War of the camps

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The War of the Camps was a subconflict within the Lebanese Civil War in which Palestinian refugee camps were besieged by the Shi'ite Amal militia.

Sometimes described as being Muslim versus Christian, the Lebanese Civil War was actually a multifaceted conflict in which there was nearly as much intraconfessional violence as there was violence between Muslims and Christians. The War of the Camps was one of several of these small wars fought between members of the same religion, although of different sects. The conflict itself can be compared to the conflict between the Lebanese Forces, a primarily Christian Maronite group, and Michel Aoun's Christian controlled Lebanese army.

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[edit] Background

In the wake of the creation of the State of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War tens of thousands of non-combatant Palestinians were forced from their homes by Jewish militia organizations, fled from fear of violence and accounts of ethnic cleansing, allegedly induced by Arab leaders, or otherwise forced to become refugees and many of them went to live in south Lebanon. Palestinians with skills and capital were allowed to reside in cities and live dignified lives; the majority, who could only offer their unskilled work force to the Lebanese economy, were kept in squalid refugee camps.

After the establishment of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Palestinians in Lebanon began to form paramilitary brigades, which alienated some of the native population. These brigades would create roadblocks where regular Lebanese would be made to pay "tolls" to support the Palestinian cause. Beginning in the late 1960s, Palestinian groups also gradually turned South Lebanon into a de facto state of their own used for launching attacks on Israel. Although in time the Shi'a of Lebanon would come to support the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel, the PLO's and the more radical Rejectionist Front groups' behavior in South Lebanon had made many Lebanese Shi'a resent the Palestinian presence.

Israel had driven Yassir Arafat and thousands of Palestinian fighters out of Lebanon in 1982, but Arafat returned the next year, this time settling in Tripoli. By this time, however, Hafez al-Assad resolved to expel Arafat from Lebanon.

Assad himself sought to control the PLO and Lebanon. His anxieties were caused by a worry that Palestinian militarism would invite another Israeli invasion and that his minority Alawite regime would be endangered by the Sunni Palestinians. Initially Syria encouraged its own Palestinian groups to compete in the process, facilitating the entrance of as-Sa'iqa, PFLP-GC, and pro-Syrian Fatah members under Abu Musa. However, Syria's allies were only powerful in areas controlled by the Syrians, like the Bekaa. In areas beyond Syria's control, it soon became apparent that the independent Palestinian organizations Fatah, PFLP and DFLP had far stronger support.

Thus, Assad recruited Col. Said al-Muragha (Abu Musa), to drive Arafat out of Lebanon. Musa, a member of Fatah, used Arafat's public willingness to negotiate with Israel as a pretext for war. In November 1983, Musa's Fatah-Intifada or Fatah Uprising faction fought the Arafatist Fatah for a month at Tripoli, until Arafat once again was on his way to Tunisia.

Unfortunately for Assad, Arafat's Fatah forces crept back into Lebanon over the next two years, ensconcing themselves in the many refugee camps in the South. As more Palestinians regrouped in the South, Assad's anxiety grew, as he didn't want to give Israel the pretext for another invasion. This time, Assad recruited the more powerful Amal militia to dislodge Arafat's loyalists.

The benefit for Hafez al-Assad of this alliance was more complete control of Lebanon through his indigenous Lebanese allies. The benefit for Amal was revenge for decades of Palestinian arrogance and further control of Lebanon.

By 1985 Amal was also in conflict with the Druze PSP militia in the Chouf region. The Palestinians were allied to the Druze

[edit] The war of the camps

[edit] May 1985

After the multinational force withdrew from Beirut in February 1984, Amal took control of West Beirut, and Amal built a number of outposts around the camps (in Beirut, but also in the south). On April 15, 1985, Amal and PSP attacked the al-Murabitun, the main Lebanese Sunni militia and the closest ally of the PLO in Lebanon. al-Murabitun were vanquished and their leader, Ibrahim Kulaylat sent into exile. On May 19, 1985, heavy fighting erupted between Amal and Palestinians for the control of the Sabra, Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps in Beirut. Amal was supported by the Shi'a Sixth Brigade of the Lebanese Army and even some units of the predominantly Christian Eighth Brigade stationed in East Beirut. Virtually all the houses in the camps were reduced to rubble.

On May 30, 1985, much of Sabra fell to its attackers. Amid Arab and Soviet political pressures on Syria and an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers scheduled to discuss the issue June 8, Amal declared a unilateral ceasefire the next day. Despite this, lower-scale fighting continued. In Shatila, the Palestinians only retained the part of the camp centered around the mosque. Burj al-Barajneh remained under siege as Amal prevented supplies from entering or its population from leaving.

The death toll remains uncertain, but is likely to be high. International pressure lead to a cease-fire to be signed between Amal and the Palestine National Salvation Front on June 17 in Damascus. Sporadic clashes erupted again in September 1985 and for a week after March 29, 1986. In Sidon, Amal issued a strong warning to Palestinian forces who tried to reorganize in southern Lebanon.

[edit] May 1986

The situation remained tense and fighting occurred again in September 1985 and March 1986. Exactly one year after the first battle, on May 19, 1986, heavy fighting erupted again. With new armament (including tanks), Amal continued its attacks on the camps. Many cease-fires were announced but most of them didn't last more than a few days. The situation began to cool after Syria deployed some troops on June 24, 1986.

[edit] September 1986

The tension due to this conflict was also present in the South, where the presence of Palestinians in the predominantly Shia area led to frequent clashes. The third and deadliest battle began on September 29, 1986, when fighting occurred at the Rashidiyye camp in Tyre between Amal and Palestinians. The conflict immediately spread to Sidon and Beirut. Palestinian forces in Sidon managed to occupy the Christian town of Maghduche on the eastern hills of Sidon to open the road to Rashidiyye. In Sidon, Israel launched multiple air-strikes against Palestinian positions around the city. As before, the Arab league pressured both parties to stop the fighting. A cease-fire was negotiated between Amal and pro-Syrian Palestinian groups on December 15, 1986, but it was rejected by Arafat's Fatah. Fatah tried to appease the situation by giving some of its positions to the Murabitun in exchange for supplies to the camps.

Despite the cease-fire, the shelling of the camps continued. In Beirut, a blockade of the camps lead to a dramatic lack of food and medications inside the camps. In early 1987, the fighting spread to West Beirut and the situation could not be tolerated by Damascus. Syria occupied West Beirut beginning of February 21, 1987 which led to a short period of fighting between Syria and Hezbollah. In April 7, 1987 Amal finally lifted the siege and handed its positions around the camps over to the Syrian army. Later, in the summer of 1988, Abu Musa returned to the camps, and another 127 people were killed in the fighting. After this episode, the War of the Camps is considered to be over (July 1988).

[edit] Consequences

Internal fighting had happened before in the Muslim/leftist camp (the former Lebanese National Movement) but never on such massive scale. This led to a severe blow in term of public image for many Muslim militias and destroyed the perception of unity. The main Lebanese Sunni militia, the al-Murabitun, were crushed and their leader Ibrahim Kulaylat sent into exile. The results were mitigated since the PLO retained control of some of the camps.

At the end of the war an official Lebanese government reported that the total number of casualties for these battles was put at 3,781 dead and 6,787 wounded in the fighting between Amal and the Palestinians. Furthermore, the number of Palestinians killed in internal struggles between pro-Syrian and independent organizations was around 2,000. The real number is probably higher because thousands of Palestinians were not registered in Lebanon and the blockade meant that no official could access the camps so that all the casualties could not be counted.

[edit] External links

[edit] Literature

  • The War of the Camps, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 191-194
  • The War of the Camps, The War of the Hostages. Joe Stork. MERIP Reports, No. 133 (Jun., 1985), pp. 3-7 and 22