Political Background to the Story

Lebanon had been a peaceful and prosperous country since it gained its liberty, being the home of Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims, Druze, Palestinians and members of other peoples. It was often referred to as “The Switzerland of the Middle East”.

However, during the 1970s many terrorist organisations started fighting one another and initiating war against the southern Israeli border. As a result, Israel retaliated in what was known as the 1982 Lebanon War, invaded Lebanon and occupied it. Syria, the country which bordered east and north of Lebanon, also invaded Lebanon, in order to grab its share out of Lebanon. Eventually, Israel retreated while holding only a small strip in the south of Lebanon as a way to protect its territorial land, while Syria went on to fully conquer Lebanon.

Syria ended up disarming all political armed organisations, except for the Hizbullah (“Party of God” in Arabic), which is a Shi’ite Muslim activist organisation, backed by Syria and Iran, which was instructed to attack Israel. (Syria likely desired it to operate in this manner, to put pressure on Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria.). Israel, in turn, did extensive aerial and other attacks on Lebanon, in order to retaliate against the Hizbullah.

It is at this point in time when this story supposedly takes places.