Word: beirutization
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...Lebanon in 1976 to control Palestinian and Muslim leftists then threatening Christian political elements in the country and had stayed on as part of an Arab peace-keeping force, were now waging war against the Christians they had once rescued from defeat. After six days of heavy fighting around Beirut that left more than 200 dead and 500 wounded, a shaky cease-fire went into effect. But not before the conflict had nearly triggered the resignation of President Elias Sarkis and threatened to engulf the region in a deadly confrontation between Israel and Syria...
Angered by this attack on his old friend, Assad decided it was time to crush the obstreperous Phalange. Using heavy artillery and rocket barrages, Syrian forces last week bombarded towns and installations controlled by Phalangist and National Liberal militiamen. The heaviest fire was concentrated on East Beirut, where both Gemayel's and Chamoun's headquarters went up in flames. "This is genocide against the Christians of Lebanon," protested Chamoun. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fuad Butros rushed to Damascus in a vain attempt to arrange a ceasefire. But Syria's tough Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas responded: "The Syrian army...
...renewed fighting, reported TIME'S Abu Said Abu Rish last week, left sections of Beirut looking like devastated outposts of World War II, "with flames on all sides, the clamor of sirens and the convulsions of shells exploding. Nobody can remember it being this bad even during the worst days of the civil war when [predominantly Muslim] West Beirut was under fire. Watching the destruction of East Beirut now is like watching in horror as a neighbor and his house are blown to bits. I managed to telephone one friend who had spent the night in a cellar under...
...Many Christian families who survived the civil war in West Beirut had gone to the eastern part of the city to try and start a new life. They said it would be safer there. Now black smoke hangs over it like a cloud smelling of death. Shells land every three minutes. In the Phalangist stronghold of Ain Rumanneh, every house has been hit and many leveled. One man who ran upstairs during a lull to salvage an old family heirloom had his legs blown off. The guns keep firing, the Phalange radio says hundreds are homeless...
...make its feelings forcefully plain, Israel sent eight Kfir fighters screaming in over Beirut. The low-flying jets broke the sound barrier, shattering windows and creating panic. The overflight was clearly intended as a warning to the Syrians by the Israelis, who also strengthened their positions along the Golan Heights and their border with Lebanon. Declared Major General Shlomo Gazit, chief of Israeli military intelligence: "Israel will not watch peacefully the Christian massacre in Beirut." In response, the Syrian air force went on alert, and Damascus rushed armored units of its own to the Golan Heights, where its usual three...