5,000 years ago the coast of Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians, one of the first great Mediterranean civilizations. Their cities were acclaimed in the Bible and other ancient literature for their wealth and splendor; the "Tyrian Purple" dye which made Tyre wealthy colored the cloaks of royalty for millennia. Alas, this wealth proved to be both blessing and curse, as the cities of Phoenicia were conquered repeatedly by tribute-hungry neighbors. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines - all have left their stamp on this region. Still this land never forgot its Phoenician roots, not even when the worship of Baal was replaced by Christian churches. Today Lebanon's Christian community continues to fight for survival, and struggles to rebuild a country torn apart by decades of civil war.

From his mountaintop St. Maron (350-410) attracted followers impressed by his nights spent standing in prayer and his weeks and months of fasting. Later others would emulate him, setting up monasteries throughout the region. The Arabic conquerers who incorporated this region into the Islamic world faced stiff resistance from the Maronites who took refuge on Mount Lebanon and in the inaccessible regions of the Beka'a Valley. The mountains would also provide shelter for Islamic heretics, as Shi'ites and Druze settled here to escape persecution. Relations between them and the Christians would prove tense, and sectarian squabbling would become a recurring theme in the region's history.

The Ottomans used these conflicts to their advantage. Pursuing a "divide and conquer" strategy, they encouraged discord between the Druze and Maronite peasants so that they would not unite. As the Ottoman Empire grew weaker, so did their ability to control these simmering tensions. An 1860 massacre of some 10,000 Christians led to French intervention, and to the establishment of a Christian-ruled state around Mount Lebanon. While this state was technically still under Ottoman control, the Christians had some degree of autonomy. After World War I, the French set up the government structure which persists to this day, reserving the office of President for Christians, Prime Minister for Sunni Moslems, and Speaker of the Parliament for Shia Moslems. Even after independence from France in 1943, this balance of power was preserved… and from the beginning it proved to be fragile. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, and the subsequent flood of refugees into Lebanon, the balance tilted irrevocably.

The French had envisioned Lebanon as a Christian majority state: the influx of Palestinians changed the demographic to approximately 35-40% Christian. Nevertheless, Christians remained in control of most factions of government and were loath to give up their power. While Lebanon was technically part of the Arab League and had declared war on Israel in 1948, the Christians had little interest in fighting with Israel. The Moslems, particularly the Palestinians in the refugee camps which dotted southern Lebanon, were more militant. They not only wanted to regain "Occupied Palestine," but to set up an Islamic government in Lebanon. By 1975 Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war, which only grew worse after Israel's 1978 invasion and their subsequent handoff of the southern area to the Phalangists, right-wing Christian militiamen.

On September14, 1982, a bomb killed Lebanese Christian President Bashir Gamayel. In retaliation, Christian Phalangists stormed the Palestinian refugee camps at Sabra and Shatilla, killing between 500 and 2,500 Palestinians, depending on whom you ask. The Israeli military, which was occupying that portion of Lebanon under the command of Ariel Sharon, allowed them entrance into the camps and then stood by as the slaughter took place. In the ensuing international flap Sharon would be forced to resign; a year later, a Shi'ite suicide bomber would drive a truckload of explosives into a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241. By the time Syria took control of the situation in 1990, some 100,000 people were dead and much of the country which had once been called "the Paris of the Mediterranean" lay in ruins.

Today Lebanon is for all intents and purposes controlled by Syria; tens of thousands of Syrian troops, and hundreds of thousands of Syrian workers, keep order. The open war is over, but the tensions still remain. The Syrian government has generally shown considerable tolerance toward the Christians. Nevertheless, of late there has been a growing call among Lebanon's Christian population for sovereignty and for an end to the Syrian occupation. Should Syria depart, it is unclear what the future will hold; the tensions which led to the 1975-90 civil war may not be as obvious as before, but they could easily flare up again