The 1975 Bus Shooting That Sparked Lebanon's Civil War

On April 13, 1975, a busload of Palestinians was ambushed in the Beirut suburb of Ain al-Rummaneh, killing around 27 people. That single incident set off a chain reaction that tore Lebanon into a fifteen-year civil war. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the buildup to that day: the growing power of the Palestinian Liberation Organization after Black September, the formation of the Lebanese Front, the Kataeb Party's militia under Pierre Gemayel, and the Phalangist response that turned a neighborhood shooting into a national catastrophe. They explore the disputed details—who fired first, whether the bus was carrying fighters or civilians, and how the event was framed in the following days—and discuss how memory of that afternoon still divides Lebanese society. The conversation roams from Beirut's divided streets to the mountain strongholds of the Chouf, and reflects on how a single spark can ignite decades of conflict. This is the story of the bus that changed everything.

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