Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 22)
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- Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 22)
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gone further in escalating the situation
militarily and politically, if it had not
been for the encouragement he received
from some Arab and non-Arab circles.
The confrontation between Syria and
Iraq is another obstacle added to those
facing the Arab committee. Iraqi
Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz told
reporters after a five-hour session in the
summit: «We are still looking at the
options. The main one is for total
Syrian withdrawal. If that is not
achieved there cannot be a solution.»
(AP, May 26). After the Wahran
meeting, the Iraqi News Agency
reported that a statement delivered by
Iraqi foreign ministry’s spokesman said
«if cutting off arms. deliveries to
Lebanon could help the three-man
committee, Iraq would declare its full
adherence to that.» However he
stipulated «not to exploit these cir-
cumstances by the Syrian government
and its allies... the committee has to
move quickly to ensure a cease-fire,
reopening crossings and _ lifting
blockades.» The committee also has
«to be firm towards any party impeding
the steps needed to achieve peace and
security in Lebanon, or trying to
sabotage national reconciliation,» ad-
ded the spokesman. (AI! Nahar, July 3)
US ROLE
In a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal,
US President George Bush stated that
the committee was «met with strong,
enthusiastic support from the United
States, as it tries to be helpful in bring-
ing peace to Lebanon. That’s
something we’re very much concerned
about.» (AP, June 15)
The US government has now found it
useful to pretend that it is very much
concerned about the unsettled Lebanese
crisis, and has declared that peace in
Lebanon is a vital goal of US foreign
policy. Hovever, the falseness of US
claims is revealed by the words and
deeds of many US officials.
The advertised «strong, enthusiastic
support» manifests itself in the recent
statements of US ambassador to
Lebanon John McCarthy saying that
President Bush’s administration was
«discouraged by Syria’s failure to enter
into a dialogue with Aoun. The
Syrians and certainly the Lebanese
22
Moslems should be holding dialogues
with the general rather than criticizing
him. One of our positions towards the
Syrians has been that General Aoun
certainly represents an important cur-
rent of public opinion and political in-
fluence in Lebanon.» (AP, May 31)
It seems that the US administration
has been disappointed by the outcome
of the Arab summit, since the US hoped
it would be an Arab siege aiming to
isolate and weaken Syria and the na-
tionalist forces. This dissatisfaction
emerges as a result of the Arab em-
phasis on the priorities of reform, elec-
tions and withdrawals, and the necessi-
ty of the Israeli withdrawal as a
precondition to resolving the Lebanese
crisis. So directly or indirectly the US
government encourages Aoun and the
isolationst forces in escalating the
situation and torpedoing the efforts of
the three-man committee to resolve the
crisis.
Pursuing its line in respect to Israel,
the US government overlooks that
it is thereby giving Tel Aviv a chance to
continue its aggression and consolidate
its hold on the occupied Lebanese ter-
ritory. Washington apparently follows
the traditional principle of its Middle
East policy: What is good for Israel, is
bound to be good for the United States.
It is a continuation of the old policy
based on the desire for Arab surrender
and to protect the interests of Israel.
From the US point-of-view, it is
necessary to bring the Arab countries to
their knees and to force them to accept
a settlement on Israel’s terms. Accor-
dingly, Lebanon is a proper arena to
achieve such an aim.
THE ISRAELI DESTRUC-
TIVE ROLE
Much has been said about the inter-
nal factors that led to the armed clashes
in Lebanon. It is obvious that no matter
how such internal contradictions exist
in this Arab country, and not even the
Syrian presence could lead to such
tragic consequences, if there were not
foreign forces that stood behind the
Lebanese crisis, primarily Israel which
is very concerned with escalating con-
flicts between factions in Lebanon.
The ruling circles in Israel were the
biggest winners from the bloodshed in
Lebanon. The facts that prove Israel’s
fear of normalizing the situation in
Lebanon are numerous.
While efforts are being exerted
towards achieving stability in Lebanon,
Israel starts to bombard Lebanese
towns and Palestinian refugee camps in
order to further escalate tensions and
bring this country back to the tragic
and sad situation that has prevailed
since 1975. It is not mere chance that
the constant Israeli attacks on June Ist
and 2nd, against Lebanese and
Palestinians in Lebanon coincide with
the convening of the Arab summit and
later taking decisions related to resolv-
ing the Lebanese crisis. Undoubtedly,
Israel wants to dispatch a_ direct
message in the form of Israeli planes,
gun-boats-. and explosions of mortar
fire. Then Israel will not permit the
three-man committee to normalize the
Lebanon situation without taking its
(Israel’s) interests into consideration.
So it will carry on its ugly practices un-
til the Arabs define two things. The
first is connected with guaranteeing the
security of «its nothern borders» with
Lebanon, the second is to force the
Arab summit to recognize «Israel’s
vital interests» in Lebanon and to
create an Arab conception which op-
poses total domination of nationalist
and progressive forces because they will
threaten its security.
«Syria knows our positions... it is
also fully aware that we have legitimate
interests in Lebanon,» said Israeli
Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin
Natanyahu. (A! Safir, June 3) This
statement is one of many examples
which shows the destructive role which
Israel plays not only in Lebanon, but in
the Middle East as a whole.
The role of Israel in the Lebanese
events is quite clear. Therefore, what
has to be done to stabilize the Lebanese
situation and resolve its crisis is to put
an end to the Israeli occupation which
is a central problem due to the Arab-
Israeli conflict and its essence the
Palestinian cause. This complication
has created an impression about the
incapability of the Arab League to
resolve the Lebanese crisis, since the
three-man committee doesn’t have the
ability to force Israel to withdraw its
forces from Lebanon, although it does
represent the maximum that the Arab
League can do. @
Democratic Palestine, August 1989 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 34
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