Christians are actually a minority in the so-called “Christian enclave” in south Lebanon, according to Maj. Saad Haddad, commander of the Israel-supported Christian forces there. Haddad was a participant in a one-day seminar on Israel-Lebanon relations organized by Tel Aviv University’s Center for Strategic Studies. Speakers expressed varying views on Israel’s involvement in Lebanon in light of the current missile crisis with Syria.
Haddad conceded that he runs the enclave as an independent state with its own tax, school and health systems. But he insisted that he wants control of Lebanon eventually restored to a central government in Beirut and hoped for a united country where the Syrians and Palestinians are no longer present. He said his enclave gets its electricity and water supply from Beirut but does not pay for those utilities because there is no government authority to collect revenues.
Describing the demographics of the area he controls, Haddad said that of its 100,000 inhabitants, about 60,000 are Moslems, mainly of the Shi-ite sect, and about five percent Druze. The Christians who comprise 35 percent are mainly Maronites. He said another 25,000 refugees of various religions have come to the enclave to seek shelter from the war conditions in the rest of Lebanon and because the enclave is relatively prosperous and quiet.
Haddad accused the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of allowing terrorists to control certain villages in the area of its responsibilities and does not interfere with them. He claimed there are some 800 Palestinian terrorists occupying 44 bases with in the UNIFIL area.
WARNS AGAINST FORCING A POLITICAL SOLUTION
Former Chief of Staff Gen. Mordechai Gur, referring to the present situation, said it was essential that Israel maintain its freedom to fly over Lebanon but warned that Jerusalem should not try to force a political solution in that country or dictate what its internal policies and structure should be.
He said that until the balance between Israeli, Syrian, terrorist and Christian forces was upset recently, the Syrians had abided faithfully by unwritten agreements reached following the separation of forces negotiations after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Gur said those agreements had given Israel freedom to act against Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon as long as there was no direct confrontation with Syria.
This year’s seminar was held as a memorial tribute to the late Gen. David Elazor who was Chief of Staff during the Yom Kippur War and was forced to resign afterwards. Many Israelis believe he was unfairly blamed for Israel’s unpreparedness when the war broke out and was made a scapegoat for the errors of top government officials, including then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
