The Battle of the Hotels: 1975

Abstract

On 24 September 1975 the government announced the establishment of a 20-member National Dialogue Committee, consisting of leading representatives of the principal Lebanese communities, whose task was to reestablish peace and initiate negotiations for a lasting political solution. It met on the 30th, the day that the banks and shops in Beirut reopened for the first time for a fortnight. But also on that day, in the Beirut suburb of Fern al-Shebak Falangist militiamen stopped a bus in which eight Druse were travelling, of whom three were killed and the others taken prisoner. This was claimed to be in retaliation for the killing of a Christian by a sniper, and it initiated a wave of kidnapping that lasted all night and into the next day. The Falangists alone seized over 60 Muslims and the police logged over 200 reported instances, but as a result of the personal intervention of Raymond Edde and Kamal Jumblatt, most of them were released safely.