			Foreign Correspondent

		      Inside Track On World News
	    By International Syndicated Columnist & Broadcaster
		 Eric Margolis <emargolis@lglobal.com>

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FIRE AND SWORD IN THE LEBANON
by
Eric Margolis  April 22 1996

In 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon, there was no
Hizbullah. The guerillas who today bedevil Israel, and have
provoked Israel's latest, massive assault against Lebanon,
didn't exist.   

Soon after the 1982 invasion, I was with the Israeli Army 
in southern Lebanon, a rough, hilly region  known as
`Fatahland,' after the Palestinian groups who had dominated
the border area, and used it to attack northern Israel.  My
convoy passed through the deserted cities of Sidon and Tyre,
shattered by Israeli artillery; abandoned Palestinian
refugee camps shredded by Israeli cluster bombs; through
eerie, empty towns, like beautiful Jezzine, where PLO
snipers lurked.  And, finally, t the Litani River. Here, 
after withdrawing from Beirut, the Israelis decided to dig
in and stay. 

Southern Lebanon was then a terrifying place, and so it
remains today.  Every turn of the road can bring sniper
fire, mines or bombs.  The great, ruined Crusader fortress,
Beaufort Castle, overwatches the entire area.  After driving
the PLO out of southern Lebanon, Israeli set up  a self-
styled `security zone' there, garrisoned  by 1,000 Israeli
soldiers and a few thousand thuggish Lebanese mercenaries. 
This zone, ostensibly designed to protect northern Israel
from attack, has ironically become Israel's last active
military front- and a  zone of permanent insecurity.

Before Israel's 1982 invasion, the Shia Muslim villagers of
southern Lebanon were apolitical.  Dirt-poor, without 
political power, they had always been excluded and
marginalized by the French-backed Christian elite that ruled
Lebanon and exploited its commercial wealth.  As the PLO
became more aggressive in southern Lebanon,. Shia resentment
grew apace.  Israeli agents slipped across the border to
help arm and organize anti-PLO Shia groups, most notably
Amal, and a smaller group, Hizbullah, the Party of God. 

The end of Israel's budding alliance with the Shias in
Lebanon came while I was there.  An Israeli Army convoy
drove through downtown Nabatiyah, a major farming and
religious center.  It was Ashura, the most emotional time of
year, when Shias erupt in frenzied grief for their 
historical leader, the martyred Ali.  The streets were
packed with mourners.  The Israeli soldiers refused to go
around the town. Instead, they bulldozed their way through
the throngs, firing to disperse the Shia. The Shia fired
back.  Thus  began the 14-year struggle between Israel and
Hizbullah.

Iran, the center of the Shia faith, sent arms, money and
advisors, both spiritual and military, to organize the Shia.
Nevertheless, Hizbullah was then, and remains today, an
indigenous national Lebanese movement.  Hizbullah is
Lebanon's leading political party.  In south Beirut, and
across southern Lebanon, Hizbullah is the de facto
government, efficiently running hospitals, charities,
clinics, schools, and public order.  The feeble, Syrian-
backed government in Beirut rules only the capitol.  

Ever since the Nabatiyah incident, Hizbullah guerillas have
battled to oust Israel occupation forces from southern
Lebanon.  To everyone's surprise, Hizbullah guerillas proved
Israel's most effective, courageous, and deadly enemies.
While the Arab World gave up its struggle with Israel,
Hizbullah, backed by Syria and Iran, fought on.

Israel and its close ally, the Clinton Administration, brand
Hizbullah `terrorists.'  But many nations see Hizbullah as a
legitimate - if rather scary - organization opposing
continued Israeli occupation of Lebanon. The UN has
repeatedly demanded that Israel withdraw from Lebanon.  
Every  Israeli effort to destroy Hizbullah has only
strengthened the party and caused Israel heavy casualties.

Last week, Israeli guns and aircraft savaged southern
Lebanon after Hizbullah fired rockets into northern Israel.
Both sides claimed they were retaliating for attacks on
civilians.  Israel casualties  were light; the Hizbullah
attacks were more of an irritant than national threat. But
they directly challenged Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who
must convince Israeli voters that he is not a dove, as
critics charge, but tough enough to crush any security
threat. Israel's Operation Grapes of Wrath showed Peres can
be as hawkish as the opposition Likud. Peres did not
initiate this crisis, but he will certainly benefit from it. 
 

By ravaging southern Lebanon, killing some 150 civilians, and
driving 400,000 refugees northward to Beirut, Israel was clearly
also attempting to pressure the Lebanese government and its
patron, Syria, to curb or even crush Hizbullah.  Israel has
learned the folly of sending ground troops deep into Lebanon. 

Normally, the US would pressure both  sides into quickly
ending the fighting. Instead, the Clinton Administration gave
Israel carte blanche in Lebanon, leading an Israeli newspaper to
call Clinton, `the last Zionist.'  His motivation was more likely
domestic US politics than Zionism.  Critics charge the Clinton
Administration, gripped by election fever, has virtually
delegated direction of US Mideast policy to Jerusalem. 

Even so, Israel's latest foray into Lebanon will probably
backfire.  Lebanese of all factions have united behind
Hizbullah.  Syria will not be easily pressured out of
Lebanon, nor will it let Israel off the hook there until the
Golan Heights are returned.  The heavy Lebanese civilian
casualties caused by Israeli shelling are obviously counter-
productive to a regional peace.

Occupation of southern Lebanon has brought Israel and the
Lebanese nothing but grief.  One day, Israel must withdraw.
But as previous Israeli governments have discovered to their
dismay, getting out of the Lebanese quagmire is far harder
than getting in.  Until then, angrier-than-ever Hizbullah
guerrillas will likely continue battling Israel in a dirty
war that neither side wants. 

copyright   Eric Margolis   1996

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