| Official Name: | Jezzine |
| Native Name: | Arabic: جزين |
| Pushpin Map: | Lebanon |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Lebanon |
| Coordinates: | 33.54°N 35.5836°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | South Governorate |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Jezzine District |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Elevation M: | 950 |
Jezzine (Jizzīn) is a town in Lebanon, located 22km (14miles) from Sidon and 40km (30miles) south of Beirut.[1] It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m (3,117 ft), it is the main summer resort and tourist destination of South Lebanon. The town is also well-known in Lebanon for its production of handmade, traditional cutlery and daggers with decorative inlays, artisanal wine, and the shrine of Our Lady of the Waterfall.
The number of inhabitatnts in Jezzine is about 16 thousand.[2] The inhabitants of Jezzine are mainly Maronite and Melkite Christians.[3]
At the entrance of Jezzine, there is "Saydet Jezzine" or "Saydet el-Maabour" (Our Lady of Jezzine) shrine ; inside it lies the Chritian statue of the Virgin. In 1898, a passageway connecting Jezzine with the coastal cities and Sidon was built. In 1955, the Virgin Statue was erected during religions celebrations that occur on August 15, the day of the Virgin's Assumption. On this occasion, the celebrators go around the town till they reach the Virgin's Statue amidst prayers and lit candles. The town overlooks a cliff of 40 meters high. At its sides, there are café houses and restaurants overlooking the landscape of Wadi Jezzine, which in turn overlooks green fields. In the center of the town there is the Municipal Palace, which was built according to the Ottoman style in 1898 during the reign of Sultan Abd el Hamid and the "Qaim Maqam" of the district, Saleem Bey Aammoun, at the expense of the municipality. In Jezzine, there are churches that were built more than 200 years ago. On the outskirts of the town is St. Maroun Church, which dates back to the 18th century. It was partially destroyed in 1759, and then repaired several times. It is distinguished for its vastness and elevated vaults. Visitors can reach the church via an old flight of stairs from the Old Section of the town.
The churches in Jezzine are:
South of Jezzine lays Sirhal Palace, a huge building whose architecture is nontraditional. It was built by Dr. Farid Sirhal. The Palace includes spacious rooms topped with perforated glass colored vaults, as well as shapes of engraved water-springs. It is visible from the Ain Majdalein road, but is not open for visitors.[7]
Karam Wines, Southern Lebanon's only winery, owns land in the area where they primarily grow Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.[8]
See also: Battle of Jezzine (1941) and Battle of Jezzine (1982). The name, Jezzine, derives from the Aramaic (Syriac) word, meaning "depot" or "store". Many historians believe that Jezzine served as a storing location for traders because of its strategic location on the caravan route that connected the ancient port city of Sidon to the Chouf, the Beqaa Valley, and to Syria.
The Australian 7th Division, with British and Free French forces, supported by the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, fought for Jezzine against Vichy French forces in 1941.
Julián Slim Haddad (born Khalil Salim Haddad Aglamaz), was born in 1888 in Jezzine. He emigrated to Mexico when he was 14 years old to avoid being conscripted into the Army of the Ottoman Empire. After moving to Mexico City, Julián established a dry goods store, La Estrella de Oriente (The Star of the Orient). One of his sons, Carlos Slim Helú, born on 28 January 1940 in Mexico City, inherited his father's business talent and ultimately became the richest man in the world in 2007.[9]
Following the 1982 invasion of Lebanon Jezzine became part of the Israeli ‘security zone’. On 6 June 1992 two members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) were killed by a roadside bomb near Jezzine.[10] On 24 August 1995 fighting in Jezzine between the SLA and Hizbollah resulted in two Hizbollah fighters being killed. The following day an IDF patrol in the area killed three more Hizbollah men.[11]
Technically Jezzine was not part of the security zone but the town was the base for a South Lebanon Army (SLA) unit calling itself the 20th Battalion. The Israeli backed unit controlled five neighbouring villages. In the spring of 1997 Hizbollah launched a five-month campaign attempting to cut off the SLA in Jezzine from the IDF and the other SLA forces further south. On 18 June two SLA soldiers and an officer, as well as one civilian, were killed by a roadside bomb. In the aftermath the IDF detained a number of youths in the town and SLA commander-in-chief Antoine Lahad visited and made threats of “unspecified violence” if attacks continued. The following month, 17 July, the Israeli head of Northern Command, Major General Amiram Levin visited the town in attempt to bolster SLA morale. On 18 August a roadside bomb killed two teenage children of a local SLA commander who had been killed four years earlier. The SLA responded with indiscriminate shelling of Sidon which killed seven civilians and wounded thirty-five. Earlier the same month local notables, backed by Dany Chamoun called on the government to move the Lebanese army into Jezzine, without success. On 29 November two SLA members were killed by a roadside bomb outside Jezzine.[12]
In October 1998 it was reported that the population of Jezzine had fallen from 50,000 to around 3,000.[13]
On 1 June 1999 the South Lebanon Army began dismantling its TV station and headquarters in Jezzine. In the following two weeks they withdrew from the town and thirty six surrounding villages. Retreating SLA members and their families commandeered empty houses in Marjayun, Ibl al-Saqi and Kawkaba in the Indian UNIFIL zone. At the time it was estimated that the SLA had only four hundred men.[14]