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Ehden massacre

The Ehden massacre (Arabic: مجزرة إهدن, romanized: Majzarat Ehden) took place on 13 June 1978, during the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War. It was an inter-Christian attack between Maronite clans.[1][2] A Kateab militia attacked the summer house of the Frangieh family in Ehden leading to the death of over 40 people including Tony Frangieh and his family.[3][4] Tony Frangieh was the eldest son of Sulaiman Frangieh,[3] leader of the Maranda Brigade and scion of one of the most powerful northern Maronite clans.[5] He was 36 years old when he was killed.[6]

Ehden Massacre
Part of the Lebanese Civil War and Inter-Christian conflicts in Lebanon
Poster showing the victims of the Ehden massacre
LocationEhden, Lebanon
Coordinates34°18′30″N 35°58′0″E / 34.30833°N 35.96667°E / 34.30833; 35.96667
Date13 June 1978; 46 years ago (1978-06-13)
4 am (GMT+2)
TargetFrangieh family
Attack type
Massacre
DeathsApproximately 40 people
PerpetratorsLebanese Phalanges Party
MotivePolitical rivalry, the murder of the Phalange leader, Joud Al Bayeh, and suspicion of collaboration by Suleiman Franjieh's Marada Brigade with the Syrian government

Background

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Before the Lebanese Front was formed, many of the future leaders of the Lebanese Front organized their political parties into militias, most notably Camille Chamoun's 'Tigers', Pierre Gemayel's 'Kataeb Militia', and Suleiman Frangieh's 'Marada Brigade'.

Despite having joined in January 1976 the Lebanese Front alliance that gathered the main rightist Christian parties and their militias, the Frangiehs' close ties to Syria, along with their bitter political squabbling with the Gemayel clan – leaders of the Kataeb Party or 'Phalange' – and their disagreements with the other Christian leaders over their tactical alliance with Israel, prompted Frangieh to break from the Lebanese Front in 1977.

In 1978, tensions were high in Northern Lebanon between the Kataeb and Marada parties when the Kataeb tried to expand their power in the patriarchal seat of power of the Frangieh family. Following the killing of many Phalangist members, it was the killing of senior Phalangist member Joud El Bayeh that triggered the subsequent events. Joud El Bayeh was killed on 7 June 1978 by armed men sent by Tony Franjieh when he tried to open a political office in Zgharta.

Lebanese Forces had to retaliate. The initial plan was to capture Tony Frangieh and force him to surrender the members of the Marada militia that killed the Phalangists. However, there was concern about the consequences of this move. Instead it was decided that the goal of the operation would be to capture the supposed members of the Marada militia that killed the Phalangists. The operation would be done on a Tuesday to assure Tony Frangieh would have left Ehden.

Events

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On 13 June 1978, Gemayel sent a force of 500 commandos to Ehden;[7] however what Gemayel did not know was that Tony Frangieh hadn't left Ehden as his car wasn't running. As soon as the squadron arrived, bullets were flying over their heads and the squadron returned fire indiscriminately.

Tony Frangieh, his wife Vera Frangieh (née el Kordahi), their three-year-old daughter Jihane, and thirty other Marada bodyguards and aides who were at the mansion were killed in the raid.[8][9] More than ten Phalangist gunmen were also killed in the attack.[10]

"Even the family dog did not escape the carnage of that day".[11] Suleiman Frangieh claimed that the Phalangist gunmen forced Tony and his young wife Vera to watch the shooting of their infant daughter Jihane, then made him watch the murder of his wife before killing him.[12][13]

Tony Frangieh's son, Suleiman Frangieh, Jr., escaped the massacre. He was not with his family in Ehden, but with his grandfather at that time.[14]

Aftermath

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On 14 June 1978, a funeral ceremony was organized for the victims in Zagharta.[15] Syrian troops stormed a village, Deir el Ahmar, nearly 15.5 miles southeast of Ehden to search for the perpetrators on the same day.[16] Marada forces also carried out a series of revenge killings and kidnappings.[10] In the following period the Phalange members in the area were displaced and nearly 100 of them were killed.[17] On 28 June 1978, Marada allies responded with another massacre known as the Qaa massacre which resulted in the death of 26 Phalangists.[18]

Responses to allegations

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The Marada Movement, headed by Suleiman Frangieh Jr. in 1982, accused the Lebanese Forces of carrying out the Ehden massacre.[19] Bashir Gemayel argued that the massacre was a "social revolt against feudalism."[20] In addition, the Phalangist Party declared that its forces carried out the attack since the Marada forces did not surrender the killers of the Phalangist leader Joud El Bayeh.[16]

Samir Geagea who allegedly headed the Phalangist force responsible for the Ehden massacre admitted that he was among the "military squad" that was in charge of the Ehden "operation", but he denied taking part in the massacre, claiming that he was shot before the incident.[21][22]

Investigation and arrests

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Hanna Shallita was arrested during a 1994 government crackdown on Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, who was accused of staging the Ehden massacre. Shallita was set free after paying an LL5 million bail in August 2002.[23] However, no official investigation ever opened to find out who killed the Frangieh family and others.[24] To date the killers have not been officially indicted.[25]

When the file was reopened in 2002, Suleiman Frangieh Jr., son of Tony Frangieh, criticised the move, arguing that its aim was to show him manipulation of his slain family's blood for political ends.[26] He further stated "the affair is a bygone for me, buried in the past."[26][27]

Reconciliation

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On 3 October 2008 reconciliation talks between Lebanese Front and Marada started.[28][29] After a decade on 14 November 2018 Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi reconciled Lebanese Front and Marada in Bkirki.[30][31]

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On 13 June 2008 OTV made a documentary about the massacre in which Youssef Frangieh revealed that he was the one who shot Samir Geagea.[32] On 17 September 2008 Youssef Frangieh was killed in a conflict between Lebanese Front and Marada in Bsarma.[33]

Scholarly views

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The travel writer and historian William Dalrymple reaches the conclusion that the Ehden massacre was remarkable and revealed more clearly than anything the medieval feudal reality behind the civilized twentieth-century veneer of Lebanese politics.[34]

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French journalist, Richard Labeviere published a book entitled The Ehden Massacre. The Curse of Arab Christians (2009). The book provides alleged details of how Samir Geagea, the chief of the Lebanese Forces party, was chosen in 1978 by Mossad to execute the Ehden massacre.[35]

References

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  1. ^ Sune Haugbolle (25 October 2011). "The historiography and the memory of the Lebanese civil war". Mass Violence.
  2. ^ N. Kliot (January 1987). "The Collapse of the Lebanese State". Middle Eastern Studies. 23 (1): 54–74. doi:10.1080/00263208708700688. JSTOR 4283154.
  3. ^ a b "Six major leaders killed in Lebanon since 1943". The Telegraph. 2 June 1987. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  4. ^ Muhamad Mugraby (July 2008). "The syndrome of one-time exceptions and the drive to establish the proposed Hariri court". Mediterranean Politics. 13 (2): 171–194. doi:10.1080/13629390802127513. S2CID 153915546.
  5. ^ Jim Muir (22 June 2005). "Lebanon's search for 'irrelevance'". BBC. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Assassinations in Lebanon: A History (1970s to the Present)". About.com. 24 May 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  7. ^ Hatem, Robert (1999). From Israel to Damascus. Pride International Publications. p. 10. ISBN 0964430436.
  8. ^ "La Bévière: Mossad Chose Geagea for Ehden Massacre". Al Manar TV. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  9. ^ Eric Pace (24 July 1992). "Suleiman Franjieh, Lebanese Ex-Chief, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  10. ^ a b Bassil A. Mardelli (2012). Middle East Perspectives: From Lebanon (1968-1988). Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-4759-0672-1.
  11. ^ Mordechai Nisan (Spring 2011). "Of Wars and Woes. A Chronicle of Lebanese Violence". The Levantine Review. 1 (1): 32. doi:10.6017/lev.v1i1.2150.
  12. ^ "Lebanese Civil War 1977 - 1981". Liberty 05. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Robert Fisk (24 July 1002). "Obituary: Suleiman Frangieh". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  14. ^ "Frangieh, Geagea turn page, 40 years after Ehden massacre". The Daily Star. 15 November 2018. ProQuest 2132858629. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Lebanon's ex-leader vows retribution for slain son". The Palm Beach Post. Zagharta. AP. 15 June 1978. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Syrian storm town in search". Daily News. Beirut. AP. 14 June 1978. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  17. ^ "MP Keyrouz slams OTV's program on Ehden massacre". Now Lebanon. 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  18. ^ "Lebanese Christians Are Slain by Gunmen". The New York Times. 29 June 1978. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Marada Movement marks 34th anniversary of Ehden massacre". Now Lebanon. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  20. ^ "Lebanon's Christians". Montreal Gazette. 22 September 1982. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  21. ^ Hussein Abdallah (25 October 2008). "Siniora and Abu Jamra cut deal to define deputy PM's powers". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Franjieh-Geagea reconciliation bid a charade - analysts". World Security Network. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  23. ^ "Addoum outraged as Phalange leader claims credit". Lebanonwire. 14 May 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  24. ^ "Hariri's Family Seeks Probe of Beirut Blast". Fox News. AP. 17 February 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  25. ^ "Mass killings called part of Lebanon history". The Telegraph. Beirut. AP. 4 October 1982. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  26. ^ a b "Franjieh Berates Gen. Sayyed for Reopening Ehden Massacre File". Naharnet. 17 May 2002. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  27. ^ Alia Ibrahim (18 May 2002). "Pakradouni defends probe into Ehden". LebanonWire. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  28. ^ "Lebanese Forces Headed Towards Reconciliation with Marada Movement". Lebanese Forces. 3 October 2008.
  29. ^ "Lebanese Forces Ready, Marada Needs More Time for Reconciliation". Lebanese Forces. 31 October 2008.
  30. ^ "Lebanese Christian Civil War Foes Reconcile After 40 Years". Voice of America. Reuters. 14 November 2018.
  31. ^ "Lebanese Forces and Marada reconcile after decades of dispute". SBS News.
  32. ^ "المجزرة والمغفرة". YouTube (in Arabic).
  33. ^ "Why Youssef Frangieh Was Assassinated!". YouTube.
  34. ^ Stathis Kalyvas (September 2003). "The Ontology of "Political Violence: Action and Identity in Civil Wars". Perspectives on Politics. 1 (3): 475–494. doi:10.1017/S1537592703000355. S2CID 15205813.
  35. ^ "The Ehden Massacre: This is how the MOSSAD chose Samir Geagea". MARADA. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
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