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In contrast to the restoration of tranquility to the rest
of Lebanon, most residents of the South are forced to choose between deportation
from the region or warring against their own families and kinfolk and thus
perpetuating the destruction and desolation at home. Although no one has asked for their opinion, it is hard to
believe that they would like the Israel Defense Forces to continue their stay
in the region.
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Here are several items of data about
the security zone in connection with the question of the South Lebanese Army
(SLA) and whether we are wanted in the zone.
1. The security zone was established in
1985 to cope with an enemy common to us and to all the Shi'ite, Christian and
Palestinian residents of South Lebanon. The goal was to achieve relative
security for persons and property in the face of the wild anarchy that reigned
in the rest of Lebanon.
2. Since 1991, our enemies have been
from among the Shi'ite community, belonging to two organizations: some to Amal
but most to Hizbollah. Their kinfolk with religious and ethnic ties comprise about seventy percent of the
SLA soldiers and the residents of the security zone.
3. Whereas in the rest of Lebanon,
order has been restored since 1991, providing security for persons and their
property, South Lebanon has remained a war zone in which the victims are
sometimes innocent civilians.
4. When the security zone was
established in 1985, it had 160,000 residents. A census that was conducted in
1996 showed that only 96,000 had remained. During that time, the population of
Lebanon had grown by 80 percent through natural increase. It is reasonable to
assume that this process is continuing and that today there are no more than
85,000 residents in the zone.
5. In every Shi'ite village of South
Lebanon, more than half the population have abandoned their homes. Some
villages are almost completely deserted. The Druze and Christian villages are
also partly abandoned, although to a lesser degree.
6. Since 1992, in almost every encounter between the SLA
and squads of terrorists who had penetrated into the security zone (in the
strip between the Odeissa village opposite kibbutz Misgav Am and the sea
coast), members of the same families could be found on both sides of the firing
line.
7. Almost all the Hizbollah fighters
who fell in action in the strip mentioned above were natives of the security
zone who were killed in battles in and around their native villages. From their
point of view, they were engaged in a war of liberation.
8. At the end of 1996, there were
96,000 residents of the Security Zone. The Lebanese authorities have labelled
6,000 of them as suspects in collaboration with Israel. This number includes
relatives of suspects and those whose only sin is commuting to work in Israel.
All the other residents are cautious about any contact with Israel, because
they are subject to punishment by the Lebanese authorities, including the
invalidation of passports and withholding the issue of a license to open a
business or to trade with the rest of Lebanon. Further restrictions affect
matriculation certificates, the right to study at college, the right to travel
to the north, and so on.
9. The 6,000 residents who have been
labelled as collaborators with Israel began their activities in the
mid-eighties, when there was anarchy in the country and collaboration was a
basic need for survival. Some did it to protect themselves while others did it
to gain favors. This picture has continued almost without change into the
nineties.
10. The punishments for collaboration
with Israel on a lower level, such as enlisting in the South Lebanese Army or
working in Israel, are two years of imprisonment, with a parole after 18 months
of good behavior. On the other hand, army officers, security personnel and
community leaders may expect more severe sentences, up to the death penalty.
What happened at the evacuation of the salient of Jezzine may be a precedent.
11. Some of those who are subject to
severe sentences (up to 700 out of the 2,450 soldiers in the ranks of the South
Lebanse Army)
are ensuring their future by
collaborating with both sides, ranging from the gathering of information to
active guidance for terrorist attacks.
12. Every year in the past few years,
tens of collaborators with the enemy have been exposed within the security
zone. Among them have been soldiers of the SLA, their commanders, and security
personnel. These exposures have forced the IDF to be suspicious about the SLA
and employ the measures of an army of occupation.
13. Every year, between 45 and 110
soldiers defect from the SLA.
On an average, this depletes the total
force by 2.5 percent per year.
14. Christians and Druze servicemen are
an absolute majority of the officers and almost all the headquarters personnel.
At the front-line outposts, only a handful of Christians serve in combat units,
whereas almost all the fighters
there are Shi'ites. The Christian servicemen are refugees from the north
and not natives of the region.
15. Most of the SLA soldiers have
relatives in the Hizbollah and about 15 percent of them did not volunteer; they
were forcibly conscripted!
16. The Israeli media of communication
deal mainly with the mainly Christian upper echelons of officers, who have
served with us for years and who for various reasons have linked their fate to
ours. They would stand to lose much from a withdrawal from the security zone,
such as personal status, money, power and sometimes even the opportunity to
traffic in drugs. They are the 700 senior officers of the intermediate and
higher ranks.
To summarize, the security zone is
continually being emptied of its population. There is tension and a clash of
interests between the senior Christian officers and the local population, who
are mostly Shi'ite and wish to continue a normal life as Lebanese.
In contrast to the restoration of tranquility to the rest
of Lebanon, most residents of the South are forced to choose between
deportation from the region or warring against their own families and kinfolk
and thus perpetuating the destruction and desolation at home. Although no one has asked for their
opinion, it is hard to believe that they would like the Israel Defense Forces
to continue their stay in the region.
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[1] The statements of the Vice-Minister of Defence were made
on December 19, 1999, during an interview on the "Seven-Thirty"
current events program of Israel
Television Channel One.