Black Saturday (Lebanon)

As Black Saturday in is Lebanon of the 6. December 1975 , respectively. On that day, in the early stages of the Lebanese civil war , a series of massacres and armed clashes took place in Beirut .

First of all, in the Christian- dominated East Beirut, the bodies of four members of the right-wing Kata'ib were found in an abandoned vehicle outside a state power station , an organization to which mostly Maronites belonged.

The kata'ib in the city became enraged and accused the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), which is dominated by left-wing Sunnis and Palestinians . They fired into Muslim crowds in the Christian-dominated districts. Dozens, according to other sources, hundreds of Muslims were taken hostage, dragged from the streets and either killed or later released on payment of a ransom .

Gunmen allegedly directed by Joseph Saad , whose son was one of the four murdered, set up checkpoints at which motorists and pedestrians passing were asked to identify themselves. Palestinians who had the status of stateless as refugees and therefore had no identity cards and Muslim Lebanese - Lebanese identity cards show their religious affiliation - were liquidated on the spot.

Several hundred people, most of them civilians, were killed in a matter of hours . Estimates of the number of victims range from 200 to 600. The Kata'ib headquarters issued a statement the following day that revenge would be limited to the hostage-taking , but then because of “hysteria” and “elements that don't wanted to listen to the orders of their superiors “has escalated .

As an immediate consequence, rioters from the LNM attacked Kata'in positions and open fighting broke out within the capital and its surroundings, which lasted until January 22, 1976 and flared up again shortly afterwards.

Web links

• Lebanese Civil War 1975–1976 (English)