Title card:
The next day…
Newspaper headlines: “Arafat welcomes the ceasefire.” “The Lebanese National Movement agrees to a 10-day truce during which the members of parliament can meet to elect a new president.”
Hamra Street near the Byblos Bank. A crowd of people and cars. Different goods on display on the sidewalks. Two young women and a girl sit on the ground beside the marble wall of a jewelry shop. The two girls hold out their hands to passersby.
Washington. King Hussein climbs the White House steps. He pauses to make a statement to the reporters: “I support any likely Syrian involvement in Lebanon in order to counter attempts by extremists to change the ruling structure for their benefit.”
An American newspaper: ‘‘Kissinger characterizes Syria’s political role as ‘a check on the recalcitrance of the most extreme Lebanese elements’.”
An American newspaper, dated April 14: “Kissinger announces that the United States and Israel are in agreement that Syria’s involvement does not threaten Israel.”
The Damascus University amphitheater. President Hafez al-Assad delivers a speech: ‘‘We possess complete freedom of movement and we are able to take up positions as we see fit, without anyone being able to prevent us.’’ (Sustained, enthusiastic applause.) ‘‘We are opposed to those who insist on continuing the fight… I have been told: ‘We want to settle it militarily.’ I replied, ‘If you want an omelet, you’re going to have to break a few eggs.’ ” (Enthusiastic applause.)
A Kuwaiti newspaper: “Frangieh cables Assad to congratulate him on his speech at the Damascus University amphitheater.” “Gemayel lauds Assad’s speech and his socialism, and attacks the internationalist left.”
An Israeli newspaper: “Israeli Foreign Minister Allon: ‘With regards to Lebanon, silence is golden.’” “Yitzhak Rabin: ‘Israel has drawn a red line for Syrian forces — the Litani River.’ ”
A Lebanese newspaper: “The Phalangists violate the 35th ceasefire agreement.”
Rockets light up Beirut’s sky at night.
A Lebanese newspaper: “600 killed and wounded in 2 days.”
The Lebanese office of public safety. A crowd of people lining up for passports to emigrate.
A press conference with Elias Sarkis, who announces that he is nominating himself for president and welcomes Syria’s support.
A newspaper headline: “The nationalist and progressivist factions call for a general strike and implore members of parliament not to attend the parliamentary session that would elect Sarkis.”
The Bristol Hotel in West Beirut. Armored cars pull up together at the hotel entrance and civilians get out, carrying various pieces of hand luggage. Several gunmen accompany them inside the hotel.
Title card:
On the evening of May 7, the Sa’iqa organization started gathering members of parliament into the Bristol Hotel. It became known that millions of lira were paid to members, including 3 million received by Kamil al-As’ad, the speaker of parliament, in exchange for holding the session and ensuring that his parliamentary group attended. Zuheir Mohsen, the leader of the Sa’iqa, emphasized that he only paid those members that Sa’iqa brought to the site of the parliamentary session, and that there were other sources that also paid money.
On the same evening, Shaykh Pierre Gemayel called Camille Chamoun and promised to send him a check for the amount of 2 million Syrian lira in exchange for having him and his group of allies in parliament attend. Chamoun insisted that the payment be in Lebanese lira, because Syrian lira were worth less. He also asked that the payment be in cash. Gemayel called the director of the Lebanon-France Bank, who afterwards became the finance minister in the government of Salim El-Hoss, and asked him to withdraw the amount from an account owned by his brother-in-law, who was on the bank’s board of trustees. A Volkswagen was sent to the bank’s head office, and it transported the amount in bags, guarded by a group of Phalangists, to Chamoun at his headquarters. He set out with his allies in parliament immediately after receiving it.
Mansour Palace. Armored cars and gunmen surround the ancient building, of Ottoman construction. Sounds of bombardment and bullets. Two foreign photographers seek protection in the hulk of a car. An elderly member of parliament crosses the road to the palace entrance at a run. Behind him are three bodyguards armed with machineguns, running with heads low. In front of the palace entrance stands an enormous man with white hair, brandishing his gun in order to protect the car door out of which a hunched-over member emerges.
Title card:
Moments before the session was held, Kamil al-As’ad surprised the Sa’iqa representative by telling him that the money he took in exchange for holding the meeting and attending it was for him alone. They would have to pay more to his allies in parliament to get them to attend and meet the legal quorum, which meant at least sixty-six members present.
Elias Sarkis leaves Mansour Palace under the protection of several officers and soldiers.
A newspaper headline: “Election of Sarkis as new president of the republic.”
Another newspaper headline: ‘‘Jumblatt says: ‘Arab regimes are all reactionary, even the ones that claim to be progressive. Achieving secularism will break apart all the Arab regimes.’ ’’
A third newspaper headline: “Imam al-Sadr says: there is no difference between those calling for secularism and the Israelis.”
A fourth newspaper headline: “300 killed and wounded and clashes between supporters of Iraq and supporters of Syria.”
A fifth newspaper headline: “The leadership of the Palestinian revolution condemns the incidents of violence committed by the Palestinian Army of Liberation (subordinate to Syria), Syrian forces and the Sa’iqa organization, and asks the Syrian leadership to remove the barriers they have set up in different districts.”
An Israeli newspaper headline, dated May 13: “Syrian forces have killed more Palestinian ‘ravagers’ in the last week than Israel killed in the last 2 years.”
Beirut Airport. A Syrian plane coming from Damascus. The Libyan prime minister, Abdessalam Julud, descends from the plane along with Yasser Arafat.
Washington, DC, the White House. Giscard d’Estaing, the president of France, talks to reporters in a reception room: “It is likely that France will send an armed force to Lebanon to increase security, and this force may do some fighting in affected areas.”
The American University in Beirut hospital. The Maronite leader Raymond Eddé is in a hospital bed and in front of him, in chairs, are Kamal Jumblatt and Nayef Hawatmeh.
Title card:
Following a failed attempt on his life, Raymond Eddé went to Pierre Gemayel in Bkerké and accused him of arranging the hit. On the road back, he encountered gunfire and was pursued, which ended with a bullet wounding him in the leg.
A newspaper headline: “Killing of Linda Jumblatt. Masked gunmen invaded the home of the sister of the leader of the Lebanese National Movement on Sami al-Solh Street, murdering her and gravely injuring her daughter.”
Linda Jumblatt’s funeral. Thousands come to pay their respects.
Washington Post: “There are lingering suspicions that Kissinger is a party to or silent partner in what Lebanon is undergoing.”
A Lebanese newspaper: “Forces from the Arab Army of Lebanon, led by al-Ma’mari, attack Christian villages in the north. The Palestinian resistance and Jumblatt accuse al-Ma’mari of a twisted plan with the aim of justifying the entry of Syrian forces into the region.”
A Lebanese newspaper: ‘‘Al-Ma’mari declares: ‘I want to ask them to show me one faction in Lebanon that isn’t cooperating with one of the Arab states. So why do they want me to resist Syria and oppose it, when it was and will remain the beating heart of Arabism?’ ’’