Adonis Diaries

South Lebanon living conditions: Under 22 years of Israel occupation

I am attaching a summary of Robert Fisk accounts in the book “Afflictions of a Nation“.  Fisk was a correspondent to the British The Times and covered the civil war in Lebanon for 9 years.

“Four months after the genocide, which was committed by Israel in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila (Beirut, 1982), Israel occupation troops suffered casualties due to local resistance factions using hand grenades, land mines, and automatic rifles. All in all, 17 Israeli soldiers were killed and over 70 injured.

As Israel was surrounding the Capital Beirut, it was already imposing its military administration on a region of over 1,000 sq.miles.  Israel re-organized the Saad Haddad militias in the south and brought in the Christian fascist Phalanges militias (Kataeb) to the city of Saida and East Saida.

In the same time, Israel Shin Beth intelligence agency hired hundreds of Moslem Shia mercenaries who used to be members of the Amal militias, in order to keep “law and order” in the Shia towns and villages.

By the end of June, the UN peace keeping forces accounted for hundreds of hired armed militias working within their zone of control. These militias had the name of “National Guards” and Local Guards”.  These guards set up road blocks and searched cars…

In the city of Saida, Israel occupied the mayor official quarters.  Soon, dozens of Palestinian civilians were found killed on roads leading to Christian towns, east of Saida. Leaflets were distributed encouraging the Lebanese to “clean up” the region of Palestinians.  The inhabitants of Saida knew that the leaflets were the making of Israel.

On February 1983, leaflets signed “Cedar Guards” warned that “Our goal is to force every Palestinian to leave Lebanon“, same tactics that Israel has adopted to pressure Palestinians from vacating their homes and towns in 1948. A Moslem Sunni old man commented: “We thought that Israel will liberate us. Instead, they are bringing in all kinds of foreign elements to harass us.”

Israel was implementing the same tactics applied in the West bank and Gaza: Israel was demonstrating that it is here to stay in south Lebanon for a long time.

The Moslem Shia highest cleric, Mohammad Mahdi Shams el Din exhorted the people to “refuse any cooperation, in any form and shape, with the local militias, which were constituted by Israel”

A secret UN report stated: “Israel is exercising coercion, arrest, and blackmail in the zone under our control”  For example, in the town of Tebnine, Israel pressured the inhabitants to fund 10 local guards, otherwise, “foreign elements” will be dispatched to fill in the void.

The UN report continued: “Israel is about to make things worse in order to demonstrate to the world community that the UN forces are helpless in keeping peace and order in their zone of control.  In one month, Israel denied 25 request for UN helicopters to taking off from the UN base in Nakoura.  Two of the requests were to fly the chief UN commander, the Irish General William Callahan”

Fisk wrote: “I used to visit the south in company of the correspondents Anderson, Faramarzy, and Paola Krochiany (from the Associated Press).  An old man told us “The Israeli officers keep visiting our village, every week.  They demand that I gather intelligence for them, in return for the release of my son from the Ansar prison, established by Israel within Lebanon (customary blackmail tactics used by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. That is why Israel round-up innocent Palestinian teenagers and put them in prison without trial). I gave them information, but my son is still in prison.

I noticed that all vegetables and fruits produces in Saida souk were imported from Israel. Lebanese trucks loaded the goods from Israel border in Nakoura. The purpose was to pressure Lebanese farmers to leaving their lands.

There is this Christian village of Mieh wa Mieh in east Saida. This village overlooks Saida and the Palestinian camp of Ain el Helweh.  Mieh wa Mieh has also a small Palestinian camps, of mostly Christians, as the one in Dbayeh, close to Jounieh, that the Christian militias vacated in 1976 to build luxury real estate buildings.

Within 6 weeks, 12 Palestinian civilians were assassinated, a terror tactics applied by Israel.  The Palestinians in Mieh wa Mieh camp were scared and felt that another genocide was being perpetrated.  An old woman said: “When the Israelis came last June, they proclaimed that they are here to protect us.  Instead, they are rounding up our youth and sending them to Ansar prison. The Phalangists arrived in November and burned houses and committed atrocities. Acts of terrorism are increasing drastically.Last week, a bomb demolished 14 houses at the fringe of the camp.  They are trying to force us into fleeing”.

As the old woman was talking to us, a boy arrived breathless and said “A Phalanges car is arriving”  The phalanges militias were suspicious of foreign correspondents discussing with the villagers.

Israel Colonel Hayim, of Israel Shin Beth, was constantly touring the Shia villages in the district, of about 24 towns.  Hayim job was to blackmail the mayors (mokhtar) to coughing up $5,000 per month, on the ground of providing funds for the maintenance of the local guards.

“Either you pay or your son will be taken to Ansar prison” was one line of blackmail. For example, taxes were levied on every truck crossing a road block. Trucks loaded with electronic goods were charged $60; trucks loaded with tires $110; trucks carrying vegetables and fruits $80; and trucks carrying sugar and wheat…$72.

Towns that refused to be blackmailed were harassed by militias of Saad Haddad.  Haddad militias would storm the town, round-up civilians, burn a few houses and ransack other. These terror tactics infuriated the inhabitants of the south.

Israel conducted a thorough census in the south of 250,000 people.  The census sheet was 27 pages long. Israel was effectively planning to stay for the long haul…”

The follow-up article describes how Lebanese resistance forces got organized and managed to kick out Israel from the Land in the year 2000, without negotiations or any preconditions.