Resistance and Liberation Day (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

:عيد المقاومة والتحرير, ''Yawm al-Muqawamat Waltahrir)'' is a Lebanese holiday celebrated on May 25. Hezbollah parade

On May 25, 2000, the

Israeli army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

withdrew from territory in

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distri ...

, marking the end of the

South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) The South Lebanon conflict, designated by Israel as the Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign,Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

forced Israeli forces to withdraw. It is celebrated as an important day in the

history of Lebanon The history of Lebanon covers the history of the modern Republic of Lebanon and the earlier emergence of Greater Lebanon under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, as well as the previous history of the region, covered by the modern st ...

. The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

certified that the withdrawal was complete, with troops having left territory demarcated by the Blue Line. Lebanon disputed the completion of withdrawal, claiming that the Blue Line did not match with its international borders in a region between it and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

called the

Shebaa Farms The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms ( ar, مزارع شبعا, '; he, חוות שבעא, ''Havot Sheba‘a'' or הר דוב, ''Har Dov''), are a small strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-oc ...

. After the Israeli withdrawal the South Lebanon Army, a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

occupying southern Lebanon, collapsed entirely with Hezbollah rapidly advancing and occupying the territory that Israel had withdrawn from. Right after the Israeli's had retreated, Lebanese prime minister

Salim al-Hoss Selim Ahmed Hoss ( ar, سليم أحمد الحص; also transliterated ''Salim Al-Hoss;'' born 20 December 1929) is a veteran Lebanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his h ...

declared a public holiday on May 25th to commemorate the end of the occupation.

Celebrations

The holiday is celebrated with parades, rallies, ceremonies, political marches, and speeches especially in the south of Lebanon where the people were most effected by the invasion. It is also celebrated by reconstruction projects in the region, for instance, Lebanese politicians commemorated the occasion in 2007 by announcing the rebuilding of the Zahrani Bridge, a crucial transportation connection devastated in an Israeli bombing in July 2006.

References

Remembrance days Public holidays in Lebanon Israeli–Lebanese conflict May observances {{Lebanon-stub

Celebrations

See also

References