Ehden massacre
| Ehden massacre مجزرة إهدن |
|
|---|---|
| Part of the Lebanese Civil War | |
| Location | Ehden, Lebanon |
| Coordinates | 34°18′30″N 35°58′0″E / 34.30833°N 35.96667°ECoordinates: 34°18′30″N 35°58′0″E / 34.30833°N 35.96667°E |
| Date | 13 June 1978 4 am (GMT+2) |
| Target | Frangieh family |
|
Attack type
|
Massacre |
| Deaths | approximately forty people |
| Perpetrators | The phalangelist forces |
| Motive | Political rivalry, the murder of the Phalange leader, Joud Al Bayeh, and suspicion of collaboration by Suleiman Franjieh's Marada Brigade with the Syrian government. |
The Ehden massacre (Arabic: مجزرة إهدن) took place on 13 June 1978, part of the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War. It was an inter-Christian attack that occurred between the Maronite clans. A Phalangist squad attacked the mansion of the Frangieh family in an attempt to capture Ehden, killing nearly 40 people including Tony Frangieh, his spouse and his three-year-old daughter, Jihane. After the massacre, the power of the Frangiehs is reported to have declined.
At the initial phase of the Lebanese civil war, more specifically in the summer of 1976, the major Maronite leaders formed the Lebanese Front, institutionalizing their cooperation. However, the relations between members of the Lebanese Front damaged in May 1978 due to Suleiman Frangieh's pro-Syrian position and his intention to leave the Front. Eventually Frangieh left the alliance later in 1978.
On the other hand, at the initial stage of the civil war, Frangieh had to call on the Phalange for assistance in the north of Lebanon where before the war the Phalange had not had any power, especially in Zgharta, Frangieh's home town. Beginning in 1978, the Phalange had become a major force in the region, picking up recruits and threatening Marada's protection rackets, especially around Chekka. Marada was the militia commanded by Suleiman Frengieh's son Tony and the local force of the region.
In 1978 Spring, the Frangieh family asked the Phalange to leave the region. In fact, the Phalange were losing power there. All attempts to reconcile the two groups at Bkerke were unsuccessful. In May 1978, Suleiman Frangieh began not attending the Lebanese Front meetings and instead, developed close relations with the Syrians. The Frangieh family had aligned with Syria through personal relationships between Suleiman Frangieh and the Syrian President Hafez Assad, and between Tony Frangieh and Assad’s younger brother Rifaat Assad. It was in sharp contrast to the Gemayels’ political stance, since Pierre Gemayel's son Bashir Gemayel soon became an ally of Israel. Furthermore, the Phalangists are reported to have preferred Lebanon’s partition, while the Frangiehs to have wished to keep it whole. Therefore, it is argued that the Frangieh-Gemayel rivalry had initially been a purely political feud, and it was the only motive of the massacre.
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