Mark’s Point of view

I met a Lebanese guy that fought on th 1979 civil war in the south of the country.

Back then, before the actual coalition of parties in the country, refered to by political analysts as Confessionalism or Consociationalism, Maronites clashed against Muslims, forming two opposing wings on what today seems like an old fashioned feud between Life of Bryan’s People s Judea Front and the Judea’s People Front.

Kamal Jumblat Lebanese National Movement, islamic, leftist, associated with PLO supporters tried to seek a power sharing opportunitya against pro regime phalangists, maronites, Jumayill Shamun of the Lebanese Front.

As soon as the army began to take sides, Syria entered and internationalized the conflict. The Lebanese Front opposed the negotiations and ceased Tal Zatar, a palestinian camp in the south, which prompted the reaction from PLO alongside the Lebanese national Movement. A short truce led to army dissidents to join the National Movement led by Lieutenant Ahmad Khatib that eventually led to the President of Lebanon Franjiyah  to flee and be replaced by Sarkis, supported by Syrian militias. Jumblat had the Syrian President support and insisted on a military solution. Afez-Al Hassad feared the decline of the Lebanese Front and, to prevent a perpetuation of the conflict,  Syrian entered the conflict against their ally, the National Movement, wich turned out to be a catastrophic decision: Syria prevailed but suffered massive losses and earned the anger of the muslim arab world. Eventually peace was imposed by the Ryad Conference and by an international arab peace inforcement called the ADF ( Arabic Deterrence Forces) led by the Arab League, that created the famous “Green Line” in Beirut, separating christians from muslims.

ADF (gradually became a 100% Syrian army with the remaining contigents from Sudan and S.A. retrieving) didnt reach the south of Lebanon, that was left to the palestinian refugees (Fatahland). ADF extended presence in Lebanon seriously drained Syrian economy and was incapable of disarming both PLO, Christians and Muslims. The UN indirectly implicated Syrian in the Lebanese Civil War. Syrian Lebanese relations deteriorated. in 1979, 1980 ADF was taking arms against the christian Phalangists of Jumayill, wich “forced” Israel to intervene, by invading Lebanon air space and shoot down Syrian aircrafts. Syria retaliated by firing missiles into Lebanon. A regional crisis was avverted by the US mediation in 1981.

Since 1977 that Israel had taken sides with former army and christian militia elements of the Lebanese Front in Southern Lebanon as an effort to prevent the palestinians from creating pressure on Israel northern borders.

In 1977 conflicts had re ignited between the christian militias of Saad Hadad and the Palestinians (limited to the South avoiding Syria efforts to cease their military equipment and control their movements in the rest of Lebanon). This area was also inhabited by Shia muslims. Israel was aprehensive of the ADF Syrian force patroling the south Lebanon border in between the palestinians (as was agreed by the Shtawrah 1977 acords).

In 1978 Israel retaliated against an attack of palestinians against a bus in Tel Aviv and occupied South Lebanon (Israeli Defense Forces) until the UN demanded its withrawal, replaced by Christian Haddad South Lebanese Army (former Free Lebanese Army). Sarkis was the President, moderate sunnis were unable to form national unit governments.  Shia was growing until 1980, when Shia army the Amal clashed in the South with Fatah from PLO. The Phalangists of Jumayyil in 1981 had the upper hand after crushing a small outfit called Shamun’s National Liberals, but lost Israels support pressured by the Lebanese Front and Syria as a condition for a regional solution. However this upper hand still put Jumayyil as frontrunner for the 1982 elections, renaming its militia as “Lebanese Forces”, proposing the dissolution of the ADF and PLO, with the opposition of Arafat and Affez Al Assad.

Late 1981 started the “terrorist attacks” on all major Lebanon cities against foreign diplomats and both christian and muslim religeous leaders. It was the disenchantment of the Shia, growing in popularity, against the Lebanese National Movement, Syria (ADF) and PLO ever taking control of the situation. The Vice Chairman of the Shia Council submited that the Lebanese army intervened to quell the tension between Shias (Hamal) and PLO in the South. Israle invaded in 1982 over the attempt of assassination of its Embassador to London.

 Against this background of political and military unveil, my friend Mark, a middle class from the northeast of Beirut, finds himself still today defending Shia, PLO and firmly attacking any foreign military presence, such as the Syrian.

At 17 he was involved in the civil war in the south, against Israel. He resents the jewish armies, as much as the military leaders in Syria and others. Lebanon is one of the few countries in the Middle East that escaped the general wave of military autocracies. In part because of the civil war, in part because of the 1948 Israel independence war and subsequent expatriation of palestinian to Lebanon.

Lebanon is credited today of forming national unit coalitions between religeous authorities, conservative and liberal, christian and muslim, including both “radical” leftist revolutionaries and pro-Syrian factions. Notwithstanding their enourmous volatility, they switch allainces, between the 8th of March and 14 of March, easily. As if the coalition had become a national imperative, way more important than party allegiances.

Lebanese may have escaped the syndrome of US-military supported regimes for several decades, at the cost of their own precarious existence. The fact is that, between Syria and Iran, Israel and the Arab League, Lebanon is one step ahead in the islamic revolution than its neighbours, who are still in the middle of an identity democratic crisis.