Sonallah Ibrahim - Beirut, Beirut

A Palestinian woman with wide eyes sits at the side of a public street. Her strong, angular features are set in a whitish face framed by an embroidered kerchief tied under her chin. Next to her a crowd of barefoot children look at the camera with a smile as they raise their hands in a victory sign.

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Two days later…

The village of Damur. The estate of Camille Chamoun. A poor person’s home, abandoned, on the edge of the village. Two rooms made of stone. A television. Farm tools beside the wall. A color painting of Jesus with sad eyes and long blond hair.

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In revenge for the Karantina massacre, some Palestinian and extreme leftist Lebanese forces attacked the Christian village of Damur in the south, considered a stronghold of the Tigers and Phalangists. After they encircled the forces of the Maronite militias, they chased the inhabitants from their homes and slaughtered some of them, while others sought shelter in the church. Fatah forces got involved and surrounded the church to protect those inside, and moved them safely to Beirut. They also transported Chamoun and his son in a helicopter to East Beirut.

The Lebanon — Syria border. Truckloads of Syrian soldiers cross the border into Lebanon.

A Kuwaiti newspaper: “2,000 Palestinians, led by Syrian officers, have entered Lebanon from Syria. Chamoun welcomes the step from Syria.”

Al-Nahar newspaper. A photo of Raymond Eddé above a statement by him: “Kissinger’s desire to reach an agreement between Syria and Israel is leading him to try to obtain parts of Lebanon for Syria.”

A Kuwaiti newspaper: “Gemayel announces that he is prepared to end the fighting on the basis of ‘No winner and no loser’.”

Al-Nahar . Main headline: “US State Department says it acknowledges the constructive role the Syrian government is playing in Lebanon after reaching a ceasefire agreement.”

Al-Safeer : “Nayef al-Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, states: ‘I don’t think that Syria’s goal is the absorption of the resistance.’ ”

A French newspaper: “Elements from the Sa’iqa organization, loyal to Syria, have attacked with heavy rockets two newspapers, al-Muharrir and Beirut , which are bankrolled by Iraq. Seven were killed in the attack, including the Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Amir.”

An American newspaper: ‘‘Gemayel tells the Associated Press: ‘We are importing new weapons in preparation for the next round.’ ”

Raymond Eddé to a reporter: “The Phalangist Party, whose slogan was ‘God, the Nation and the Family’, has violated God’s commandments, inflicted its bad actions on the nation, and driven away other people’s families, while destroying their homes and exploiting the populace. They are still operating protection rackets, extorting money at roadblocks, and levying taxes that the state should be pocketing.”

Abu Iyad , Fatah’s second-in-command, to an al-Safeer reporter: “There are incidents of looting and pillaging done by elements attributed to the Palestinian revolution and the Lebanese National Movement. Some individuals have gotten rich, and some organizations have gotten rich at the expense of the revolution.”

The Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Watan . A statement by Zuheir Mohsen, head of the PLO’s military office, and leader of the Sa’iqa organization which is bankrolled by Syria: “The leadership of the resistance needs new blood.”

A headline in another newspaper: “Is Zuheir Mohsen taking Arafat’s place?”

Zuheir Mohsen leaving the PLO building in a colorful shirt. He has a cigar in his hand.

Title card:

Zuheir Mohsen was known by the name of Zuheir “Persian Rug”, because of his passion for carpets, which he would collect from destroyed and plundered homes. He married the daughter of a rug merchant, then went into the weapons-smuggling business with a Phalangist leader, the brother of Lebanon’s ambassador to France, before bullets from an unidentified assassin killed him in front of a casino in Cannes, France.

The French newspaper Le Monde : “Gaddafi denies that he offered assistance to any side in the Lebanese struggle.”

Al-Nahar . A photo of Suleiman Frangieh, and beneath it his public statements, at the top of which is his quote: “Lebanon is a unique human laboratory.”

The Al-Anba’ newspaper. A photo of Kamal Jumblatt below his statement: “I hope the next president of the Republic has more character, virility and culture.”

A Kuwaiti newspaper: “ George Habash , leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, accuses Syria of attempting to impose its dictates on the resistance, and invites the nationalist forces to establish the authority of the people over all Lebanese territories.”

Al-Safeer : “A military rebellion led by Ahmad al-Khatib forming the ‘Arab Army of Lebanon’.”

Al-Nahar : “Soldiers in Sarba mutiny and seize weapons and armored cars on which they have written ‘Lebanese Liberation Army’. They have set up barricades which have led to the murders of 15 Muslims.”

A street branching off from Hamra Street. Daytime. A group of men and women whose clothes indicate that they are middle class are storming a Spinneys supermarket. They raid the contents of the shop — food, electric appliances and liquor — and bring their loads back to where they left their cars. Some of them are surprised to find that their cars have been stolen. A fight breaks out among them, in the course of which bullets fly.

The Le Relais de Normandie restaurant. During the dinner service. Gunmen rush inside and gather up the diners’ money, watches and jewelry. They force two young women to leave with them.

Al-Safeer : “Nationalist forces and factions authorize Kamal Jumblatt to act in their name with regards to the government.”

Al-Nahar : “Imam al-Sadr and the Mufti Hasan Khalid demand an adjustment to the proportion of parliamentary seats divided between Muslims and Christians.”

Al-Anba’ : ‘‘Jumblatt says: ‘Traditional Muslim leaders who are hostile to secularism are no better than the isolationists.’ ”

The entrance to al-Mukhtara villa in Jebel Chouf. Below the enormous, ancient doorway stand two rows of gunmen in jackets and checkered Palestinian scarves. They have their machinegun barrels lowered. Jumblatt welcomes the Syrian foreign minister, Abd al-Halim Khaddam.

An Israeli newspaper: ‘‘Mordecai Gur, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, says: ‘The civil war in Lebanon has revealed a new Lebanon, different from the Lebanon as we know it. It will cooperate effectively in any new military confrontation with Israel.’ ”

A press conference with Kamal Jumblatt. He says: “For 10,000 dead and 20,000 injured, people are asking for a price that is much higher than what was mentioned in the statement given by the president of the Republic… The constitution must be amended and the political system completely replaced. The hurdles placed by traditionalists and isolationists — Christian and Muslim alike — must be surmounted, with the aim of secularizing the state and eliminating political sectarianism… The Lebanese Nationalist Movement must have a share in a new, expanded government.”

Al-Safeer : “66 members of parliament from different parts of the political spectrum, including Rashid Karami, Saeb Salam and Kamal Jumblatt, ask for Frangieh’s resignation.”

Beirut Airport. A destroyed plane belonging to Syrian Airlines.

A Lebanese newspaper: “Jumblatt accuses the Deuxième Bureau of striking the Syrian plane in order to drive Syria into military involvement.”