On the same day that President Jimmy Carter pledges support for a Palestinian state, Lebanese Druze leader (a Lebanese religious sect) and PLO supporter Kamal Jumblatt is assassinated.
This may not seem like such a big deal, but at the time, Lebanon was already 2 years into a bloody civil war. A war that would last until 1990! Jumblatt was the leader of the opposition to the war. His Progressive Socialist Party, with it's ties to the backings of the Soviet Union and Syria, was actually winning the conflict, occupying over 70% of the nation. However, his assassination put a damper on the PSP's progress.
Many historians believe that had Kamal Jumblatt lived, the Lebanese Civil War might had ended before the 80s began.
It's an odd coincidence that I came across this information. Regular readers of my blog know that I am a professional chef. I currently work for a Lebanese gentlemen as one of his chef managers and it was just the other day that he actually mentioned some of the horrors that had occurred in his beloved nation of Lebanon. Which is a first, as he never gets personal.
I remember as a child when my parents would watch the nightly news, the reporters would always talk of fighting in Beirut. But I had no idea that Lebanon was undergoing such a trauma and for so long. The things children will hear but never put two-and-two together. Oddly, as a history major, I don't ever remember learning about the civil war in Lebanon either. I really am getting an education doing this project on my birth year.
Well, that's all the time I have for today's journey through my birth year. Until tomorrow...
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