Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 23)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 23)
- المحتوى
-
quent reconnaissance flights and mock
bombings, hijacking boats and even
intercepting a Lebanese Army plane
and forcing it to land in ‘Israel’. In line
with their plans for increased in-
terference in favor of the Lebanese
fascist forces, the Israelis have upped
their overt military presence in Jezzine,
north of the ‘security zone’ and cen-
trally located between Sidon on the east
and the mountains to the north. For the
first time since their partial withdrawal
from Lebanon, Israeli Merkava tanks
have been spotted in Jezzine. On May
31st, villages around Jezzine were sub-
jected to ten hours of shelling and
straffing after a major resistance attack
in which six Israelis were wounded and
about ten of their SLA proxies killed.
Four Lebanese civilians were killed by
Israeli fire, including a six-month old
baby; twenty were wounded.
The accumulation of aggression
sparked speculation about a major new
Israeli aggression. Whether or not this
materializes, it is certain that the
Zionists’ purpose is to spread fear. This
would create the political climate for
the Lebanese state and reactionary
forces to move to check the anti-
occupation resistance, thus preserving
the Israelis’ security without their risk-
ing the casualties a major aggression
would entail. In other words, the
escalated terror campaign was the
Israeli contribution to having the Cairo
agreement cancelled, to encourage the
Lebanese fascists and other sectarian
forces to step up their war on patriots,
Lebanese and Palestinian alike.
DEFYING ‘SLOW DEATH’
While the Lebanese parliament
bowed to the Zionist logic and cancell-
ed the Cairo agreement, the daily
steadfastness of the masses in
southernmost Lebanon provides a dif-
ferent picture. In late May, a Reuters
reporter visiting villages on the edge of
the ‘security zone’, that are constantly
exposed to shelling and harassment,
recorded the comments of the residents.
In Froun, the mukhtar, Kamal Jaafer,
told the reporter why the local people
remain in the war zone: «Whoever
starts running away will have to keep
running all the time... Life has become
very difficult, but where can we go? We
live from our land and we have to stay
near it». Also in Froun, where villagers
risk their lives just going to the Litani
River to get water, Fatima Mikdad,
who works at a sewing factory, said,
«Even if the (resistanc) attacks stop, the
shelling will continue. We are ready to
pay with our lives to help the resistance
fighters.» In another village, Tulin, an
elderly farmer whose family often
shelters resistance fighters, concluded,
«If we don’t sacrifice our children and
grandchildren in the fight against the
Israelis, they will never leave. If some
of us die, and Israeli leaves, it is better
than this daily slow death.»
bbe
RASHID KARAMI —
MARTYR TO THE ZIONIST
PLAN
The June Ist assassination of Prime
Minister Rashid Karami was the
ultimate proof that the fascist-Zionist
alliance is on the offensive. Karami was
not just any politician. Having served
aS prime minister nine times, he had a
long history of working for a balanced
solution that would preserve Lebanon’s
unity and Arab identity. In the words
of Mustafa Saad, Sidon’s nationalist
leader, «This crime was a declaration of
war against the nation and the citizens,
and targeted not only the late prime
minister, but also the idea of a state of
justice and national accord, based on
equality and Arabism.»
Karami’s prominent nationalist role
dates back to 1958 when he joined the
nationalist movement to oppose Presi-
dent Camille Chamoun’s move to turn
Lebanon into a de facto US protec-
torate. He was effective in organizing
mass protests especially in his home
area around Tripoli, North Lebanon, a
stronghold of the nationalist movement
aligned with Nasser’s Egypt. In 1969,
he resigned after the Lebanese Army’s
bloody suppression of pro-Palestinian
demonstrations. When the civil war
broke out in 1975, he moved to prevent
the Lebanese Army from joining the
fascist side. He was widely regarded as
one of few Lebanese politicians able to
steer Lebanon through a national unity
process that would guarantee reforms
and Lebanon’s relations with Syria.
Lebanese nationalists have accused
the fascist Lebanese Forces and their
penetration of the Lebanese Army,
noting that ‘Israel’ stands as the
ultimate beneficiary and _ probable
mastermind of the crime. All the facts
validate these accusations. Karami was
killed by a bomb planted in a helicopter
where the Lebanese Army had made the
security check. The bomb exploded as
the helicopter was over fascist-
controlled areas, giving the possibility
of remote-control detonation. Accor-
ding to Al Safir, a Beirut daily, an
Israeli officer visited the fascist-
controlled areas in May to plan the
operation. Soon afterwards, Lebanese
Forces commander Samir Geagea
visited ‘Israel’, returning to Lebanon
via Jezzine. Cooperation between the
Lebanese Forces and sections of the
Lebanese Army is a _ known fact.
(Uniformed Lebanese Army officers
train Geagea’s elite troops at Ghosta
monastery-turned fortress, north of
Beirut.) Such cooperation allowed for
planting the bomb on Karami’s
helicopter and preventing further
security checks.
Karami had resigned in May due to
the deadlock in the political and
economic crisis, challenging Amin
Gemayel whose adherence to the
fascists’ positions had blocked all
reform solutions. Despite the Lebanese
Forces’ concerted calls for Gemayel to
accept Karami’s resignation, the presi-
dent had dallied, not wanting to further
antagonize Syria that was firmly back-
ing Karami’s leadership. In_ this
deadlock, the fascists acted,
assassinating Karami in order to take
the pressure off Gemayel and create a
power vacuum that would block Syrian
and Lebanese nationalist efforts for
stability, while giving ‘Israel’ greater
room to interfere in Lebanon.
With the assassination of Karami the
situation in Lebanon was once again
blown wide open, and the Lebanese
democratic forces are faced with a
double challenge. One is the sectarian
tendency to find a partial solution to
the Lebanese crisis that falls short of
establishing real unity and democracy.
The other challenge, which may prove
to be the most powerful, comes from
the fascist-Zionist-imperialist alliance
that may embark on new aggression to
impose their domination in Lebanon. @
23 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 25
- تاريخ
- يوليو ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed