Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory

by Makram Rabah

Overview

The Druze and the Maronites, arguably the two founding communities of modern Lebanon, have the reputation of being primordial enemies. Makram Rabah attempts to gauge the impact of collective memory on determining the course and the nature of the conflict between these communities in Mount Lebanon. He takes as his focus ‘the War of the Mountain’ in 1982, reconstructing the events of this war through the framework of collective remembrance and oral history.
He challenges the idea that these group identities were constructed by their respective centres of power within the Maronite and Druze community, providing an alternative to the prevailing meta-narrative. Telling the stories of the many people who took part in these events, or who simply suffered as a consequence, helps to expose the intrinsic motives which led to this conflict and makes a valuable contribution to the field of Lebanese historical scholarship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474474184
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	05/30/2022
Series:	Alternative Histories
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Makram Rabah is a lecturer in the Department of History at the American University of Beirut. He is the author of A Campus at War: Student Politics at the American University of Beirut, 1967-1975 (Nelson Publications, 2009).

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Studying the Druze–Maronite Conflict through the Prism of Collective Memory and Oral History
2. The Druze and the Maronites: The Perception of the Other
3. The Communal Centres of Power and Elements of Collectiveness
4. The Road to Conflict
5. The Point of no Return
6. The War of Others vs. Druze Maronite Collective Animosity
7. History Meets the Battlefield
8. Post-Conflict Rehashing and Preserving of Collective Memory

Conclusion

Appendix: Table of Interviews

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

University of California Michael Provence

This is an original and revealing look at the people and events surrounding the Lebanese Civil War and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Rabah has collected a staggering amount of evidence to lay bare the connections between the Druze and Maronites, and has produced unrivaled character studies of the two leading figures, Bashir Gemeyal and Walid Junblat, their fathers, families, and followers. Readers will thank Rabah for conducting hundreds of interviews with individuals who experienced the period and its upheavals first hand.

Editorial Reviews

This is an original and revealing look at the people and events surrounding the Lebanese Civil War and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Rabah has collected a staggering amount of evidence to lay bare the connections between the Druze and Maronites, and has produced unrivaled character studies of the two leading figures, Bashir Gemeyal and Walid Junblat, their fathers, families, and followers. Readers will thank Rabah for conducting hundreds of interviews with individuals who experienced the period and its upheavals first hand.

Michael Provence