Resistance without violence: Lebanon’s 'forgotten majority' in the civil war

Report by Ghida Fayad, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian 

As Lebanon remembers the year 1975, images of battles, militias, and checkpoints come to mind. The country, divided between frontlines and shifting boundaries, was a landscape of conflict. 

Amid the chaos, one question remains: did everyone really take up arms during the Lebanese civil war?

While many remember the fighters, a significant portion of the population chose a different path—one of silence and survival. This untold story belongs to the people who did not participate in the war.

They were the ones who feared the violence, who sought refuge from the fighting, and who distanced themselves from the escalating tensions. In truth, they were the majority.

Families shut their doors, mothers hid their children, and young men avoided the draft. Older adults tried to protect their homes with words, not weapons.

Among them was Uncle Bassam, a resident of the Barouk area, who spent much of the war in Beirut, staying out of the fray.

And then there was Tarek, a young man who grew up during the conflict. Surrounded by pressure from his friends, neighborhood, and the prevailing atmosphere to join the fight, he chose a different path—one of resistance without violence.