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Struggle Over Lebanon
Describes the origin and development of the current civil war in Lebanon, including the role of the United States, Israel and other foreign powers, from the perspective of a journalist with many years experience in the region.
431 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 10, 2021
I would give the first half (formation of the state of Lebanon till the early 70s) 5/5
And I would give the second half (the civil war from 1975 till 1986) 2/5
The first half is really informative, really puts into perspective the coming of the war, it was not out of the blue but a war already discussed by israel since the 50s, by the western powers in this context, and bound to happen the way the west created the contradictory state that is Lebanon.
However, the second half is just really not accurate. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt as she had published the book in 1986, so with no real in hindsight analysis. She had no idea Syria will never normalize relations, and will protect the Resistance so efficiently it kept growing until liberation (in the book she keeps eluding to this Syria-israel peace deal), that the Muslim Resistance will lead the liberation of Lebanon and form a Resistance axis (and not the PLO) and that Arafat at the first chance he gets, will sign a peace deal with Israel and sell the cause.
A main problem is the whitewashing of both Jumblatt's and Arafat's History, who were both using the Palestinian cause to gain power, and vilifying whomever stood against them (another thing time would've proven that those who stood against him, were the ones still fighting israel -unlike Fatah- obviously not speaking of Kataeb) and another problem is vilifying any religious movement, however revolutionary in the Lebanese context it were (Mousa Sadr was bad, Hezb is anti-semitic and not anti-zionist, the irani revolution brought fundamentalism to the area not wahhabism etc...), and then she offensively only spoke of the PSP as left and completely ignored the Lebanese Communist Party, the PFLP, the SSNP and other more genuine leftist and resistance movements. She even skipped over some ethnic cleansing instances, cause it wouldn't fit her narrative, cause "christians bad". I will not list all my problems with the book, but these were my main issues.
So in summary first half is great, second half could only be used as a chronological reference point but very simplistic and at times erroneous analysis of those years.
And I would give the second half (the civil war from 1975 till 1986) 2/5
The first half is really informative, really puts into perspective the coming of the war, it was not out of the blue but a war already discussed by israel since the 50s, by the western powers in this context, and bound to happen the way the west created the contradictory state that is Lebanon.
However, the second half is just really not accurate. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt as she had published the book in 1986, so with no real in hindsight analysis. She had no idea Syria will never normalize relations, and will protect the Resistance so efficiently it kept growing until liberation (in the book she keeps eluding to this Syria-israel peace deal), that the Muslim Resistance will lead the liberation of Lebanon and form a Resistance axis (and not the PLO) and that Arafat at the first chance he gets, will sign a peace deal with Israel and sell the cause.
A main problem is the whitewashing of both Jumblatt's and Arafat's History, who were both using the Palestinian cause to gain power, and vilifying whomever stood against them (another thing time would've proven that those who stood against him, were the ones still fighting israel -unlike Fatah- obviously not speaking of Kataeb) and another problem is vilifying any religious movement, however revolutionary in the Lebanese context it were (Mousa Sadr was bad, Hezb is anti-semitic and not anti-zionist, the irani revolution brought fundamentalism to the area not wahhabism etc...), and then she offensively only spoke of the PSP as left and completely ignored the Lebanese Communist Party, the PFLP, the SSNP and other more genuine leftist and resistance movements. She even skipped over some ethnic cleansing instances, cause it wouldn't fit her narrative, cause "christians bad". I will not list all my problems with the book, but these were my main issues.
So in summary first half is great, second half could only be used as a chronological reference point but very simplistic and at times erroneous analysis of those years.
February 4, 2025
Dense but very useful. Mostly a detailed summary of events up until around 1985 with some analysis thrown in. Given the complicated nature of the civil war, would be quite difficult to grasp without some general background knowledge of Middle Eastern/Arab politics - there are explanations where directly relevant though, especially around the role of Syria in the war. Would recommend, paired with other readings to finish out the civil war around 1990.
February 21, 2021
A very reliable source of the lebanese question and the civil war of 1975. The book illustrates the socio-economic bases, the geo-political frame, of the war, and why did it take this sectarian face which shouldn't misguide us about the real contradiction, that the war was a class national one with the conflict between right and left very clear. The lebanese left was fighting alongside the palestinian revolution for a democratic arabic secular lebanan which sticks to supporting and protecting the palestinian revolution, while the right fought to keep the priviliges of the rich and covered this under the sectarian propaganda. The book destruct the idea that Sectarianism is a natural social order, that trying to topple it is a western oriented conspiracy, here, Thabita Petran, illustrates in detail, how did the colonial powers nourished the sectarian myth and raised a facist maronite clique to burn Lebanon.
The book highlights very well the treasonous, backward, collaborationist role of the murderous gang of Hafiz Al-Assad who intrvened to protect the Lebaneses right from the imminent defeat at the hands of th joint forces of the Lebanese national movement coalition with The Palestinian revolution, his proxy war against the camps.
The book's shortcoming related to not highlighting enough and in detail the leading role of the marxist left in the conflict, the communists spearheaded the attack on Lebanese right, the formation of the Lebanese National Resistance front from the first days after the Israeli occupation of West Beirut, the front which pushed the Israelis out of Beirut to the Awali river.
The book highlights very well the treasonous, backward, collaborationist role of the murderous gang of Hafiz Al-Assad who intrvened to protect the Lebaneses right from the imminent defeat at the hands of th joint forces of the Lebanese national movement coalition with The Palestinian revolution, his proxy war against the camps.
The book's shortcoming related to not highlighting enough and in detail the leading role of the marxist left in the conflict, the communists spearheaded the attack on Lebanese right, the formation of the Lebanese National Resistance front from the first days after the Israeli occupation of West Beirut, the front which pushed the Israelis out of Beirut to the Awali river.
June 21, 2022
Although the author shows her adherence towards the leftists, it is a well-written book on the Lebanese civil war.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews