Word: bashir
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Gemayel, who became President after his brother Bashir was assassinated as President-elect less than six weeks ago, was on his first overseas mission as his country's head of state. On a one-day stopover in New York City, he made three speeches in three different languages. The first, an address to a gathering of Lebanese Americans, was delivered in Arabic. The second, to the United Nations General Assembly, was given in English for the benefit of television audiences in the U.S. The third, to the U.N. Security Council, was delivered in French...
Gemayel's statements caused concern in Israel, which has supported the Christian Phalangist forces for years and was particularly close to Bashir Gemayel. Complained one Israeli official: "We felt like saying to him, 'Come off it. Don't exaggerate. Our positions in Lebanon are keeping you alive.' He didn't have to go as far as he did to please the Syrians." Some Western diplomats argued, however, that since Gemayel is dismissed by many Arabs as an Israeli puppet, it was necessary for him to try to reassure his Arab neighbors, particularly the oil-producing...
...family affair, and the Gemayel clan has been prominent on the national scene for half a century. Pierre Gemayel, now 72, founded the Christian Phalangist Party in the 1930s, and he raised his two sons to carry on the family role in politics. So when President-elect Bashir Gemayel was assassinated last September only nine days before he was to have been inaugurated, it came as no surprise that his brother Amin promptly declared his own candidacy. By a nearly unanimous vote in parliament, Amin was elected to a six-year term. At first, no one quite knew what...
personalities could hardly have been more different. Bashir, 34, was charismatic but tough, a military man whose favorite pastime was hanging out with members of the private militia he led. Amin, 40, was quiet and intellectual, a lawyer and businessman who kept out of the limelight to pursue his private life. Bashir felt comfortable in fatigues or at the wheel of a Jeep; Amin has always had an eye for fine tailoring and limousines. While Bashir evoked strong emotions of loyalty or hatred, Amin was regarded...
conciliator, the "human face of the Phalange," as some Lebanese put it. Above all, Bashir was closely identified with Israel, which had helped finance and train his militia. Amin had always maintained good contacts with Arab states and opposition groups inside Lebanon. Following the 1975-76 civil war, which divided Beirut into Christian and Muslim sectors, he visited West Beirut regularly to talk with his Muslim counterparts. During negotiations for the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization from West Beirut last summer, Amin met quietly with Abu Iyad, the P.L.O.'s military commander. Born in the predominantly Christian village...