THE LEBANON-PALESTINE CONNECTION
By Nizar Sakhnini Creation of an "Exclusive Jewish State" in Palestine was a combined Imperial-Zionist project based on mutual benefits for the imperialist "Great powers" on the one hand, and the Zionist movement, on the other. This relationship was made official through the Balfour Declaration that was a sort of an agreement between the imperialist camp that was led by "Great Britain" at the time and the Zionist movement. (For more detailed analysis of the negotiations that led to the Balfour Declaration see: Frank. E. Manuel, "Judge Brandeis and the Framing of the Balfour Declaration", reproduced in Walid Khalidi, "From Haven to Conquest", pp. 165-172)
Zionism had been identified with the colonial and imperialist powers since its initiation. Herzl was unequivocal in highlighting the role, which the Zionists were ready to undertake for imperialism. In Der Judenstaat he stated that the Zionists would form a colonial outpost in Palestine if the Great powers granted it to them and guaranteed their existence. "We would there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should as a neutral State remain in contact with all Europe, which would have to guarantee our existence". (Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question. London: H. Pordes, p. 30)
The Zionist map for the contemplated "Exclusive Jewish State" was officially submitted by the Zionist Organization to the Paris Peace Conference in 1922. This map included, in addition to the whole area of Mandate Palestine, South Lebanon up to the Litani River, the Golan Heights, and an area to the East of the Jordan River to a line that goes from the North to the South parallel to the Hijaz railroad. (The map is reproduced in Simha Flappan, The Birth of Israel: Myths and Realities, Pantheon Books, New York, 1987, p. 17)
The Declaration of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948 did not identify the borders of the state. The Zionist leadership was hoping for territorial expansion in the future whenever an opportunity may be seized. Such an opportunity came during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956. Israeli intentions and designs for Lebanon and the whole area were clearly specified in their meeting with the French at the Sévres Conference in 1956. In that conference, Ben-Gurion proposed a plan for settling all the issues in the Middle East. His proposals for Lebanon included annexing southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
The adamant stand of Eisenhower prevented Ben-Gurion plans from being realized. This did not stop the Zionist leadership from keeping its plans alive waiting for a new opportunity.
Another opportunity came in 1967, which facilitated the capture of the Golan Heights. For Lebanon, an opportunity was seized in 1978 when the "Litani Operation" was launched. The US supported the UN in calling for its immediate withdrawal, which never happened, and the deployment of an interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), along its southern border. UNIFIL was unable to deploy as required because of the establishment of an Israeli surrogate, the South Lebanese Army (SLA), in part of this area.
On 3 June 1982, Shlomo Argov, the Israeli Ambassador to Britain, was shot down in front of the Grosvenor Hotel in London. The assailants were members of the extremist anti-PLO Abu Nidal faction. Abu Nidal's group was among the bitterest opponents of Arafat and was responsible for the murder of many PLO moderates. But the attempted assassination served as a convenient excuse for the Israeli government to launch their long-planned assault on Lebanon. On 4 June they launched a raid on Beirut in which 500 people were killed. Soon afterwards the IDF began a full-scale invasion of Lebanon. (Michael Palumbo, Imperial Israel: The History of the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd., 1990, pp. 168 - 169)
The Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Menachem Begin, thought the time was ripe for achieving the Zionist plans with respect to Lebanon. He met with Bashir Gemayel who was about to be sworn as the new Lebanese President. Gemayel was assassinated on 14 September following his refusal to sign a dictated "Peace Treaty" with Israel in his heated meeting with Begin in Nahariya earlier in the month.
In the following day, Israeli forces entered Beirut, sending the Christian militiamen into the Palestinian camp of Sabra/Shatila committing a major massacre over a three-day period, under IDF sponsorship, before international reports and protests persuaded Israeli forces to intervene to prevent further killings.
Israel slowly withdrew from Lebanon in 1985, leaving a residual force in the border area to support the SLA.
1982 invasion of Lebanon represented a complete failure for a policy based on the use of force to produce political gains.
First, Israel failed to dictate a peace agreement that puts Lebanon under Israeli hegemony. Instead, the invasion produced a shock that awakened the Lebanese people. It led to a gradual end of the civil war in Lebanon and to a realization that their interests were on the Arab side of which Lebanon is an integral part.
Second, it is true that Israel was able to drive the PLO out of Lebanon. Nevertheless, this did not in any way mean that the fate of the Palestinian people was doomed. Within five years, the Palestinians under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank started an Intifada that symbolized the Palestinian attachment to their homeland and their human rights. It was a cry for freedom and an outright rejection of occupation and oppression. Israeli iron fist, on the one hand, and a weak or a corrupt Palestinian political leadership, on the other, could not bury the Palestinian dream and aspirations for self determination and the fulfillment of their legitimate rights. The overwhelming support and sympathy of the Palestinians every where for the Intifada made it clear that the status quo could not continue the way it did for decades.
Failing to dictate his own version of peace on the Syrians and the Palestinians, Barak is resorting to the use of force to achieve his goals. He ignored the lesson that pushed Begin into seclusion in 1982. By targeting the infrastructure and civilians in Lebanon, Barak is provoking Arab anger and hatred instead of making gestures for reconciliation.
Barak’s intransigence, David Levy’s declaration that he would burn Lebanon, and Shimon Peres statement in Davos depicting Israel as a clean island within a polluted environment are in no way indicators that the Israeli government is after peace.
Peace requires friendly relationships based on mutual respect for the "other’s" rights, dignity and human reality. Peace requires equal rights and justice for all without any discrimination.
The nuclear arsenal and imperial support led by the U.S. and "Great Britain" may lead to wars but would never produce peace and security.
