1. Reem Abdelmalek
Capstone Project
Professor Cadora
June 7, 2011
The Evolution of Lebanon Due to Constant Conflicts
During ancient civilization Lebanon was occupied by the Canaanities, who founded
Phoenician cities. Lebanon’s cities contained forests, iron, and copper mines, all of which are
now nonexistent. These resources made the country it one of the more prosperous countries in
the Middle East. In 64 B.C the Phoenician cities were occupied by the Romans. Ancient Roman
ruins, representing a temple to the god Bacchus, still exist in Lebanon, in the city of Baalbek,
which is considered a major tourist attraction. The Crusaders came to Lebanon in the 11th
century, and were followed by the Ottomans, who controlled the country in the 13th century.
Lebanon had a diverse population with different religions and sects. There were periods of
extreme turmoil due to religious conflicts. Massacres occurred in 1860 between the Maronites
and the Druze. The Ottomans could not maintain a peaceful country so the French were given
Syria and Lebanon, which were one country, after World War I. The French separated Lebanon
from Syria and created a new country. This upset many Arabs and increased the desire for
independence from the French.
Lebanon is a very small country bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and
Syria. Currently, Lebanon’s population is 4,143,101 persons. 95% of Lebanon’s population
consists of Arabs, 4% are Armenian and the remaining 1% of the population represents
miscellaneous sects. Even though Arabs represent the majority of the population’s ethnic
groups, many religions are represented: 59.7% Muslim, 39% Christian, and the 1.3% represents
persons of other religions. Muslim sects include Shiite, Sunni, Druze, Isma’ilite,
Alawite/Nusayri. The Christian sects represent Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite
Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman
Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, and Protestant. Lebanon’s population represents a total of
seventeen different religious sects.
Lebanon gained its independence on November 22, 1943; twenty-three years after the
French separated it from Syria. In 1945 Lebanon became a member of the United Nations. The
Lebanese constitution was set up by the French, and accordingly, the position of President was
always given to the Maronite Christians, Prime Minister to the Sunni Muslims, and Head of
Parliament to the Shiite Muslims, with the Parliament seats split among the different sects. In
general, the Muslims were pro-Arab, while the Christians, particularly the Maronites, were pro-
west, which meant pro-imperialism. In 1952 Camille Chamoun became the president of Lebanon
and formed close relations with the West. In 1958, this relationship angered many Arabs and led
them to oppose Chamoun’s pro-western policies and acceptance of aid from the United States
which resulted in rioting in cities, such as in the capital Beirut and the Northern city of Tripoli.

2. The Arab-Israeli War took place in 1967. Lebanon showed verbal support for Arabs
against Israel but did not launch war against it. However, Lebanon was the hotbed for the
Palestinian revolutionaries who launched guerilla warfare against Israel from the Lebanese
Southern borders. The Lebanese government was repeatedly accused of “not doing enough to
control the terrorists.” In 1969 there was bloodshed between the Palestinian commandos and the
Lebanese army, which resulted in many Palestinians fleeing to Southern Lebanon and Beirut.
Anti-Israeli terrorist attacks continued throughout the 1970s.
From 1975-1990, the sixteen year- Civil War occurred in Lebanon. The war destroyed
the country’s economy and infrastructure. Since the end of the war, The Lebanese have been
struggling to restore their country and political organizations. The leadership of Ta’if Accord
aided the Lebanese to create reasonable political reconciliation by providing Muslims with more
power in politics. Subsequently, Lebanon conducted many successful elections after
the Civil War and eliminated most militias.
The Civil War in Lebanon left almost a whole generation without proper
education or job training. With all the time they spent out of school, they learned
how to become military experts that could tell the kind of a shell or bomb, how
close it would land, and the amount of damage it would cause. A large number of
children were wounded, handicapped or killed during the war. The numerous
ceasefires that were declared never materialized, and left many victims who got out
of the shelters to obtain the basic necessities of everyday life.
The war in Lebanon had forced many families to move from their towns and
villages seeking a safer refuge in relatively more peaceful and safer locations. This
caused instability and anxiety. Usually such families had to live under very poor
conditions and with minimal resources. The violence that lasted for sixteen years
became a lifestyle especially for young men who became fighters in the Civil War.
Many civilians witnessed tragedies and lost close relatives due to very violent
conditions. Every the ones who otherwise were pacifists and opposed the war got
dragged into it upon the loss of close loved ones.
The Civil War played a large role in the destruction of the country’s image as an open
and free society. The Civil War in Lebanon destroyed the once beautiful country known as the
“Switzerland of the Middle East”, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of a population of
less than four million. Before the Civil War, Lebanese civilians in general were not fanatic about
religion. However, the civil war tore down the once-peaceful communities of civilians that
coexisted, despite their different religious beliefs. People are now divided by religious and
sectarian lines. There is now a separation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and conflicts also
between Maronite Christians themselves, and with other Christian sects. Religious and sectarian
separation is not only invoked by the ignorant, uneducated people, it is provoked by the
educated, particularly the political leaders.

3. Although Lebanon’s independence was declared in 1943, the country’s
politics were always influenced by outsiders, particularly by its neighbors, Israel in
the South, and Syria in the East and North. During the Civil War, Syrian troops
entered Lebanon, claiming that their mission was to restore peace and stop the
bloodshed. The Syrians actually dictated the politics of Lebanon, and no political
decision could be taken without the consent of the Syrian government. Israel was
free to attack Lebanon’s borders, and had its allies among the militias, particularly
the Christians militias, who were totally against the presence of armed Palestinians
in Lebanon. In the spring of 2000, a decade after the Civil War ended, Israel
withdrew its troops from the Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon. In 2004, the
United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1559 demanded that Syria
withdraw its troops out of Lebanon and stop interfering with Lebanese politics. A
year after this resolution, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri and 22
others were assassinated. The assignation of the popular Hariri, a man who spent
millions of dollars rebuilding Lebanon, led to large protests in the country’s capital
Beirut. The Cedar Revolution began; the Lebanese residents rebelled peacefully
against Syrian presence in their country. The revolution forced Syrians to withdraw
their military troops out of Lebanon in April 2005. Throughout May and June 2005
Sa’ad Hariri (son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri) led Lebanon to hold
its first legislative elections free of any foreign interference since the end of the
Civil War.
In July of 2006, militant group Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers to
exchange them for high profile prisoners who were held in Israeli jails for years.
Israel retaliated by attacking Lebanon, destroying major highways that connected
towns, villages and cities, and resulted in major destruction and death toll to
civilians. After thirty-four days of continuous battles, the Israeli army withdrew,
and the Lebanese Armed Forces were deployed throughout the country. The
Lebanese Army protected Lebanon’s borders by maintaining a weapon free-zone. In
August, 2006, the United Nations Security Council Resolution aided in terminating
the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
The following year, 2007, other challenges and conflicts arose. In May
through September the Lebanese Armed Forces fought against the Sunni extremist
group Fatah al-Islam in a Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr-El-Barid in Northern
Lebanon. As a direct result of the Lebanese Armed Forces winning this battle, the
refugee camp was destroyed, which caused 30,000 Palestinians to evacuate and
become homeless. Later in 2007, Lebanese civilians could agree on a President,
which created a void and chaos in the country’s politics. In May 2008 General
Michel Suleiman became the president. Suleiman represented the next phase in
Lebanon’s history. BBC News stated “he is widely seen as a unifying figure, whose

4. apparent neutrality has earned him the respect of both sides of the political divide.
He is credited with having kept the army on the sidelines in times of political
crisis.” Even with a new respected president, Lebanon continued to have trouble
filling the political seats until November 2009, when a unifying government was
approved by the National Assembly.
In January 2010, Lebanon gained a spot of the United Nations Security
Council for the 2010-2011term. Lebanese civilians were inspired by the successful
peaceful demonstrations and protests that occurred in 2010 against dictatorships in
the Middle East. These successes motivated them to protest against the country’s
religious sectarian politics, which they viewed to be the main cause of the
malfunction and breakdown of their government. The demands were getting rid of
the old constitution that was dictated by the French colonialists, and that divided
the political power based on religious grounds. Originally, this system was created to
produce a democratic society. However, the constitution has not been revised since 1926, even
though the demographics of Lebanon have changed greatly. Currently, all sects are not
represented equally. The majority of Lebanese are Shite Muslims who can only serve as the
Head of the Parliament. Current events have caused disturbances between Muslims and
Christians which have resulted in violence. The governmental political system needs to be
modified; many would prefer a centralized and united government instead of each politician
representing his/her individual religious sect.
Problems unrelated to Lebanon’s corrupt political system have led Lebanon to constant
conflicts. The location and size of Lebanon has greatly impacted its independence and free-will
over the decades. Lebanon is constantly viewed as the underdog due to its small size compared
to its much larger surrounding countries. Lebanon is composed of 10,400 square kilometers and
has a population of 4,143,101 persons making Lebanon appear as an insignificantly small
country compared to its bordering countries Israel and Syria. Israel consists of 20,770 square
kilometers has a population of 7,473,052 persons. Israel has almost twice the population of
Lebanon and over two times in the amount of square kilometers. Syria consists of 22,517,750
square kilometers, which make Syria exponentially larger in size than Lebanon. Syria’s
population is 22,517,750 persons, which is over five fold bigger than the population of Lebanon.
The extreme difference in size and population provides Syria and Israel with an advantage of
having a voice in Lebanese politics and how the country is run.
No longer is Lebanon known as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”, the country’s
natural beauty has all been destroyed due to years of endless fighting. Most cedar trees, the
symbol of the country, and forests no longer exist due to fires caused by bombs and shells. The
air and water has become polluted due to the smoke from bombs and the burning of fossil fuels.
The years of war, political corruption and religious feuds have taken away all the beauty out of

5. the once stunning country. Similarly to the novel Absent the country as a whole is lacking many
crucial characteristics in becoming unified. The country cannot be a unified or peaceful country
until it is free from political and religious persecution.
Hopefully the current President Michel Suleiman will continue to be a unifying
figure and will lead the country to become a peaceful economic stability. Under his
leadership I hope Lebanon will one day regain the positive image it had before all
the wars occurred. Before the constant conflicts and war Lebanon was the trading
center of the Middle East, and the center for high education, with the American University
regarded as the Harvard of the Middle East. The country was vibrant, and cosmopolitan with
international cultural events taking place at all times. The country also was a major tourist
attraction, due to its pleasant weather, the natural beauty, with snow-peaked mountains and
beautiful coast extending from the North to the South.

6. Works Cited:
"BBC News - Lebanon Country Profile." BBC News - Home. Web. 08 June 2011.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/791071.stm>.
"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency.
Web. 08 June 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/le.html>.
"ICL - Lebanon - Constitution." Internetprojekte Prof. Dr. Axel Tschentscher, LL.M., M.A. Web.
08 June 2011. <http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/le00000_.html>.
"Lebanon, Country, Asia: History — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac,
Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help.
— Infoplease.com. Web. 08 June 2011.
<http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0859222.html>.
"Politics in Lebanon." Ghazi.de. Web. 08 June 2011. <http://www.ghazi.de/politict.html>.