Why did the Lebanese resistance accept 1701?
14/08/2006
- Opinión
Beirut.- Undoubtedly the national Lebanese resistance has emerged
victorious in the war against Israeli aggression. We came here in
solidarity with the Lebanese people and to witness the “muqawama” or
resistance. But we were in fact fortunate to witness the victory of
Lebanon over the military might of Israel. The wheels of history are
turning and the people of the world have drawn immense hope and
inspiration from the courageous Lebanese Resistance led by the
Hezbollah and its secretary general Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah. The
Lebanese resistance was also supported by the Lebanese Communist Party
and they fought shoulder to shoulder with their comrades in the
Hezbollah and the Amal and the other patriotic parties and
organisations. The unity of the Lebanese people across all religions
and classes and the resilience and resistance of the civil society
have also been central to the triumph over Israel and the US.
In the jubilation all around, it is imperative that we understand the
meaning of UN resolution 1701. What Israel and America suffered
militarily, they are trying to salvage diplomatically. It is true that
Hezbollah did succeed in driving out Israel from the occupied lands of
South Lebanon during a prolonged war between 1982 and 2000. But this
time they have defeated the Israeli army in 34 days. Israel lost more
than 100soldiers and 40 Merkava tanks and moreover they did not
succeed in capturing a single village or town. The only success for
Israel was its slaughter of [an estimated] 1500 innocent civilians
and the wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Then the question lies as to why did the Lebanese resistance agree to
1701 when they in reality had they Israelis in the corner. We spoke to
the representatives of the resistance and this is what emerged.
It is true that the resistance accepted 1701 and was in agreement with
the Lebanese government but with some reservations that they have
commented upon. The first priority of the resistance was to arrive at
a truce whereby the Israeli policy of imposing “collective punishment”
by widespread targeted killings of civilians would be brought to a
halt. And that indeed has been brought to a halt. The resistance has
appealed for the people to return to their homes in South Lebanon and
has also announced that all the destroyed homes and infrastructure
will be rebuilt. Hasan Nasrallah has called this the “Jihad al-binah”
or the Jihad for reconstruction. The faith that the people have on the
resistance is so immense that in spite of the presence of Israeli
troops in the South, the people are going back to their destroyed
homes and farms in their hundreds of thousands.
The other aspect that should be clarified is that 1701 is not a
“ceasefire” but an “end to hostilities” and there is a significant
difference between the two terms that may not be as apparent.
Basically end of hostilities means that Israel will now stop targeting
civilian populated areas and that has now given a respite to the
people. On the other hand the “ceasefire” is between the resistance
and Israel. Which basically means that if a tank or Israeli soldiers
intrude further into Lebanese lands, the resistance will fight back.
Also the resistance has unambiguously stated that the “state of war”
will continue until Israel vacates all occupied Lebanese te
rritory, including the Shebaa farms. So the end of hostility agreement
will remove the civilians from immediate danger and then the battle
will be between the resistance and Israel.
I asked Ali Fayyad, the political ideologue of the Hezbollah, as to
what prevents Israel from again targeting civilian areas under the
same old pretext that Hezbollah was firing the rockets from those very
areas. Ali Fayyad clearly stated that they valued the lives of
civilians more than Israel and this is proved by the number of
civilian casualities suffered by both sides. But he also believed that
Israel will not target the civilians again due to international
pressure since they have also lost the diplomatic and political
battle. In spite of resolution 1701, Israel has announced the siege
of Lebanon by land, sea and air. The resistance is studying and
analysing this as it clearly violates Article 1 of 1701 and
international law as it will clearly harm the Lebanese nation. The a
greement also speaks of respecting the “blue line” or the Lebanese-
Israeli border. Ali Fayyad stated that “unless there is a total
withdrawal of Israeli soldiers, we will carry on the struggle and we
will discuss the disarming of the Hezbollah only after we are
liberated and Israel refrains from all future wars of aggression.”
The fact of the matter is that it is only the resistance or the
muqawama that can face up to the Israeli army. Lebanon lacks a army
capable of taking on Israel. Even the President Emile Lahoud stated
that “the only force capable of countering the Israeli aggression is
the resistance. Our army is only meant for internal policing and is
lightly armed. It was Israel that started this war and they always
find an excuse. Unlike some others within the Arab world, I was
confident that the resistance would be capable of fighting and
defeating the Israeli army. Even though in terms of conventional arms
the balance is overwhelmingly in favour of Israel, our guerilla
resistance has proved victorious. That is why they want to disarm the
Hezbollah, so that Israel can once again reoccupy Lebanon as in 19
82.”
Even Khalid Hadadh, secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party,
supports the Lebanese resistance and said they they will resist the
Israeli aggression in alliance with the Hezbollah. Commenting on
Hassan Nasrallah he stated that “he is our Arab Che Guevara with a
turban”. Regarding 1701 Hadadh was of the opinion that it is a
contradiction and will only lead to a tenuous peace since it rewards
the aggressor.
One basic factor of the Lebanese victory has been the unity of the
people unlike Afghanistan and Iraq. The left forces and the Hezbollah
are doing their utmost to preserve this unity and are in dialogue with
all the political parties and social segments. Comrade Khalid also
emphatically defended the Hezbollah and called it the party of the
downtrodden and the deprived. Hezbollah, he said was “part of every
household and is mass socio-political movement for liberation”.
Comrade Khalid Hadadh also said that the “defeat of the resistance
will spell the end of Lebanon as a multi-religious and modern
democratic society and that is why we stand in solidarity with the
Hezbollah which is the vanguard of the resistance.”
The victory of the Lebanese people will lead to the consolidation of
the anti-imperialist upsurge the world over and will indeed give it a
new direction and momentum against the global project of US-Israeli
imperialism. We truly stand witness to a historic moment for the
people of the world.
- Feroze H. Mithiborwala, Forum Against War and Terror, Mumbai
Source: Focus on Trade #123
https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/116624
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