Contenu du sommaire : Liban : la guerre de 1975-1990 dans le rétroviseur

By retrieving the political experience of the Factory Committees, the following contribution aims at investigating the role of ideology and socio-economic pressures in the process of dislocation and recomposition of the political identities and solidarities in class terms characterizing Lebanon's early 1970s, and which marked the articulation of the process of constitution-building of Lebanese National Movement. The contribution suggests the genealogical re-examination of the pre-war years – inclusive also of the transformative impact of ideological and class phenomena – as a viable starting point to critically revise the often misleading and simplistic narratives through which the first phase of the conflict has been dominantly understood.

The article below discusses the crucial role of the Greek Catholic Bishop of Zahle Yûhanna Bassûl during the two-year-war (1975-1976). Moreover, drawing on exclusive findings in his diaries, the paper below brings to light the historical and geographical relevance of Zahle during the Lebanese war, filling a major gap in the historiography of the conflict. More importantly it seeks to illustrate how the bishop held the reigns of the town, at a time when the state lost the monopoly of violence.

Despite a growing interest for the study of the State in Lebanon and criticism of « failed » or « fragile » states' concepts, two topics have receveid scant attention in this regard: the study of lebanese bureaucracy and the study of the period from 1975 to 1990, the civil war, which is precisely supposed to be the turning point for the process of state failure and militias' seizure of it. Drawing on a 5-year fieldwork and multiple interviews, this article interrogates both of them through the study of a social and administrative figure, the “directeur général”. “Patrons” of the pre-war administrations, they offer an opportunity for a cross-reflection on the Lebanese civil war in many respects. Firstly, they provide elements on how a pre-war social figure can cope with the war. As such, this article traces the way their identities are reconfigured, as well as it details situations in which their practical sense and the variability of their various capitals are at stake. Secondly, it is a contribution to the study of social and political dynamics that can lead to the need to maintain state activities in war time. Thirdly, it points at some “deformations” of the State, i.e. the way its global architecture (including its frontiers with society), daily activities and pre-war social patterns (especially inner clientelism and patrimonial practices) are evolving.

From 1982 to 2020, Hezbollah went from being an actor among others in a destructive “civil” war (1975- 1990), to being a key player on the Lebanese and regional scene. Praised for its decisive role in the ending of the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon in 2000, the organization developed and gradually imposed itself on the “glocal” scene owing to its weapons but also to its participation in the electoral game in the years 2000. If its role after 1990 is well known to the informed public, this article shows how the Lebanese War was crucial in the formation and affirmation of the movement.

During the Lebanese War (1975-1990), major challenges were faced in health infrastructures, severely affected by the conflict. Security is lacking, medical staff and qualified nurses are scarce, hospitals are sometimes directly targeted, the wounded arrive massively, resources are missing. How can a hospital on the frontline resist and continue to carry out its mission during times of armed conflicts in a country where the international humanitarian law is violated by belligerent parties ?

All at once witnesses, actors and victims of the Lebanese War (1975-1990), diplomats constitute a specific category in the conflict. Using newly accessible declassified French diplomatic archives, this paper focuses on French ambassadors in wartime Beirut and seeks to show how diplomatic practices have adapted to war in almost sixteen years.

Adopting a child was always perceived as a fairy-tale whereby couples, who were not lucky to have their own children would choose to save the lives of abandoned or orphaned children. However, growing numbers of individuals who were adopted all over the world are now voicing their discontent with the arrangements that uprooted them from their origins. They are sharing stories of lost identities and longing to reconnect with their biological parents, especially their mothers who are often blamed and shamed. In this article, I argue that inter-country adoption correlated with the state of war in Lebanon was not all about saving innocent children and offering them better perspectives. By comparing the Lebanese case to the international history of forced separation, especially the experience of Indigenous peoples in Canada, I explore the narratives shared by adoptees in an effort to document one of the invisible aspects of the Lebanese Civil War.

This article looks into one of the major players in the Lebanese war, the Lebanese Front. The study addresses the stages of its genesis, placing them in the context of the Syrian armed intervention in Lebanon, in June 1976. The research will try to shed new light on a memory polemic which tends to blame the Lebanese Front for the entry of Syrian troops into Lebanon.

This article stems from a pioneer research work on Druze-Christian relations presented as part of a doctoral thesis in history defended in 2015. It highlights the means used by Kamal Junblat and his son Walid, as traditional leaders of the Lebanese Druze community and bearers par excellence of the memory legacy of their families, in order to try to impose their clan memory on their entire community. It further addresses the implications of a memory construction which poses the essential question of rebuilding a society torn by internal dissensions and the limits of the attempted memory grafting.

The sixteen years of war between 1975 and 1990 profoundly disrupted the Palestinian society in Lebanon, altering its social, political and family structure. The scale of violence and destruction has resulted in massive population displacements that reflect only the weakening of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during the war. Considered to be the main losers of the Lebanese War (1975-1990), they are accused of being the main culprits responsible for it. They are actually often referred to as « foreigners » (ghurabâ') who have endangered the country, or as « hosts » (duyûf) who allegedly abused the hospitality of the Lebanese. This article will address the way in which the war past of the Palestinians is presently used, within the Lebanese society, to legitimize or even produce their marginalization and their exclusion from Lebanon but also to conceal the internal dissensions and tensions among the Lebanese.

This article proposes to study the transformation process of the Barakat building, a symbol of the Lebanese civil war, into a “museum dedicated to the memory of the city”. It provides an overview of the main actors (Municipality of Beirut, Scientific Committee, representatives of the Lebanese civil society, etc.) and examines the influence struggles inherent to the project since its inception. The rehabilitation works, launched in 2008 and completed in 2016, have suffered from multiple political blockages that have continuously weakened Beit Beirut. These blockages testify of the difficulties to create a place of memory addressing the civil war in the heart of the Lebanese capital. Beyond that, they highlight the shortcomings of the public authorities in the implementation of the project. To date, the museum, which is still not permanently open, is nevertheless reinvested on the initiative of artists, associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Almost thirty years after the official end of the Lebanese war (1975-1990), and about fifteen years after the withdrawal of the Syrian troops from Lebanon (1990- 2005), this article suggests revisiting the problematic and unfinished “post-war” era. From a transitional justice perspective, the study points out to the centrality of the issue of the war's disappeared in dealing with political violence in Lebanon. It questions the reconciliation efforts between political leaders and argues the necessity of a truth and memory work inclusive of all the layers of the Lebanese society. But the challenges that it is facing are tremendous notably the resistance of the former warlords to engage in a process that could question their authority and power.

February 16th, 2019, an important popular march, in Kherrata, protested againt the 5th presidential mandate wanted by A. Bouteflika. This democratic movement then spread to the entire national territory. This article proposes to analyse how the movement have lasted more than a year, staying true to its pacific endeavour, while referencing national history and showing reactivity in its slogans and demands. The article proceeds through a study of the hirak's place in the history of contestation in Algeria and its sociology to explain its particularity.