June 8, 2008 at 3:37 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: 1982 invasion, abu nidal abu shmidal, arab, arab countries, arab summit, arab-israeli conflict, ariel sharon, beirut, camp david, egypt, fass, history, israel, israeli aggression, israeli army, jordan, june 6, lebanon, london, menachem begin, middle east, palestine, peace for galilee, philip habib, plo, politics, rafael eltan, resistance, ronald reagan, shlomo argov, sinai, south lebanon, tel aviv, united states, yasser arafat
June 6 is a day with a special characteristic. It’s a day that marked the beginning of a new era in the Arab-Israeli conflict and paved the way for strong resistance movements to rise and eventually make a change.

On this day, twenty-six years ago, Israeli occupation forces launched a massive military incursion into Lebanon in an operation dubbed “Peace for Galilee.” At first glance, the Israeli aggression seemed to be aimed at south Lebanon, but then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon pushed all the way to the capital Beirut.
“Peace for Galilee” for the Israelis is the “Israeli Invasion” for the Lebanese. It began on 6 June, less than two months after Israel transformed its defeat in Sinai into a political victory in Camp David. Then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin got the impression that all Arab countries would follow Egypt and sign so-called peace deals with Israel.
Jordan gave its word to Israel that it would sign such treaty once Lebanon signs a similar one. The Kingdom did not want to get involved in any agreement that would put it at odds with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that had its leadership headquarters in Beirut.
Back then, Lebanon meant the fertile land for Palestinian resistance movements; thus dealing a blow to the PLO in Lebanon would crush the resistance once and for all and pave the way for signing a peace deal with Lebanon and then with Arab states. In doing this, Israel would extract the acknowledgment of Arabs in the so-called “state of Israel” and open the way for political and economic expansion in the Middle East region.
Menachem Begin found that the only way to achieve this “glory” for Israel was to invade Lebanon to crush the PLO, but under what pretext?
On July 24, 1981, US President Ronald Reagan’s special envoy Philip Habib arrived in Beirut with a controversial mission. Habib managed to broker a shaky nine-months ceasefire between Yasser Arafat and Israel. When the ceasefire took effect, Tel Aviv was like a beehive preparing politically and logistically for their “big time invasion.”
Back in Beirut, Israeli and pro-Israeli bodies worked persistently on straining the internal front. Clashes between Lebanese and Palestinian forces expanded throughout south Lebanon. Both forces got weak and their chances of closing ranks to confront any Israeli military operation were zero.
The element of direct military resistance was removed at a time some Arab regimes were at the Arab Summit in Fass preparing a formula to penetrate the Arab impregnability.
So everything was ready for the invasion. Israel just needed the pretext and it was not hard to find. On June 3, 1982, Israel’s ambassador in London Shlomo Argov escaped an assassination attempt.
The Israeli intelligence told Begin that the PLO was not involved in the attack, however he withheld this information from his cabinet. Rafael Eitan, who was then the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, responded to the aforementioned information in his famous saying “Abu Nidal, abu shmidal. We need to end PLO!”
Full article: http://www.insight-info.com/articles/item.aspx?i=1156
Leave a Comment
May 25, 2008 at 11:39 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: 14th of march, al-akhbar, america, american european, ap, arabic, balbak, beirut, cia, cole, dahiyah, doha, doha accord, george bush, hassan nasrullah, hizbollah, imam khomeini, islamic revolution, israel, israeli army, khaldeh, lebanese, lebanon, ma'ariv, martyrdrom, middle east, mishel aun, mishel sulayman, molotov coctail, mosad, ottoman empire, palestine, politics, qabars, qatar, revolution, sayda, sayyid hassan nasrullah, security council, siniora, south lebanon, tyre, united nations, unity, walid jumblatt, weapon, zionist
. 26 years have passed since June 1982 were the names Dahiyah and Khaldeh passed through American and European telegrams. The youth of Dahiyah, a small village in the Southern Lebanese area of Khaldeh was able to hold the classical, prepared Israeli army for forty days with Molotov cocktails and light weapons that they already had with them. An AP reporter went to them on the 6th of September 1982 and asked them to introduce themselves. They responded: “We are the followers of Imam Khomeini. We consider death martyrdom and are not scared of any power.” The AP continued its report in September of 1982 by saying: “The spirits of the youth of Dahiyah can be seen all over South Lebanon. Tyre, Sayda, and Balbak are no less than Dahiyah either.”

Hizbollah was born with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Lebanon and showed itself in the summer of that energetic year – 1982. It was a power which only a few people could imagine would have the power that it has today.
2. About one month ago, on the 24th of April, 2008, George Bush who prepared himself to visit the Middle East and take part in the occupied territory’s 60th anniversary gave news of America’s strong desire to topple Hizbollah. Some American and European news outlets called this a gift to Israel before his trip to occupied Palestine. A few days afterwards, Siniora’s government in an unexpected move fired the head of Beirut’s airport’s security who was a supporter of Hizbollah. It also called Hizbollah’s telephone system illegal. This move by the 14th of March political party which illegally held Lebanon’s government was faced with a serious warning by Hizbollah’s leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah. At the same time, America emphasized that it will completely support the government and the American warship Cole entered Lebanon’s shores. Then, as always, Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah disgregarded America’s threats and gave Siniora a few days to retake his statements about the head of Beirut’s airport’s security and Hizbollah’s telephone system. When the government’s insistence and America’s support was seen, in a quick, accounted for move all of the centers under the control of the 14th of March political party were taken over along with their leaders. The continuance of this quick move in which America and the 14th of March PP did not expect showed the deep influence that Hizbollah has on the Lebanese people. Once again after the 33-Day-War a Lebanese struggle ended in the favor of Hizbollah. Hizbollah’s move was so unexpected from the view of America and Israel that Israel gave the order for all of its troops to be completely prepared. Some leaders of the 14th of March PP ran away from Beirut. The Siniora government, who thought itself to be strong with the backing of America only a few hours before, was forced to give in to the resistance’s orders. They retreated from what they said a few days before. According to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar a number of CIA and Mosad officials who came to Lebanon to command this move and who stayed in the American embassy made a bridge between Beirut and Qabars escaping the situation.
It is worth mentioning that Walid Jumblatt, the head of one of the 14th of March PP’s groups who is undeniably attached to America and the Zionist regime and who escaped Beirut after the resistance’s lighting move, made fun of America’s promise of help in an interview and said: “Apparently the American Cole was sent to save us from Lebanon – not to help us in Lebanon.”
3. After the Hizbollah victory, which according to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar was a slap in face to America before it was a blow on the 14th of March PP, the demands of Hizbollah that were made after their victory in the 33-Day-War were once again put uat the forefront. The reason for this is that after Hizbollah’s victories the resistance in Lebanon is not seen as a mere political power, rather as the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv wrote: “Hizbollah showed that it is a popular movement and has took the power of the country who trusts and believes in them.”
The Doha Talks with the presence of Arabic foreign ministers, representatives of the resistance, and the 14th of March PP lead by Qatar was formed in this situation. From the beginning the Doha Talks could do nothing except give in to some of Hizbollah’s demands. It is clearly expected that Hizbollah will gain strength and the 14th of March PP will loose power, although most of the Arabs who took part in the talks wanted to protect the power of the 14th of March PP more than make Hizbollah loose power. Therefore, Hizbollah’s victory in the Doha Talks proves their strength – not that the things given to them makes them strong. Because of Hizbollah’s moves in the past two years the 14th of March PP did not have any other choice but to accept what the decisions in the Doha Talks were.
4. Hizbollah’s demands were: the establishment of the national-unified government, Mishel Sulayman becoming president, and 11 seats of the parliament (one-third reserved for the resistance) which gives them the power of veto. This plan was called the Mishel ‘Aun plan and was accepted in Doha. It should be noted that when these talks were announced Lebanese people in Beirut and other places protested saying that the Lebanese political heads have rigged these talks. They said: “This helped speed up the process.
5. The most important result of the Doha Talks was Hizbollah crossing the limits. Hizbollah created a nation in the past few years by their faith, bravery, sincerity, popularity, and their lives while protecting Lebanon and its entire population regardless of their religion or tribe. They brought a country who has been at discord and internal war since the Ottoman empire to a unified position showing that Lebanon’s peace will only be in unity.
6. After the results of the Doha Talks were mentioned American figures such as Khalilzad, Afghanistan’s representative in the United Nations said that they were going to make a United Nations Security Council resolution regarding Hizbollah. They said that since Hizbollah has turned national so the resolution number 1701 is illegal and nobody has the right to interfere in internal politics – making Siniora’s American backed movement illegal.
source
1 Comment