Beirut 1969: The Cairo Agreement That Armed the Palestinian Resistance

In November 1969, Lebanese officials and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed an agreement in Cairo that effectively legalized armed Palestinian operations from Lebanese soil. This episode unpacks the tense negotiations led by Army Commander Emile Boustany and PLO chief Yasser Arafat, the role of Gamal Abdel Nasser as broker, and the agreement's explosive consequences for Lebanon's fragile sectarian balance. We explore how the Cairo Agreement empowered the Palestinian guerrilla factions (fedayeen), triggered a conservative backlash led by Pierre Gemayel's Kataeb party, and set the stage for the battles of the 1970s that would ultimately shatter the 1943 National Pact. The episode also covers the symbolic moment when the agreement was signed under Nasser's gaze at the Arab League headquarters, and how the phrase 'security and sovereignty' became a battleground for decades to come. A crucial missing piece in understanding Lebanon's descent into civil war.

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