5
A well-known method of torture whereby the victim is hung upside down by his feet, like a plucked chicken.
6
A Palestinian refugee camp on the northeastern outskirts of Beirut, which grew to be a slum-like settlement and then became an armed stronghold that was eventually overrun by right-wing Maronite Christian militias, following a protracted siege. Numerous atrocities were committed during and immediately after the fall of the camp, causing many Palestinian fighters to escape into the surrounding woods and mountains.
7
The incident that signaled the outbreak of the civil war. On Sunday, April 13, 1975, a bus full of Palestinians drove through a militant Christian neighborhood of Beirut and shots were exchanged outside a church. Both sides claimed the other attacked first.
8
Al-Kata’eb is Arabic for the Phalangists, the right-wing party that spearheaded the coalition of Christian militias antagonistic to the Palestinians and the “National Movement.”
9
The notorious secret service agency that, under the “reformist” regime of General Chéhab in the 1960s, suppressed political freedoms. Surviving into the 1970s, the Deuxième Bureau became synonymous with extra-judicial abuses.
10
Widely-used term to refer to the Syrian-led Arab Deterrent Forces that entered Lebanon ostensibly as peacekeepers.
11
Kamal Jumblatt was the leader of the Druze community in Lebanon until his assassination in 1978. In addition to being a sectarian strongman, he was the leader of the National Movement.
12
The secret police or intelligence services.
13
A historic street, as it became the “Green Line” that divided Beirut in two during the civil war.