Word: sunni
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Israel. In a broader sense, the Shi'ites of Lebanon, newly radicalized by the violence that has plagued their country, particularly since the Israeli invasion of June 1982, are seeking a fairer shake after generations of neglect and discrimination by Lebanon's wealthier and more powerful Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims. Beyond all that, the Shi'ite fanatical fringe, inspired by the example of the Iranian revolution, wants to destroy the last vestiges of Western "decadence" in the Islamic world, particularly the presence of the U.S., that "Great Satan." Whether the hijackers of Flight 847 fitted into that category...
...shell struck a vegetable market there, killing or wounding 50 people. Two suicide bombers crashed an explosives-laden car into a Lebanese Army position, killing 23 and wounding 36. Since the victims were mostly from the predominantly Shi'ite Sixth Brigade, reports had it that the bombers were Sunni Muslims, who have sided with the Palestinians in the current struggle, and view with apprehension the Shi'ites' lust for a greater share of political power. The Shi'ites and the Druze were allies until about a month ago, but last week they were shooting at each other after a group...
...roots of resentment have been festering ever since the Shi'ites split off from the dominant Sunni Muslims in the 7th century. Of the world's 750 million Muslims, less than 20% are Shi'ites. Some 42 million of them are in Iran, where they make up 92% of the population. To the long-downtrodden underclass of Shi'ites in Lebanon, some 40% of the population, Khomeini's fundamentalist - revolution was an inspiration to rise up against their perceived oppressors: Western and Arab, Christian and Jewish. "If you develop a psychosis that the whole world is against you," says...
...rare demonstration of unity took place the next day when the city's largely Sunni Muslim population greeted Lebanon's Maronite Christian President Amin Gemayel and Prime Minister Rashid Karami. The two leaders wept as thousands shouted, "Long live Lebanon, long live Gemayel, long live the resistance!" During the demonstration Gemayel declared his support of "the honorable national resistance movement," an indication of his growing ties with Syria, whose government is trying to increase its political influence in Lebanon. Gemayel's remarks were ironic because his family had welcomed the Israeli forces into Lebanon in 1982 as a means...
...national unity vanished the next day, however, when thousands of armed Shi'ite militiamen held angry antigovernment demonstrations. The gunmen staged marches, chanted "Death to Gemayel!" and called for the establishment of an Islamic republic in Lebanon. Though the demonstrators stayed only for the day, they infuriated the local Sunni Muslims. Said one community leader: "We just got rid of the Israelis, and now we have these people...