Wilbur ’s Reviews > From Beirut to Jerusalem > Status Update
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
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Wilbur ’s Previous Updates
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
-
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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- After PLO left phalangists were able to get Bashir Gemayel elected which was a win for Israel as well. However, Bashir was assassinated by Syria on 9/14/82- 9/15/82 Israel invaded west Beirut ignoring promises made to the US after their first withdrawal. they Target the PLO research center (contained Palestinenian docs and land deeds) and Sabra & Shatila refugee camps and allowed Phalangists and Lebanese army to enter and kill for 3 days (9/16 - 9/18)
- about 25% of these camps were Lebanese Shiites and not PLO
- after the mass killings in the refugee camps and the Israelis driving though a religious Shiite celebration the relationship between the Shiites and Jews were not good. They were at war with one another and Israel pulled out of Lebanon in April 1985 after Begin went into depression and he lost the elections of 1984
- isreal didn’t execute a plan to establish a centralized power in Lebanon after its first and Second withdrawals and Lebanon fell back into civil war. It arguably just made things worse
- August 21 1982 Arafat begins to evacuate PLO from Lebanon