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A History of Modern Lebanon Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 1 23/04/2012 08:07 Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 2 23/04/2012 08:07 A HISTORY OF MODERN LEBANON Second Edition Fawwaz Traboulsi Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 3 23/04/2012 08:07 First published 2007 Second edition published 2012 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA www.plutobooks.com Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Copyright © Fawwaz Traboulsi 2007, 2012 The right of Fawwaz Traboulsi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7453 3274 1 Paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 4 23/04/2012 08:07 Contents List of Maps vi Preface vii Acknowledgements x PART I: OTTOMAN LEBANON 1 The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523–1842) 3 2 The Bloody Death of the Muqata`ji System (1842–1861) 24 3 Grandeur and Misery of the Mutasarrifiya (1861–1915) 41 4 Beirut, Capital of Trade and Culture (1820–1918) 52 PART II: STATE AND SOCIETY 5 Greater Lebanon: The Dialectics of Attachment and Detachment (1915–1920) 75 6 From Mandate to Independence (1920–1943) 88 7 The Merchant Republic (1943–1952) 110 8 The Pro-Western Authoritarianism of Kamil Sham`un (1952–1958) 129 9 Shihabism and the Difficult Autonomy of the State (1958–1970) 139 10 From Social Crisis to Civil War (1968–1975) 157 PART III: THE WARS OF LEBANON 11 Reform by Arms (1975–1976) 193 12 The Longest Coup d’état (1977–1982) 211 13 The War Order (1983–1990) 226 14 Ambiguities and Contradictions of the Ta’if Agreement 246 Chronology 253 Glossary 261 Notes 263 Bibliography 281 Index 291 Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 5 23/04/2012 08:07 List of Maps 1. Modern Lebanon xi 2. The Mutasarrifiya 43 3. The wilayet of Beirut 53 4. Greater Lebanon in the partition of Syria, 1920 89 5. Beirut in the civil war, 1975–76 194 6. Sectarian representation of parliamentary seats since Ta’if 247 vi Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 6 23/04/2012 08:07 Preface An updated history of modern Lebanon is long overdue, as the last such attempt dates from the mid-1960s. Much has happened since and a lot of new historical material uncovered and researched. The last civil war (1975–90) was the occasion for a wealth of intellectual production on Lebanon in a variety of fields, some of which are remarkable path-breaking works. Nevertheless, the modern history of Lebanon is still full of serious gaps, especially concerning the post-Independence period. On the other hand, researchers have extensively drawn upon European government archives, leaving important primary sources untapped. The Ottoman archives, for one, have recently been organised and made accessible to the public. Unfortunately, the results of most of the research on this vast stock are not yet available for use. Other, more recent, untapped primary sources have been strangely ignored, such the US State Department Archives. Nevertheless, a number of secondary sources produced in Arabic, French and English have made precious contributions to the study of different periods of Lebanese history and various aspects of Lebanese life. I am referring here to the works of `Abd al-Rahim Abu Husayn, Albert Hourani, Engin Akarli, Leila Fawaz, Irene Gendzier, Michael Johnson, Kamal Salibi, Meir Zamir, Carolyn Gates, Theodor Hanf, George Corm, Wajih Kawtharani, Salim Nasr, Ahmad Beydoun, Samir Kassir, Marwan Buheiry, Mas`ud Dhahir, Waddah Sharara, Eyal Zisser, and others. Their contributions have enriched the present volume in many ways. Two distinctive features have had a significant impact on the shaping of modern Lebanon: its sizeable Christian population, on the one hand, and the country’s long exposure to the West, on the other. Their combined effect largely accounts for the main themes around which Lebanon’s modern history is articulated: (1) a political system based on the institutionalisation of religious sects (‘sectarianism’); (2) an extroverted liberal economic system based on the service sector; and (3) a problematic relationship with its regional setting. Though my approach to the history of Lebanon will be mainly chronological, events and developments will be related and analysed in the light of these three themes. vii Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 7 23/04/2012 08:07 viii A HISTORY OF MODERN LEBANON The relationship between external and internal factors acquires crucial importance in a country with Lebanon’s size and exposure. As many writings have tended to emphasise external factors and external interpretations of its historical events, the present work would emphasise the often-neglected and obscured internal factors. Writings on Lebanon, and perceptions of Lebanon, have often sacrificed economic and social history in favour of an exclusively political perspective. In order to avoid this political fixation and bring out the underlying economic and social factors that have also shaped Lebanon’s development, a political economy approach will be employed here in order to contribute to a more comprehensive historiography. Religious and identitarian discourses greatly colour writings on Lebanon. The reduction of the identity of the Lebanese to one unique form of identity – their sectarian affiliation – is too simplistic and reductionist an approach to an extremely complex situation. Politicised religious sects would be treated as historical products, rather than ahistorical essences rooted in religious differences or as mere political entities. Sects in Lebanon are a perfect example of the way pre-capitalist formations are recycled to play new roles in a peripheral capitalist economy. They constitute multifunctional forms of identification and solidarity that came to permeate all aspects of Lebanon’s life with a specific mode of articulation between the struggle for power, on the one hand, and socio-economic structures and interests, on the other. Two major functions of sects are often neglected: first, their role as enlarged clientelist networks designed to resist the inequalities of the market, and compete for its benefits and for the appropriation of social wealth and services of the state; second, their long-standing habit of enlisting outside help in their struggle for power or for sheer survival. This book will address both these roles in the context of Lebanon. State–society relations in Lebanon have long been strained due to the combined effects of extreme laissez-faire policies and the extensive political, legal and, often, military, autonomy enjoyed by Lebanon’s sects. Hence the resilience of the question of state-building, which has acquired a large bearing upon Lebanon’s national unity, its social cohesion, even upon the country’s very existence. Finally, culture plays a major role in Lebanese life. The different approaches to the creation of Lebanon, perceptions of its role in the region as well as the representation and justification of its economic, social and political systems and the country’s role as a cultural Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 8 23/04/2012 08:07 PREFacE ix producer, provider and intermediary for the Arab region will be given the importance they deserve throughout the work. This book, addressed to both the general and the specialist reader, hopes to weave together the disparate and yet interrelated facets of Lebanese society and state in order to offer a comprehensive, insightful and nuanced look at the modern history of this complex country. Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 9 23/04/2012 08:07 Acknowledgements Many have contributed to making this work possible. Maysoon Sukkarieh and Mirna Mneimneh provided assistance in research and logistics while graduate students at AUB and LAU respectively. Marlin Dick and Caroline Anning edited the manuscript in addition to correcting and polishing my English. I am endebted to Alexander Medawar for drawing the maps. The late Samir Kassir read earlier drafts of the manuscript and offered many suggestions. The contribution of this dear friend, comrade and colleague was tragically interrupted by his assassination at the hands of enemies of free speech and of Lebanon’s independence. Aziz al-Azmeh, Irene Gendzier, Tarif Khalidy, Assaf Kfoury and Roger Owen read the manuscript and made useful corrections and comments. Last but not least, Nawal and Jana provided the love and encouragement without which this book would not have come into being. To all, my thanks, my gratitude and the assurance that I assume sole responsibility for the book’s mistakes and shortcomings. x Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 10 23/04/2012 08:07 Hums `Akkar Bisharri Jbeil Juniyeh Ba`abda Shouf Nabatiyeh Hasbayya Bint Jbeil Map 1 Modern Lebanon Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 11 23/04/2012 08:07 Traboulsi T02610 00 pre 12 23/04/2012 08:07 Part I Ottoman Lebanon Traboulsi T02610 01 text 1 23/04/2012 08:06 Traboulsi T02610 01 text 2 23/04/2012 08:06 1 The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523–1842) Men resemble their times more than they resemble their fathers.

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