Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 19)
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- Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 19)
- المحتوى
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Predictably the Lebanese fascist
forces launched their counter campaign
‘after implementation of the Syrian-spon-
sored security plan in West Beirut and
the formation of the Nationa! Unity Front.
First came a series of initiatives for inter-
Maronite reconciliation, accompanied
by steady escalation of the fighting bet-
ween East and West Beirut. Then in mid-
August, the heaviest fighting in over a
year engulfed the capital and surround-
ing hills, punctuated by murderous car
bombs on both sides of Beirut’s ‘green
line’ and in Tripoli. When we attribute the
new outbreak of violence to the fascist
forces, we mean all factions of their
ranks: Lebanon’s President Amin
Gemayel and his Phalangist Party, the
Lebanese Front, the Lebanese Forces
militias, etc.
To this day, internal Lebanese
developments can only be gaged on the
backdrop of the Israeli policy for Leba-
non. Though the bulk of Israeli troops
have been withdrawn without achieving
their stated goals, the Zionist state has
not relinguished its intentions to keep
Lebanon divided and end its era as the
focus of militant Palestinian-Lebanese
national struggle. The fascist forces’
moves are geared to make the best of
this situation, given the fact that they
failed to dominate Lebanon even with
massive Israeli help. Instead, the role of
the Lebanese nationalist forces, backed
by Syria, was asserted.
Those who have relied on their
Maroniteness to guarantee _ their
privileges obviously feel threatened by
the regrouping of the nationalist forces
to end political confessionalism. The
clearest evidence of this was the July
31st meeting in Ehden, where former
Lebanese President Suleiman Franjieh
reconciled his differences with the
Lebanese Forces, now headed by Elias
Hobeika. This ended the feud which
began in 1978, when a unit of the
Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea
raided Ehden and slaughtered Fran-
jieh’s son and a number of his followers.
Franjieh blamed Bashir Gemayel, then
commander of the Lebanese Forces,
and withdrew from the Lebanese Front.
Since Hobeika’s replacing Geagea as
Lebanese Forces commander was a
purely cosmetic change, the reconcilia-
tion has other causes. Both Franjieh and
the Lebanese Forces see the need to
close the «Christian», especially Maro-
nite, ranks in the present situation. Both
have reservations about Amin
Gemayel's ability to lead the «Christ-
lans» through this crisis; they thus
moved to strengthen their own hand, by
presenting a new pivot for «Christian»
unity.
Fascists incite violence
As for those who instigated the
August violence, we must start with
Amin Gemayel who needs a situation
whereby he can pose as the common
denominator between the opposing
sides. To this end, he made tactical
overtures to the nationalist side as in his
response to the National Unity Front. At
a press conference in Damascus on
August 8th, Gemayel said that he sup-
ported the NUF’s demands for more
power, and took the opportunity to
blame the Lebanese civil war on the
Palestinians. Threatened by the Ehden
reconciliation, Gemayel also needs to
strengthen his hand within the Christian
community, especially as the calls for his
resignation are now coming from Fran-
jieh and the Lebanese Forces, as well as
from nationalist leaders. Gemayel
needs to show that the danger comes
from outside East Beirut. Thus, he
moved the Lebanese Army in East
Beirut to incite East-West fighting. By
having the part of the army that is loyal to
him actively involved in the fighting,
Gemayel hoped to strengthen his own
hand and give that part of the army a gre-
ater political role. Not surprisingly, after
the Syrian-arranged ceasefire of August
22nd, Gemayel announced his intent to
act as arbitrator of national dialogue..
Despite tactical differences, the
Lebanese Forces share Amin
Gemayel’s need to unite the «Christian»
side to face the «outside» enemy. There
are many indications that at least some
of the recent explosions in the fascist
controlled areas were the result of
infighting. The palace of former Com-
munications Minister Michel Murr was
destroyed by a bomb a few days after he
mediated the Ehden reconciliation. A
week later a car bomb exploded in Saad
al Boushrieh, northeast of Beirut, an
area controlled by Hobeika’s Lebanese
Forces. It cannot be ruled out that the
Phalangists had a hand in these explo-
sions, hitting at the new reconciliation in
the Maronite ranks in hopes of preserv-
ing their own dominance. Informed
sources say that Camille Chamoun, vet-
eran politician of the Lebanese Front,
was active in initiating the East-West
fighting in order to avert inter-Christian
fighting. The danger was clearly there,
as also seen in the mid-August fighting
in Zahle in Eastern Lebanon, between
Phalangists and the Lebanese Forces.
Keeping Lebanon «in line»
Keeping the kettle of seemingly
sectarian fighting boiling not only serves
to buy time for saving Christian
privileges. It diverts from other issues,
chiefly that ‘Israel’ still occupies a por-
tion of Lebanon, and the Jezzine crisis,
where Lahd’s SLA remains entrenched,
harassing the neighboring southern vil-
lages. This is obviously in line with
Zionist intents which have been further
underlined by almost weekly bombing
raids on eastern Lebanon; the Israeli
message is clear: Keep us in mind when
you are trying to arrive at a solution for
the Lebanese crisis.
In late August, three former
Lebanese presidents, Franjieh, Charles
Helou and Camille Chamoun, met.
Afterwards Chamoun told reporters that
they had agreed on refusal to abolish
political confessionalism (i.e. Maronite
dominance), especially concerning the
presidency, the cabinet, the parliament
and top army posts. The most the Maro-
nite elite is ready to concede is having
50-50 Christian-Moslem representation
in the parliament. This is relatively
meaningless since power has always
rested with the top posts which are
reserved for Christians and usually
Maronites. It is also meaningless in prin-
ciple, for the solution to the Lebanese
crisis lies not in quibbling about indi-
vidual points, but in the creation of a
democratic constitution that would
revamp the whole political structure.
The proposals put forth by the
Maronite elite collide directly with the
National Unity Front’s position. This
further underlines the deadlock for
attempts at national reconciliation, as
does the renewed outbreaks of fighting
in the Beirut and mountain areas. The
Lebanese crisis has reached a stage too
complicated to be solved by various
«plans» or partial proposals. This is
even more so due to the recurring
clashes and disorder in nationalist-con-
trolled West Beirut. e
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