Battle of the Hotels
Battle of the Hotels | |||||||
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Part of the Lebanese Civil War | |||||||
The ruined Holiday Inn Beirut in the hotel district of Beirut, with the Phoenicia in front of it on the right in 2009 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
ASALA
Lebanese Arab Army |
Internal Security Forces | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ibrahim Kulaylat
Hagop Hagopian
Yasser Arafat Ahmed al-Khatib |
Bashir el-Khoury Saad Haddad Antoine Barakat | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
LNM: ~1,500 PLO: ~500 Lebanese Arab Army: ~300 | LF: ~1,500 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
300 dead 500 wounded |
500 dead 750 wounded |
The Battle of the Hotels (
Background
The hotel district involved in the Battle of the Hotels included a number of then-modern hotels built during Lebanon’s “Golden Age” boom of the mid-to-late 1960s and early 1970s. Among them were the
Other tactically valuable, multi-storey buildings in the district included the still-unfinished 30-story Murr Tower (Arabic: برج المر, Burj al-Murr, French: Tour Murr) in the Kantari District and the Rizk Tower, (Arabic: برج رزق الأشرفية, Burj Rizk al-Achrafieh, French: Tour Rizk Achrafieh) in Achrafieh, which were Beirut's tallest buildings at the time. Together with the neighbouring hotels, these buildings towered over the residential quarters in adjacent areas, which included both Christian and Muslim inhabitants. This district had been spared the effects of the ongoing conflict, and most of the hotels were able to continue functioning normally, although with virtually no tourists and holidaymakers.[2][3]
The Battle of the Hotels
October 1975
The first rounds were exchanged on October 23, 1975, during the final phase of the Battle for the Kantari District, when a detachment of fighters – nicknamed the "Hawks of az-Zeidaniyya" (Arabic: صقور الزيدانية | Suqūr az-Zaydānīya, French: Faucons d'az-Zeidaniyya) – from the Al-Mourabitoun, the militia of the Independent Nasserite Movement (INM) led by Ibrahim Kulaylat occupied the empty Murr Tower[4] after they managed to dislodge its Christian Phalange Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) defenders,[5] and began firing rockets and mortars from the upper floors into the Christian-held neighborhoods below.[6] During the battle, the Al-Mourabitoun reportedly committed some 200–300 fighters,[7] even though other sources cite a higher number of 500.[8] The majority of the buildings were usually defended by an even smaller number of fighters, with no more than 60 militiamen participating on any given day.[9]
On October 26, the fighting in Kantari between the Muslim-leftist
As a counter-move, Christian fighters of the
The situation deteriorated further on October 28, when a shooting incident occurred on the steps of the Parliament House at Nejmeh Square in Christian-controlled territory. One car filled with Muslim militiamen from West Beirut managed to reach the Parliament building and after shouting slogans over a loudspeaker against the members of the Assembly, they opened fire on the deputies leaving the building after attending a parliamentary session. Two men were killed, one being a bodyguard of Phalange Leader Pierre Gemayel. He had been standing nearby at that moment, but was not harmed.[14]
Nevertheless, a ceasefire was called upon the belligerents by
November 1975
A new ceasefire came into effect on November 3. Prime Minister Karami then tried to demilitarise the Hotel district, but the Phalangists and the NLP Tigers refused to vacate their positions at the Holiday Inn, Saint-Georges, Phoenicia Inter-Continental and neighbouring buildings until the Muslim militiamen who occupied the Murr Tower had been replaced by ISF Gendarmes. Although Karami did manage to persuade the Al-Mourabitoun leader Ibrahim Kulaylat to withdraw his fighters from the Murr Tower, no identical move was ever made by the Phalange militiamen who remained at their positions. Another ceasefire was called on November 8, but it began to break down ten days later as sporadic and occasionally heavy fighting erupted throughout the country. There was, however, little activity in the Hotel district until the following month.[5]
December 1975
Despite the nominal ceasefire, hostilities were resumed on December 8 when the LNM militias launched a major two-pronged offensive to capture the Christian-held Mediterranean seafront and central Beirut. Units of the
The operation was led by Ibrahim Kulaylat, the Al-Mourabitoun leader, who planned to occupy the district and inflict a crushing defeat on the Phalangist KRF militia that would eventually force them to sue for peace. On December 8–9 there was a seesaw, savage close-quarter battle for the Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel, and although the Phalangists were eventually forced out from some of the hotel buildings, they managed to hold on to their main stronghold at the Holiday Inn. When the St Georges fell, the NLP Tigers simply withdrew from the seafront district, leaving the fighting to the Phalangists and the other, smaller Christian militias.[16] On that same date, the Lebanese Army came to the aid of the Phalangists by launching an attack on the Phoenicia and Saint-Georges Hotels, which was initially successful in recapturing the Phoenicia Hotel.[5]
Kulaylat's operation thus failed to deliver the expected results, and on December 10 it was the Muslims who were trying desperately to hold on at the Alcazar Hotel, even though parts of the building had gone up in flames. Pressured by the joint Army-Christian militias' counter-offensive, Kulaylat called the PLO for help and received it. The Phoenicia and St Georges Hotels changed hands several times during the night. Nevertheless, the Muslim militiamen were able to storm and secure the disputed Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel, and the next day they mounted another assault against Christian militia and ISF Gendarmerie positions. While the Christian militiamen repulsed the attacks on their own positions, the Gendarmes avoided confrontation and withdrew to the unfinished Beirut Hilton Hotel. The Al-Mourabitoun were forced out from the Saint-Georges and Alcazar Hotels after a heavy artillery bombardment by the Lebanese Army, supported by the Phalangists. Fighting came to a temporary near-halt on December 12 when the exhausted combatants of both sides realised that they had more or less retained their original positions.
Although Prime-Minister Karami had announced another truce two days earlier, it was ignored by the LNM leaders until December 11. Even on that date, fighting continued on the Hotel district as the Muslim-leftists retook the Phoenicia and Saint-Georges Hotels, forced the Lebanese Army out of the area, and launched an unsuccessful assault on the Phalangist-held Holiday Inn.[5] As a result, the ceasefire called earlier on December 10 did not become truly effective until December 15–16 when Syria, As-Saiqa and the PLO put pressure on the LNM political and military leaders to accept the ceasefire proposal. By nightfall, Lebanese ISF Gendarmerie detachments had replaced Muslim and Christian militiamen in all the hotel positions. A Syrian delegation led by
January 1976
By late December 1975, fighting in the Battle for the Hotels subsided as the main contenders were distracted elsewhere. On January 1, the Christian militias set up a blockade cutting off supplies to the
March 1976
The Hotel district flared up again on March 17, the day when the LNM-PLO joint forces, backed by the
Having only been in control of the Holiday Inn for a few hours, the Palestinians therefore had to do the job all over again, and on March 22, leftist-Muslim LNM forces backed by PLO guerrillas mounted a counter-attack in downtown Beirut, determined to eliminate any remaining Phalangist presence west of the Martyrs' Square. Over the next two days and amid intense shelling, the Phalange were gradually pushed back to their defensive positions at Martyrs' Square and Rue Allenby, after a costly battle that resulted in 150 dead and 300 wounded. The following day, March 23, the Al-Mourabitoun recaptured the Holiday Inn and the area known as the "4th sector" or "4th district" (Arabic: الحي الرابع, Al-hayi al-ra'abie, French: 4ème secteur) from the Phalangists,[4] which meant that LNM militias now dominated most of the strategic points around central Beirut. That same day marked the beginning of the battle for the Beirut port area when the LNM-PLO forces advanced towards that sector and captured the Starco building. Five days later, on March 28, they seized control of the Hilton and Normandy Hotels.[19][16] The new battle front was established on the axis Starco-Hilton, while Phalangist militiamen faced assaults launched from the Riad El Solh Square and the Nejmeh Square towards the Port area and the Rue de Damas.
Although the Christians had virtually lost the control of the Hotel district, it was not quite the end of the fighting in downtown Beirut. As the weeks went by, it was becoming painfully apparent to the Lebanese Front leadership that they were at risk of losing the war as the LNM-PLO-LAA alliance forced them to retreat farther into
The new Christian Command felt it imperative to retain control of Beirut's port district and began raising an elaborate defence barricade made of concrete and rubble at Rue Allenby. As the allied 'Lebanese Front' militia forces tried to stave off the Muslim-Leftist-Palestinian assault on the port district, units of the predominantly Christian
Consequences
The battle of the hotels and assorted conflicts provided valuable, if costly, lessons to all sides. The Lebanese Front leadership had grossly underestimated the military strength and organizational capabilities displayed by the Leftist-Muslim LNM coalition and their Palestinian allies in Lebanon, as well as the political and logistical support they would receive from some Arab countries. For their part, the Lebanese National Movement leaders had also underestimated the military capabilities and mobilization skills of their Rightist-Christian Lebanese Front alliance adversaries, and the military support that they enjoyed from certain fractions of the Lebanese Army and Israel.
Although the Lebanese Front was eventually kicked out of West Beirut, providing a victory for the LNM, the ensuing chaos following the battle only served to complete the division of Beirut into a Muslim-controlled western sector (known as "West Beirut") and a Christian-dominated eastern sector (known in turn as "East Beirut") through a demarcation line that eventually became the Green Line, and this partition remained for the following 15 years. The battle would be intensely televised, with pictures of the Holiday Inn burning in December 1975 sending shockwaves around the world. The ferocity of the fighting in what had been an affluent country would result in a significant blow to Lebanon's reputation as a tourist destination and resulted in Beirut being abandoned and neglected by foreign investors scared by the war. The intensity of the fighting, previously unseen in Lebanon, would also result in more severe battles taking place throughout the war.
In arts and popular culture
Cinema
In Circle of Deceit (1981) Volker Schlöndorff makes an ambiguous use of the Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel, one of the hotels involved in the battle. Characters seem to be lodging in the hotel while it has already been damaged by the war. In fact, the outside scenes were shot on location, while the interior scenes were done at Casino du Liban.
Visual arts
Lebanese painter Ayman Baalbaki painted the Holiday Inn Beirut, a landmark of this battle. His Holiday Inn Hotel 'Seeking The Heights’ was sold for $47,500 at a Christie's auction in 2010.[22]
Lebanese visual artist and illustrator Lamia Ziadé exhibited in 2008 Hotel's War, an installation of wool and fabric childlike models of buildings that makes a reference to the Battle of the Hotels.[23]
A scale model of the unfinished shell of the Burj al-Murr, a prominent sniper nest during the war, was crafted by Lebanese artist Marwan Rechmaoui. The piece is entitled Monument for the Living and is on display at the Tate Modern museum in London.[24]
Music
Lebanese singer-songwriter and architecture researcher[25] Mayssa Jallad dedicated an album to the Battle of the Hotels. Published in march 2023, Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels[26] tells these historical events through lyricised descriptions, sometimes narrated from the perspective of the buildings themselves.
See also
- Hundred Days' War
- Internal Security Forces
- Lebanese Army
- Lebanese Civil War
- Lebanese Front
- Lebanese National Movement
- Le Commodore Hotel Beirut
- Mountain War (Lebanon)
- Philip Caputo
Notes
- ^ a b c Nayel, Moe-Ali (2015-05-01). "Beirut's bullet-riddled Holiday Inn - a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 28". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 28.
- ^ a b Dundon, Rian (2018-03-27). "Welcome to the hotel. All rooms come with views of urban warfare". Medium. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
- ^ a b c d "How the Holiday Inn became a symbol of the Lebanese Civil War".
- ^ a b c d e f Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas (1979), p. 5.
- ^ a b Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas (1979), p. 8.
- ISBN 0674081056. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ Khalidi, Conflict and Violence in Lebanon (1983), p. 77.
- ^ Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas (1979), p. 6, and Appendix A, Table 2.
- ^ Newsweek, 10th November 1975.
- ^ Randall, Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and the War in Lebanon (2012), page unknown.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 32.
- ^ Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2003), p. 30.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 27.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 37.
- ^ a b c Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas (1979), p. 6.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 39.
- ^ "The Facts: AG and Tal el Za3tar - Page 2 - the Orange Room - forum.tayyar.org". forum.tayyar.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 47.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), pp. 54; 56–57.
- ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), pp. 48–49.
- ^ "International Modern & Contemporary Art, Including Masterpieces from The Collection of Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi". Christie's. April 27, 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ "Lamia Ziadé". Fann 3arabi. October 4, 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ "'Monument for the Living', Marwan Rechmaoui, 2001–8".
- ^ "Mayssa Jallad ميساء جلّاد". Retrieved 2023-08-01.
- ^ "Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, by Mayssa Jallad". Ruptured Records. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
References
- Denise Ammoun, Histoire du Liban contemporain: Tome 2 1943–1990, Éditions Fayard, Paris 2005.
- ISBN 0-333-72975-7
- Farid El-Kazen, The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon 1967-1976, I.B. Tauris, London 2000.
- Jonathan Randall, Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and the War in Lebanon, Just World Books, Charlottesville, Virginia 2012. ISBN 978-1935982166
- Paul Jureidini, R. D. McLaurin, and James Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas, 1975–1978, Aberdeen, MD: US Army Human Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Technical Memorandum 11-79, June 1979.
- Rex Brynen, Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon, Boulder: Westview Press, Oxford 1990.
- Samer Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon, Beirut: Elite Group, 2003. ISBN 9953-0-0705-5
- Walid Khalidi, Conflict and Violence in Lebanon: Confrontation in the Middle East, Cambridge, MA: Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, 1983.
Secondary sources
- Michael Maschek, Myrtom House Building – un Quartier de Beyrouth en Guerre Civile (Recit), Éditions L'Harmattan, Paris 2018. ISBN 978-2343160016 (in French)
- ISBN 978-0-8014-9313-3, 0-8014-9313-7 – The War for Lebanon, 1970-1983