Souha Bechara
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Souha Fawaz Bechara (Arabic : سهى فواز بشارة) (born 1967), commonly known as Souha Bechara or Soha Bechara, is a Lebanese woman who, at the age of twenty one, attempted to assassinate General Antoine Lahad of the South Lebanon Army. Lahad survived the assassination whereas Bechara was quickly arrested and held in the infamous Khiam prison, during which time she was repeatedly tortured . She was finally released in 1998,following an intense Lebanese, European, and even Israeli campaign in her favour. In 2003, her autobiography — Resistance:My Life for Lebanon — where she relates her life in Lebanon before and after the assassination, was published.
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[edit] Early life
Souha was born and raised in an Orthodox Christian family. Her father, Fawaz Bechara, is a member of the Lebanese Communist Party, which Souha herself also joined secretly in 1982, the year in which Israel invaded Lebanon.
[edit] The attempted murder
Souha left college in 1987 and joined militant activities in Lebanon. She was given the task of assassinating Lahad. Consequently, she headed south, introduced herself to Lahad's family as an aerobics instructor to his wife Minerva. Gradually, she familiarised herself with the family's members and visited them continually. In the evening of the operation, 17 November 1988, Lahad's wife invited Souha for tea. Souha accepted the invitation and stayed until Lahad's arrival. As she was packing her belongings and leaving, Souha quietly shot Lahad with a 5.45 mm revolver. He was shot twice in the chest, and Souha threw the gun away before his body guards arrested her.
Lahad was rushed to hospital and Souha was detained by the security guards in the house. He spent eight weeks in hospital, suffering serious health complications. His left arm was paralysed.
[edit] Detention
Souha was immediately arrested by the Lahad militia, then handed over to the Israeli forces. Eventually, she was held without trial in the notorious Khiam prison for ten years, six of which in solitary confinement. She claims to have been regularly electrified and otherwise brutally tortured, yet she refused to acquiesce with her jailers[citation needed]. Her experiences made her a legend in Lebanon and a symbol of resistance[citation needed] .
