What was the “National Charter” of Lebanon? How did this charter divide the political power in Lebanon?
History
- What was the “National Charter” of Lebanon? How did this charter divide the political power in Lebanon?
National charter of Lebanon refers to the document that kept the records of the demands and principles of people of Lebanon. The political power allocation was based on the census that took place in 1932. According to the charter, the seats in parliament were divided in the ratio of 6 Christians to 5 Muslims. Later in1990, the rate was cut into half and half. The president was a Maronite Christian while the position of the speaker in parliament was occupied by Shi’a Muslim and Sunni Muslim held the prime minister.
- What were the significant disagreements between the Christian and Muslim Lebanese in 1975 that triggered the Lebanese Civil War?
Christians and Muslims were the majority occupants of the coastal cities. Muslims were located at the south and Beqaa Valley on the eastern side. Christians, together with Druze, were the significant occupants of the mountain areas. During the era, the Lebanon government was being controlled with a substantial effect of the majority of Christians. The colonial power of France reinforces the link between the politics and the religion which was from 1920-1943. The structure of the parliament favoured the prime positions for the Christian population (Georgetown.)
Nevertheless, Lebanon had a large number of Muslim communities having most Arabic that disagreed with the pro-western government. The displacement of thousands of refugees of Palestine to Lebanon due to the establishment of Israel state impacted to a significant shift of demographic balance, which favoured the populations of Muslims. Therefore, the cold war had a considerable impact in corroding Lebanon, which later brought about the start of the Civil war in Lebanon.
- Who were the sides in the civil war, and what was their goal? What was the role of Israel, France and the United States in the Lebanese Civil War? How did their engagement affect the conflict?
There were a lot of groups that were on the sides of the civil war. The groups include; Maronite groups, Secular groups, the Palestinians, Druze groups, Shi’a Muslim groups, Armenian groups and Sunni Muslim groups. The secular groups like the South Lebanon Army (SLA) which was being headed by Saad Haddad. This group operated on the southern part of Lebanon and collaborated with the Israeli. Their main plan was to create a defensive wall that worked against the raid and attacks of Palestine Liberation Organization to Galilee. The group like Palestinians formed an organization called Palestine Liberation Organization that was led by Yasser Arafat. Their main goal was to attack Galilee (Georgetown).
United States, France and Italy formed troops for a multinational peacekeeping force. The troops arrived in Lebanon to oversee the peaceful and safe withdrawal of