Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 33)
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- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 33)
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between the Palestinian defenders and
the Amal gangs, supported by the
Lebanese Army 6th Brigade. Amal
attempted to advance several times, but
was faced with fierce resistance, forcing
it to back down, having suffered many
casualties. Amal also shelled nearby
Ain Al Hilweh camp, causing the death
and wounding of many civilians and
much destruction. On December 4th, in
a clear projection of military as well as
political cooperation with Amal, Zio-
nist warships shelled Palestinian posi-
tions in Maghdousheh, aiming to ease
the pressure on Amal and the army.
The Iranian initiative aimed at
ending the war was put forward on
December 4th. On December 7th, the
Palestinian forces agreed to a full
ceasefire to start that night. As usual,
Amal rejected the agreement, as was
seen in intensified aggression against
Shatila and Burj Al Barajneh. Thus,
the ceasefire did not take effect imme-
diately. Despite the Palestinian figh-
ters’ adherence to this agreement, Amal
continued attacking their positions, but
without success. However, the fighting
did ease off by December 10th, and the
situation was quiet thereafter. The
majority of Palestinian forces withdrew
from their posts in Maghdousheh in
accordance with the agreement, but
Arafat’s fighters did not.
RASHIDIYA
Rashidiya camp has been living
under siege since the first of October,
experiencing the worst conditions,
ranging from food shortages to daily
sniping and shelling, and the impossi-
bility of getting the wounded out of the
camp for treatment. On December Ist,
Amal burned down most of the small,
nearby camp, Al Bass, after having
looted the contents of the houses, in a
continuation of executing its dirty plan
for expelling Palestinians from the Tyre
area, in preparation for building a
Shiite canton in the South.
The agreement reached on December
7th did not in Amal’s interpretation
mean an immediate lifting of the siege.
On December 10th, food supplies were
not admitted into the camp. Only two
trucks carrying rotten potatoes and
onions were let in, and these were sent
back by the popular committee. The
wounded could not be evacuated. With
the entrance into the camp of the Ira-
nian delegation and some Lebanese
clergymen, shelling and sniping eased,
though it did not stop. Amal asked
these delegates to leave the camp. When
they refused, Amal escalated the shel-
ling and sniping.
On December 12th, Amal did start
executing the first clauses of the
agreement reached through Iranian and
Libyan efforts, concerning evacuating
some of the wounded from Rashidiya
and allowing food supply trucks to
enter the camp. It was following this
that the Palestinian forces (except
Arafat’s) withdrew from Magh-
dousheh.
WEST BEIRUT
Net only the Palestinians living in the
camps of Tyre, Sidon and Beirut were
targeted. Palestinians living outside the
camps were also a favorite prey for
Amal’s gangs. Palestinians living in
West Beirut have been indiscriminately
killed, kidnapped, humiliated and tor-
tured. Amal stationed barricades on the
streets, looking for someone, anyone,
whose identity card identified him/her
as a Palestinian. Homes of Palestinians
were looted. Amal conducted house-
to-house searches for Palestinians.
Many Palestinians, young, old, men
and women, were killed on the spot.
Barbarism, it seemed, had no limits.
On December 3rd, a whole family of
Palestinians was killed. Their bodies
were mutilated and thrown into the
streets of West Beirut, near the Kuwaiti
embassy. On December 4th, at half past
seven in the evening, the Amal gangs
committed a massacre Sharon would
have been proud of. They stormed a
house in the Shweifat area, and
attacked all those present. Six were
killed and three injured, all women and
children.
Road blocks, looting, kidnapping
and arbitrary arrests and detentions
continued in West Beirut, and began to
affect Lebanese nationalists as well as
Palestinians. In a report from West
Beirut, it was estimated that 90% of
houses belonging to Palestinians had
been looted, while the remaining 10%
had been confiscated. All Palestinians
14 years of age and older were espe-
cially targeted. The number of Palesti-
nians in detention is unknown.
However, Amal did tend to ease the
pace of setting up road blocks, after
several attacks were launched at its
centers and barricades. Still, this did
not totally deter the Amal gangs; raids
and arrests continued.
On December 18th, Amal thugs
committed yet another crime. This time
it was not random killing; it was deli-
berate. The target was a Palestinian
woman whose name is known to most
poor Palestinians and Lebanese. Her
name was Nabila Breir. She was a
UNICEF official, who had dedicated
her work to humanitarian aid for the
needy. In particular, she had worked
with the provision of aid to children
displaced by the recurring wars. Nabila
was dragged out of a car by four thugs
and murdered on the spot. The same
day, Amal members fired at the
entrance of Mar Elias camp, attempting
to spread the war into one more camp.
One resident of Mar Elias was killed
and three wounded. Then, on
December 21st, gunmen in a car shot at
an army barracks near Mar Elias, pro-
voking the soldiers to direct their fire at
the camp. The dangerous situation in
West Beirut continues...
STOP PRESS
On December 31st, Amal gangs esca-
lated the military situation, breaking
the ceasefire. They attempted to infil-
trate into the camp, but were faced with
fierce resistance which caused many
casualties in their ranks. As a result,
they began a heavy barrage of rockets
(two per minute) and machine gun fire
against the camp. In the morning of the
same day, a group of children and
youth were picking oranges, when
Amal thugs captured two of the youth,
Jihad Sabri and Mahmoud Karimy,
both PFLP members, and barbarically
killed them.
Amal’s New Year’s eve ‘party’
included a variety of activities. Shatila
was one of the targets, and Nabih
Berri’s ceasefire pledge was forcibly
implemented by heavy shelling; mortars
and rockets rained down on the camp at
the rate of 25 shells per minute. Burj Al
Barajneh received the same ‘gifts’ from
Amal.
Military forces from all sides went on
alert in West Beirut following reports
that a large battle would soon erupt.
Taking advantage of this situation,
Amal set up scores of new roadblocks
for checking the identification of
passers-by. Amal also raided several
houses in the Fakhani/Tariq Al Jadida
area. On January 2nd, Amal issued a
warning to the residents of the Daouq
and Sports City stadium area, adjacent
to Shatila camp, to evacuate their
houses; otherwise their houses would be
destroyed with them inside. ©
ES
PFLP Politbureau Statement
on the Camp War
The PFLP’s Politbureau convened
on January 4, 1987, to discuss the
latest political and military
developments relevant to the third war
being waged against our people’s
camps, by Amal, with the aid of the
Lebanese Army’s 6th and Ist brigades.
The Politbureau discussed the factors
that have prolonged this war and the
suffering inflicted on our masses... and
the insistence of Amal on continuing to
execute its project, aimed at disarming
the Palestinian camps and expelling the
population, as a prelude towards
creating a canton in the South, subject
to US-Israeli conditions... The in-
sistence of Amal and the backers of its
suicidal project was manifest in various
forms, mainly:
1. Amal’s rejection and delay of the
initiatives and solutions put forth by
friendly forces to stop the bloodshed,
bring (the parties involved) to the
negotiating table... and put a final end
33
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