Kurds in Lebanon
The Kurds in Lebanon have not received public or official attention except at times when Kurdish youngsters were needed to fight a certain battle for a certain part, or at times when Kurdish votes were need by a local leader to be successful in an election.[1]:25 Kurds in Lebanon are considered as Sunni Muslims.
Estimates about the number of Kurds in Lebanon prior to 1985 were between 60,000 and 90,000 people.[1]:28
There are tens of thousands of Kurds in Lebanon, mainly in Beirut.[2]
History
The existence of a community of at least 100,000 Kurds is the product of several waves of immigrants, the first major wave was in the period of 1925-1950 when thousands of Kurds fled violence and poverty in Turkey.[3] Kurds in Lebanon go back far as the twelfth century A.D. when the Ayyubids arrived there. Over the next few centuries, several other Kurdish families were sent to Lebanon by a number of powers to maintain rule in those regions, others moved as a result of poverty and violence in Kurdistan. These Kurdish groups settled in and ruled many areas of Lebanon for a long period of time.[1]:27 Kurds of Lebanon settled in Lebanon because of Lebanon's pluralistic society.[4]
During the Lebanese Civil War, Kurds fought for help to the Lebanese National Movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization .[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lokman I. Meho; Kelly L. Maglaughlin. Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography.
- ↑ Historical Dictionary of Lebanon - Page 125 by Asʻad AbuKhalil
- ↑ A Modern History of the Kurds - Page 485 by David MacDowall
- ↑ Lebanon a Country Study - Page 83 by Federal Research Division
- ↑ "Kurds in Lebanon endure poverty, grapple with assimilation". Ekurd.net (via The Daily Star Lebanon). 9 February 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
External links
- The Kurds in Lebanon: a social and historical overview
- Lokman I. Meho and Farah W. Kawtharani. "The Kurdish community in Lebanon".
- Kurdistan Democratic Party Lebanon