The Role of Palestinian Organizations in Lebanon Civil War

In the process of Ottoman Empire’s decline, France that created a mandate in Syria in line with the 24th April 1920 San Remo Conference, has created Lebanon on 31th August 1920 by separating it from greater Syria. Because of the existence of different religions and sects in the country, political system was established on religion as well. Eventually this turned Lebanon into a sensitive country and vulnerable to outside interventions. Therefore, the existence of Palestinians in the country is accepted as a threat in this work. 1967 Arab-Israeli War became a turning point of hostilities in Lebanon when 1948 Palestinian refugees were joined by Palestinian organizations. Christians raised their voice when the number of Muslims in the country grew rapidly and turned Christians into a minority. On the other hand, the presence of Palestinian refugees attracted negative reactions because it was perceived as an additional weight to the Lebanese budget. Thus, Palestinian organizations transferred their conflict with Israel into Lebanese soil by attacking Israel from Lebanon. After being expelled from Jordan during the 1970-1971 civil war, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) became an important power by moving in Lebanon. In order to keep it under the control Lebanese Government signed the Cairo Agreement with PLO, however, this treaty enabled PLO to strengthen its presence in Lebanon and increase the attacks against Israel. Consequently, Israel violated Lebanon’s territorial integrity by organizing armed attacks. On the other side, religious/sectarian structure of the economy created a delicate socio-economic balance. Not being able to create a proper internal sovereignty within its borders, Lebanon witnessed a bloody civil war between 1975 and 1990. Most of the analyses today focus on the Palestinian factor as the main reason of the civil war in Lebanon. However, there is also another opinion that is against this argument. With Palestine Liberation Organization ahead, this work tackles the role of the other Palestinian organizations during the civil war in order to shed light on the discussions of the topic.

Keywords

Lebanon civil war, Palestinian Organizations, Palestine Liberation Organization, Economy of Lebanon