Karantina massacre

Karantina massacre
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
Palestinian refugees Zuhaiba Alshaheen, Mohammed Amcha and grandchildren Ahmad Jawhar and Ahmad Kinj in Karantina, 1976
(photo taken by Françoise Demulder)[1]
Beirut is located in Lebanon
Beirut
Beirut
Beirut (Lebanon)
LocationBeirut, Lebanon
Coordinates33°53′13″N 35°30′47″E / 33.88694°N 35.51306°E / 33.88694; 35.51306
DateJanuary 18, 1976; 48 years ago (1976-01-18)
TargetKarantina district of Beirut
Attack type
Massacre
Deaths1,500[2]
PerpetratorsKataeb, Guardians of the Cedars, Tiger militia[3]
MotiveAnti-Palestinianism and Islamophobia

The Karantina massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الكرنتينا) took place on January 18, 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War. 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).[4] It was inhabited by Palestinians, Kurds, Syrians, and Lebanese Muslims.[5][6] The fighting and subsequent killings also involved the nearby Maslakh quarter.[7][8][9]

Karantina was overrun by militias of the right-wing and mostly Christian Lebanese Front, especially the Kataeb Party (Phalangists),[10][11] resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,500 people,[12] mostly Palestinian and Lebanese Muslims, in which the right-wing militias claimed the toll were mostly left-wing fighters.[8] According to the Washington Post correspondent Jonathan Randal, "Many Muslim men and boys were rounded up and separated from the women and children and massacred, while some of the women and girls were violently raped and killed."[13]

The Damour massacre two days later was a reprisal for the Karantina massacre.[8][14]

After Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF), Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) and the Tiger militia forces took control of the Karantina district, the Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp was besieged for five months, ending in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre.[3]

  1. ^ "1976 – World Press Photo". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  2. ^ ictj (2014-07-28). "Attack on Maslakh-Karantina camp". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. ^ a b Kazziha, Walid (1979) Palestine in the Arab dilemma Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-85664-864-7 p 52
  4. ^ Noam Chomsky (1989) Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies South End Press, ISBN 0-89608-366-7 p 171
  5. ^ Michael Johnson (2001) All Honourable Men: The Social Origins of War in Lebanon I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1-86064-715-4 p 62
  6. ^ Jonathan C. Randal (1990). Many Lebanese Muslim men and boys were rounded up and separated from the women and children and massacred. Their families still search for their remains. Women and young girls were violently raped and robbed by the Christian warlords 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
  7. ^ Lokman I. Meho, Kelly L. Maglaughlin (2001) Kurdish culture and society: an annotated bibliography Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-31543-4 p 35
  8. ^ a b c 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]
  9. ^ Jonathan C. Randal (1990) The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and American Bunglers Hogarth, ISBN 0-7012-0909-7 p 88
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ ictj (2014-07-28). "Attack on Maslakh-Karantina camp". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  13. ^ Jonathan C. Randal (1990) The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and American Bunglers Hogarth, ISBN 0-7012-0909-7 p 88
  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