Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 17)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 17)
- المحتوى
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HAI
~
The Lebanese civil war entered its 15th year amid the most relentless
artillery battles ever between the reactionary forces led by General
Aoun, and the nationalist and progressive forces. This round of the
conflict threatens to formalize the country’s partition and preclude
the possibilities of a political solution.
As the six-man Arab League commit-
tee was supposed to hold its third
meeting with Lebanese political leaders
on March 17th, Lebanon witnessed a
qualitative political and military
escalation, with heavy artillery duels
across Beirut’s green line. These clashes
erupted two days after Michel Aoun,
head of the military government, im-
posed an air-and-sea blockade on
March 6th, against the ports in the na-
tionalist areas: the Jiyeh port run by the
Progressive Socialist Party, led by
Walid Jumblatt, and the Ouzai port run
by the Amal movement, led by Nabih
Berri, both south of Beirut. In
response, the nationalist forces closed
the crossings linking East and West
Beirut, and fierce battles ensued. Bet-
ween March 8th and mid-May, over 400
people were killed and approximately
1,500 wounded.
The peak of the fighting occurred on
March 14th as people were heading for
work, and children for school; 39 were
killed and 96 wounded in the day-long
shelling in the Beirut area. Most of the
casualties occurred in West Beirut;
among the dead were two school
children. It was the worst single day of
violence in the civil war since 1985.
Electricity plants were heavily damag-
ed, leaving some areas in _ total
darkness, while others had only a few
hours of electricity daily. At least
50,000 people were evacuated from the
area around the main fuel depot in East
Beirut after it was shelled, due to the
danger of explosions.
AOUN’S DRIVE FOR POWER
The situation in Lebanon returned to
the same cycle of violence, provoca-
tions and arbitrary shelling, causing
Arab and international efforts for a
settlement to fail. The war of the ports
disrupted the efforts of the Arab
Democratic Palestine, June 89
League committee to reach an interim
solution for the Lebanese crisis, or at
least remove some of the complica-
tions. The major reason for this escala-
tion was General Aoun’s drive for
power.
In the «What will happen if we build
another Beirut?» speech delivered by
Aoun on March 25th, he expressed his
determination to carry on his dirty war
against the Lebanese people and the
nationalist and progressive forces,
vowing to fight even at the risk of
destroying the capital. Despite appeals
from Lebanese and _ non-Lebanese
leaders and bodies to end the fighting,
Aoun and his isolationist allies in the
army and Lebanese Forces persisted in
their campaign which acting prime
minister Salim Hoss described as «this
shameful massacre, this new cycle of
mad violence.»
The battles between Aoun’s forces
and the nationalists took on a new
dimension on March 14th, when Aoun
declared a «war of liberation against
the Syrian army,» saying there would
be no peace in Lebanon until Syria
withdraws its troops. Aoun declared,
«The battle has already begun,» raising
many questions: Why did the general
declare this war? Does he wage this war
in order to attain the presidency? Ex-
amining the latest developments and
their background, one sees that in the
months preceding the fighting, Aoun
behaved according to the logic of a
politician striving to prove his wor-
thiness to be president and present a
real solution, according to his view, for
the Lebanese crisis. He evaluated that
the political situation was ripe for
selecting a president who would be
capable of resolving the crisis by any
means. Thus, he worked for internal
and external acknowledgement of his
worthiness.
Aoun has made no secret of his
presidential ambitions. His fortunes
seemed to improve in February when he
cracked down on the Lebanese Forces
who are notorious for their connections
to Israel, their opposition to political
reform and their chain of violence
against anyone who disagrees with
them. Syria, for example, praised
Aoun’s moves against the Lebanese
Forces as a step towards resolving the
political stalemate. Now, however,
Syria appears determined to confront
Aoun’s efforts to extend his authority
to all of Lebanon and demand Syrian
withdrawal. Aoun blockaded the na-
tionalist ports in order to tighten his
control over the entire Lebanese ccast,
so as to impede the Arab League’s
peace efforts. Objectively, this creates
conditions which maintain the status
quo. To the same end, Aoun rejected
Hoss’ proposal to set up a joint com-
mittee from the fractured Lebanese
Army to find ways of enacting and
monitoring a cease-fire. Instead, Aoun
insisted that such a committee be drawn
from the Lebanese and Syrian armies
with a mandate to enforce a cease-fire,
and to set a timetable for a Syrian pull-
out. Hoss rejected Aoun’s contention,
saying the Syrian presence in Lebanon
was legitimate: «The Syrian army
entered Lebanon in 1976 at the request
of the then reigning Lebanese govern-
ment. This request was later endorsed
by the Arab League of which Lebanon
is a founding member.» Hoss said that
any demand for a Syrian pull-out
should be made by a united Lebanese
government which does not now exist.
He accused Aoun of taking «unilateral
decisions that are pushing Lebanon to
the brink of a disaster.»
Aoun also reacted negatively to the
statement issued in Bkirki by 23 Chris-
tian members of parliament, calling for
an immediate stop to the fighting.
Although Aoun himself now heads the
reactionary forces who have blocked
political reform which would make
Lebanon a normal parliamentary
dmocracy, he dismissed the statement
of his fellow Christians by saing that
these deputies were elected 17 years
ago. On the same occasion, he told the
public, «Don’t worry if the presidential
elections do not take place. If there is
no president, the people will impose the
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