REPORT UPDATED ISSUED BY
The Committee of Support for the Lebanese in
Enforced Exile in
Coordinator: Claude Hajjar
- 2007/2008 -
THE WAR AGAINST
“
BACKGROUND
From 1975 to 2005,
The pattern of harassment,
kidnappings and assassinations by PLO operatives and Syrians in Palestinian
uniforms had been ongoing since the mid-1960s, when the PLO was
founded, long before the events of 1968-1969 and 1975.
Prior to the founding
of the PLO, Syria's rejection of Lebanon's right to exist caused it to
interfere in Lebanese affairs whenever it could: when on September 12, 1957 and
May 3-8,
From June to December
1958, the Lebanese Army lost 35 soldiers.
Since that period, Palestinians/Syrians/ and
later Syrian/Iranian organizations kidnapped, tortured, massacred,
assassinated, slaughtered, raped and booby-trapped hundreds of innocent
civilians, members of clergy, and Lebanese Army soldiers in the South, and all
the areas of Lebanon.
In the South, they attacked the
villages of Jezzine, Kfarfalouss, Naqura, Bint Jbeil, Marjaayoun, Qoleiaa,
Hasbaya, Debil, Deir Mimass, Ain El Mir, Roum, Anan, Shuwaya, Labaa, Rmeish,
Kfarhouna, Aramta, Rihane, Ain Ebel, Beit Lif, Tebnine, Bkassine, Aytoula, El
Taybeh, Sabbah, Houla, and in other regions of the South. They burned down and
razed to the ground houses, churches, schools, the only two available
hospitals, and entire villages, to occupy the remaining (8%) of Lebanese
territory that was still free in 2000 from the Syrian/Palestinian/Iranian
occupation. The goal was to undermine the state of lull between
An Officer of the South Lebanese Army reported
to the media that between 1978 and 2000, 621 SLA soldiers and 200 southern
civilians were killed and assassinated - a total of 821 fatalities - while 230
soldiers and 80 civilians, a combined figure of 310, were maimed.
It was later confirmed that between the first
attack and 2000, the overall number of victims was indeed 1630 persons.
1976:
The Lebanese Army units, known as the
When the Syrians completed the takeover of the
country in 1990, the
The Beirut Government officially designated
and included over the years the Commanding officers Saad Haddad, Sami Chidiac,
and Antoine Lahad (unofficially designated-see below), and appointed the
Officers Sharbel Barakat, Samir El Hajj, Eid Eid, Adnan El Homsi, George
Zaatar, Rizkallah El Fehaily, Hanna El Hajj and others, to assist them in the
South.
The number of soldiers was 3000 and even reached up to 5000, at
the peak of their history.
The inhabitants of the region joined the South Lebanese Army to
defend their regions against Syro/Palestino/Iranian invasions, in the way that
the inhabitants of
In 1976, the South Lebanese Army was known by its first name
as The Army of the
Free
The Command of the Lebanese Army in Yarzé under its Army Commander-in-Chief
General Hanna Said and the Ministry of Defense issued a military communiqué in
1976, assigning Major Saad Haddad to the Command of the South Lebanon Army.
They appointed him Commander of the Division of Al Qoleiaa (Qaed Tajamo3 al
Qoleiaa and its bordering zones, while Major Sami Chidiac, was appointed
Commander of the Division of Bent Jbeil and its bordering zones. The military
missions assigned to that command included the command functions:
·
regrouping
the soldiers who fled after the fall of their barracks under the Palestinian
Organization and Allies’ attacks;
·
defending
the regions and villages neighboring the zones of conflicts from massacres and
invasions;
·
keeping
the official status of the lull between
Major Saad Haddad was also the Government’s official
representative regarding all diplomatic contacts with the United Nations’
envoys in the South.
Between 1979 and 1982, the Syrians pressured President Elias
Sarkis and Prime Minister Selim Hoss to charge Major Saad Haddad and the
Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations and
General Erskin, Commander of the UNIFIL, who were asked by the Lebanese
Government to keep official contacts ongoing with Major Saad Haddad, publicly
criticized the Government for its contradictory and ambiguous position towards Major
Saad Haddad’s legitimacy.
After General Hanna Said’s departure, the Army
Commander-in-Chief General Victor Khoury signed and addressed an official military
communiqué (Muzzaqaret El Khedme El Rasmiyeh) to Major Saad Haddad in order to
validate and confirm the continuity of his functions in the South. All official
correspondence between them was formulated as follows: “From the Army
Commander-in-Chief General Victor Khoury to Commander of Al Sharqi Division,
Major Saad Haddad…”
After the death of Major Saad Haddad in January 1984 the Command
of the Lebanese Army of Yarzé, along with (former) President Camille Chamoun’s
support, informally selected retired General Antoine Lahad as Commander of the
South Lebanon Army.
They assigned General Lahad to fill in the gap until United
Nations’ Resolutions 425 and 520, related to the redeployment of the Lebanese
Army in the South and all Lebanese territory, were implemented.
The Command of the Army paid the
Moreover, whenever the roads between Marjaayoun and Beirut were
inaccessible and other means of transportation were quite impossible for allocating
SLA’s wages and logistic supplies, the officer in charge, assigned by the
Command of the Army of Yarzé, would reach Marjaayoun by sea through the port of
Haifa in Israel.
Following Presidential advice, the South Lebanon Army opened the
road to
President Sleiman Franjiyeh gave the instruction and the right
to use the only open door to
President Camille Chamoun encouraged and publicly congratulated
the bravery of the
Army, the South will not face the same destiny as other regions
like Damour, Jiyyeh,
Saaidiyet did…Genocide and total Exile…”
President Chamoun clarified to the press and corrected General
Erskin’s distorted declaration of facts and said, “There is a deformation of
the truth from sources coming from General Erskin. We do not have in the border
region of the South militias from the Christian right-wing and Phalangists.
There is very simply a strong unit of the Lebanese Army, which includes
approximately 600 men commanded by two officers of value, Commanders Haddad and
Chidiac. This unit was helped out in its efforts by volunteers from the region;
it faced during many months several Palestinian assaults and saved from
massacres and destruction entire villages, such as Marjaayoun, Qoleiaa, Ain
Ebel, Rmeish, etc…”
In fact, the
Later, the Ambassador of the
BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF THE SOUTH:
- September 1957 to May
1958
– Syrian soldiers attacked and occupied the village of
Kfarchouba in South Lebanon, killing the villagers and an officer.
- February 26, 1975 – A Palestinian
gunman infiltrated a crowd of Lebanese anglers demonstrating in the streets of
Saida-
- February 28 to March
2, 1975 – Palestinians and the Saika Organization deployed in the city
of Saida-Sidon twice attacked a Lebanese Army convoy along the main artery of
the city. Six soldiers were killed, 40 others were wounded with nine civilians
among them.
- March 10, 1976 – Fatah Organization,
the renegade troops of Lieutenant Ahmad Khatib's Arab Army sponsored by the
Syrian regime, their allies, and the Saika Organization, attacked the Lebanese
Army barracks in Khyam, South Lebanon and executed over 30 Lebanese soldiers in
cold blood. They attacked and surrounded the whole region: Marjaayoun, Qoleiaa,
Bint Jbeil, Al Taybeh, etc…, blockaded all medical supplies, food provisions
and military support from entering the region. They kidnapped civilians, killed
innocents, and raped women and girls.
The Lebanese Army barracks in Marjaayoun and
other regions were consequently falling,
the soldiers were fleeing
to more secure places, and those who tried to reach the Ministry of Defense in
Yarzé were sent back to the south; people were starving or dying from
ill-treatment and serious wounds.
- March 22, 1976 – The Army Commander-in-Chief, General Hanna
Said, signed a
Communiqué issued from the Ministry of
National Defense, Army Dep. - Yarzé, to
restructure the Lebanese Army’s posts
deserted in the South. This notice was distributed
and implemented on August
14, 1976. (See original Document – last page).
- August 1, 1976 – Fatah, Saika Organization and their allies
attacked the village of
Jezzine,
exile.
- October 19 to 21, 1976 – Fatah, Saika
Organization and their allies attacked the village of
Aishiyeh in the South
and committed mass murder and atrocities, as part of the Syrian
Regime’s ethnic cleansing campaign. More than
70 innocent people were killed and 100 seriously wounded. The
majority of the victims were women, children and the elderly. Women and girls
were raped, then slaughtered inside the church.
Newborns were ripped apart. Children were decapitated with hatchets. Houses
were burned down. The rest of the village residents escaped to safety in a
neighboring region. Francis Alfred Nasr was burned alive in front of his
father's eyes.
1. Francis Alfred Nasr (burned alive).
2. Alfred Youssef Nasr
3. Fouad Gerges Najem (plus his wife and
four
children).
9. Elias Fouad Najem
10. Amale Fouad Najem
11. Therese Fouad Najem
12. George Fouad Najem
13. Georgette Fouad Najem
14. Loutfallah Youssef El Chaar
15. Joseph Loutfallah El Chaar
16. Attallah Youssef El Chaar
17. Philippe Sleiman Chedid
18. Albert Chahine Milane
19. Ibrahim Ephrem Nasr
20. Sleiman Ephrem Nasr
21. Tony Ibrahim Nasr
(14 years old).
22. Jamil Elias
Nasr
23. Nassim Jamil
Nasr
24. Selim Jamil Nasr (16
years old).
25. Youssef Selim Nasr
26. Youssef Nasr Nasr
27. Antoinette Nasr Nasr
28. Simon Youssef Nasr
29. Fouad Youssef Nasr (newborn).
30. Toufic Nasr (70
years old).
31. Melhem Ephrem
Ephrem (45 years old).
32. Sleiman Ephrem (25
years old).
33. Ibrahim Selim Aoun
34. Raymond Ibrahim
Aoun (15 years old).
35. Melhem Mansour Aoun (73 years old)
36. Soldier Youssef Elias Abu Kheir
(Executed in the church).
37. Sleiman Ajjaj El Hajj (15 years old,
38. Pierre Naamtallah Jabbour (13 years
old, executed in the church).
39. Therese Fayez Najem
40. Najat Fayez Najem
41. Fayez Najem and his two daughters
(five
and three years old).
44. Mountaha Rizk Najem
45. Karim Selim Najem
46. Youssef Tannous Abu Eid
47. Tannous Youssef Abu Eid
48. Ibrahim Elias Aoun
49. Jean Khalil Aoun
50. Gerges Maroun Aoun
51. Sleiman Ajjaj Aoun.
52. Tammam Abu Kheir Aoun
53. Assaad Melhem Anid
54. Elias Youssef Anid
55. Aziz Youssef Anid
56. Boulos Anid
57. Elias Assaad El Kesserwani
58. Youssef Assaad El Kesserwani
59. Boutros Fares Fares
60. Gerges Ibrahim Nasr
61. Ibrahim Selim Nasr
62. Joseph Farid Nasr
63. Khalil Gergi
Nasr
64. Khalil Sleiman
Nasr
65. Salwa Youssef
Mezher
66. Philippe
Toufic Afif
67. Majid Elias
Afif
68. Melhem Chekkri
Honeiny
69. Nemr Rashid
Abu Samra
70. Youssef Elias Noura (Executed in the
church).
- From March 76 to September 23, 1978 – Fatah and the Saika
Organization with Ahmad
Khatib's Arab Army and
their allies kept brutally shelling and targeting from Khyam and
Tallet El Shrayqe the
villages of Marjaayoun, Qoleiaa and others, killing and wounding tens
of innocents. Yasser
Arafat (Abu Ammar) personally supervised from Shuwaya the
operations of Fatah against
Marjaayoun and Qoleiaa.
- September 23-24, 1978 - The (South)
Lebanese Army led by Major Saad Haddad counter-
attacked Tallet El Shrayqe,
then Khyam, and finally liberated them. However, the war
against the Lebanese Army and
the civilians rolled on.
- April 18, 1979 – Under the pressure and persistent demand of
the Syrian Regime, Major
Saad Haddad was removed from office, and then called to
justice by Presidential
Decree No. 1942, from President Elias
Sarkis. It was a new Syrian attempt to invade the
South.
- April 18, 1979 – Major Saad Haddad, aware of the Syrian
conspiracy, declared
the South of
- From 1979 to 1982 – After the Accord of Beit-El Din in early
1979, and until the end of
President Sarkis’ mandate in 1982, the
suspended. At President Bashir
Gemayel’s order, salaries and rights were all reinstituted,
until the year 1997 for
some and the year 2000 and beyond for others.
- January 30, 1982 – A booby-trapped car
exploded at Saida-Sidon in
one civilian
and injuring another.
- October 14, 1982 - A booby-trapped car
exploded at a check post of the
Army in Jdeidet
Marjaayoun in south
civilians.
- January 4, 1984 – Major Saad Haddad
won his trial and regained all his rights, decorations
and official
rank.
- January 16, 1984 – Major Saad Haddad died and his funeral was
officially conducted. The
population, his political
friends and army veterans paid him tribute as a National Hero.
- January 1984 – Retired General Antoine Lahad, supported by
President Camille
Chamoun, was informally selected by the
Command of the Lebanese Army of Yarzé as
the Head of the
salary, going from the
“Sareff Salary” to the “Taawiid Salary”.
- July 10, 1984 – The Mayor of
Sarafand, Jawad Khalifeh, was assassinated in South
- September 19, 1984 – Syrians and
Palestinians ambushed a
their way, in the
others.
- March 6, 1985 – Hezbollah, a Syrian/Iranian
sponsored Organization attacked Rashaya in
- June 30, 1985 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization attacked Zaghraya-
- March 5, 1986 – A booby-trapped car
exploded in Saida-Sidon. Two civilians were killed
and three were
injured.
- May 12, 1986 – A booby-trapped car
exploded in Saida-Sidon. Two civilians were killed
and another
two were injured.
- May 24, 1986 – Syrian agents
riddled the body of Father Boutros Abi Akl, 62-years old, with bullets. He was
shot dead on his way to
- July 6, 1990 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization murdered U.S. Marine LT-Col. William R.
Higgins, who was serving as Chief Observer with the United Nations Truce
Supervisory Organization (UNTSO) in southern Lebanon. He had been kidnapped on February 17, 1988 from a U.N. Peacekeeping
vehicle driving south from the port city of
- November 9, 1998 – Hezbollah, a Syrian/Iranian
sponsored Organization..planted an explosive charge on the
- June 8, 1999 – Two
Syrian/Palestinian agents assassinated four judges and one
Prosecutor
in Saida's Supreme Court. Hassan Osman, Walid Harmoush, Imad Chehab
and Assem Abu Daher were
murdered in view of dozens of witnesses. The two gunmen fled to the Ain
el Helwe Palestinian military camp. It was yet another Syrian warning in an
attempt to subdue the Judicial system.
- September 22, 1999 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization called .. planted an explosive charge in Kfar Houneh, South Lebanon,
killing two Lebanese soldiers.
- September 28, 1999 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization .. detonated a roadside bomb in
- March 2, 2000 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization .. planted an explosive charge in
- March 3, 2000 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization ..detonated a roadside
bomb in
- May 23, 2000 – Before the Israeli
withdrawal of May 26, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah,
threatened to slaughter the Southerners in their beds while sleeping. All
Lebanese Radios and TV channels broadcast Nasrallah’s threats. Thousand of
Southerners fled to
Most of the detainees
were transferred to
Amnesty International
called "travesties of justice", while others basically
"disappeared."
Hezbollah’s secretary-general at
a rally in Haret Hreiq, also warned against
clemency toward "militiamen" who served in the
occupation, saying they would have to either be locked up in rehabilitation centers
or sent
abroad, but not allowed back to southern villages.
The Government
Commissioner, Justice Nasri Lahoud, declared before the
collaboration with the enemy.
Some of the detainees later reported to having
been beaten during their detention; many said that they were forced to lie with
their hands cuffed behind their backs for up to 24 hours.
C.T. (personal interview)
was brutally tortured, his lower face disfigured and his jaw
busted.
On his way out, he had
to endure plastic surgery to restructure his jaw.
Georges Said, a 72-year old diabetic, died on June 28 after prison officials took
away his Israeli-made medication.
Abu Samira, a 70-year-old man,
and 65-year Ramez Boulos, from Qoleiaa, both died under
torture and ill-treatment.
Abu Samira died in Oberly’s Jail; Ramez Boulos succumbed
at home, after they
released him agonizing from ill-treatment, in Roumieh’s prison.
The Foundation for
Human and Humanitarian Rights-Lebanon (FHHRL) reported:
- In the 8th session of the
Commander of the
pre-trial period at the Oberly
center. The allegations of torture made no impression on the bench.
- In the 10th session of the
beaten up and heard
frightening cries, which forced me to confess that I fed the
security network”; another said that he wasn’t
beaten but just suspended from above for not answering a question, then lowered
down.
- In the 11th session, the court
ignored the allegations of Hanna Karim Al Alam who claimed
that he was tortured,
pointing out to the Court the pus and bloodstained bandages around
his leg, and that he was
denied any kind of medical treatment for five days.
- All those who were released after completing
their sentences in prisons were deprived
of their civil and
social rights, until this day; those who were set free by the court like
Mohammad Ayoub Faris
(in Houla) and Mohammad Bassam (in Aytaroun) were beaten to
death (according to
unconfirmed reports, said FHHRL).
- According to Al-Hayat newspaper and
re-published by The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, 20 people were seized in
the village of Aytaroun on June 7; five were later released by Hezbollah, but
the others were still missing. Human rights groups constantly appealed for
their release, but Hezbollah officials claimed to have "no information on
the subject."
- At Roumieh Prison, where most of the
prisoners were being held, it was reported to the
Foundation for Human and Humanitarian
Rights-Lebanon (FHHRL) that "many of
the detainees had bruises
when they were brought in."
- Meanwhile in the South, there was looting,
sacking and then blasting deserted houses in
Marjaayoun, Bourj El
Moulouq, Qoleiaa, Debil and Rmeish, which alarmed and terrorized
the rest of the villagers;
in Beit Leef, Aytaroun and Houla the villagers were threatened,
beaten and sometimes
kidnapped.
- February 10, 2001 – Hezbollah, a
Syrian/Iranian sponsored Organization..”,
desecrated the cemetery of the Shiite village of Aytaroun in South Lebanon.
They dug out 17 soldiers corpses of the
1. Mansour Khalil
2. Akanen Ali
3. Alik Samih
4. Droubi Hassan
5. Marmar Ali
6. Mustafa Yasser
7. Abdel Hassan S. Hassan
8. Fakih Mohammad
9. Hijazy Fouad
10. Kassem Ali Hussein
11. Taoube Bahige
12. Mawwassi Abed
13. Awada Wafic
14. Abbass Adel
15. Shour Salah
16. Farhat Hussein
17. Assayed Mohammad Mustafa
- July 11, 2002 – At 9:30 pm, the Palestinian Badih Hamadeh,
alias Abu Obeida, from the Palestinian military camp of Ain El Helwe in South
Lebanon, attacked a division of the Lebanese Army and shot three servicemen.
1 - Ali Hamze (SSG)
2 - Radwan Melhem (CPL)
3 - Ali Saleh (PVT)
- November 21, 2002 – At 7:30 am, a Syrian/ Iranian agent assassinated 31-year old American
nurse/Christian missionary, Bonnie Penner-Witheral, in Saida-Sidon. She was
found with a bullet in the head and two others in the chest. It was a Syrian
warning against
=======
Today, the rest of the
Hundred of Southerners, civilians, soldiers
and entire families in Enforced Exile,
Have been abandoned
or forgotten…
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I sincerely regret not
having listed all the victims and martyrs’ names. All the names
appearing in this compilation,
were obtained from newspaper reports, archives, and witness accounts, friends
or families sources.
Roadside Bombs
detonated by Hezbollah killed most of the Victims, who fell between the 1980’s
and 2000:
Akiki (PVT - Debil, January 31, 2000).
Fawzi El Saghir (PVT - September 28, 1999).
Milia Naaman Rashed (72 years old - Jezzine).
Maroun Neehme Neehme (67 years old Qoleiaa).
Salima Neehme (60 years old - Qoleiaa).
Youssef Massoud Rizk (Jezzine - August 20, 1976).
Tanios
Hanne Michael El Haddad (Ain Ebel - July 1976).
Michael El Haddad (Ain Ebel - July
1976).
Joseph El Haddad (Ain Ebel - July 1976).
Mona Youssef Chbat (Ain Ebel - September 1975).
Youssef Tanios Salloum (Ain Ebel - June 1977).
Youssef Gerges Nassif (Debil - February 1977).
Boutros Michael El Akh (Ain Ebel - September 1975).
George Gerges (Jezzine, April 1998).
Tony Kfoury (Rashaya - March 6, 1985).
Mustafa Khalil (Zoghdraya-Sidon - June
6, 1985).
Abdel Raouf El Hajj (Sidon - June 30, 1985).
Mahmoud
Hafouda (Sidon - June 30, 1985).
Sleiman El Asmar (Sidon - August 30, 1985).
Maroun Matar (January 22, 1986).
Wadih Moussa (Jabal Safi - February 14, 1986).
Philip Moussa (Jabal Safi - February 14, 1986).
Khalil Trabulsi (Ayneta - February 17, 1986).
Jihad Saykali (Rihane - June 20, 1986).
Antoine Abu Ghannam (Yater Road - June 15, 1986).
Assaad Moussa (Labaa-Kfarfalouss-Ain El Mir - June 19, 1986).
Edgard Hakim (Darb El Sim - June 20, 1986).
Dani Najm (Sabbah-Jezzine - July 5, 1986).
Lucien Estephan (Tallet Sejod - August 10, 1986).
Khalil El Jellad (Tallet Sejod - September 18, 1986).
Joseph Youssef (Tallet Sejod - September 18, 1986).
Elie Youssef (Anan Kfarfalouss - June 1986).
Charbel Kassouf (Jabal Safi - April 1987).
Jad Morkos (Anan-Kfarfalouss - September 1987).
Youssef Matta (Jabal Safi - October 1991).
Tony Hourani (Ain Majdalain-Jezzine - May 1992).
Tony Bakhos (Kroum el Arz-Jezzine - October 1995).
Assaad Nammour (Sabbah-Bkassine - September 1996).
Hussein El Fkih (Sabbah-Bkassine - September 1996).
Selim Risha (Roum-Bessry - December 1996).
Samir Youssef Roumiyeh (Kfarhouna - March 1997).
George Gerges (Jezzine- April 1998).
Roukoz Roukoz (Ain Majdalain-Jezzine - September 1998).
Joseph Chamoun (Ain Majdalain-Jezzine - September 1998).
Two students (Anan-Roum Road - 1988).
Two students (Kfarhouna-Jezzine - 1997).
Ezzat Elias Julien, his mother, wife and three (3) children (Qoleiaa).
Akl Hashem
Ali Marmar
Ali Qassem
Ali mahmoud
AbdEl Nabi
bazzi
Antoun
salloum
Adel Abbass
Akl melhem
Ali zein el din
Antoine Abu ghanem
Abboud hammoud
Abbas koussan
Abdel hassan mwassi Ahmad Salame
Abdallah Atweh
Abdallah miyasseh
Abdallah mahmoud
Abbas abbas
Ali loubwani
Abbas tourmos
Ali Ghodban
Ali qassem
Ahmad Saad
Aniess Assaf
Abdallah
Mustafa
Assass Khiami
Ali
Hamade
Abbas Hammoud
Ali Beydoun
Ahmad Nassrallah
Albert Agnatis
Ahmad El daaboul
Ali Younes
Ayoub El haddad
Ahmad Madani
Assad Harfouch
Attef Chedid
Assad Alloud