The aftermath of the Israeli invasion and the split in the PLO have caused a debate among the solidarity movement in Europe. following article is a greatly abbreviated version of talk given by a militant of the Revolutionary Communist Group of Lebanon. The editing is by Socialist Action.
THE ISRAELI offensive in 1982 crushing the PLO militarily. But it's becoming very clear that the Israelis' boast that this had been partial destruction of the PLO was achieved. The best proof of resistance is playing a leading role in the fighting against the Israeli That's why the Israelis are now carrying out air raids against the Abu Musa-led PLO 'dissidents' Lebanese mountain area.
achieve was to remove from the PLO Lebanon and West Beirut various Arab countries is symbolic of SELLOIS As far as the Lebanese left is concerned we have to differentiate between the anti-imperialist currents like the Nasserists and Communists, the bourgeois currents like the Druze The latter are not anti-imperialist at all. The former were disarmed by the sraels. But the bourgeois cur • for example Jumblatt's PSP Sections of the PLO in the parts of Lebanon not occupied by the Israelis, and those tighters who returned from exile to the Bek'aa valley, are still in a under much tighter control by the have ought against Iliary force. But their main role has been in the resistance to the Israeli occupanon In lne soull.
The problem of the Lebanese left is not just a military one but a political to the Syrians and the PLO, which in the last lew vears aevelopea as an elitist military force, not relying on LAST WEEK'S MILITARY coup in Nigeria overthrew the civilian government of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The coup has been given a warm response by Western capitalist powers. hoping that the Mohammed Buhari, will be able to provide order and stability to sort out the economic chaos which product of the deepening However Nigeria, like rever les. big The the gradual loss of mass support of develop the mass movement, as opposed to relying on an alliancelwith the Palestinians and the Syrians, who reDress ve has allowed the growth of the Shi'ite Islamic confessionalist groups. This is Amal is not, as it is often described, an Islamic fundamentalist group - its demand is not for an Islamic state, as in Iran. They just want a bigger say for the Shi'ite bourgeoisie in the state apparatus, a bigger slice of The Shi'ite population, beboules was always a lilall has been gravely weakened.
The Israelis put in Bashir Gemayel leader of the 'Lebanese Forces' — the Christian Maronite militias which had some autonomy from the Phalange party. Bashir Gemayel's fascist militia had always been allied to the Israelis. But Bashir was soon assassinated, and he was replaced by his brother Nigeria coup: product of third world crisis that ternates o souandered in massive cor. Darks.
has been as "doned half lustiales LOCOLS. towards ‚wille Ine ente prospered The irony of the situation aule the bourgeoisie, linked to big business inThe economic interests of the Arab world and the West. In other words they couldn't contemplate a simple alliance with Israel, to the exclusion of links with the Arab world.
and the United States, which brought the Phalangists into conflict with the Israelis. It started in a very bitter way in a row about who was responsible for the massacre of the Palestinians in Gemayel the Israelis seem to have given up supporting a centralised state course this is still the objective of the United States and the multinational force which has as its open objective the defence of the Gemayel governleadership is one of further and furtner concessions to negoulated soil tions — a West Bank mini-state — as Palestine. It is now very far from its begun. When the price of Connelle lilasses nature has emerged. Until organisation of the PLO. It included all sorts of political currents from ultra-rightist currents to even revolunent political struggle between these different currents. But they could all remain in the same organisation as long as it was engaging in the military fight against Zionism. whatever its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. first time there appeared to be a real possibility for a Palestinian involvement in a negotiated settlement. First there was the Reagan plan which callWest Bank under Jordanian control.
opted or framework Hussein's call, complementary to the this proposal in 1972 time everyone in the PLO rejected it, denouncing it as a reactionary plot to eliminate and defeat the Palestinain Arafat went to Amman for talks with Soldiers in the streets of Lagos after the coup Hussein. So the position of the radical nationalist wing of the PLO was to denounce these manoeuvres by Arafat. This is even easier to understand when you remember that people like Abu Musa and his original groups were composed of people who had been army personnel in the Jordanian army up until 1970 and who had left the Jordanian army to link up with the PLO during 'Black September'. Il was inconceivable for them to accept a Palestinain mini-state under Jordanian control The Syrians were also opposed to Arafat's course because they saw it as Palestinians and Jordanians but excluding them. In view of all this op position Arafat could not go forward, understood that to go further in that direction of a deal with Jordan and the US, he had to break the opposiConflict deliberately provoked a conflict with the dissidents by appointing deserters to the key leadership positions of the fighters and ordered the dissident leaders to go to Tunisia.
After twelve years ot courageous even against the Syrians in 1976 which Musa were prepared to go and rejected the new appointments. The fighting started by dissidents. The Syrians at first were neutral, but quickly saw their opportunity to support the dissidents with the possibility of bringing the PLO • as a to is for the fighters to stay in Lebanon. Arafat is no longer interested in havwants to rely on his support among the Wes Bank to carry forward his diplomatic dissidents should be supported — for a democratic conference of Fateh, for no capitulation, for the fighters to re main in Lebanon. But there can be no support whatever for their disastrous alliance with the Syrians, which will prevent them playing any indepen dent role and which Arafat has used very effectively to discredit them.
In the recent fighting in northern Lebanon neither side could be sup bourgeois leadership which is objec struggle of the Palestinian masses. On despite themselves, acting under the control of the Syrians. Neither side
Socialist Action 13 January 1984
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didn't benefit greatly from class, even of a reformist