Lebanese Independence Day

Earlier struggles

Well before the twentieth century, leaders in Mount Lebanon worked against outside rule. Fakhr al-Din II, a Druze chief of the late 1500s, drew the mountain's main sects into lasting contact and reopened ties with western Europe; French merchants had large premises in Sidon, and he was executed in Istanbul in 1635. After Druze forces killed many Maronites in the 1860 civil war, French troops landed near Beirut, and an international commission created an autonomous Mount Lebanon province in the 1860s. Ottoman wartime grain seizures then caused a famine in which, by two estimates, as many as 200,000 people died.

Mandate years

France took charge of the region after the First World War under the secret Sykes-Picot pact with Britain. In April 1920 Greater Lebanon was set up, and Maronite Patriarch Elias al-Huwayyik pressed for an enlarged state, including the Biqa valley, and linked it to ancient Phoenicia. A Representative Council followed in 1922, and a constitution was enacted in 1926. The Franco-Lebanese Treaty of 1936 promised independence, but the French National Assembly did not ratify it. After Free French and British troops replaced the Vichy authorities in 1941, General Georges Catroux announced Lebanese independence in November that year, though French officials still held authority.

The 1943 crisis

In November 1943, with Bechara El Khoury as president and Riad al-Solh as prime minister, the Chamber of Deputies changed the constitution to remove the mandate clauses. French forces arrested the president, the prime minister and other ministers and sent them to a citadel at Rashaya. Members of parliament met at the home of the speaker, Sabri Hamadé, and two ministers who had escaped, Emir Majid Arslan and Habib Abou Chahla, formed a government at Bechamoun, sheltered by the El Halabi family. They also raised a militia, the National Guard. Protests at home and pressure from abroad led France to free the prisoners on the morning of Monday 22 November 1943.

How it is kept

The day is a public holiday. Troops march in parades, the Lebanese flag is flown, and fireworks and concerts mark the evening. Families and communities use the occasion to celebrate the country's heritage and national pride. The house of Hussein El Halabi at Bechamoun, where the emergency government was sheltered, is a historic site that receives visitors through the year. The date is also remembered as the moment the modern political system took shape: in 1943 the Christian and Muslim leaders Khouri and al-Solh agreed on an unwritten understanding later called the National Pact, whose first principle was a fully independent Lebanon.

How Lebanese Independence Day is kept

Public life pauses for the national day. Troops march in parades, the flag is displayed, and fireworks and concerts fill the evening. People gather with family and friends to mark Lebanese heritage and national pride. Officials lay stress on the events of 1943, when the arrested president, prime minister and ministers were freed from Rashaya, and on the government that two ministers ran from Bechamoun. Bechamoun's historic houses stay open to visitors all year round.

When and where

It falls each year on 22 November, the date in 1943 when the detained Lebanese leaders were released from the citadel at Rashaya. The date honours the ending of French mandate rule, which followed 23 years of mandate government. There is no moving date: the observance is fixed on the same day of the calendar every year.

It belongs to Lebanon and is kept across the country, among all its communities. Beirut is the centre of public life on the day, and Martyrs' Square, named for the 1916 hangings, has long been a place of national gathering. The events of 1943 unfolded in Bechamoun, Rashaya and Baabda, all in Lebanon, and those places remain tied to the story of the day.

What Lebanese Independence Day means

For those who keep it, the day stands for the end of foreign rule and for a country that belongs to its many communities together. The 1943 arrests, and the protests that followed, are remembered as a moment when Christian and Muslim opinion came together. The National Pact, agreed afterwards, held that Lebanon should be a fully independent state. The flag, the parades and the gatherings express national pride and shared heritage.

Questions people ask about Lebanese Independence Day

See also

MizmarA traditional double-reed instrument and drum ensemble for weddings and folk dancesMevlevi OrderA Sufi tradition from Konya known for its whirling ceremony and devotion to Rumi's teachings.ZajalHalf-sung Arabic poetry in colloquial speech, traded as a duel between improvising poetsDabkeA Levantine folk dance of linked lines and stomping steps, kept at weddings and community gatherings.

Good reading and sources

• Lebanese Independence Day on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.