebanese Civil War, which ended in 1990.</ref><ref>Robert L. Pollock, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB994634677434596979 Arafat Always Goes Too Far], WSJ, July 9, 2001.
<blockquote>
PLO-affiliated conglomerates, including one controlled by Ahmed Qurei, who would later negotiate the Oslo Accords, monopolized everything from shoes to baby food. Billions of dollars flowed through the PLO, the only thorough record of which seemed to be a small notebook Mr. Arafat carried on his person. His underlings levied arbitrary taxes on the Lebanese, and practiced other forms of extortion, car theft and racketeering.
That year -- 1975 -- Christian rage boiled over, and Lebanon's long civil war began. By early 1976, the PLO and its allies controlled most of the country. But that summer Palestinian assassins murdered the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, and the U.S., Israel and the Arab states tacitly supported a Syrian-led invasion of the country, which reversed many PLO gains. An October ceasefire stabilized the situation. But 40,000 had been killed. And in subsequent years, PLO attacks into Israel continued, provoking more Israeli retaliation.</blockquote></ref>
Full-scale civil war broke out in April 1975. After shots were fired at a church, gunmen in Christian East Beirut ambushed a busload of Palestinians. Palestinian forces joined predominantly leftist-Muslim factions as the fighting persisted, eventually spreading to most parts of the country and precipitating the Lebanese President's call for support from Syrian troops in June 1976. In fall of 1976, Arab summits in Riyadh and Cairo set out a plan to end the war. The resulting Arab Deterrent Force, which included Syrian troops already present, moved in to help separate the combatants. As an uneasy quiet settled over Beirut, security conditions in the south began to deteriorate.
Recently, anti-Christian sentiment erupted in Lebanon where ideological and class warfare also split along Moslem-Christian lines.
'''Cries for a jihad (Moslem holy war) were frequent. Christians in the town of Damour were driven from their homes. An estimated 20,000 Christians died in the two-year civil war'''.</blockquote>
In one example: ''Palestinian emissaries came on January 15, 1976, roused the Mohammedans of Kab - Elias against the "disbelievers" with whom they have coexisted for several generations''.
<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KcBVAAAAYAAJ&q=%22En+d%C3%A9pit+de+cet+accord+,+des+%C3%A9missaires%22]</ref>
Among the atrocities committed by [[Palestinian]] and [[Syrian]] forces during this short period alone:
[[File:Christian Lebanese victims.gif]]
*[[Damour massacre]]
*[[Bait Mallat massacre]]
*[[Naameh massacre]]
*[[Kab Elias massacre]]
*[[Aishiyeh massacre]]
*[[Shekka massacre]]
=====Syria's invasion=====
Syria who had always regarded [[Lebanon]] as part of "Greater Syria," moved in during 1976 on the pretext of being a "peacekeeping" force. It proceeded to occupy large areas of the country. Any hopes that the Lebanese government might have had of regaining control of its own country were finally dashed and were not resuscitated until the Israeli operation "Peace for Gallilee."<ref>Yitschak Ben Gad, ''Politics, Lies, and Videotape. 3,000 Questions and Answers on the Mideast Crisis,'' (1991),
[https://books.google.com/books?id=zRyAT5qNtjQC&pg=PA38 p. 38]</ref>
It conducted a prolonged war on Lebanon.
<ref>M. Deeb (2003). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=nTHIAAAAQBAJ Syria’s Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process]".
''This study demonstrates that Syria's role in the Middle East has been, since 1974, an unabated terrorist war against all attempts to resolve peacefully the Arab-Israeli conflict.''</ref>
Lebanese Journalist Tony Abi Najem: The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon Was Worse than Israel's.<ref>MEMRI @MEMRIReports Tweeted ([https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1533557019554238464 June 5, 2022]):
<blockquote>ICYMI: Lebanese Journalist Tony Abi Najem: The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon Was Worse than Israel’s [#Lebanon #Syria #Israel @tonyabinajem].</blockquote></ref>
=====PLO attack=====
After a [[PLO]] attack<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-first-lebanon-war First Lebanon War: Background & Overview (1982 - 1985)] JVL</ref> on a bus in northern Israel and Israeli retaliation, , Israel entered Lebanon in March 1978, occupying most of the area south of the Litani River. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and creating the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with maintaining "peace". Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, turning over positions inside Lebanon along the border to their Lebanese ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) under the leadership of Maj. Sa'ad Haddad, thus informally setting up a 12-mile wide "security zone" to protect Israeli territory from cross border attack.
It also saw the rise of radicalism among a small number of Lebanese Muslim factions who believed that the successive Israeli and U.S. interventions in Lebanon were serving primarily Christian interests. It was from these factions that Hezbollah emerged from a loose coalition of Shi'a groups. Hezbollah employed terrorist tactics and was supported by Syria and Iran.
====Worsening violence minutes after Israel's exit 1983====
Immediately after the IDF evacuated the Chouf Mountains region Lebanon in Sept. 4, 1983, an explosion of violence erupted, minutes after.
Especially troubling was the "shelling of units of the multinational force, charged with supporting the embattled government of Lebanon, marked a new escalation."<ref>[https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1983/9/19/slaughter-in-lebanon "Slaughter in Lebanon"], Linda Diebel, Macleans, Sep 19, 1983.
''The fighting had erupted Sept. 4, minutes after the Israeli army evacuated the Chouf Mountains overlooking Beirut.''</ref> Secterian clashes resumed. Such was the case in the Chouf region.
As explained in the ''Christian Science Monitor'':<ref>"[https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/1020/20071.html A Lebanon Village Welcomes Christians Once Driven Away]Edward Yeranian, Special to The Christian Science Monitor Oct 22, 1995.
Houses spruced up in an effort to woo residents who fled 1980's civil.</ref><blockquote>Everything began in 1983, after Israel started withdrawing from the Chouf, following its 1982 invasion to dislodge the Palestinian guerrillas from Lebanon.
Druze and Christian militias, which suddenly found themselves on opposing sides - the Druze militia supported Palestinian fighters and the Christian militia supported Israel - battled for control of the Chouf.
In Maaser al-Chouf, a massacre left 63 Christian villagers dead and forced the entire Christian population to flee the region. Residents accused the Druze militia of committing the crime.
In the nearby villages of Kfar Matta and Kfar Nabrakh, the Christian militia also massacred several dozen Druze civilians.</blockquote>
====Worsening Conflict and Political Crisis, 1985-89====
Hezbollah forces continued to launch sporadic military strikes on Israeli forces, drawing responses that produced casualties on both sides and, on two occasions in 2001, Israeli air strikes on Syrian radar sites in Lebanon. Israel continues to violate Lebanese sovereignty by conducting overflights of Lebanese territory north of the Blue Line. UNIFIL has recorded numerous violations of the Blue Line by both sides since the Israeli withdrawal. In general, however, the level of violence along the Israeli-Lebanon front decreased dramatically from May 2000 until mid-2006.
====Hezbollah's assassination of PM Rafic Hariri====
In Mar 2022:<ref>@AFP Tweeted ([https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1501943462568071168 Mar 10, 2022]): <blockquote>
UPDATE A UN-backed tribunal has found two Hezbollah members guilty on appeal for the 2005 death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, saying both were involved in the bombing that killed him.</blockquote></ref><blockquote>A UN-backed tribunal has found two [[Hezbollah]] members guilty on appeal for the 2005 death of former [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] prime minister [[Rafic Hariri]], saying both were involved in the bombing that killed him.</blockquote>
Naturally:<ref>[https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/03/10/Two-guilty-of-2005-Hariri-slaying-on-appeal-UN-tribunal- Two guilty of 2005 Hariri slaying on appeal: UN tribunal] Al Arabiya, Mar 10, 2022.</ref><blockquote>Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Hezbollah movement, refused to hand over any of the suspects or to recognize the UN-backed court, which has issued an international warrant for the arrest of Ayyash.</blockquote>
====Hezbollah war with Israel, 2006====
It showed that plenty of Lebanese people hate Hezbollah. The comments on ''Naharnet'' were filled with people arguing about Israel — with plenty of them defending the Jewish state.
However a racist liberal Ben Norton, a pseudo-journalist who works for Max Blumenthal’s Grayzone site, was angry about it.<ref>[https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/08/14/some-people-are-so-antisemitic-they-support-hezbollah/ Some People Are So Antisemitic, They Support Hezbollah], Algemeiner.com. Aug 14, 2020</ref>
====2022: Attitude towards Islamist Hezbollah's arms====
In Mar 2022:<ref>roi kais - روعي كايس - רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) Tweeted ([https://twitter.com/kaisos1987/status/1501084691130204162 Mar 8, 2022]):<blockquote>The Lebanese channel al-Jadid conducted an interesting poll yesterday under the question "What is your position on Hezbollah's weapons?". Out of more than 34,000 participants, 73 percent answered "We are in favor of its dissolution because it goes beyond legitimacy (outside state institutions)", 26 percent answered that they are in favor of leaving it because it is the weapon of resistance [sic].</blockquote></ref><blockquote>The Lebanese channel al-Jadid conducted an interesting poll yesterday under the question "What is your position on Hezbollah's weapons?". Out of more than 34,000 participants, 73 percent answered "We are in favor of its dissolution because it goes beyond legitimacy (outside state institutions)", 26 percent answered that they are in favor of leaving it because it is the weapon of resistance [sic].</blockquote>
==In the Bible==
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| <small>File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35833.htm]</small>}}}.
|}
{{Christian victims of Palestinians}}
{{Asian Countries}}
[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]
[[Category:Muslim-Majority Countries]]