The St George's Church attack, also known as the massacre of the Saint George Church, was a massacre of Maronite Christians in the Lebanese village of Brih in the Chouf District which took place on August 21, 1977, during the Lebanese Civil War.[1]
Druze leftist gunmen attacked St George's Church during prayers on Sunday with automatic gunfire inside and around the church killing 13 people.[1]
Motives
The attack was part of a series of massacres of Christians in the Chouf District which was in response following the March 16 assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, founder of the Progressive Socialist Party and traditional leader of the Druze community, by unidentified gunmen (allegedly, fighters from the pro-Syrian faction of the SSNP-L, acting in collusion with the Syrian military commander of the Mount Lebanon region, Colonel Ibrahim Huweija).[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Aftermath
Brih's Christian population fled the village. However, current construction projects have taken place to repair abandoned Christian houses with the aim of repopulating the Christian households of Brih.[8]
References
- 1.[1.2]ictj (2014-07-30). "Massacre of St. George Church in Brih". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- 2.Llewellyn, Spirit of the Phoenix: Beirut and the Story of Lebanon (2010), p. xiii.
- 3.Knudsen, Are (2010). "Acquiescence to Assassinations in Post-Civil War Lebanon?". Mediterranean Politics. 15 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1080/13629391003644611. S2CID 154792218.
- 4.Collelo, Lebanon: A Country Study (1989), p. 241.
- 5.Rabinovich, The War for Lebanon (1989), p. 77.
- 6.Menargues, Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban (2004), p. 50.
- 7."Lebanon's Legacy or Political Violence - A mapping of serious violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Lin in Lebanon, 1975–2008" (PDF). International Centre for Transitional Justice. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- 8.Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "A tough homecoming for Lebanon's Christians | DW | 09.03.2015". DW.COM. Retrieved 2022-06-13.