Democratic Palestine : 20 (ص 7)
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- Democratic Palestine : 20 (ص 7)
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AMAL ADVANCE
THWARTED
On Oct. 27th, Amal, with the help of
Lebanese Army tanks, made an early
morning attempt to advance on Rashi-
diya from the south, after long hours of
shelling. They were heroically con-
fronted by the Palestinians. Amal
withdrew, leaving behind tens of dead.
One Palestinian was martyred and
another injured. Amal _barbarically
escalated the battle, from night until
the morning. Once again, there was a
meeting between the same forces, which
issued a statement calling for a cease-
fire, an end to the war of attrition on
Rashidiya, and reaffirming the Pales-
tinian demands for lifting the seige,
releasing prisoners, etc. Moreover, the
statement said that «all forms of
internal fighting between allies should
be brought to a halt in order to streng-
then confrontation against imperialism,
Zionism and reaction.» Amal agreed
that all forces withdraw to their former
posts, under the supervision of the
Popular Liberation Army (of the
Popular Nasserite Organization), on
the condition that the PLA’s task end
immediately after the withdrawal pro-
cess from all positions of tension is
completed.
The very next day, right after the
agreement was signed by all parties, the
camp war continued. Amal shelled
Rashidiya for hours. The buffer force
was unable to take its positions because
of Amal’s continuous aggression, this
time using Grad rockets. There were
heavy casualties on both sides. On
October 26 and 27th, Palestinian losses
were three martyrs and six injured. On
Oct. 28th, Amal advanced with bull-
dozers to open a passage from the
southeast of the camp. The confronta-
tion caused the Palestinians three
casualties. Reports from the camp said
that Lebanese Army helicopters trans-
ported ammunition from Beirut to
Amal in Tyre.
Amal continued its aggression all day
on Oct. 29th. At I1 p.m. an urgent
meeting was called in Mustafa Sa’ad’s
house. The meeting was attended by
Walid Jumblatt of the Progressive
Socialist Party, George Hawi of the
Lebanese Communist Party, Asem
Kanso of the Arab Socialist Baath
Party, the PNSF delegation and Amal.
An agreement was reached which did
not differ in essence from the many
previous ones. Once again Amal pro-
mised to abide by the agreement. Yet,
the next day, Amal elements kidnapped
three civilians at a crossroads outside
Rashidiya. On Oct. 30th, Amal
unleashed a heavy barrage of shelling
on the camp and attempted to advance.
Clashes ensued, causing six deaths. The
Palestinians sabotaged Amal’s bull-
dozer and forced them to withdraw.
A representative of the PNSF arrived
in Tyre to meet with local cadres of
Amal to discuss the situation, only to
discover that they were greatly agitated;
they were demanding: first, the sur-
render of all weapons from the camp;
and second, postponing the arrival of
the joint coordination committee to
Tyre, as had been agreed in the last
meeting, on the pretext that they needed
time to bury their dead. It was,
however, obvious that they needed
more time to prepare for a new battle.
Amal then ignited the war in Burj Al
Barajneh camp in Beirut to delay the
joint committee’s arrival in Tyre, to
supervise implementation of the last
agreement. As expected, shelling broke
out in Rashidiyeh once again on
Amal roadblock at the entrance to Rashidiya
November Ist, and went on for several
days, causing the. Palestinians eight
martyrs and six injured.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE
WAR
As we go to press, the camp war
remains unresolved. Yet whatever the
outcome, the reasons for its eruption
and continuation are already clear.
Amal is determined to improve its share
in the Lebanese cake. Due to the ideo-
logy and class nature of its leadership,
Amal fails to see that the solution for
the Shiite masses, historically the poo-
rest of Lebanon’s poor, is an end to
sectarianism. Instead, Amal seeks to
bolster its position within a slightly
readjusted sectarian system, by carving
out a Shiite canton in South Lebanon.
To this end, it is working to eliminate
any elements that might disturb the
spread of its dominance, whether the
Palestinian revolution, the Lebanese
nationalist forces or even Hezballah.
Amal’s efforts to disarm the Pales-
tinians coincide with the Israelis’ mili-
tary campaign against all nationalists in
the South. Amal’s attack on Rashidiyeh
is indirectly helping the Israelis to
achieve their goal of liquidating the
Palestinian revolution in Lebanon.
Whether consciously or not, Amal is
serving aS a security force, to protect
the Israeli border. For some factions of
Amal, this is a deliberate policy aimed
at gaining Zionist approval for Amal’s
dominance in the South.
The camp war in the South has.
regional implications as well. For its
part, the right-wing PLO leadership is
attempting to exploit the situation by
making a show of military prowess to
cover up the setbacks it has suffered in
other fields. Ultimately, the quagmire
of the camp wars will be used by the
right wing to show that armed struggle
is no longer viable for the Palestinians.
Amal is using the right wing’s activities
and statements as an excuse for escala-
ting the war, though the real. reasons
are those we have previously named.
Ironically, while claiming to oppose
Arafat’s line, Amal is actually giving
the right-wing excuses for continuing its
deviating course. In the end, the PLO’s
wrong line and Amal attacks on the
Palestinian camps, both play into the
regional game where imperialism,
Zionism and several Arab regimes have
already agreed on the elimination of the
ee and the Palestinian role altoge-
ther.
However, the camp wars have also
shown that the Palestinians are a force
to be reckoned with. Far from falling
prey to the regional game, Palestinian
revolutionaries have closed ranks and
heroically defended the camps and their
right to bear arms. In the battle with
Amal so far, the Palestinians have
stayed on the defensive, fending off
Amal’s attacks. However, no one
should expect the Palestinian revolu-
tion to remain with arms folded in the
face of all these inhuman attacks on our
masses and revolution. - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 20
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