Tel al-Zaatar Massacre
Encyclopedia
The Tel al-Zaatar massacre took place during the Lebanese Civil War
on August 12, 1976. Tel al-Zaatar (The Hill of Thyme) was a UNRWA administered Palestinian Refugee camp housing approximately 50,000-60,000 refugees in northeast Beirut
.
The Palestinians started collecting forced taxes from manufactures near Tel al-Zaatar camp in order to maintain their armed militia in the refugee camp and their influence on Lebanese Christian resident of Dekwaneh
and the neighboring villages. Many Palestinians began invading houses and buildings and changing it to an armed headquarters. The removal of the camp was demanded by many residents of the area years before the massacre
.
After Phalange
, Guardians of the Cedars
and Tiger militia
forces took control of the Karantina
district on 18 January 1976, Tel al-Zaatar was placed under siege by a plan elaborated by General Michel Aoun who was the army commander of the area at that time.
On 4 January 1976, a thin cordon was established around the camp by 300 fighters from the Al-Tanzim
and 100 fighters from the Maroun Khoury Group
in an effort to contain the Palestinians. The Maroun Khoury Group
was a Dikwaneh based militia. One road was left open to allow Palestinian evacuation towards Aley but the Palestinians refused to enter into dialogue with the Lebanese Front.
The PLO, as they had done in Karatina, prevented many of the people of the camp from leaving, thereby taking them hostage. Ahrar forces surrounded and attacked Jisr al Basha and Kataeb and Guardian of the Cedars troops engaged the adjacent, mainly Shiite, area of Nabaa, which contained large numbers of leftist forces. The battle for the camps had started and was the final showdown between the Palestinians and the Lebanese Front in Beirut. It was one of the hardest battles fought during the war.
Syria put itself forwards as a "mediator" on the basis of historic claims. Syrian forces with As-Sa'iqa
units were intervening on behalf of hard presses Christian militias by April. The influence of Syria led to the election of Elias Sarkis
.
By the first week of June, Syrian forces had applied a blockade of West Beirut, a predominantly Muslim section that contained the Palestinian headquarters, leaving only the southern route open. From 22 June the Christian Phalangist forces, Many Christian residents of Ras el-Dekweneh and Mansouriye
controlled by Maroun Khoury
with Syrian backing intensified the blockade to a full scale military assault that lasted 35 days. Christian militias had laid siege to the refugee camp for 7 months. When the camp fell, the Palestinian victims numbered in the thousands. The Christian militia loss was around 500 armed men.
shelling damaged much of the camp and killed a number of inhabitants. John Bulloch, The Daily Telegraph
correspondent in Beirut at the time wrote, "In their bitterness the Palestinian commanders ordered their artillery to open up on the fringes of the camp with the ostensible objective of hampering the attackers and helping those inside; instead the shells were landing among the hundreds who had got through the perimeter and were trying to escape. When they were told of this, the Palestinians made no attempt to lift their fire: they wanted martyrs".
Robert Fisk
wrote in his biographical profile of Yasser Arafat, The Broken Revolutionary, "When Arafat needed martyrs in 1976, he called for a truce around the besieged refugee camp of Tel el-Zaatar, then ordered his commanders in the camp to fire at their right-wing Lebanese Christian enemies. When, as a result, the Phalangists and "Tigers" militia slaughtered their way into Tel el-Zaatar, Arafat opened a "martyrs' village" for camp widows in the sacked Christian village of Damour. On his first visit, the widows pelted him with stones and rotten fruit. Journalists were ordered away at gunpoint."
In an L.A. Weekly interview published May 30, 2002, Fisk recalls "Arafat is a very immoral person, or maybe very amoral. A very cynical man. I remember when the Tal-al-Zaatar refugee camp in Beirut had to surrender to Christian forces in the very brutal Lebanese civil war. They were given permission to surrender with a cease-fire. But at the last moment, Arafat told his men to open fire on the Christian forces who were coming to accept the surrender. I think Arafat wanted more Palestinian "martyrs" in order to publicize the Palestinian position in the war. That was in 1976. Believe me that Arafat is not a changed man."
The massacre is said to have contributed to the mounting Sunni Muslim
dissent within the Alawi
-ruled country. As a result, Syria broke off its offensive on the PLO and the LNM, and agreed to an Arab League
summit which temporarily ended the Civil War.
The PLO used the former Christian town of Damour
to house survivors of the Tel al-Zaatar massacre. Damour, a Christian town on the main highway south of Beirut, had been the site of a massacre
by PLO military units on January 20, 1976. The populace not killed in the massacre had been forced to flee the town.
The split in the PLO leadership was ended when the Syrian backed As-Sa'iqa
movement was expelled from the PLO, leaving Fatah
as the dominant party.
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
on August 12, 1976. Tel al-Zaatar (The Hill of Thyme) was a UNRWA administered Palestinian Refugee camp housing approximately 50,000-60,000 refugees in northeast Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
Background
With the breakdown in authority of the Lebanese government the militancy of radical faction increased.The Palestinians started collecting forced taxes from manufactures near Tel al-Zaatar camp in order to maintain their armed militia in the refugee camp and their influence on Lebanese Christian resident of Dekwaneh
Dekwaneh
Dekwaneh is a suburb north of Beirut in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. The population is predominantly Marionite Christian...
and the neighboring villages. Many Palestinians began invading houses and buildings and changing it to an armed headquarters. The removal of the camp was demanded by many residents of the area years before the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
.
After Phalange
Kataeb Party
The Lebanese Phalanges , better known in English as the Phalange , is a traditional right-wing Lebanese political party. Although it is officially secular, it is mainly supported by Maronite Christians. The party played a major role in the Lebanese War...
, Guardians of the Cedars
Guardians of the Cedars
The Guardians of the Cedars – GoC , also designated Gardiens du Cedre or Gardiens des Cèdres in French, are a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former militia in Lebanon...
and Tiger militia
Tigers Militia (Lebanon)
The Tigers Militia , also known as NLP Tigers or Tigers of the Liberals and PNL "Lionceaux" in French, was the military wing of the National Liberal Party during the Lebanese Civil War.- Origins :The NLP militia was first raised in October 1968 by Camille Chamoun at his own home town...
forces took control of the Karantina
Karantina Massacre
The Karantina massacre took place early in the Lebanese Civil War on January 18, 1976. With the breakdown in authority of the Lebanese government the militancy of radical factions increased...
district on 18 January 1976, Tel al-Zaatar was placed under siege by a plan elaborated by General Michel Aoun who was the army commander of the area at that time.
On 4 January 1976, a thin cordon was established around the camp by 300 fighters from the Al-Tanzim
Al-Tanzim
The Al-Tanzim, Al-Tanzym or At-Tanzim was the name of an ultra-nationalist secret military society and militia set up by right-wing Christian activists in Lebanon at the early 1970s, and which came to play an important role in the Lebanese Civil War.-Emblem:The emblem of the group, a map of Lebanon...
and 100 fighters from the Maroun Khoury Group
Lebanese Youth Movement (MKG)
The Lebanese Youth Movement – LYM, also known as the Maroun Khoury Group , wasa Christian far-right militia which fought in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Origins:...
in an effort to contain the Palestinians. The Maroun Khoury Group
Lebanese Youth Movement (MKG)
The Lebanese Youth Movement – LYM, also known as the Maroun Khoury Group , wasa Christian far-right militia which fought in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Origins:...
was a Dikwaneh based militia. One road was left open to allow Palestinian evacuation towards Aley but the Palestinians refused to enter into dialogue with the Lebanese Front.
The PLO, as they had done in Karatina, prevented many of the people of the camp from leaving, thereby taking them hostage. Ahrar forces surrounded and attacked Jisr al Basha and Kataeb and Guardian of the Cedars troops engaged the adjacent, mainly Shiite, area of Nabaa, which contained large numbers of leftist forces. The battle for the camps had started and was the final showdown between the Palestinians and the Lebanese Front in Beirut. It was one of the hardest battles fought during the war.
Syria put itself forwards as a "mediator" on the basis of historic claims. Syrian forces with As-Sa'iqa
As-Sa'iqa
As-Sa'iqa is a Palestinian Baathist political and military faction created and controlled by Syria...
units were intervening on behalf of hard presses Christian militias by April. The influence of Syria led to the election of Elias Sarkis
Elias Sarkis
Elias Sarkis was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1976 to 1982.-Early career:Born in Shabbaniah, Sarkis graduated with a Law degree from Saint Joseph University in 1948. After joining the judicial corps in 1953, he became a judge with the Accounting Department...
.
By the first week of June, Syrian forces had applied a blockade of West Beirut, a predominantly Muslim section that contained the Palestinian headquarters, leaving only the southern route open. From 22 June the Christian Phalangist forces, Many Christian residents of Ras el-Dekweneh and Mansouriye
Mansourieh
Mansourieh, is a village in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon.-Overview:...
controlled by Maroun Khoury
Lebanese Youth Movement (MKG)
The Lebanese Youth Movement – LYM, also known as the Maroun Khoury Group , wasa Christian far-right militia which fought in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Origins:...
with Syrian backing intensified the blockade to a full scale military assault that lasted 35 days. Christian militias had laid siege to the refugee camp for 7 months. When the camp fell, the Palestinian victims numbered in the thousands. The Christian militia loss was around 500 armed men.
The massacre and its aftermath
On August 12 the camp finally fell, following an on-and-off siege of several months. During the last two months, the siege had tightened. Heavy artilleryArtillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
shelling damaged much of the camp and killed a number of inhabitants. John Bulloch, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
correspondent in Beirut at the time wrote, "In their bitterness the Palestinian commanders ordered their artillery to open up on the fringes of the camp with the ostensible objective of hampering the attackers and helping those inside; instead the shells were landing among the hundreds who had got through the perimeter and were trying to escape. When they were told of this, the Palestinians made no attempt to lift their fire: they wanted martyrs".
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
wrote in his biographical profile of Yasser Arafat, The Broken Revolutionary, "When Arafat needed martyrs in 1976, he called for a truce around the besieged refugee camp of Tel el-Zaatar, then ordered his commanders in the camp to fire at their right-wing Lebanese Christian enemies. When, as a result, the Phalangists and "Tigers" militia slaughtered their way into Tel el-Zaatar, Arafat opened a "martyrs' village" for camp widows in the sacked Christian village of Damour. On his first visit, the widows pelted him with stones and rotten fruit. Journalists were ordered away at gunpoint."
In an L.A. Weekly interview published May 30, 2002, Fisk recalls "Arafat is a very immoral person, or maybe very amoral. A very cynical man. I remember when the Tal-al-Zaatar refugee camp in Beirut had to surrender to Christian forces in the very brutal Lebanese civil war. They were given permission to surrender with a cease-fire. But at the last moment, Arafat told his men to open fire on the Christian forces who were coming to accept the surrender. I think Arafat wanted more Palestinian "martyrs" in order to publicize the Palestinian position in the war. That was in 1976. Believe me that Arafat is not a changed man."
The massacre is said to have contributed to the mounting Sunni Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
dissent within the Alawi
Alawite
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
-ruled country. As a result, Syria broke off its offensive on the PLO and the LNM, and agreed to an Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
summit which temporarily ended the Civil War.
The PLO used the former Christian town of Damour
Damour
Damour is a Lebanese Christian town that is 24 kilometres south of Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality ....
to house survivors of the Tel al-Zaatar massacre. Damour, a Christian town on the main highway south of Beirut, had been the site of a massacre
Damour massacre
The Damour massacre took place on January 20, 1976 during the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War. Damour, a Christian town on the main highway south of Beirut, was attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organisation units...
by PLO military units on January 20, 1976. The populace not killed in the massacre had been forced to flee the town.
The split in the PLO leadership was ended when the Syrian backed As-Sa'iqa
As-Sa'iqa
As-Sa'iqa is a Palestinian Baathist political and military faction created and controlled by Syria...
movement was expelled from the PLO, leaving Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
as the dominant party.
Estimations of the numbers of victims
- Harris (p. 165) writes that "Perhaps 3,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, died in the siege and its aftermath"
- Cobban (p. 142) writes that 1 500 camp residents were killed in one day and a total of 2 200 were killed throughout the events.
- James Ron (2003) p 84. gives 1,000 - 2,000
- Canadian artist Jayce Salloum states that 2,000 people died during the entire siege, and 4,000 were wounded.
- The Lebanese-American Association estimates that "many of the several thousand civilians who had remained there [during the siege] were killed."
- World Socialist Web Site The bitter legacy of Syria's Hafez al-Assad By Jean Shaoul and Chris Marsden 16 June 2000, gives a figure of "2,000 refugees" for Tel al-Zaatar and the Karantina MassacreKarantina MassacreThe Karantina massacre took place early in the Lebanese Civil War on January 18, 1976. With the breakdown in authority of the Lebanese government the militancy of radical factions increased...
together.
See also
- List of massacres in Lebanon
- Persecution of MuslimsPersecution of MuslimsPersecution of Muslims is the religious persecution of Muslims as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era.-Anatolia:...
- Kofia who made a song of the massacre
External links
- Information and Pictures from the Lebanese Civil War 'liberty05.com' Tel-el-Zaatar (the Hill of Thyme) was the largest and strongest Palestinian refugee camp established in 1948, Includes several pictures from The Battle of Tel al-Zaatar.
- Arafat’s Massacre of Damour - Canada Free Press http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7287