40 years ago/June 6, 1982

Peace for Galilee?

When you see pictures of Lebanon and get to know some information about the country, you would like to go there. Unbelievable religious, cultural, ethnical multiplicity, unique political system, and it is worth to be discovered by the lover of gastronomy as well. The coast of the Mediterranean Sea and snowy mountains. However, behind the picturesque surface there is the dark side of history, the fragile peace, wars, civil wars, invasions of neighbours and great powers, massacres and political assassinations. One chapter of it began on June 6, 1982, and the roots goes back to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

After the Six-Day War the Palestinian Arab/Palestine militants, organizations were ousted from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Shukeiri, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization left Jerusalem on the first day, and Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Fatah had to flee. With the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Jordan and Egypt could support the Palestine organizations more enthusiastically, because they didn’t have themselves parts of the Palestinian Arab – according to the UN General Assembly Resolution (November 29, 1947) – state anymore. The PLO was getting more and more attention internationally, and found its new base in Jordan. However, despite the support of the Arab countries towards the organization, they also meant a destabilizing factor – mainly in Jordan, where a significant part of the population were Palestinians. The conflicts ended in a civil war in 1970-1971, and the PLO had to leave again, and they established their new bases in Lebanon.

Palestinian Arab/Palestine refugees took shelter in Lebanon after the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948/1949. Their number increased significantly after 1971, which had a serious effect on the fragile balance of the Lebanese society, besides the PLO functioned as a state-within-a-state, mainly in Southern Lebanon, and played important role in the civil war which broke out in 1975. Also, violence through the Lebanese armistice line between the PLO and IDF started from 1968, and increased after 1971.

In 1978 Israel reached some success by the Operation Litani, which resulted in the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the establishment of a security zone in southern Lebanon. From that time, mainly after a ceasefire in July 1981, a relatively more peaceful period came until June 1982. However, new perspectives came into consideration.

While Yasser Arafat, the leader of the PLO seemed more keen to keep the temporary peace, even if it caused serious conflicts with radical fractions, some people in the Israeli leadership seemed to have other ideas in their heads and to wait for an excuse to attack. During the years a good relationship formed between Israel and the Lebanese Christian groups, and most importantly, with the Maronite Bashir Gemayel. In a conflict the Israeli leadership saw a chance to reach four goals: destroy the PLO in Lebanon, including its headquarters in Beirut; make Syrian force leave Lebanon; help a Christian-dominated government into power in Lebanon with Bashir Gemayel as President, and sign a peace treaty with them.

The chance came in summer of 1982 – while the Israeli forces were withdrawn from the Sinai according to the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty (March 26, 1979) – when Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom was shot by the militants of the Abu Nidal Organization. The Israeli government thought it is the time to attack, and the “Operation Peace for Galilee” began.

Short term, it seemed that the operation, despite unexpected challenges, was successful. The PLO was evacuated from Lebanon in September, the Syrian forces were withdrawn from the Beqaa Valley. But soon, everything turned wrong. On September 14, 1982, the newly elected President of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel was assassinated. A few days later Phalangist militants, with the permission of the Israeli command, entered Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and killed between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites. The massacre caused a crisis in Israel, and Ariel Sharon had to resign as Minister of Defense. The Israeli forces were withdrawn in 1985 after couldn’t consolidate the situation. They only kept the security zone in the southern part of Lebanon (until 2000). The Syrian influence grew bigger than before in the country, and new militant organizations took over the place of the PLO – it was the time of the rise of the Hezbollah. Also, it is said to be the time of change in the relationship of the PLO and the US, which has a significant role in the evacuation of the Palestinian militants.

The operation didn’t bring peace for Galilee.