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| Kings Solomon and Hiram and architect conversing about the Temple |
King Solomon, David's son, who reigned from 961 BCE to 920 BCE, was good friends with The King of Tyre-Hiram. Hiram sent him architects and builders as well as the cedar trees of Lebanon that were so famous. The work was finished in Solomon's 11th year of his reign and ensured the central position of Jerusalem in the kingdom. Hiran had sent wood, gold and the craftsmen to Solomon's Temple and residences, as well as sailor to his Red Sea fleet, receiving in exchange wheat, oil and 20 Galilean cities.
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| Oh Jezebel ! |
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| Jezebel 843 BCE-daughter of Ethbaal, King of Sidon Sidon was an ancient city in Lebanon, capital of Phoenicians called Sidonians. She had introduced her native Baal cult into Israel and by doing so, aroused the anger of the religious people led by Elijah. She was said to be a bloodthirsty woman who persecuted the prophets and caused the death of Naboth a man with a garden plot who wouldn't sell it to the king and for that she had him killed. She was killed in an uprising of King Jehu (842-814BCE) who had her killed as well as the priests of Baal. She certainly influenced her husband, Ahab. |
Under the Romans, Tyre, which had been endowed with a temple by King Herod, was a center of commerce and a purple dying business, and it had a Jewish population including rabbis. The Palestinian Gaonate (heads of Jewish academies) was transferred to Tyre after 1071. Benjamin of Tudela in about 1170 found there about 500 scholarly Jews, some owning ships, others engaged in glass-manufacture. Tyre was held by the crusaders from 1124 to 1291 but subsequently declined and is now a small Lebanese port with a population of about 10,000 in by 1992.
The Jewish population that existed in Lebanon had ancient roots. It has been concentrated in Beirut. Formerly there were communities in Tripoli, Tyre and Sidon. Most of the Jews were in commerce.
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| Israel's War of Independence May 14 1948 |
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| At the Good Fence of Lebanon after the War |
During the Israel War of Independence of 1948, when Lebanese forces invaded Israel, some discriminatory regulations were impose on the Jews but removed after the fighting ended. In 1944 there were 6,261 Jews in Lebanon. Their numbers were augmented after 1948 by Jews from Syria, and the community in 1964 was about from 5,000 to 7,000 Jews. After 1967's War, the community became much smaller. Most of the 1,000 remaining in 1975 left during the Civil War of 1973 and by 1990 less than 100 remained. What happened was the the Arab countries forced the Jews out and they moved to Israel.
Update: "When Christian Arabs ruled , Jews enjoyed relative toleration. In the mid-50’s, approximately 7,000 lived in Beirut. As Jews in an Arab country, however, their position was never secure, and the majority left in 1967."Most of the remaining 1,800 Lebanese Jews emigrated in 1976, fearing the growing Syrian presence in Lebanon would curtail their freedom. Most Jews went to Europe (particularly France), the United States and Canada."
When I was in Israel in 1980-to the end of 1985, a Major Hadad of Lebanon and his men were guarding the boarder between Lebanon and Israel, helping Israel in this way. "An adherent of the Greek Catholic rite, Major Haddad broke away from the Lebanese Army in 1976 and operated a loosely-knit militia force of about 1,500 Christian, and some Moslem, soldiers that received arms, money and training from Israel. He was formally dismissed from the Lebanese Army seven years ago but was reinstated earlier this month.
In 1976 the Lebanese Civil war raged on and the Lebanese Army began to unravel. Major Saad Haddad (Melkite Christian) in the South of Lebanon broke away and founded the Free Lebanon Army (FLA) or Free Lebanon Militia (FLM.)
"Headquartered in Marjayoun, Lebanon, the SLA's twenty-five hundred fighters were Maronite Christians (40%) and Shiʿa Muslims (60%), although Christians predominated among the officers."
The militia has garrisons in Christian and Shiite Moslem villages in parts of southern Lebanon and makes patrols in the area, but it is not impressive militarily, according to Western and Israeli analysts, and it has never became a real force in the region. Many local Shiite militiamen spurned the major's authority. It curbed Palestinian Infiltration
Bachir Gemayel b: November 10, 1947, was elected as president on August 23, 1982 and was assassinated on September 14, 1982. He was only 34 years old, and a Maronite Christian, belonging to the minority group who is to rule the country. "He 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 (1975–90). He was the youngest president-elect and one of the most controversial figures in Lebanese history. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation blamed the Syrian Social Nationalist Party for the bombing that killed him."
Before Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Major Haddad's militia played an important role, in Israeli eyes, in curbing Palestinian guerrilla infiltration into northern Israel (where I lived) . But by early this year, United Nations and Israeli sources reported, the militia's significance for the Israelis lay chiefly in the system of informers that it maintained across southern Lebanon.. " He died in 1984 from cancer at age 47. He used to take his R&Rs in the army hospital in Haifa, which I had to use for a broken arm. Israel had promised to care for his family if anything should happen to him.
The Lebanese civil war took place from 1975 to 1990 and claimed the lives of some 200,000 people which left Lebanon in ruins. This Civil War affected the whole Middle East. Many from Syria found refuge in Egypt under Morsi's beck and call.
The Maronite Christians of Lebanon " derive their name from the Syriac Christian saint Maron, whose followers migrated to the area of Mount Lebanon from their previous location of residence around the area of Antioch, establishing the nucleus of the Syriac Maronite Church. Some Maronites argue that they are of Mardaite ancestry, but most historians reject such claims. Maronites were able to maintain an independent status in Mount Lebanon and its coastline after the Muslim conquest of the Levant, keeping their Christian religion, and even the distinctive Aramaic language as late as the 19th century.
The Arabs had invaded Lebanon in 635 to 637. According to the Maronite church, there are approximately 1,062,000 Maronites in Lebanon, where they constitute up to 24% of the population.
"About 50% of Lebanese are Maronites, but many are abroad. In Lebanon, Christians make up 35-40% of the country and Maronites make up at least 25% of the total Lebanese population."
Under the terms of an informal agreement, known as the National Pact, between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian.
A Maronite community of about 11,000 people lives in Israel. The 2017 Annuario Pontificio reported that 10,000 people belonged to the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and 504 people belonged to the Exarchate of Jerusalem and Palestine.
Today, Hezbollah terrorists are in Lebanon. They are in control.
"BEIRUT (Reuters) - The powerful Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah on Tuesday urged the new government to launch talks with banks to bring down the cost of servicing the state’s massive public debt, setting out its view on the major problem in unusually clear terms." "Although Hairi is still the Head of State in Lebanon, he is virtually powerless as Hezbollah and its allies are in firm control of most
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| Hezbollah Terrorists |
Their goal is still to destroy Israel. "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Iran “controls” the new government of Lebanon via Hezbollah, during an address to a United Nations delegation in Jerusalem on Sunday. He made the remarks ahead of the delegates’ tour along the Lebanese border where Israel says it has uncovered Hezbollah infiltration tunnels."
uses southern Lebanon as a base for terrorist attacks against Israel.
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/15/obituaries/maj-saad-haddad-47-israel-s-christian-ally-in-southern-lebanon.html
https://www.quora.com/What-do-Lebanese-think-of-the-South-Lebanon-Army
https://www.thoughtco.com/timeline-of-the-lebanese-civil-war-2353188
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronites
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/hezbollah-now-controls-lebanon-america-still-gives-hundreds-of-millions/
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iran-hezbollah-control-new-lebanese-government-claims-netanyahu/
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/hezbollah-warns-israel-all-options-are-on-the-table/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-of-lebanon
https://telaviv.academia.edu/EyalZisser
https://www.mepc.org/node/4873
Dr. Marc. friend of author.
from Marc: Just FYI - Maronites are not a minority in Lebanon, nor among Lebanese. About 50% of Lebanese are Maronites, but many are abroad. In Lebanon, Christians make up 35-40% of the country and Maronites make up at least 25% of the total Lebanese population.
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