Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
• What was life like in Lebanon before Israel got involved and expelled the PLO?
• Why do you blame Arafat for the Lebanon War? Wasn't Israel the aggressor, and
Arafat the hero who defeated Israel?
• While the world was shouting about Israel's temporary occupation of a sliver of
land in southern Lebanon, why didn't we hear about the remaining 90% of
Lebanon being ravaged by Syria?
• Is Lebanon really the pit of anarchy and extremism that we have heard about?
What was life like in Lebanon before Israel got involved and expelled
the PLO?
• In 1970 Arafat and his PLO were kicked out of Jordan when he began to move
against King Hussein. That bloody day was known as Black September. Arafat
fled to the unsuspecting and friendly arms of the Lebanese people. Lebanon was
formerly governed jointly by Muslims and Christians according to the agreement
after WWII. In the twelve years Arafat was there (1970 until the Israelis threw
him out in 1982) he turned Lebanon into one of the most bloody killing grounds
in the world. At least 100,000 Lebanese civilians were killed. Every corner of
Beirut was a checkpoint for the terrorists to collect money, take your car, or
simply blow you away. Muslim and Christian militia killed each other with joy.
When Israel captured Beirut, they found that captured Christian soldiers were
brought to Muslim hospitals where they were literally drained of their blood for
transfusions to wounded Muslim PLO terrorists. One village chief made the
mistake of defying Arafat. His 16 year old daughter was kidnapped and delivered
to her father's doorstep in a sack, with her breasts cut off. The PLO adopted the
Roman practice of tearing a man apart by using horses pulling his limbs in four
directions. Arafat's men were more modern, using fours cars to dismember a man.
- Emanuel A. Winston
Middle East analyst & commentator
• "In the corners of the streets of Beirut, small children exhibit bottle which
contained human ears dunked in acid, like pickles or artichokes in vinegar. Bodies
are laying in the streets immersed in their coagulated blood, some lacking their
procreative organs, which were cut off and put in acid for exhibition by children
...
"Nuns were raped in front of their parents and brothers and afterwards had their
elbows slit....
"The number of those killed and wounded, and worse than anything the
kidnapped whose fate was usually horrible and awesome, reached about 40,000,
with both sides competing between themselves for the most ferocious actions.
Complete villages were pillaged, set on fire, and all the population eliminated.
The [PLO] Palestinian terrorists were the most extreme and cruelly vicious of all".
- Patrick Sills, British journalist
London Observer, 15 January 1976
• The death and destruction caused in large part by the PLO and Syrian occupation
of Lebanon during the era of the Lebanese civil war resulted in an estimated
100,000 killed, 250,000 wounded, 800,000 Christians and 500,000 Moslems
homeless, and 32,000 orphaned children from 1970 to 1981.
source: American Lebanese League, 1982
• "After August 1982, Arafat's PLO had its existence only on his own lips, in the
columns of Western newspapers, in the briefings of European foreign ministers,
and in long speeches at the United Nations".
- Jullian Becker, in The PLO
Why do you blame Arafat for the Lebanon War? Wasn't Israel the
aggressor, and Arafat the hero who defeated Israel?
• "Watching scenes of the Beirut evacuation this weekend, I was struck by how it is
possible for the cameras to magnify a lie. These Palestinian troops left town as if
they'd just won a great victory. Arafat, they praised as a conquering hero. In fact,
they are leaving town in defeat. And in fact, Arafat led them to this cul-de-sac
where they made their last stand behind the skirts of women and among the
playgrounds of children. The only victory they won was to give General Sharon
an excuse for total war and so to bring upon Israel the condemnation of world
opinion and to many Jews, a tormented conscience. But the world was
condemning Israel even before Beirut, and will for time to come. And the anguish
of Jews at the suffering caused by their own war machine comes from the bitter
experience of having learned that those who die by the sword must live by the
sword. Carnage, indeed, and no one's hand too clean. But it could have been
otherwise if Arafat and his allies accepted the reality of Israel, if they had not
established within Lebanon a terrorist state sworn to Israel's destruction, and if
Arab governments had not found it useful to nurture the PLO in the bloody
illusion that Israel can one day be pushed into the sea. Argue as you might about
the events leading up to the establishment of Israel. Weep as you must for the
Palestinian refugees. But a fact is a fact, and Israel is a fact. Yet, the guerrillas
leaving Beirut this week are vowing to fight on until victory. Well, there will be
no peace in the Middle East until the Arabs stop asking their young men to die for
a lie."
- Bill Moyers, CBS Evening News [from Roger David Carasso]
• It seems almost incredible that the United States should have tacitly accepted
Syria's final aggression....Instead an anonymous official was reported to have
piously 'hoped' that the Lebanese would finally be in a position to get on with
building a united stable government. That is like saying the Nazi conquest of
France paved the way for strong executive leadership in that country."
- Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Washington Post, 29 October 1990
• Lebanon continues to labor under the burden of Syrian occupation of its national
territory resulting in control of its political and economic life and continued
conflict in southern Lebanon.
- George Zoghby, National Alliance of Lebanese Americans, before the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, March 31, 1998
• At present, an artificial solution has been imposed on the Lebanese. This solution
consists in letting Syria go on occupying Lebanon. But the Lebanese-Syrian war
is far from over. We would remind Westerners that 50 years of communist dictats
in Eastern European countries never choked these peoples' legitimate national
aspirations.
From 1975 to 1984, the 750,000 inhabitants of East-Beirut and its vicinity (some
200 square kms) have contended with 67 kilos of explosives per person, namely
50 million kilos for the entire targeted region. A comparison with the Second
World War: each German contended, between 1939 and 1945, with 5 kilos of
explosives. In any case, while Germany paid for Hitler's paranoia, Lebanon, on its
part, has never committed aggression against any one. Damascus feeds its
imperial ambitions and has always dreamt of becoming a "Great Syria" in which
Lebanon would be no more than one of the docile provinces. And yet, this means
nothing: The annexationist dream is turning into reality under the silent
complicity of nations considered civilized. Later, these same nations will say:
"We didn't see anything, we didn't hear anything, thank you little Jesus".
Is it because the Lebanese do not have oil resources and because in Lebanon there
are Christians who wear a cross around their neck that they must be sacrificed on
the great altar of Realpolitik?
The Western hostages were exploited by the Syrians as a means of blackmail.
International terrorism is still exported from Lebanon under their aegis: Abou
Nidal, Ahmed Jibril, Amal and Hezbollah; the drug traffic, the growing of
poppies and other illicit traffics are all under the Syrians' patronage. The poppies
are cultivated in the Bekaa valley, heroine is refined in the laboratories they
control and is exported through the seaports they rule and the Beirut airport they
control.
There were western hostages in Lebanon solely because the Syrians wanted it.
Many hostages were kidnapped 50 or 100 meters from the Syrian barracks, "fled"
their kidnappers and came upon the Syrians after a 5 minute walk, or were
liberated by the Syrians following some James Bond scene.
Assad owes his conquest of Lebanon to his patience, to the State terrorism he has
every leisure to practice, and to international hypocrisy. President Hafez el Assad
and his brother Rifaat have, in order to stay in power, constructed a system whose
motor functions on violence. Deprived of this fuel, the system stops.
The Syrian leaders and the entire regime live in a state of permanent siege. The
dictator had a palace-fortress built for him on the summit of Damascus, when he
will be able to shell the city, even it its entirety rebels against him.
Syria has no tribunals, only prisons and tombs.
We cannot forget as well the Palestinian terrorism in Lebanon, and we refuse to
accept this curious logic which states that the Palestinians must be excused for
destroying Lebanon under the pretext that their "own country" was "taken" by the
Israelis.
The plot of the nations who believe that by sacrificing the integrity of Lebanon
they will be able to solve the problems of the region according to their own
interests, this plot seems to have reached even those capitals regarded as
incarnating the defense of the free world's values.
It cannot be accepted that the peace in the Middle East will be done with Assad
and, who knows, maybe Hitler's heir will receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Hasn't a
war criminal like Arafat received this same prize?
Peace must be achieved, but without Assad and without all those war criminals
who surround him and who are preparing themselves as his successors. They must
be arrested and judged for their crimes against humanity.
Three hundred thousand Lebanese dead because of Syria, twenty five thousand
Lebanese handicapped because of Syria, half a million Lebanese in exile because
of Syria. Was it necessary for Assad to use gas chambers so that his crimes
against Lebanon might be called "war crimes"?
To those who tell us that the Syrians are in Lebanon in order to maintain peace
between the Lebanese, we will answer that the Nazis were in France in order to
maintain peace among the French.
To those who tell us that fighting the Syrians is extremism, we will answer that
the French Resistance against the Nazis was no more than a farce.
To those who tell us that agreeing to work with the Syrians is moderation and
sound common sense, we will answer that Maréchal Pétain of 1943 and all the
collaborators were national heroes and not traitors.
To those who tell us that peace in Lebanon will be achieved by forgetting the past,
we will answer that judging the Nazis and their French collaborators was a
historical error.
To those who tell us that the Palestinians must be allowed to stay in Lebanon until
a solution is found for them, we will answer "Since you love them so, why don't
you take them to your home?"
The Lebanese Resistance believes firmly that only justice and the law will win. It
believes in stability and in peace for the region of the Middle East. But it must be
clear that this peace must be achieved without Hafez el Assad and without all the
war criminals who surround him.
- - from SYRIA, THE PALESTINIANS AND THEIR LEBANESE ALLIES:
TERRORISM AND WAR CRIMES
by Dr. Jihad Renéé Albani, the top official of the Lebanese Party: the Guardians
of the Cedars, albani@cmep.com
Since 1975, about 150,000 Christians were killed during the war. Thousands of
Lebanese Muslims died as well. Entire Christian villages were erased and their
populations were ethnically cleansed.
Here are some of the flagrant abuse of human rights against Christians around the
country:
Constant and arbitrary arrests of young, men and women. Armed elements break
into their homes by night and kidnap them to "security" centers. The last
campaign was during December 1996, when 450 young Christians were thrown in
jail and beaten for days. They spent Christmas alone in helplessness.
In the so-called "security zone" of south Lebanon Christians live under the fear of
Hizbollah's terror. In 1996, Hizbollah issued a public religious fatwah (religious
edict) calling for the murder of "all those who have been in contact with Jews."
As we all know, there are thousands of Christians who work in the Galilee, inside
Israel. All of these civilians will be put to death by the Iranian-backed
organization if Israel withdraws. As of today, neither the Lebanese or the Syrian
governments have issued a rebuttal to this Fatwah. We therefore, assume that
Beirut and Damascus are endorsing the massacre of the Christians in south
Lebanon by Hizbollah. Meanwhile, South Lebanon's villages are the target of
snipers, bombs, kidnapping, and economic blockades.
V - Suggestions:
For the short term, I present the following suggestions aimed at saving the
Christians of South Lebanon, as long as Hizbollah and the Syrian occupation
forces are present and influential in that
1) That the US government formally asks the Israeli government not to withdraw
from the security zone before a solution is found for the protection of the
Christian community in south Lebanon.
2) That the US government help the Christians of south Lebanon to form a local
authority which will enable them to face the administrative, economic, social, and
security challenges.
4) That the US Senate, and the US Congress extend invitations to the Maronite
Patriarch of Lebanon, and other Christian leaders in south Lebanon and in exile to
testify about the fate of their community.
Such a message can bring about the truth of persecution to the American people
and allow Christians worldwide to extend their support to their brethren m faith in
our tormented country.
Sharbel Barakat
Is Lebanon really the pit of anarchy and extremism that we have heard
about?
• "In the last decade, Islamist (fundamentalist) groups in Lebanon have become a
significant force not only in that country 's politics but throughout the Middle
East. Nowhere in the region do such groups have the freedoms they enjoy in
Lebanon, giving them a wide cultural influence. In addition, Hizbullah is capable
of stopping the Arab-Israeli peace process from advancing by launching Katyusha
rockets against Israel and giving Iran an opening to act directly against Israel".