East Beirut canton
East Beirut canton إقليم شرق بيروت Eqleem Sharq Beyrut | |||||||||
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1976–13 October 1990 | |||||||||
Flag of the Lebanese Forces | |||||||||
Historical era | Taif agreement and the end of the Lebanese Civil War | 13 October 1990 | |||||||
Population | |||||||||
• | 800,000 | ||||||||
Currency | Lebanese Pound | ||||||||
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Today part of | Lebanon |
The East Beirut canton, also known as Kfarchima - Madfoun,
East Beirut was a semi-independent region, from which Syrian troops stationed in Lebanon were mostly absent.[8] It had its own security and legal apparatus, with the LF also providing the local population with subsidized services, including public transport, education and healthcare among others.[9] The canton had more than 60% of the country's industrial capacity.[10] In 1976, to finance its war effort, the LF established the "National Treasury" in order to manage its revenue, mainly through direct taxation of the canton's population, among other sources.[11]
Background
As central government authority disintegrated and rival governments claimed national authority, the various parties and militias started to create comprehensive state administrations in their territory. These were known as
History
Inter-Christian fighting
Tigers Resistance
Relations between the NLP political board and the Tigers' military command soured after the former, headed by
War of Liberation and territorial Handover to the LAF
On 1 April 1990, during the War of Liberation,
By May, however, the
Support and recognition
Although the canton was not recognized internationally as a sovereign state nor an administrative region, the region still garnered foreign support from namely the United States.[26]
Economy
Considered by many analysts as the best organized of all militia "fiefs" in the whole of Lebanon, it was administrated by a network of Phalangist-controlled business corporations headed by "Chef" Boutros Khawand, which included the GAMMA Group brain-trust, the DELTA computer company, and the SONAPORT holding.[27] The latter run since 1975 the legal commercial ports of Jounieh and Beirut, including the infamous clandestine "Dock Five" (French: Cinquième basin), near the Karantina KRF's HQ, from which the Phalange extracted additional revenues by levying taxes and by conducting arms-dealing operations.[28][29][14]
Wilton Wynn, a TIME correspondent, visited the Christian canton in 1976, the same year as its foundation.[30] He reported that compared to the villages outside of the canton, in Maronite towns and villages no garbage littered the streets, gas was one-fifth the price charged in West Beirut and the price of bread was controlled to levels comparable to pre-war pricing.[31]
Pierre Gemayel International Airport
The Canton was also served by a clandestine-built airstrip, the
Military
The region was defended by the Lebanese Front army brigades of 12,000 men, which was well-equipped by the United States, along with 5,000 militiamen under Samir Geagea and 1,000 belonging to Kataeb Regulatory Forces, supported by Israel. The brigades also included members of the Tigers Militia and the Guardians of the Cedars.[26]
The militiamen were situated in a mountainous region which gave them an upper-hand against Syrian expansion westward of the country.[26]
See also
- Kataeb Regulatory Forces
- Lebanese Armed Forces
- Lebanese Civil War
- Lebanese Front
- Lebanese Forces (militia)
- Internal Security Forces
- Zgharta Liberation Army
Notes
- ^ "Geagea : Ceux qui m'avaient emprisonné sont aujourd'hui eux-mêmes derrière les barreaux".
- )
- ^ Yom 2016, para 2.
- ^ Kingston & Spears 2004, p. 93.
- ^ Kingston & Spears 2004, p. 87.
- ^ Barak, The Lebanese Army – A National institution in a divided society (2009), pp. 100-101.
- JSTOR j.ctt183p4f5.18, retrieved 2022-06-19
- ^ Evron 2013, p. 60.
- ^ Kingston & Spears 2004, p. 88.
- ^ Ayalon & Harris 1991, p. 504.
- ^ Kingston & Spears 2004, p. 89.
- ISBN 978-0-7867-4441-1.
- JSTOR 4283575.
- ^ a b "LEBANON: Carving Out a Christian Canton - TIME". Time. 2022-05-11. Archived from the original on 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
- ^ Born violent: Armed political parties and non-state governance in Lebanon’s civil war
- ISBN 978-0-8133-5036-3.
- ^ Rabah, Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (2020), p. 143.
- ^ Katz, Russel, and Volstad, Armies in Lebanon (1985), p. 8.
- ^ Gordon, The Gemayels (1988), p. 58.
- ^ McGowan, Roberts, Abu Khalil, and Scott Mason, Lebanon: a country study (1989), p. 240.
- ^ Hoy and Ostrovsky, By Way of Deception (1990), p. 302.
- ^ Full text of "Arab Times , 1990, Kuwait, English"
- ^ Mideast Mirror 22 Oct. 1990, 23
- ^ "Both sides pounded the Christian enclave daily claiming the lives of 615 people died, and more than 2,000 were wounded, half of them civilians". 21 October 2014.
- ^ "Le procès dans l'affaire Murr prendra fin lundi avec les plaidoieries de Karam et du chef des FL Naïm qualifie d'illégale la procédure judiciaire et Rizk souligne le ralliement de Geagea à Taëf(photos)". 8 March 1997.
- ^ a b c "A Setback for Syria in Lebanon". Los Angeles Times. 1986-02-02. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
- ^ Gordon, The Gemayels (1988), pp. 58–59.
- ^ Menargues, Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban (2004), p. 47.
- ^ Traboulsi, Identités et solidarités croisées dans les conflits du Liban contemporain; Chapitre 12: L'économie politique des milices: le phénomène mafieux (2007), page unknown.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ^ Fisk, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War (2001), p. 179.
References
- Ayalon, Ami (1991). Middle East Contemporary Survey, 1989, Volume 13; Volume 1989. HarperCollins Canada. ISBN 9780813312460.
- Evron, Yair (2013). War and Intervention in Lebanon: The Israeli-Syrian Deterrence Dialogue. Routledge. ISBN 9781135051181.
- Kingston, Paul; Spears, Ian S. (2004). States-Within-States: Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era. Springer. ISBN 9781403981011.
- Yom, Sean L. (2016). The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Hachette UK. ISBN 9780813350363.