Moffett Traces Source of Lebanon’s Current Problems

Rep. Toby Moffett (D.Conn.), told the House yesterday that Lebanon’s “suffering began” after King Hussein of Jordan “expelled” a half million Palestinians who found haven in Lebanon. He also reported that on a recent Congressional fact-finding mission to the Middle East which he headed, he found some Palestinian mayor and professionals on the West Bank who would like to join in the Camp David peace process.

Moffett, who is himself of Lebanese descent, headed the first Congressional mission to the Middle East to focus on Lebanon’s problems. The group visited Syria and Israel in addition to Lebanon. Describing the situation he found in Lebanon, Moffett said that Christian rule, mandated by the Lebanese constitution, “caused deep resentment in Lebanon’s Moslem circles long before the current strife. Then,” he added, “a half million Palestinians expelled by Jordan’s King Hussein landed on Lebanon’s doorstep. And the country’s suffering began, the consequence of its own openness, its generosity and its free society.”

The Congressman noted that “in 1975 the battles erupted, Palestinians against Christians. Then Syria sent in its ‘peace-keeping force,’ fighting first with the Palestinians and later with the Christians. So for it has cost more than 70,000 lives. Some of them, I found, were my relatives.”

COMMUNICATIONS GAP IN THE MIDEAST

Moffett emphasized that a communications gap exists in the Middle East. “What is probably our most lasting impression,” he said referring to his delegation’s 16-day four of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, “is the lack of communication. The isolation of one country from another — not just geographically but leader-to-leader. The Syrians do not seem to realize the bitterness against them in Lebanon, the Israeli leaders and citizens show incredible curiosity about Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat. There is a wide gulf between the Palestinians and Israelis on the West Bank,” he said.

Moffett said he believed that Israel Defense Minister Ezer Weizman would be willing to meet with President Elias Sarkis of Lebanon and President Hafez Assad of Syria “but he cannot.”

Moffett said that the “Palestinians must stop their opposition to the Camp David process.” He said that “privately, some of the Palestinian mayors and professionals with whom we met on the West Bank hinted that they would like to join the process but feel too isolated.” That finding contradicts news reports from the Middle East that there is solid opposition to the peace process on the part of West Bank politicians and others.

“Obviously, there’s a great need for some basic groundwork,” Moffett said. In addition to urging “the gradual withdrawal of Syrian forces” from Lebanon “and some solution to the Palestinian problem,” Moffett said “Arafat and his PLO must renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist and there must begin a national dialogue within Lebanon itself, unhampered by outside elements.”