Divide-and-rule game leaves imperialists with losing hand indiscriminate terror in southern Lebanon. The Tyre-Sidon-Nabatiyeh triangle remained a sort of free state.
The tactic for bringing this area under rightist control had three aspects.
1. Israel started a terror campaign of unprecedented dimensions, there were
It is useful, now that influential circles both in the US and Israeli governments have begun to raise the alarm about a deterioration
"balance" in Lebanon, to review the long-term policy the imperialists,
Zionists and their allies have pursued in this country.
Cees Groen wrote such a review in the December-January issue of de Internationale, theoretical journal of the Dutch section of the Fourth
International. The following is a shortened version.
Cees GROEN
Since during the civil war, the Lebanstate broke down completely ese southern Lebanon, and since an occupation by Syria or Israel was not possible, the role of the state was in fact taken over by the PLO and the Lebanese National Movement.
The militias of the two organizations took over the police and security functions, and more and more the tasks of civil government. Schools, clinics, public services and administrative bodies were set up to keep daily life going.
Likewise, cooperatives were set up and local businesses supported. The PLO and the Lebanese National Movement (LNM)
(1) had no political program, but all these actions set a revolutionary process in modaily bombardments from the air and sea, as well as commando raids, against civilian targets - schools, homes, factories, orchards and roads. Nothing was spared.
As a result of this terror, between 1978 and 1980 about 800,000 people fled to the north (Sidon and Beirut). As tion in the south.
This alarmed Israel, the right-wing Lebanese Movement, the US and Syria as Power games force Lebanese from their homes (DR) well. A counteroffensive was launched.
In March 1978, an army of 30,000 Israeli soldiers invaded the south to put an end to the liberated zone. This so-called Operation Litani had the support of the Lebanese government and the US, and was tolerated by Syria.
The resistance was unexpectedly strong. The PLO and the Lebanese National Movement suffered heavy losses, but they stood up to the invaders. What was supposed to be a blitzkrieg became a creeping war. But that was unacceptable for the US and Syria. Speed was essential for the action, because otherwise the international reactions would become too dangerous. If the conflict dragged on, neither Syria nor Egypt could long remain aloof.
After eleven days, the United Nations reacted with unusual speed. With the support of the US, the UN demanded that the Israelis withdraw, and a UN armed force (UNIFIL) was sent to take over the region.
UNIFIL's objective was to take control of the region south of the Litani river, especially the coastal strip, away from the PLO and the LNM. In fact, UNIFIL served as a watchdog against the Lebanese revolution. The LN and sections of 4 the PLO were opposed to this. But Yasser Arafat supported the UNIPIL as a means for getting the Israelis to withdraw, in the hope that he could make gains by diplomatic means.
This shortsighted approach damaged the alliance between the PLO and the LNM. The UNIFIL was never an effective guarantee against Israeli aggression, as the Dutch soldiers who have been in Lebanon, learned from their own experience. 'Normalizing' Southern Lebanon
Israeli fighter-bombers daily overflew the UN-held area to sow death and destruction to the north and west of it. This, however, did not reduce the sympathy of the local inhabitants for the UNIFIL. For them, the presence of UN soldiers meant that they remained largely outside the war zone. Most of the local people had never been involved in the revolutionary process, but simply suffered from the conflict.
The liberated territory in southern Lebanon shrunk severely. In the south, the Israeli puppet Haddad formed a sort of militia. It was totally under Israeli control. All its equipment, down to the last shoelace, came from Tel-Aviv. Haddad soon as an area became depopulated, the bombing stopped. If the inhabitants came back, the bombardment started again. The liberated area was systematically wrecked and depopulated.
The central government in Beirut began cutting off all support to areas outside the Christian enclave. This led to a sort of starving out of the rebel areas, including the south that had already suffered so much.
Refugees could not go into the rich Christian enclave. They had to remain in the western part of Beirut, under appalling conditions.
3. Taking advantage of the fact that the Shiite masses had been very little involved in the revolution, the Lebanese government, Israel and the US tried to mobilize these Shites against the left.
The instrument for this was the AMAL organization that had been set up by a number of religious leaders at the time of the civil war. Its proclaimed objective was to better the lot of the Shiites. It was thus a religious organization.
From its standpoint, the woes of the 1. front including the PSP, the Communist Party and other reformist left organizations. - This and following notes by IV.
International Viewpoint 30 January 1984
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LEBANON
Shites were the fault of foreigners (that is, Palestinians) and unbelievers (i.e. Com-
Peace could thus be achieved by eliminating these forces. This seemed had seen many time how PLO actions led by Israel against their AMAL grew rapidly and established its own militia in more and more
West Beirut was originally the Islamic part of the city. The eastern part was predominantly Christian. Traditionally, the west was controlled politically and economically by the Sunni Muslim combourgeoisie, headed by who served
In the 1975-76 civil war, this compradore layer, which collaborated with the right-wing Christians, lost all author-
The Sunnis flooded en masse into the left and national movements, such as the Communist Party and the Marabitoun. (2) The PLO, which operated out of big refugee camps, also had a lot of support among the Sunni population. West Beirut also into a sort of liberated PLO base in West Beirut
The PLO and the left Lebanese organizations had a lot of offices and facilities
A strong economic link also developed with the south. The southern farmers brought their products to West Beirut. The Israeli war of extermination in the south drove hundreds of thousands of uprooted Shites to settle in the southern outskirts of the city.
People were packed together incredibly tightly in these refugee camps, such as Bourjel-Branieh. The AMAL built up strong support in them, including armed forces, in the same way as in the south.
The important Chalde airport, which lies to the south of the city, remained under the control of Syrian troops for a long time after the civil war. The Syrian forces were unable to penetrate into West Beirut itself because of the military strength of the LNM and the PLO. But Syrian control of Chalde posed logistical problems for the left.
West Beirut had to contend with the same sort of terror as the south. Lebanese government cut off all help step by step, and at the same time a large number of terrorist actions were carried out that made life insecure. Israeli attacks were less common, but the Lebanese secret service organized innumerable attacks. At the same time, the right helped AMAL organize the Shites against the left and
Under this pressure, forms of selforganization developed on a district-bydistrict basis. They took on a more and more revolutionary character in the old districts and in some refugee camps.
During the civil war, thanks to the Syrian invasion, rightist militias managed to overrun some of the refugee camps in the northeastern part of the city (that is, in the middle of the Christian area. The International Viewpoint 30 January 1984 massacre at Tel Zaatar is the best known
The survivors then fortified themselves in West Beirut, including in the Sabra and Chatila camps. It was no accident that these camps were chosen for massacres by the rightist militia after the Israeli invasion in 1982.
The Druze area around the Awali river and in the Chouff mountains forms a more or less separate region of southern
The Druze economy is based on agriculture organized around traditional villages. The old clan structure still plays a major role, with the land being divided up among various families. An example is the Joumblatt clan, which now holds the leadership of the Druze in Lebanon.
For a long time there were members of the leading Druze Arslan clan in the Lebanese government, which gave the Druze access to some crumbs. A lot of Druze were not satisfied with that, so of them joined the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), which was formed
The PSP is not made up entirely of Druze, but they continue to constitute the majority. The party itself claims not to be a communalist party but one that was formed to liberate the minorities by doing away with the communalist (3) system in Lebanon. It is led by the Joumblatt clan.
In the 1975-76 civil war, the PSP fought on the side of the PLO and the LNM. The PSP militia is particularly well armed and highly motivated. Within the Druze community, there was a confliet between the right wing led by the Arslan clan and Joumblatt's PSP. course of time, the PSP has decisively won this struggle.
The PSP is a party with a bourgeois program, led by bourgeois politicians. Nonetheless, its program is progressive under the Lebanese circumstances, since it calls for the abolition of the communalFighting for territory and power
The collapse of the state power in the 1975-76 civil war and the "starving-out tactic" followed by the central government, subsequently led to the PSP assuming more and more military and governmental functions in the Druze area.
However, unlike the LNM-PLO area, the PSP made no revolutionary pretentions. It clearly wanted a capitalist Lebanon, with equal rights for Druze (and other minorities).
So, the PSP made an agreement with the Lebanese government after 1980, which in fact represented a break from the LNM-PLO. This pact, moreover, led to the neutrality of the PSP militia at the time of the Israeli invation in 1982.
Central Lebanon, with East Beirut, is the stronghold of the right-wing Chris-
Since the 1975-76 civil war, this area has more and more become a separate state. The civil war fairly well wiped out the authority of the central state. Its role was taken over by the Phalangist militia, the national Liberal Party of Camille Chamoun and the militia controlled by the Franjieh family in the north, around the city of Zgotha.
After the Syrian intervention saved these Christian militias from total defeat, they went on the offensive in the last phase of the civil war.
Their main target was the belt of refugee camps that cut off East Beirut from its hinterland. With the conquest of Tel Zaatar, this operation was completed. also "purged.»Places the population was
Religious war was stirred up by such provocations as pogroms against Muslims. Muslims fled from the Christian area, and Christians fled to it.
In the following phase of "consolidation," the various right-wing factions had it out among themselves. The Phalange went ahead to liquidate what remained of the central state authority. It took the government base in Jounieh and openly humiliated the soldiers who had been sta-
These actions were directed against the puppet Edde government boosted into power by the Syrians after the interven-
Naturally, the Syrians did not just sit there and watch this happening, so a war broke out between the Syrian troops and the Christian militias.
The Syrians were forced to withdraw from East Beirut to the Bekaa valley. This was the result in particular of extensive Israeli support to the Christians. The Syrian army lost hundreds of soldiers
In the Bekaa valley itself, it had to conduct a months-long siege before it finally managed, with the greatest ditticulty, to take the Christian stronghold of Zahle.
Within the Christian area, the Phalange settled accounts with its Chamoun's National Liberal Party was smashed in 1979, after heavy fighting. In the north, the Phalange was less suc-
The Franjieh clan that dominated this area was linked to the Syrians. The head of the Franjieh clan, his wife and three-year-old daughter were murdered in a raid apparently organized by the
The result of this outrage was that within a few days all the Phalangists were cleared out of the north. Finally, in the Phalange area, more progressive parties
Thus, in 1980, the Phalange's power was concentrated in the East Beirut area, Metn, Kesrouan and the coastal strip from Jounieh to Batroun. pressure of the Phalange, all the central state's income was channeled to this area.
The Phalangists levied their own taxes, formed their own army and police, and
Arab nationalist current, sometimes called the "Nasserites." the independent Lebanese state is based, in 99-seat parliament, 30 seats are allotted to the Maronite Christians; 20 to the Sunni Muslims; 11 to the Greek Orthodox Christians; 6 to the Greek Catholics; 1 to the Armenian the Protestants; and one is variable. president of the republic is always a Maronite, the premier a Sunni, the chair of the parliament a Shite and the vice-premier a Greek Orthodox.
set up their own government. Led by the Gemayel family, the Phalangists had the support of the US and Israel. Furthermore, they held all the keys to the Lebanese economy in their hands.
The Christian area became a paradise for the rich. While the other parts of the country were subjected to systematic terror, the Phalangist zone was an oasis
There was enough wealth to give a few though there is a labor shortage in the brought in from other parts of Lebanon. That would be too risky. So, immigrant workers have been brought in in great numbers from Egypt, Pakistan and India.
In the north, the division of power after the civil war was as complicated as in the other parts of the country. outlines of the picture are as follows:
Around the city of Tripoli, the LNM and the PLO were in control. south, the Syrian interventionist troops were badly defeated in June 1976. Tripolie became a kind of free state.
Zgortha area was controlled by the Franjiehs' right-wing militia. driven out of Tripoli, but able to establish itself in the mountains, with Syrian
The source of the Franjiehs' conflict with the Phalange was the question of
The Franjiehs did not want to break with the Syrians, because that would undermine the basis of their power. The clan is economically, politically and militarily too dependent on Syria.
After 1978, the Franjiehs' militia controlled the area up to Batroun, and collaborated with the PLO and the LNM in the fight against the Phalangists. Islamic fundamentalism
The area along the border with Syria is inhabited by people belonging to the Alawite sect, a minority that plays an important role in Syria. Here the Syrian army exercises a strong influence over daily life.
The Tripoli free state has been regularly bombarded by Israel, getting the same sort of treatment as southern Lebanon. The PLO and the left parties (the October 24 Movement, the Communist Party, the Baath) have had more and an Islamic fundamentalist group, the Islamic Unity Movement.
fundamentalists antagonistic to Syria, and against organizations that are not religious. In a certain sense, they played the same role as AMAL elsewhere in the country. Up till 1982, the role of this group limited. After the Israeli invasion, it went on the offensive.
Since the 1976 civil war, the eastern part of the country, the fertile Bekaa valley, has been under Syrian control. fore, almost the entire area, with the exception of the Zahle Christian enclave, was run by the LNM. It fought a hard but losing fight against the Syrian inter-
In this part of Lebanon, the Syrians perform most of the functions
This area is also closely tied to Syria economically. Thus, since the
La lively smuggling trade has developed, in which the Svrian army participates.
Syria has also given PLO units which are considered pro-Syrian bases in the Bekaa valley. The Syrian high command is also located there. The AMAL movement has also gained support in this area, where the population is largely Shite.
the south or Beirut, the Iranian revolution has won considerable influence, mainly as a result of the Iranian militia force sent to the Bekaa. For Syria, which is ar ally of Iran, this has the advantage that the AMAL there is not so closely tied to the right-wing forces in Lebanon.
The 1982 Israeli invasion drastically upset the precarious balance of forces in
Lebanon came completely under Israeli control. The UNIFIL could would do nothing to oppose this. The invasion was designed to wipe out all the left and Palestinian resistance. Tens of thousands were made homeless because their camps were bulldozed. Every hospital, every school, every facility that flew the PLO or LNM flag was destroyed. All men between the ages of 15 and 55 in the Palestinian camps were arrested. With the help of informers, the members of the Lebanese left organizations were picked out. Thousands were jailed in concentration camps such as El Ansar.
In West Beirut, the same thing happened. During a 79-day siege, the city was shot to pieces. Phosporous bombs, fragmentation bombs and other terror weapons were used against every sort of target. The industrial belt to the south of the city was destroyed.
Originally, the Israelis were not supposed to enter the city after the evacuation of the PLO in September. directly after the murder of the Israeli supported presidential candidate, Bashir Gemayel, they sent their tanks into the
The defense of the city had been seriously weakened by the withdrawal of French soldiers search cars in West Beirut (DR)
the PLO fighters and by the dismantling of the defenses by the Multinational
With the help of the Phalangists, the Israelis began brutal raids in the city. Thousands were arrested, and many were never heard of again after they were handed over to the Phalange.
At that point, Israel and the Phalange started a second operation, institutionalized terror, to intimidate the unarmed masses with the threat of mass slaughter. The Sabra and Chatila massacre was carried out with the deliberate collaboration of the Israeli forces. It was designed as an example for the Lebanese and Pales-
In the wake of the Israeli troops, the Phalangist murderers throughout the south. Why? To create such fear that the people would think that anything was better than the Phal-
This was so the unarmed masses would turn to the Israeli occupiers, the multinational peace force and regime in Lebanon for protection. this tactic had a certain success initially. Israel's plans falter
All of this was designed to reinforce a strong right-wing government in Lebanon under Amin Gemayel.
Israel did not even want to sign a genuine peace treaty with Lebanon. It wanted a peace that would leave it the right to intervene politically and militarily in the country. What is more, southern Lebanon was to become an economic sphere of interest for Israel. wrecked and made dependent on Israeli
In 1983, however, this policy began to the Israeli-occupied Chouff mountains, the PSP was originally neutral. In return for some Israeli concessions, Joumblatt was ready to let the Israeli forces move through undisturbed in June
But at the end of 1982, raelis brought the Phalangists into the
The Druze were no longer spared from
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International Viewpoint 30 January 1984
them, the US and its allies had to give up lead to further escalation.
The infamous Colonel Djadja got a free hand from the Israelis. result, fighting flared up in the Chouff in early 1983 and turned against Israel. The troops began to get demoralized and had to be withdrawn in September behind
In south Beirut the population suffered severely from the occupation and the policy of the Gemayel govern-
The population here was Shiite refugees, among whom AMAL had con-
When it became known that the government planned to expel these refugees and that Gemayel's army went into Wadi Abu Jamil to begin the operation, the dam burst.
There was a general insurrection, in which the AMAL militia fought against Gemayel. AMAL in Beirut dropped its pro-Israeli and pro-Gemayel leaders and went over to the resistance.
3. In West Beirut and southern Lebanon, the local population was fed up economic strangulation, provocations and the continuing imprisonment of thousands of people. Committees in defense of the prisoners, against the economic strangulation and the terror sprang
In September 1982, the left underground organizations set up the Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF). This front quickly gained support among the population and started up a military campaign against the troops, the Phalange and Gemayel's army.
Since that time, in southern Lebanon the Israelis have lost 300 soldiers in actions by the Resistance front. This front has also gained extensive support among AMAL has split into one wing that works with Israel and one that opposes Israel. Religious leaders have joined the resistance front. There have been two general strikes against the occupiers.
4. Syria has been forced to move against Israel and its Phalangist allies. No compromise was possible with the Begin government.
The greatest provocation was Gemayel's signing a peace treaty with Israel. In fact, this treaty ratified the total subordination of Lebanon to American and Israeli interests. It made withdrawal of Israeli troops dependent on withdrawal of the Syrians, after which Israel would still have the right to intervene in Lebanon.
In one fell swoop the Gemayel government dropped all opposition to the Is-
Moreover, it became zation" of Lebanon. Through a series of the army, police, schools, courts and ministries were purged of opposition-
Seven thousand teachers were threatened with losing their jobs. ments were recruited exclusively among
The token parliament was put in mothballs. It ceded its powers to the president. As a result, a lot of depu-
Decisions by the Phalangist leadership were broadcast over radio and International Viewpoint 30 January 1984
Walid Joumblatt, leader of the PSP (DR) TV as government statements. mained of a "loyal opposition" was forced to take its distance from Gemayel.
In July the bourgeois opposition joined in a National Salvation Front, including the Muslim bourgeois leader Karame, Druze chief Joumblatt. Its main demands are for a sharing of the power and repudiating the peace treaty with Israel. This front knows that it can count on support from Syria, from the AMAL groups, and from the LNRF. Virtually every force but the Phalangists were against Gemayel.
Between August and October the situation got out of hand for Gemayel. In West Beirut, the so-called national army ran into heavy opposition in its attempts to purge the area. Then came the mass uprising of Shiites in south Lebanon.
uprisings made it impossible to defeat the Druze uprising in the Chouff decisively defeated, losing half their 'Multinational' force takes sides
The Israelis could not send help because of the big problems they themselves had in the south. In the Israeli army there is nothing so unpopular as a new
Of course, the Israelis did make major air strikes against the opposition when it attacked strategic
In this way, they helped give the. butcher Djadja a breathing space.
national army that had been and trained by the US began to Thousands of soldiers dein particular Druze and Shiites. Druze in the Israeli army petitioned to be able to join in the fighting on the this disastrous situation for their pretence of neutrality. national Peacekeeping Force joined in the fighting on Gemayel's side.
The reaction
The Multinational Peacekeeping Force was seen as an enemy, and came under fire. Heavy pressure led to a ceasefire and the holding of a conference in Geneva on the future of Lebanon.
In this conference, Gemayel did not the strength to maintain his policy. He was forced to make con-
The Phalangists, with US and Israeli support, however, did not go for that, and the conference died a quiet
The confrontation moved back to the battlefield. In the meantime, the French and US military headquarters in Beirut were blown up in suicide attacks.
of soldiers in the "Peace Force"
These actions are an indication of the intensity of the struggle. Although these conference, it is unlikely that the National Salvation Front or the Syrians had a
But that was not necessary. The resistance is very broad and deep. All sorts of groups take part in struggles everyday against the "Peace the Israeli occupiers or the Phalangists.
In south Lebanon shortly after this the Israeli headquarters was blown up, killing a number of top officers. The "search and destroy" missions that the Israelis carried out after that led to still more bitterness among the population.
In particular, the National Guard that Israel set up with the help of collaborators managed to make itself particularly
But also the reprisals against the local government officials, economic reprisals such as closing the roads, poured oil on the flames.
A new general strike broke out and got mass support.
How great the mass hatred for the occupiers and their allies had become was shown during a Shiite religious festival in Nabatieh. After an incident, tens of thousands of people attacked raelis and the National Guard en masse. swords they drove the soldiers into flight. Twenty-five Israeli soldiers are still reported "missing."
It is probably this mass resistance that induced Israel to release thousands of prisoners from the concentration camps. This was a concession to the central demand of the population. But there are still a lot of people in these camps.
The relationship of forces in Lebanon is clearly evolving in a way more and more unfavorable to Gemayel and his US and Israeli allies. This means that there is a real possibility that larger-scale military actions will be undertaken against the armed resistance. Since such operations would pose a fundamental threat to the interests of Syria and the USSR, there is a serious chance that this could