From: soufi@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Khaled S. Soufi)
Subject: Re: I NEED HELP ON LEBANON RECENT HISTORY
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 19:26:38 GMT

spinoza@next03wor.wam.umd.edu (Prince Lev of the Domovoi) writes:

>> Question 2,
>> Did Pier Algemayyel vow revenge on TV accusing Israel of killing Bashir?
>> 
>John, please get a clue......Bashir was gonna sign a peace treaty with  
>Israel. They'd have no interest in seeing him dead. His "brothers" in  
>Syria and in the Palestinian camps, on the other hand, had lotsa reasons  
>to want Bashir six feet under. 

Let's review the sequence of events that happened prior to Bashir's
assassination, shall we?

I will once again quote the Chronicle of Lebanese events "Going All
the Way" by the senior foreign correspondent to the Washington Post,
Mr. Jonathan Randal:

"... even as President Reagan was speaking in California on September
1, Begin was meeting secretly with Gemayel in northern Israel in yet
another of their periodic encounters.  Begin left the Carlton Hotel in
Nahariyya on the Mediterraneam coast at 11:00 p.m. and appeared at an
Israeli governement guesthouse closer to the Lebanese border, where he
had kept Gemayel cooling his heels for two hours.  Accompanying Begin
were Sharon and Saad Haddad, a cashiered Lebanese army major who
commanded a border militia paid, provisioned, and armed by Israel.
Begin routinely used Haddad to float Israeli trial balloons, and the
tone of Haddad's utterances more and more closely reflected Israel's
anguish about Bashir's "ingratitude" for the invasion and Israel's
help in his election.

It was not a good meeting.  For Begin and Sharon, Topic A was the
peace treaty they wanted Lebanon to sign quickly, no later than a
month after Gemayel's inauguration on September 23.  When Gemayel once
again explained his problems with a treaty--and proposed instead a
nonagression pact--Begin cited Haddad's case.  Haddad knew how to take
orders, knew what was best for both Israel and Lebanon; he was an
example to be followed, he said.  But even on that score there was
confrontation.  Bashir had wanted to put Haddad on trial for
dereliction of duty and treasonable trafficking with Israel (although
aides suggested the major would be let off with only a pro forma
condemnation).  Yet here was Begin insisting that Haddad serve as
Defense Minister or army commander in Bashir's new government.
Gemayel and Begin ended up shouting at each other.  Sharon said that
when he held someone or something in his grasp, he did not give them
up.  Israel was in the driver's seat, he made clear, and Bashir had
better do what was expected of him.  Gemayel at one point held out
both arms and said "Put the handcuffs on!"  Then he shouted, "I am not
your vassal!"

Of course, by many accounting systems, he was..."

[Then after the assassination]

"The Christians felt used by the Israelis.  They drew no distinction
between the Israeli government, which sought to defend them, and an
enterprising press, an outraged population, and a revivified
opposition that were determined to get at the truth.  Nor were they
convinced that Israel was innocent of Gemayel's assassination.  Even
in the Gemayel family seat, the mountain village of Bikfaya, and even
among key members of his clan, the episode at Naharriya was cited as
sufficient proof that Israelis preferred a partitioned Lebanon to the
prospect of a strong government under Bashir.  Succumbing to the
prevalent view of an omniscent, omnipotent, ubiquitous Israel, many
Lebanese argued that only the Jewish state was clever enough to have
killed Gemayel in the party building, that holy of holies."

							pp 11-21


>Of course Pierre vowed vengeance against those responsible for the murder  
>of Bashir. And the Phalange carried it out, too.
>Or are we supposed to believe you've forgotten Sabra and Shatila?

I guess whoever taught you how to argue the Israeli case in public
forgot to mention that there are different kind of audiences out
there.  It is very likely that your lies above might work on an
ill-informed audience about the ME affairs, say, the American audience
for example!  But to convince a bunch of Lebanese (or well-informed
Americans who frequently post to this group) that people in Sabra and
Shatila were responsible for the assassination of Bashir Gemayel in
the Lebanese Forces' headquarters in the heart of East-Beirut is a big
mistake.

>shalom'

>lev

-- 
+-----------Khaled Soufi-------------+--------------------------+
|   Department of Computer Science   | email: soufi@cs.uiuc.edu |
| U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | phone: (217)244-2274 (W) |
+------------------------------------+--------------------------+