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Full-scale civil war broke out in April 1975. After shots were fired at a church, gunmen in Christian East Beirut ambushed a busload of Palestinians. Palestinian forces joined predominantly leftist-Muslim factions as the fighting persisted, eventually spreading to most parts of the country and precipitating the Lebanese President's call for support from Syrian troops in June 1976. In fall of 1976, Arab summits in Riyadh and Cairo set out a plan to end the war. The resulting Arab Deterrent Force, which included Syrian troops already present, moved in to help separate the combatants. As an uneasy quiet settled over Beirut, security conditions in the south began to deteriorate.  

Full-scale civil war broke out in April 1975. After shots were fired at a church, gunmen in Christian East Beirut ambushed a busload of Palestinians. Palestinian forces joined predominantly leftist-Muslim factions as the fighting persisted, eventually spreading to most parts of the country and precipitating the Lebanese President's call for support from Syrian troops in June 1976. In fall of 1976, Arab summits in Riyadh and Cairo set out a plan to end the war. The resulting Arab Deterrent Force, which included Syrian troops already present, moved in to help separate the combatants. As an uneasy quiet settled over Beirut, security conditions in the south began to deteriorate.  

After a PLO attack on a bus in northern Israel and Israeli retaliation that caused heavy casualties, Israel invaded Lebanon in March 1978, occupying most of the area south of the Litani River. In response, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and creating the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with maintaining peace. Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, turning over positions inside Lebanon along the border to their Lebanese ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) under the leadership of Maj. Sa'ad Haddad, thus informally setting up a 12-mile wide "security zone" to protect Israeli territory from cross border attack.

The "[[Palestinian]]" militias sparked the beginning of a long and destructive civil war. Led by Yasir [[Arafat]] they ''aimed to cleanse the south from its inhabitants whom were opposing the oppressive Palestinian military presence and Arab nationalism.'' Arafat once stated that “the road to Jerusalem goes through Jounieh.”<ref name=forgotten>[https://medium.com/@AsAbove_SoBelow/lebanons-long-forgotten-massacre-e3909e4bf13e Lebanon's long forgotten massacre | by XXVII.IV | Medium. Jan 20, 2019].

''Back then the Palestinian militias sparked the beginning of a long destructive civil war. The Palestinian armed militants led by Yaser Arafat aimed to cleanse the south from its inhabitants whom were opposing the oppressive Palestinian military presence and Arab nationalism... Palestinian militiamen taking celebratory pictures after taking over The Damour. 

Arafat once stated that “the road to Jerusalem goes through Jounieh.”''</ref><ref>Charbel Hage (@CharbelHage12) Tweeted: #Israel in 2021 is the victim of #Palestinian terrorism... #Lebanon was in the 70’s and 80’s.

We still remember Palestinian #massacres of innocent #Maronite #civilians in Damour, Lebanon. #PalestinianTerrorism #IranTerrorism #wewillneverforget [https://t.co/6S1upNYS5Q] [https://twitter.com/CharbelHage12/status/1391135956846080004?s=20 May 8, 2021]</ref>

Author elaborates on the anti-Christian campaign:<ref>Alan M. Tigay (1980). "Myths and Facts 1980: A Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict." [https://books.google.com/books?id=5SK7AAAAIAAJ&q=damour+jihad p. 153].</ref>

Testimony on overall "Palestinian" crime:<ref>[https://canadafreepress.com/article/arafats-massacre-of-damour Arafat’s Massacre of Damour], Joseph Hobeika, Canada Free Press, Jan 2, 2009.</ref>

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<blockquote>

Prior to the 1967 war, an ominous phrase about Jews and Christians was heard in the Arab world: "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people." Historian Bernard Lewis writes: "The Saturday people have proved unexpectedly recalcitrant, and recent events in  Lebanon indicate that the priorities may have been reversed." (Commentary , January 1976).

Do you not remember Damour Lebanon. Let me remind you. Arafat and the PLO plunged Lebanon into "massacres, rape, mutilation, rampages of looting and killings. Out of a population of 3.2 million, some 40,000 or more people had been killed, 100,000 wounded, 5,000 permanently maimed."</blockquote>

On Oct. 2 , 1977, Patrick Seale wrote in the London Observer, "Secular nationalism throughout the Arab world has lost ground to a militant revival of Islamic orthodoxy , making all minorities tremble."  

 

On Oct. 2, 1977, Patrick Seale wrote in the London Observer, "Secular nationalism throughout the Arab world has lost ground to a militant revival of Islamic orthodoxy , making all minorities tremble."  

Recently, anti-Christian sentiment erupted in Lebanon where ideological and class warfare also split along Moslem-Christian lines. 

Recently, anti-Christian sentiment erupted in Lebanon where ideological and class warfare also split along Moslem-Christian lines. 

Cries for a jihad (Moslem holy war) were frequent. Christians in the town of Damour were driven from their homes. An estimated 20,000 Christians died in the two-year civil war.</blockquote>

'''Cries for a jihad (Moslem holy war) were frequent. Christians in the town of Damour were driven from their homes. An estimated 20,000 Christians died in the two-year civil war'''.</blockquote>

 

 

Among the atrocities committed by [[Palestinian]] and [[Syrian]] forces during this short period alone:

Among the atrocities committed by [[Palestinian]] and [[Syrian]] forces during this short period alone:

*[[Naameh massacre]]

*[[Naameh massacre]]

*[[Kab Elias massacre]]

*[[Kab Elias massacre]]

====U.S. Intervention, 1982-84====

====U.S. Intervention, 1982-84====