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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, October 13, 1978 45
Lebanon Cease Fire Followed UN, Israel Intervention
By GIL SEDAN
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Three developments pre-
ceeded the shaky cease fire
in Beirut: Israeli gunboats
shelling the Moslem part of
the city, the Security Coun-
cil call for a cease fire and
the actual intensification of
the fighting.
All three developments
contributed to the agree-
ment between Syrian
P *dent Hafez Al Assad
a. Lebanese President
Elias Sarkis reached Satur-
day in Damascus, which re-
sulted in a relative calm in
the Lebanese capital. It is
hard to tell which influ-
enced this development
most: the Israeli warning,
the international pressures
or the military balance of
powers in the city.
One, of course, depends
upon the other. The inter-
national pressures to
achieve a cease fire agree-
ment were intensified fol-
lowing Israel's naval attack
last week. In fact, according
to reports from Washington
it was this very operation
that led President Jimmy
Carter to use the hot line to
Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev to prepare the Se-
curity Council resolution
calling for a cease fire-
The battles in the city
intensified as each party
was trying to gain as
much as possible before
an outside development
Mrs. Alex
Dorchen and Family
wish their friends and
relatives a happy and
healthy New Year
would limit them. Thus,
there was fierce fighting
between the Christian
militias and the Syrian
army (the so-called
Inter-Arab Deterrent
Force) on the Quarantina
bridges in the northern
part of the city. The
bridges are the only out-
let of the Christians to the
Port of Junia some 13
miles north of Beirut.
Had the Syrians suc-
ceeded to control it, they
would have actually
encircled the Christians,
cut them off from any
outside help.
The Christians should be
interested in the cease fire
exactly for this reason. Fur-
thermore, the hundreds of
wounded inside the city
were reportedly deprived of
minimum medical care,
with the Red Cross unal--,1c;
to enter the Christian quar-
ters under the heavy Syrian
shelling. Essential supplies
such as food, water and elec-
tricity were running low.
The Syrians now seem to
be able to afford the cease
fire, because it did not put in
doubt their main aim in
Lebanon: to keep the coun-
try as a Syrian protectorate,
part of a long term Syrian
plan to secure a banana
shaped front against Israel
from Lebanon in the north
west to the Port of Aqaba in
Jordan in the south east.
This strategic aim has
guided them through the
last three years of the fight-
ing in Lebanon. Syria was
always a strong supporter of
the Palestinian-local Mos-
lem coalition in Lebanon.
But the Syrian army
SalmaOshinsky of Los Angeles
wants to thank all her good friends in Detroit
for all their good wishes during her recent
illness
May all our relatives and friends be blessed with only good things.
Good health, happiness and contentment throughout the coming
years
Izzy and Anna Belle Pollack
and Family
A happy and healthy New Year
to all our friends in Detoit
Sam & Ethel Portner
Ashkelon, Israel
Jeanette and Sam Herman
wish all our friends and relatives a healthy,
happy New Year.
Thanks for your kindness through Sam's
illness.
We wish a healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year to all of our friends and realtives
- and Klal Israel
Judy and Andy Martin and Family
entered Lebanon last year
at the invitation of the
Christians, and at first it
evern helped the Christians
in their tough fighting
against the Moslems.
The
Christian
President Sarkis, elected
two years ago, is actually
a Syrian protege, and as
such he came over the
weekend to Damascus to
discuss things with the
Syrian boss, rather than
present before him the
case of an independent
government.
Syria soon legitimized its
presence in Lebanon after it
won the approval of the
Arab League to be called the
Inter Arab Deterrent Force
in Lebanon. For the sake of
formalities, the close to
40,000 strong Syrian army
ws rengthened by sev-
eral Arab units from other
countries such as Sudan and
Saudi Arabia.
As soon as the Syrians es-
tablished their hold over
Lebanon, they demanded
that all parties — the Pales-
tinians, the local Moslems
and the Christians — give
up their. arms. The Chris-
tians knew that this meant
the end of Lebanon as an in-
dependent state, and even
worse — their possible end
as an influential commu-
nity in Lebanon. They
gradually resorted to fight-
ing the Syrians, a fighting
which reached its climax
last week.
For a long time Syrian
President Assad did not
mind stepping up the fight-
ing. In fact, the Camp David
agreements probably gave
him the feeling that his
hands were freer than in the
past, with both Israel and
the U.S. too interested to
complete quietly the deli-
cate process of the peace
negotiations.
But the developments
late last week forced
Assad to do some re-
thinking. He cut short his
trip to the USSR, and
summoned to him in
Damascus President
Sarkis. It was at the end
of that meeting that the
Syrians issued the an-
nouncement of the cease
fire.
It is not known what con-
vinced Assad to order a
cease fire, but one can as-
sume quite safely that Sar-
kis promised his host-boss
the mandate of the Inter-
Arab Deterrent Force, due
to expire by the end of this
month, will be renewed.
This, after all is the main
target of Assad at the pre-
sent.
But it takes two to keep
the cease fire going.
Spokesmen of the Christian
militias said over the
weekend the Security
Council call would not
necessarily be respected by
them. In other words, if the
Christians felt — as some of
them surely feel — that it
was in their interest to con-
tinue the fighting with the
hope of compelling the Sy-
rians to withdraw from
their country, Beirut could
again plunge into a renewed
round of perhaps even more
bitter fighting.
In Jerusalem, former
Premier Yitzhak Rabin
suggested that Israel should
exercise prudence in its as-
sistance to Christians in
Lebanon. He advised the
government to continue its
aid "but not beyond the pre-
sent framework."
_Rabin's remarks, in a
speech in the border
town of Kiryat Shemona,
were seen as a direct
reply to Herut MK Moshe
Arens, chairman of the
Knes-Set's Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee,
who had warned that Is-
rael must not allow the
Christians in Lebanon
"to go under."
Rabin was sharply criti-
cal of the Christian leader-
ship which was split into
quarreling factions. "First
they must prove that they
have inner unity before
they can come to us with
demands for help," Rabin
said.
Rabin, who was Israel's
chief of staff during the
1967 Six-Day war, did not
see a military threat to Is-
rael from Syrian . activities
in Lebanon. He said the Sy-
rian intent was to suppress
the Christian community,
but not cause incidents with
Israel that would jeopardize
the Camp David agree-
ments.
He said the Syrian army
was unprepared for a con-
frontation with Israel,
partly because it was spread
thin along the Golan
Heights-Lebanese front.
In Paris, former
French Premier Michel
Debre called on the gov -
ernment to intervene, by
force if necessary, to save
Lebanon's' Christian
community now
threatened with virtual
"extinction by the Syrian
Inter-Arab Deterrent
Force. Debre is one of
France's leading tradi-
tional Gaullists.
His call, in the form of a
parliamentary question,
followed many previous ap-
peals for intervention on
behalf of Lebanon's Maro-
CBS Spotlights Beth Hatfutsoth
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
CBS News religious special,
"The Timeless Family," last
week, dealt with Beth Hat-
fusoth — the museum of the
Jewish Diaspora — which
recently opened in Tel Aviv.
Produced and written by
Alan Harper, and narrated
by British actor Marius
Goring, "The Timeless
Family" examined how the
museum has overcome the
relative scarcity of physical
artifacts (the backbone of
most museums) by recreat-
ing Jewish life in many
lands and centuries through
sculpture, art, photographs
by Cornell Capa, recreated
objects, dioramas, com-
puters (with information
about 3,000 Jewish com-
munities), and advanced
audio-visual technology.
nites with whom France has Jewish War Veterans of the
long-standing cultural and United States of America,
religious ties.
called upon the President to
French public opinion has deny Syria the $90 million
been increasingly vehe- dollars in aid voted by the
ment during the past few Congress.
days in its demand that
Meanwhile, the Anti-
France use its 1300-man Defamation League of Bnai
contingent serving with the Brith urged Congress to
United Nations Interim adopt a resolution calling
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) upon Syria to withdraw
to rescue the embattled from Lebanon to make way
Christians.
for a United Nations
A number of national peacekeeping force.
papers, such as "France
Soir," have published front
Sophie & Harry
page editorials advocating
Aronovitz
an intervention while oppo-
30548 Southfield Rd.
sition leaders, such as left-
wing radical Robert Fabre,
wish their family and friends
have urged parliament to
a happy and peaceful New Year
drop its current agenda and
concentrate on discussing
and voting concrete meas-
Henry and Faye Leshman
ures to help Lebanon's
Jeff, Andrea & Hyllori
Akron, Ohio
Maronites.
A number of Jewish
organizations, such as
LICA (International
League Against Anti-
-Semitism and Racism)
have also called on the
government to take
active steps in Lebanon.
In Washington, D.C.,
Nathan M. Goldberg, na-
tional commander of the
wish their friends and family
a healthy, happy New Year
Ben, Charlotte, Rachel
and Sarah Rothstein
with their friends and
relatives a year of
health and happiness
Best wishes for a happy and
healthy New Year to all
our family and friends
Stan, Ilene & Ellen Gittleman
lzrizrit :In: ritsv5
•
Best wishes for a happy and healthy
New Year to all our family and friends I
SAM KLAR
Hoping that this New Year will bring
everyone love, peace, health and
happiness
Marlene & Phil Ozrovitz
Aaron, Steven & Kevin
Toby, Si Alan & Scott Rabin
wish all their friends and relatives
a year of good health and happiness
Trudy and Marvin Stearn
wish all of their relatives and
friends a healthy, happy and
prosperous New Year
The Stern Family
wish their friends and family a
happy, healthy and prosperous
NEW YEAR
Sherrie, Norty, Scott & Ken
The Weiss'
Milt, Lil, Bob, Mark and Leslie
W. Bloomfield
wish all their friends and family
a year of good health and happiness
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Zimmerman
Southfield
wish their relatives and friends
a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year
•