Black Saturday (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: السبت الأسود; ) was the massacre of more than 200 Lebanese

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

by Christian

Phalangists The Kataeb Party (), officially the Kataeb Party – Lebanese Social Democratic Party ( '), also known as the Phalangist Party, is a right-wing politics, right-wing Christianity in Lebanon, Christian political party in Lebanon founded by Pier ...

on Saturday 6 December 1975, during the early stages of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

.May Tamimova (2018) The Black Saturday Massacre of 1975: the discomfort of assembling the Lebanese civil war narrative, Contemporary Levant, 3:2, 123-136, DOI: 10.1080/20581831.2018.1531531 It set a precedent for later outbreaks of violence such as the Battle of the Hotels, the

Karantina massacre The Karantina massacre (; ) took place on January 18, 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War. Karantina, La Quarantine, known in Arabic as Karantina, was a Islam in Lebanon, Muslim-inhabited district in mostly Christianity in Lebanon, Christian ...

and the Damour massacre. The killings were led by Joseph Saade, a Phalangist whose son was killed in Fanar earlier that day along with three other young men while heading to a cinema in Brumana. The four young

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

men were found dead with axes and gunshots wounds on the Fanar road in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Saade's first son was also murdered by Palestinian gunmen while participating in a rally paper in Bekaa earlier in 1975. The massacre accelerated the rapidly escalating civil war.

References

1975 riots Battles of the Lebanese Civil War Massacres of the Lebanese Civil War Massacres in 1975 1970s crimes in Beirut Christian terrorist incidents in Asia December 1975 in Asia Beirut in the Lebanese Civil War 1975 murders in Lebanon Massacres of Muslims Massacres of Palestinians Anti-Palestinian sentiment in Lebanon Persecution of Druze Persecution of Muslims by Christians Mass murder in Beirut Riots and civil disorder in Lebanon {{MEast-hist-stub