Wilbur ’s Reviews > From Beirut to Jerusalem > Status Update
Wilbur
is on page 105 of 541
- Nov 16 1970 Hafez Assad seizes power in Syria after a coup and his main allies are the Alawites (offshoot of Shia)
- Alawites were about 11% of population but in 1960 they dominated the army and the Baath party. Sunni’s were 70% looked down on the Alawites
- Hama, Syria was historically a center of Sunni Muslims
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— Apr 14, 2026 08:30PM
- Alawites were about 11% of population but in 1960 they dominated the army and the Baath party. Sunni’s were 70% looked down on the Alawites
- Hama, Syria was historically a center of Sunni Muslims
-
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Wilbur ’s Previous Updates
Wilbur
is on page 186 of 541
-Yasit Arafat was a generally well liked leader of the PLO by the Muslims in Lebanon. He knew how to play all sides against each other
- Israel invaded Beirut June 1982 (led by Begin & Sharon) but author claims they didn’t know the ‘real’ Lebanon. And were used by the Christian militias to do their bidding
- Other Arab countries were preoccupied with Iran revolution and didn’t come to the aid of the PLO
— Apr 23, 2026 11:06AM
- Israel invaded Beirut June 1982 (led by Begin & Sharon) but author claims they didn’t know the ‘real’ Lebanon. And were used by the Christian militias to do their bidding
- Other Arab countries were preoccupied with Iran revolution and didn’t come to the aid of the PLO
Wilbur
is on page 75 of 541
- the PLO, Phalangists, and other private militias had their own spokespeople for reporters to contact for information and requests for interviews
- the commodore hotel is where a lot of the journalists would stay due to its access to a telex
- journalists relied heavily on their ‘fixers’ usually locals who could get any task done
— Apr 10, 2026 11:35AM
- the commodore hotel is where a lot of the journalists would stay due to its access to a telex
- journalists relied heavily on their ‘fixers’ usually locals who could get any task done
Wilbur
is on page 48 of 541
- June 1982 Israel invades Lebanon
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes describes “the state of nature” of govt and society broke down.
- author claims he was half wrong bc men will do anything to avoid being poor and solitary
- people would try and go back to normal life in between the sporadic explosion which would rarely last more than a week
— Apr 09, 2026 07:57AM
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes describes “the state of nature” of govt and society broke down.
- author claims he was half wrong bc men will do anything to avoid being poor and solitary
- people would try and go back to normal life in between the sporadic explosion which would rarely last more than a week
Wilbur
is on page 20 of 541
- post WWI republic of Lebanon formed with a merger between the Maronites (lived in mountains) and Sunnis the 2 largest religions at the time
- after WWI Turkish Ottoman Empire who ruled for 400 fell and Syria and Lebanon fell to France
- 1920 Maronites convinced French to set up Lebanese state where Christians would dominate but it would not just include Mt Lebanon enclave that they shared with the Druse
— Apr 07, 2026 09:20PM
- after WWI Turkish Ottoman Empire who ruled for 400 fell and Syria and Lebanon fell to France
- 1920 Maronites convinced French to set up Lebanese state where Christians would dominate but it would not just include Mt Lebanon enclave that they shared with the Druse
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- the massacre lasted about 27 days- author argues three reasons why this happened
- 1. Middle East still has tribe like politics. People identify with their tribe before they identify with their nation. And you must not let your enemy make you look weak
- 2. Authoritarianism is deeply rooted in the culture of the Middle East. And it varies how docile or evil the regime is. They usually start out brutal but as they do good and are embraced by the people they turn more lenient. With the Middle East historically being a merchant society which fears disorder. it was believed better sixty years of tyranny than one day of anarchy.
- 3. The rule by the British, French, and Italian and their creation of borders that encompassed different people made things arguably worse.
- June 26 1980 Muslim bro attempts to bomb Assad
- June 27 Rifat orders Muslim bro prisoners to be executed and throughout the year searches of Aleppo and Hama led to roundups and curbside executions
- Nov 29 1981 Muslim Guerilla explode a car in Damascus killing 64
- Jan 1982 plot is discovered that Air Force was going to attempt a coup
- Feb 1982 at 2am Hama Massacre begins