Deepening impact of Lebanon war in Israel
The following interview was given to casualties. It has been built up for rapid Gerry Foley in Paris on October 8 by A. Mayir, a leader of the section of the Fourth International in the Israeli state. Question: What happened to the peace movement in Israel during the siege of Beirut? Answer: It was strengthened, since there was a division between the Labour Party and Likud over the advisability of trying to take the city.
A commander of the Israeli forces resigned rather than lead an attack on Beirut, since he said he did not want to lead his soldiers to their deaths.
Demoralization grew in the army, because the Israeli army is a reserve force. The ranks expect to be called up for no more than a month. Furthermore, there were many more deaths in this war than any of the previous ones. The Israeli Jewish masses expected another easy war. And then, the Israeli army is not prepared for attacking cities, which involves heavy 6 engagements in open country. Thus Beirut became a trap. Q: Was there any decline in the antiwar movement as a result of the Zionist victory in Beirut? A: There was a rapid decline in the mobilizations after the PLO signed the agreement to withdraw. But they started to grow again during the actual withdrawal, and reached a new height after the refugee camp massacres.
Begin and Sharon have been able to gain nothing politically for their military victories. Many thousands of Israeli soldiers are being kept in Lebanon on occupation duty, doing essentially repressive work. There is considerable demoralization among these soldiers and their continuing absence is putting a lot of pressure on their families.
In fact, two soldiers organizations have grown up. One, the more radical, is called "There Is a Border," or "Enough." The name can be read either way in Hebrew.
The other is called "Soldiers Against Silence." As might be expected, the second is the largest; it has generally the outlook of the more liberal wing of the Labour Party, which predominates in the Peace Now movement. However, both committees are broad and include many officers as well as rank-and-file soldiers. Q: What is the position of the Fourth Internationalists in the antiwar movement? A: We are in the leadership of the Committee Against the War in Lebanon, which is the radical wing of the antiwar movement. This is a continuation of the Bir Zeit committee, which was distinguished by its defence of Palestinian rights and Jewish-Palestinian unity.
In the first week of the war, there was considerable confusion in the Peace Now movement, the largest antiwar organization. It tended to follow the pattern of traditional peace movements. That is, it tended to fold up once the war actually started.
In that difficult first period, it was the Committee Against the War in Lebanon that played the leading role. It organized the demonstration in the second week of the war that drew 15,000, the first big antiwar demonstration. Before the war, the Bir Zeit committee mobilized was 5,000. Normally, it could mobilize no more than 500.
We have very good relations with the various radical currents in the committee. And most of the newly radicalizing layers come around it. Large sections of left Zionist youth are moving toward it.
Our own periphery of sympathizers has grown. In general we are in a good position, being established in the three
Aviv, Jerusalem and Q: What was the impact of the war on the Palestinian population under Israeli rule? A: At first, the reaction was shock, both political and personal. It was personal because many Palestinian families are divided, with relatives living in south
Obviously, the violence of the Zionist attack created a certain fear. But there was also a failure of the left.
The Communist Party, dominant organization among the Palestinian masses called for no mobilizations. The groups further to the left were taken by surprise by the situation and failed to react. The organizations began to act only after spontaneous demonstrations started Q: What affect did the defeat of the PLO have on the Palestinian groups? A: In general, they are very much influenced by what happens outside Israel, in the PLO. They tended to become paralyzed as the siege tightened on Beirut.
After the PLO accepted the Habib plan, there were discussions. One current argued that the PLO did the only thing possible, that to refuse to sign would have meant suicide. The other argued that the agreement means disaster. From the outside, it would appear that the current critical of the agreement was about 10%. Q: Has there been increased tension between the Jewish and Palestinian communities as a result of the Zionist atrocities in Lebanon? A: No. It is the opposite that is happening. The growth of the antiwar movement among Jews is an important factor in this. There is much greater consciousness of the need for unity between Arabs and Jews. That is true on both sides. Before left Zionists were very fearful of demonstrating together with Palestinians, that was regarded as acting like a fifth column. But today this feeling has changed considerably. On the day of the Palestinian strike, there were a few incidents of attacks on Jews - about three. Q: What effect did the war have on the Palestinian vanguard? A: The organization with which we work most closely is the Sons of The Village. This group is a continuation of an older organisation called El Ard, The Land. Already before the war, it was essentially into three currents. a traditional current, was in crisis. That was mainly because it had no perspective for reaching out to the Jewish population. The relationship of forces 1948, and it was unable to adjust to the
The second current might be called ultraleft, since it rejects any idea of a united front with the Communist Party. It also, while it verbally accepts the need for Palestinian-Jewish unity, puts forward example, it denies that the Israeli Jews nation. Its ultraleft character is particularly clear on the question united front with the CP, since that is the strongest organization by far among the Palestinian masses. The base of the ultracurrent is mainly among students.
The third current is a proletarian one, evolving toward revolutionary and an understanding of the need for an Arab-Jewish revolutionary party. It is based mainly in the Arab towns.
With the old-style nationalists in crisis, the relationship of forces between the current and the proletarian current is about even.
Under the impact of the war, the political differentiation inside the Sons of the Village increased sharply. Q: What explains the CP's hold on the Palestinian masses? A: In the first place, it is an old established organization. In the second place, it has more of a working-class outlook than the nationalist formations. It has offered a perspective for day-to-day political Q: Is there a major language barrier between Palestinians and Jews in the A: Yes and no. Most Arabs can speak
Arab demonstration in Jerusalem (DR) Hebrew, but few Jews Arabic, although Palestinian public life is carried on Arabic. Very few of the younger generations of Oriental Jews still speak Arabic. Q:: What effect did the war have on the Oriental Jews? A: The Oriental Jews now make up the majority of the Jewish working class, and unfortunately the antiwar movement is continuing to develop outside the work-
One of the reasons for this is a historical one. The country was ruled for 30 years by the Labour Party, which is
La bourgeois party. workers started to look for an alternative, but the only alternative to Labour that they could see was Begin's party. They voted for Likud as a way of rejecting everything that 30 years of Labour rule meant. And now they identify the antiwar movement with Labour, everything that is not with Begin is Labour.
On the other hand, for the first time during this war there was no suspension of economic struggles, strikes and so forth. And since the war, there has already been a perceptible decline in the standard of living, owing to special taxes and price increases.
On the other hand, the working class support for Begin is not active. The class is passive. I work in a large factory in the Tel Aviv area that has a militant tradition. I find that it is much easier to discuss about such questions as the war and the rights of
The support of a mass antiwar movement in the streets makes it much easier to talk to workers in the factories. demonstration of 300,000 people, such as the one in response to the massacres, no small thing.