THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Irish Obstinance Continues Shiite Feud

By MOSHE RON

The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent

TEL AVIV — Mahmoud
Baazi, the South Lebanese
Shiite brother of the young
man killed'by Irish soldiers
of the UNIFIL contingent,
revenged the blood of his
dead brother by killing two
Irish soldiers and vowed not
to return "his sword into its
sheath" until a "sulcha" (re-
conciliation) takes place be-
tween the two sides — in ac-
cordance with Moslem reli-
gious tradition because only
will the blood of the
_ _zdered man be pacified.
Baazi, the 35-year-old
Shiite farmer of Bint Jebeil,
Lebanon, only two miles
from Israel, never dreamt
that he would be in the cen-
ter of a political storm of in-
ternational dimensions be-
cause he fulfilled his reli-
gious commandment.
Without any hesitation
Mahmoud admits that by
killing two Irishmen he re-
venged the blood of his
brother Massoud.
"I and members of my
family waited for them
for a whole week, and
when they finally fell into
our hands we fulfilled
our duty towards our
dead brother. I do not
understand the outcry
over what I did. I only
obeyed the command-
ment of the Koran to re-
venge the blood of my
brother which cries out
from the earth.
"I grieve over my brother
who was shot to death and I
am sorry that I had to re-
venge his blood, but I only
acted in accordance with the
commandment: blood for
blood, soul for soul. Had I

not done this, it would have
been on my conscience."
Baazi makes his living by
growing tobacco and raising
sheep. He is the head of the
Baazi family since his
father's death a number of
years ago. He has an old
mother, nine brothers and
sisters, and a big family of
his own. He now has four
wives and 15 children.
Mahmoud wts only one of
the many members of his
family who lay in wait for
the Irish and even after the
revenge killing they have
not laid down their arms.
His family, the Baazi
clan, is one of the largest
families in Bint Jebeil
with many members in
other Shiite villages in
the area. In Mahmoud's
own estimate, the
number of members of
his clan is 7,000 persons.
"All of them strive for re-
venge and all of them
wish to redeem the blood
of Massoud. May Allah
have mercy," says
Mahmoud, dressed in
black mourning clothes.
"The fact that I was the
one among those who
caught the two Irish was a
mere coincidence of fate.
Had the two fallen into the
hands of other members of
our family clan, they would
have acted exactly the same
way as I did."
The Baazi clan is repre-
sented in the Lebanese par-
liament by two MPs. Some
members of the clan studied
at the American University
in Beirut and became physi-
cians and lawyers. However
most of the family remained
farmers, shephgrds,
shoemakers and shopkeep-
ers.

Bint Jebeil now has about proper sulcha ceremony is
15,000 Shiite inhabitants. held between the family and
Until "Operation Litani" the Irish army unit respon-
they numbered more than sible for the killing of
30,000. During this opera- Massoud Baazi. The Irish
tion, Bint Jebeil suffered have not consented to a
heavily under the Palesti- sulcha.
nian terrorists who made it
Arab notables from the
their base against the area recently proposed a
Christian Militia forces of payment of 20,000
Lebanese pounds ($6,000)
Major Hadad.
Even now, after the kil- in compensation for the
ling of the two Irish death of Massoud.
soldiers, Mahmoud
The offer was rejected by
warns that danger still the Baazis. They insist on
looms for the Irish. "Any direct negotiations with the
one of them, should he Irish in order to reach
fall into our hands, will agreement on holding a
be executed without any proper sulcha, in keeping
hesitation."
with tradition as com-
He and his clan will cease manded by their faith and
the blood feud only after a the Koran.

Friday, June 13, 1980

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Detroiters Go to Kibutzim
to Aid in Agricultural Work

In the first of her series of
articles about Detroiters in
Israel, Detroit Free Press
columnist Marj Jackson
Levin wrote about the
pioneering of the Dr. Mur-
ray Shekter family, former
Detroiters who have made
aliya.
Other former Detroiters
have taken the giant step of
making aliya, and Ms.
Levin reports that many
typically middle class
Americans are learning a
new life-style in the. or-
chards and agricultural set-
tlements of their newly
adopted land.
Nancy Hopp, formerly
of Birmingham, picks av-
cados at Kibutz Barkai
orth of Tel Aviv. She
was graduated from
ayne State University
with a degree in Middle
Eastern languages and
earned a certificate to
teach English as a foreign
language from the uni-
versity of Michigan.
According to Ms. Levin,
Ms. Hopp speaks Arabic and
teaches both Israeli and
Arab students at a school
which serves four kibutzim
, in Caesarea.
Elizabeth Marx of Detroit
dropped out of college and
took on a variety of jobs at
Kibutz Degania. She is an

O

ulpan student who works
four hours a day and studies
Hebrew four hours a day.
Joan Tierney left a job
as a computer pro-
grammer and is a volun-
teer • at Kibutz Beit
Ha'Emek. Steve King of
Lansing spent time on a
kibutz between earning
BA and MA degrees and
returned to Israel for a
three-week visit this
year.
Ms. Tierney requested to
be transferred from kitchen
duties to the fields, which,
according to Ms. Levin, is an
unusual request. But Ms.
Tierney was undaunted by
the outdoor work. She
merely put long, heavy wool
stockings over her arms to
protect them.

Dayan in India?

NEW DELHI (ZINS) —
The magazine "Sunday" re-
cently reported that former
Israeli Foreign Minister vi-
sited India for four days in
1977, while Indira Ghandi
was out of power, to con-
vince the government to
allow the opening of an
Israeli embassy.
The article said Dayan
removed his famous eye
patch and wore a disguise
and dark glasses during his
unsuccessful visit.

Warning The Surgeon General Has. Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous toYour Health.

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