Karantina massacre

Karantina massacre
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
Palestinian refugees Zuhaiba Alshaheen, Mohammed Amcha and grandchildren Ahmad Jawhar and Ahmad Kinj, with Zuhaiba seen confronting a Phalangist militant, in Karantina, 1976
(photo taken by Françoise Demulder)[1]
Location33°53′13″N 35°30′47″E / 33.88694°N 35.51306°E / 33.88694; 35.51306
Beirut, Lebanon
Date18 January 1976 (1976-01-18)
TargetKarantina district of Beirut
Attack type
Massacre
Deaths600–1,500[2]
VictimsPalestinians, Kurds, Syrians, Lebanese Muslims[3]
Perpetrators
MotiveAnti-Palestinianism and Islamophobia
The massacre was followed by the Damour massacre as a reprisal.[5]

The Karantina massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الكرنتينا; French: Massacre de La Quarantaine/Karantina) took place on 18 January 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War.[6] La Quarantine, known in Arabic as "Karantina", was a Muslim-inhabited district in mostly Christian East Beirut controlled by forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Lebanese National Movement (LNM),[7] and inhabited by Palestinians, Kurds, Armenians, Syrians, and Lebanese Muslims.[8][9] The fighting and subsequent killings also involved an old Quarantine area near the port and nearby "Maslakh" quarter.[10][5][11]

Karantina was overrun by militias of the right-wing and mostly Christian Lebanese Front, primarily the Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) militia of the Kataeb Party (a.k.a. Phalangists),[12][13] resulting in the deaths of approximately 600–1,500 people.[2][5] According to then-Washington Post-correspondent Jonathan Randal, "Many Muslim men and boys were rounded up and separated from the women and children and massacred, while many of the women and young girls were violently raped and murdered."[11]

The Damour massacre two days later was a reprisal for the Karantina massacre.[5][14]

After the Lebanese Front militias took control of the Karantina district, the Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp was besieged for five months, ending in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "1976 – World Press Photo". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  2. ^ a b ictj (2014-07-28). "Attack on Maslakh-Karantina camp". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. ^ Michael Johnson (2001) All Honourable Men: The Social Origins of War in Lebanon I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1-86064-715-4 p 62
  4. ^ a b Kazziha, Walid (1979) Palestine in the Arab dilemma Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-85664-864-7 p 52
  5. ^ a b c d Harris (p. 162) notes "the massacre of 1,500 Palestinians, Shi'is, and others in Karantina and Maslakh, and the revenge killings of hundreds of Christians in Damur"[1]
  6. ^ "On This Day: 1,500 Palestinians slain in Karantina massacre 46 years ago". The Jerusalem Post. 18 January 2022.
  7. ^ Noam Chomsky (1989) Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-366-7 p 171
  8. ^ Michael Johnson (2001) All Honourable Men: The Social Origins of War in Lebanon I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1-86064-715-4 p 62
  9. ^ Jonathan C. Randal (1990). Many Muslim men and boys were rounded up and separated from the women and children and massacred; their families still search for their remains. Many of the women and young girls were violently raped and murdered by the Christian militiamen led by Bachir Gemayel; also Bashir Gemayel was a senior member of the right-wing Christian "Phalange party" and the founder and supreme commander of the "Lebanese Forces" militia during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and American Bunglers Hogarth, ISBN 0-7012-0909-7 pp 88–90
  10. ^ Lokman I. Meho, Kelly L. Maglaughlin (2001) Kurdish culture and society: an annotated bibliography Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-31543-4 p 35
  11. ^ a b Jonathan C. Randal (1990) The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and American Bunglers Hogarth, ISBN 0-7012-0909-7 p 88
  12. ^ William W. Harris (2006). The New Face of Lebanon: History's Revenge. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-55876-392-0. Retrieved July 27, 2013. the massacre of 1,500 Palestinians, Shi'is, and others in Karantina and Maslakh, and the revenge killings of hundreds of Christians in Damour
  13. ^ Noam Chomsky, Edward W. Said (1999) Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-601-1 pp 184–185
  14. ^ Noam Chomsky, Edward W. Said (1999) Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-601-1 pp 184–185

Sources

  • Chomsky, Noam (1989) Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-366-7
  • Fisk, Robert (2001) Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-280130-9,
  • William Harris, (1996) Faces of Lebanon. Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, US ISBN 1-55876-115-2
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