Democratic Palestine : 4 (ص 29)
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- Democratic Palestine : 4 (ص 29)
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in Lebanon, the US cast a vote of no-
confidence in Karami by deciding to
move the bulk of its embassy work and
staff to fascist-controlled East Beirut.
Having failed in this round to incorporate
Lebanon into its regional strategy, US
imperialism may be seeking new means
for the next phase. One should note
National Security Adviser McFarlane’s
mid-May statement about the advan-
tages of covert actions as a means be-
tween war and doing nothing. McFar-
lane was addressing the issue of Central
America, attempting to justify the CIA’s
mining of Nicaragua’s harbor.However,
his remarks could be applicable to Leba-
non where a combination of US military
intervention and diplomatic pressure
failed to fulfill US aims. Perhaps the
CIA’s links with the Phalangists will be
upgraded; there could be new covert
action to infiltrate the ranks of the patrio-
tic forces in order to spread false divi-
sions and confusions. In any case, a
base remains in Lebanon for US opera-
tions connected to the 200 Marines who
train the Lebanese Army and protect the
embassy. It is known that a group of
these are stationed in the Phalangist
controlled mountains east of Beirut, near
Beit Meri. When US warships were
pounding the Shouf mountains, they
served as spotters. Recently when the
US Marine Corps headquarters unit in
Lebanon was disbanded, US officials
refused to comment on_ continuing
reports that these Marines have been
seen with the Lebanese Forces in the
mountains. We can surmise that they
are present still.
Fascist sabotage
The godfathers of the fascist forces,
Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun,
found it prudent to join the cabinet of
national unity in order to preserve their
remaining privileges. Their tactic is to
block reform, especially on vital issues
like the army. The nationalist ministers
are pushing for collective leadership as
an alternative to the one man Maronite
command, which has kept Lebanon's
military power under fascist control. The
fascist forces will at all costs block the
army's becoming united and functional if
its command structure rules out their
control. They see no use for the army
unless it can be deployed to repress the
nationalist forces and masses.
The fascist godfathers have
assigned their proteges, the Lebanese
Forces, the task of sabotaging the
experiment represented by Karami’s
cabinet. For one, the Lebanese Forces
opened an office in occupied Jerusalem
to insure high-level relations with the
Israelis in the absence of the May 17th
accord. This so-called Lebanese Christ-
ian Agency and its staff, headed by
Pierre Yazbeck, enjoy most of the
privileges accorded to embassies. Actu-
ally, it is an embassy for the East Beirut-
Kaserwan fiefdom with which the fas-
cists, having again failed to control all
Lebanon, must content themselves.
Moreover, by keeping the frontlines
hot, the Lebanese Forces preclude a
lasting ceasefire that would allow the
cabinet to embark on its basic tasks,
such as restructuring the army. This was
especially apparent in the violent esca-
lation of fighting in the second week of
June as the parliament was meeting to
give its vote of confidence to the Karami
cabinet. On June 11th alone, 84 people
were killed and 200 wounded in the
heaviest fighting in four months. Signifi-
cantly, most of the casualties were in
West Beirut. Karami’s government did
receive the vote of confidence, but while
it represents a new phase ushered in as
a political truce, it does not mark the final
chapter in the Lebanese civilwar. @
The Occupied South
Starting in April, Shamir and other Zionist officials were
heard bragging about the improvement of their ‘security’ in
South Lebanon. Supposedly, there were fewer Israeli casualties
and better relations with the southerners. Some western corres-
pondents studiously echoed these claims. However, a survey of
events in South Lebanon gives quite a different picture of the
level of armed resistance and the mood of the masses. This talk
of a costfree occupation is a deliberate lie aimed at upping
Likud’s declining popularity before the Israeli elections.
One can ask: If relations with the
population are better, why did the occu-
pation troops find it necessary to
besiege six Lebanese villages in the
week of April 26-May 2nd alone? Why
on April 28th, did they ransack the home
of a respected Saida physician, Nazih
Bizri, a former minister and presently the
only member of the Lebanese parlia-
ment living in the South? Why did they
launch a frontal attack on Ain al Hilweh
camp in mid-May?
Claims of lower casualties were
based on the fact that from March 19th
until May 11th, the Zionists admitted no
deaths among their troops. They simply
denied that the April 13th explosion at
Deir Kanoun even took place, although
the blast was heard in Saida and there
were reports that six to fifteen Israeli sol-
diers were killed. Then on May 11th, an
Israeli officer was killed and another
wounded in a grenade attack in
Nabatiyeh. Enraged at being forced to
break their wall of silence, the Zionists
blew up the house from which the gre-
nade was thrown as if they could isolate
the Lebanese National Resistance Front
to a single dwelling and then destroy it!
We see a direct connection bet-
ween the Israelis’ no-death toll and their
blockading of villages. Actually the
whole South has been blockaded.
Throughout April, telephone and telex
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