When is Resistance and Liberation Day?
Resistance and Liberation Day is a public holiday in Lebanon on May 25th each year.
This holiday celebrates the end of Israel's 22-year-long military occupation of the country's southern region in 2000.
History of Resistance and Liberation Day
On June 6th 1982, Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon. The Israelis had invaded to attack the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who were operating there. The invasion led to a conflict between the Israelis and the PLO and Syrian and Muslim Lebanese forces, known as the 1982 Lebanon War.
Though the war ended in 1985, Israeli troops remained in southern Lebanon.
In the run-up to the Israeli election in May 1999 the prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, promised that within a year he would withdraw all Israeli forces from Southern Lebanon.
Barak kept his word and the Israeli withdrawal took place on May 24th 2000. Immediately after, the cabinet under Lebanese prime minister Salim al-Hoss declared the public holiday on May 25th.
The anniversary is commemorated by conferences, rallies, and speeches, particularly in southern Lebanon, the region most directly affected by Israel's intervention.
Resistance and Liberation Day is also often used to highlight the country's ongoing reconstruction efforts. For example, on the 2007 anniversary, Lebanese leaders marked the day by announcing the reopening of the Zahrani bridge, an important road link destroyed in a July 2006 Israeli airstrike.
