Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 43)
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- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 43)
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Fascists Regroup
«We are now back to the 5th of June, 1982... All the political
results of the Israeli operation are now wiped out.» This was the
Lebanese Forces’ reaction to the abrogation of the treaty with ‘Is-
rael’, as articulated by their foreign affairs director, Naoum Farah.
Fadi Frem, commander-in-chief of the militias condemned the gov-
ernment of his brother-in-law, Amin Gemayel, for «submitting to
Syrian demands». There was talk of division in the fascist ranks, with
Phalangist Party chief Pierre Gemayel backing his son Amin’s tac-
tics, while the Lebanese Forces opposed.
of alliance with ‘Israel’ and hate of the
Arabs, leaving the party free to follow
along with Amin Gemayel’s maneuvers
to retain the presidency. Thus, we wit-
nessed a sudden escalation in political
statements by the Lebanese Forces in
early March. At the same time, they
openly resumed tax collection, and sec-
urity and administrative functions of the
Lebanese Army in East Beirut. Under
their auspices, the so-called National
Christian Council was formed to resist
Syrian influence and work for cantoniza-
tion, activating the role of extreme-right
Maronite monks like Abbot Boulos
Naaman. Moreover, the Lebanese
Forces opened an office in Jerusalem.
The clearest indication of the new
division of labour is the appointment of
Karim Pakradouni, Phalangist Party
Politbureau member, as political adviser
to the Lebanese Forces. He is among
the party's most dynamic strategists and
has previously been a key figure in its
indirect control of the state, as when he
served as former President Sarkis’ per-
sonal councillor from 1976, meanwhile
grooming Beshir Gemayel for the presi-
dency. Now his task is to give the
Lebanese Foeces a political profile
which is distinct from, but not contradic-
tory to the Phalangist Party and the
President. In line with this, the Lebanese
Forces are working on a new political
Program. In an interview with the
Lebanese weekly,Monday Morning,
Pakradouni outlined the three main
points of this program: «One: The
defense of Christian regions by estab-
lishing ‘red lines’ around these areas.
These red lines are both military and
political; the military lines being mobili-
zation of the Christian population to:
defend these regions, and the political
ones being the contacts which the
Lebanese Forces are undertaking at the
regional and international levels... Two:
Proposing, at the national level, a plan
for a federal republic with a view to
achieving a comprehensive settlement
of the Lebanese problem... the logic of
reforms is not enough. We need a com-
plete overhaul of the Lebanese political
system... Three: Whereas the 1943
National Pact was based on an agree-
ment between the Maronites and the
Sunnites, we are becoming more and
more convinced that the New National
Pact will have to come about through an
agreement between the Maronites and
the Shiites, while not excluding the other
constituent groups in the nation.»
With such a program the Lebanes
Forces can keep their military forces and
hard-line base mobilized for the inevita-
ble coming confrontation; this is explicit
in the first point. Points two and three
present an alternative course for enact-
ing the cantonization proposed by the
Lebanese Front at Lausanne, and flatly
rejected by all nationalist forces. The
Lebanese Forces’ approach is dividing
the nationalist forces along confessional
lines in order to make separate deals.
This was the meaning of Fadi Frem’s call
to the Moslems to engage in a direct
dialogue «above the heads of the
fathers» who failed to reach results at
Lausanne. The aim is to make cantoni-
zation a reality without its being officially
adopted. Pakradouni was quite open
about this in the above-quoted interview:
«In order to fight, the Lebanese Army
cannot be mixed... The collapse of the
Lebanese Army in Shahar al Gharbi
(mountain area near Souq al Gharb) and
its refusal to fight in Beirut demonstrate
the need for another formula...based on
the idea of decentralization...» He went
on to advocate a Shiite army in Shiite
areas, a Druze army in Druze areas, and
the Lebanese Forces in Christian areas.
Through their desired alliance with the
Shiites, the Lebanese Forces propose
enacting cantonization in the South if the
Israelis should stage further pull-backs.
However, this planned alliance is con-
tradicted by the fascists’ practice, espe-
cially now in the South.
New proxy for ‘Israel’
The Israelis were deeply disturbed
by the nationalists’ advance, yet it had
one bonus: Large numbers of fascist
militiamen headed South and soon
joined the Free Lebanon Army, which
the Israelis had needed to refurnish after
the death of Saad Haddad. The first
week of March, a delegation from the
South went to ‘Israel’ to map out a
strategy for «defending» the South and
returning to the Kharroub coastal area
north of the Awaili line. As a result, the
Free Lebanon Army was expanded and
dubbed the South Lebanon Army.The
Zionists have intensified their arming
and training of this force to be the
Lebanese party involved in new «sec-
urity» arrangements, and their proxy in
case of future pullbacks. In early April,
Former Lebanese Army Major-General
Antoine Lahd, a Maronite from the Shouf
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