History
There are identifiable Roman ruins in the town. There are buildings dating back at least to the 16th Century.
The town was the scene of many notable battles during the Civil War, its notability arising from being actually held long-term by the Lebanese Army rather than a militia. This was sometimes against great odds and against the backing of the Syrian forces. General Michel Aoun's Eighth Brigade squared off against the Progressive Socialist Party's "PSP" militia and their allies for many years. Unfortunately for the civilian population, it led to the destruction of the town.
In June, 2005 parliamentary elections were held in the village for the first time since the withdrawal of Syrian forces. One resident put it this way: "For me, ballot box battles are for sure much better than gunbattles..."
Read more about this topic: Souk El Gharb
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“History ... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
But what experience and history teach is this—that peoples and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“History is the present. That’s why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.”
—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)