Bachir Gemayel

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Bashir Gemayel

Bachir Pierre Gemayel ( Arabic بشير الجميّل Bashir al-Jamayyal , born November 10, 1947 in Beirut ; † September 14, 1982 in Ashrafiya ) was a Christian- Maronite militia leader and elected President of Lebanon .

Life

Bachir Gemayel came to the United States after studying law and political science in Lebanon to work for a law firm. During this time he was recruited by the CIA , he was regularly supported by money and was given a cover name and code for passing on his information. Shortly before his election as president, it was thought that he would be turned off as a source.

After a visit to Germany in 1936, his father Pierre Gemayel founded the Kata'ib (Falange) party based on the model of the fascist parties in Europe. Bachir Gemayel was the founder of the Forces Libanaises (FL), a Christian militia that opposed the alliance of Palestinian and left-wing, predominantly Muslim militias. The FL represented the military complement to the Lebanese Front (Front libanais), the representation of the interests of Christians in Lebanon.

This militia soon became the dominant Christian military force and Gemayel tried to force the other Christian militias under his command. Sometimes this was done by force. He fell out with the leader of the Marada Brigade, Tony Frangieh , and Frangieh and his entire family were murdered when the Falange attacked him. In a surprise attack on July 7, 1980, the Ahrar, which was a member of the FL, was eliminated by Gemayel's fighters, so that now the FL was the only remaining serious military force in the Christian camp. On June 6, 1982 Israeli troops marched into southern Lebanon in order to eliminate Muslim militias operating there. The FL cooperated unofficially with the Israeli army and some FL units were trained militarily by Israel .

In 1982, in the middle of the civil war , Gemayel was elected President of Lebanon. In August 1982, two weeks before his assassination, he is said to have met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to prepare for the conclusion of a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon.

death

In 1982 Gemayel and 25 others fell victim to a bomb attack at the headquarters of the Kata'ib party, which in many places was attributed to the Syrian secret service . The deed was carried out by the Lebanese Christian Habib Tanious Shartouni. He was arrested and testified that he was accusing Gemayel of selling Lebanon to Israel. After several years in prison, he managed to escape in 1990. The murder of Gemayel sparked the Sabra and Shatila massacre , perpetrated by Christian Falangists of Palestinian refugees living in the southern urban area of Beirut . Bachir Gemayel's successor was his older brother Amin Gemayel , who was president from 1982 to 1988.

In art

Bachir Gemayel is the namesake of the Israeli cartoon Waltz with Bashir , which deals with the memories of Israeli soldiers of the Lebanon war and the massacre.

literature

Web links

Commons : Bachir Pierre Gemayel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bob Woodward : Secret Code Veil. Reagan and the CIA's Secret Wars. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-426-26340-8 , p. 256 f.
  2. ↑ Bob Woodward: Secret Code Veil. Reagan and the CIA's Secret Wars. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-426-26340-8 , p. 274.
  3. ↑ Begin Said to Meet in Secret With Beirut's President-Elect. The New York Times, 1982, accessed April 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/newsdesk.nsf/0/68B45B406488C72FC225725E004A9A65?OpenDocument
personal data
SURNAME Gemayel, Bachir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gemayel, Béchir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian-Maronite militia leader and President of Lebanon
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Beirut
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1982
Place of death Ashrafiya , Lebanon