JPRS ID: 74889 NEAR EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORT
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74889
9 JANURRY i988 ~10. 2865 l OF 2
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JPRS 74889 .
9 J~~nuary 1980
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FBIS FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
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NEAR EAST /NORTH AFRICA REPORT , No . 2 0 6 5 9 Januar 19 8 0
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JPRS 74889
- 9 January 1980
NEAR EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORT
No. 2065
CONTENTS PAG~ -
INTER-ARAB AFFAIRS
'Arafat Interviewed on Palestinian Position, Moscow Visit,
Tunis Summit
(AL-SHA.'B, 19 Nov 79) 1
Salah Khalaf Discusses L~banese Problem, Says Palestinian
State Imminent
(AL-ANWAR, 2 Nov 79) 8
ISLAMIC AFFAIRS
Implications of Pope's U.S~ Visit to Islami.c, Arab Worid
Examined
(AL-HAWADITH, variaus dates) 34
Kishk's Article on Visit, by Ja:.al Kishk ~
Chief Editor's, Farran's Responses
Father George Rahmah's Response
" Dr Taysir Kawwa's Criticism
Father Ka.wkabani Responds to Jalal Kishk Article, by
Yuhanna Kawkabani
Sociologist Ana.lyzes Islam's Challenge to West
(Anwar Abdel-Malek Interview; LE MONDE, 9 Dec 79) 66
IRAN
Ayatollah Montazeri Explains Stance Versus United States,
Neighboring States
(Montazeri Interview; AL-SAFIR, 19 Nov 79) 73
ZSRAEL
Opposition Parties' Destructive Methods Ha.rm Nation
(HAZOFEH, 9 Nov 79) 78
- a - [III - NE & A - 121]
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CONTENTS (Continued) Page
Closure of ~iAZOFEH: Likened to Party Suicide
(Editorial; HAZOFEH, 9 Nov 79) gl
Agudat Israel Stand on Abortion Lauded
(Editorial; HAZOFEH, 6 Nov 79) 84
Settlers Must Cooperate With Government Policy
(Editorial; HAZOFEH, 9 Nov 79) 86
Authority of Public Relations Ministry Must Be Set Down
(Editorial; HAZOFEH, 5 Nov 79) gg
New PoZice Superintendent Faces Ma.ny Challenges
- (Editorial; HAZOFEH, 6 Nov 79) 90
Amos Horev Speaks Out on Current Ordnance Issues
(Amos Horev Interview; MA'ARKHOT HIMUSH No 71, ~
~
Oct 79) 92
- LEBANON
i
Palestinians Agree To Halt Operations From South Lebanon
_ (AL-HAWADITH, 9 Nov 79) 96
Sa'ib Salam, Walid Junblat, F;amil al-As'ad Form Alliance
(Walid 'Awad; AL-HAWADITH, 9 Nov 79) 98 ~
- LIBYA ~
Qadhdhafi's African Policy Reviewed, Studied ~
(Bassam Tayyarah; AL-NAHAR AL-'ARABI WA AL-DUWALI,
12-18 Nov 79) 101 ,
MAURITANIA
~
- Circumstances Engulfing Ould Daddah's Release Discussed ~
(Huda al-Hus~yni; AL-HAWADITH, 2 Nov 79) 105
MOROCCO
Effects of U.S. Decision To Supply Country With We~pons =
Discussed
_ (Sulayman al-Farzali; AL-HAWADITH, 2 Nov 79) 108
- b -
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>
CONTENTS (Continued) Page
Human Rights Violations Decried
(AL-MUHARRIR, 18 Nov 79) 114
Interior Minister Questioned on Persecution of USFP by
Local Authorities
(AL-MUHARRIR, 26 Nov 79) 116
Conditions at Branch of Cadi Ayad School Revealed
(Beni Mellal; AL-MUHARRIR, 29 Nov 79) 121
_ Bar Association nenounces Arrest of Lawyers
(AL-ML'iiARRIR, 29 Nov 79) .................o........... 123
- c -
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' INTER-AR.AB AFFAIRS
~
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; ~ 'ARAFAT INTERVIEWID ON PALESTINIA,'J POSITION, MOSCOW VISIT, TUNIS SUMMIT
;
i Algiers AL-SHA'B in Arabic 19 Nov 79 pp 1, 5
~
i [Interview with Yasir 'rlrafat, PLO Chairman, by Ramzi Habia; "On Second
! Anniversary of al-Sadat Regime's Capitulation and on Eve of Tunis Summit,
' Yasir 'Arafat Gives Exclusive Interview to AL-SHA'B; Political Decision
' Required of Our Arab Nation; We Have Gone Beyond Phase of Steadf astness and
Begun Phase of Successful Confrontation; Events of Past 2 Years Have Proven
That We Have Gone Beyond Phase of Steadfastness and Begun Phase of Success-
, ful Confrontation; [de Refuse to Have Tunis Sumnit Constitute a Step Back-
ward; U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Push Area Toward War; At Meeting of
Steadfastness Front in Algiers, We Formulatea ^^mmon Plan to Confront
Current Developments in Area; Alternative to Camp David Accords Is Con-
' tinuation of Fighting"]
; [Text] On the occasion of the second anniversary of al-Sadat's capitula-
~ tionist v~sit to the occupied Jerusalem and on the eve of the convocation
of the Arab summit in Tunis, Yasir 'Arafat, the PLO Executive Committee
chairman, has granted AL-SHA'B exclusively a long interview in which he
has dealt with the political and military position of the Palestinian
issue and with the recent developments on the Arab arena.
'Arafat has answered AL-SHA'B questions concerning his evaluation of the
steadfa~tness and confrontation procession after 2 years of the treasonous
visit. He has also talked about the Tunis summit and what he expects of
it as a summit "that must be advanced." He has also pointed out that the
works of the latest conference of the Arab ministers of f oreign affairs
constituted a victory for the reality under which we live.
Yasir 'Arafat also touched on the situation in southern Lebanon, saying
that the Zionist enemy uses southern Lebanon as an experimental field -
against our children and women and that we have no choice, as he says, but
to fight against the enemy's barbaric attacks.
After citing the examples of the Algerian and Vietnamese revolutions in
steadfastness, the Palestinian revolution leader analyzed the dimensions
of the popular uprising currently sweeping the West Bank. He then defined
the Pale~tinian revolution's position toward *_he Iranian revolution which
is facing an economic war, in the full sense of the world, launched by the
United States.
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" He finally said that the alternative to the Camp David accords is fighting
and continuation of the fight, wondering how Carter can use the oil weapon
_ and the weapon of freezing assets against Iran in 48 hours while we, the
Arabs, are not entitled to use any of our weapons!
After his return from Moscow and in the midst of his preparations for tbe
Arab summit, AL-SHA'B in terviewed PLO Chairman Yasir 'Arafat in Beirut, the
capital of Lebanon, and conducted with him a dialogue dealing with the
West Bank and Gaza upris ing and, the Palestinian revolution's position
toward the ongoing conf rontation between the Iranian revolution and the
United States of America.
The Palestinian revolution commander answered AL-SHA'B questions with utt~r
~ frankness, focusing the lights on the developments being currently under-
gone by the Middle East area.
Even though the interview that our corrP~pondent in Beirut conducted had
been designed to deal w ith the second anniversary of the ominous 19 Nove~
ber and to evaluate the steadfastness and confrontation procession organized
to answer the trip of treason and shame made by al-Sadat to the occupied
Jerusalem on this day in 1971, the fast-moving current developments that
are connected in more than one way with the national reply to the plot, made
it inevitable but to touch on these issues. Abu-'Ammar, the general comanan-
der of the Palestinian revolution, agreed, thankfully, to define to AL-
SHA'B his positions toward these issues, declaring that the resistance has
put its forces on the alert to participate in confronting any aggression to
which the revolutionary Iran may be exposed. Abu-'Ammar has not ruled out
the possibility that the imperialist-Zionist alliance may commit another
folly in the area. He has also stressed that the Camp David musketeers have
not b een ab 1e to move a s ingle s tep f orward.
Abu-'Ammar has told AL-SHA'B that Algeria is prepared to take part in any
liberation war and that, like the Palestinian revolution, Algeria makes its
own decision. He also s aid that all the Arabs have to do is to respond to
the Algerian and Palestinian revolutions so that we may initiate the vic-
torious offensive and f oil the plot against our Arab nation.
Following is the verbatim text of the interview conducted with brother
Abu-'Ammar in one of the revolution's positions:
[QuestionJ zn the 2 years since the treasonous visit to Jerusalem, the
Palestinian revolution has scored further political and military victories
and the tripartite alliance [U.S.-Egyptian-Israeli] has reached a deadend.
What is your evaluation of the steadfastness and confrontation march after
these 2 years?
[Answer] There is no doubt that the resignations taking place in the
Zionist entity currently indicate the dilemma faced by Camp D2vid. Tt?e
~ attentior~ of whoever keeps up with the Egyptian information media is
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arrested by the hysterical attack against the Steadfastness and Confronta-
tion Front, against the leaders of the front, against the Baghdad summit,
against the Baghdad suuunit resolutions and against the Arab ministers of
f oreign affairs and f inance. These frenzied actions and th~s suspect cam-
paign that is being launched by the Camp David parties against the Pales-
tinian revolution and against the Palestinian revolution le adership in
particular are the biggest indication of the dileuuna and the deadend reached
- by the Camp David parties.
I want to ask, where is the "halo" that used to surround al- Sadat? Where
is the hero of peace? The hero of peace watches the crushin g war launched
by the Zionist forces against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples while
shaking hands with Ezer Weizman, the Israeli minister of war, who has just
come to Cairo from southern Lebanon or who is just about to return from
Cairo to southern Lebanon to intensify his~~military operations against
the Leb anese and Palestinian peoples! This is why I say tha t the events
of the past 2 years have proven that we have gone beyond the phase of
steadfastness and have begun the phase of successful confron tation. We
have besieged the Camp David parties. What is occurring in the occupied
territories provides the proof that the Camp David musketeers are incap-
able of moving a single step forward in the self-rule plat and that they
are at the threshold of a new defeat.
[Question] Do you expect the Tunis summit to constitute an advanced step
on the conf rontation path and to surpass the minimum-limit r esolutions of
the Baghdad su~�nit?
[Answer? The Tunis suumiit must be advanced. It must be advanced. This
- is what we agreed upon with my brothers the Arab heads of state ar the
Algiers conference when the leaders of the Steadfastness and Confrontation
Front countries met during the 25th anniversary of the inception of the
Algerian revolution. We have also agreed with the Iraqi bro thers in the
wake of the meeting with brother President Saddam Husayn. This means that
we refuse to have the Tunis summit constitute a step backward, if not a
step forward at least. We accept no retreat.
[Question] Doesn't approval of the Arab summit agenda as agreed upon by
the Ara~ ministers of foreign affairs constitute a victory f or the stead-
f astness and confrontation position?
[Answer] I will not say that it constitutes a victory for anybody but I
will say that it constitutes a victory for the reality under which we live.
Our Arab nation is facing a plot. All that is happening in southern
Lebanon, in northwest Africa, in the northern front and inside the occupied
territories is nothing but the ramifications of the Camp David plot. We
expected this as of the moment in which al-Sadat went to Jerusalem and as
of the moment in which the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty--the treaty of
capitulation and of humiliation and shame--was signed.
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[Question] Haw does the Palestinian resistance view the possibilities of
a solution in southern Leb anon and how does it view the situation there?
[Answer] As I have already said, the solution in southern Lebanon lies
primarily in the political decision which will be issued by the Arab sum-
mit on whether we are to st and fast or not and whether we are to be or not
to be. The Zionist ambitions in southern Lebanon are obvious. The Zionist
plan is "moving forth" and is well-known and it has already been imple-
mented in the Golan, in the West Bank and in Gaza Strip. Confronting the
Zionist plan is a must. What is required is a political decision. I as k:
Does the Arab nation want to ha~e a truce with the Zionist plan? No. We
in the Palestinian revolution have taken the decision to confront "and urge
the believers to fight." It can only cost life. By God, if my rifle were
the only one, I would still fight. We have a just cause. We are the victims
of an aggression. It is the right of all states whose lands are occupied
and all states which are at tacked to f ight in defense of their lands, of
their honor, their dignity and their future. This is the Palestinian revolu-
tion's decision and the decis~on of all the free and honorable men in the
Arab homeland. We must consider this a fundamental point in confronting the
bitter reality under which the Lebanese and Palestinian masses are living.
This is the responsibility of the Arab summit which must provide these
masses with protection, care, refuge and compensations. What is important
is the decision. What is required of our Arab nation is the political '
decision.
The Palestinian revolution's decision is to continue the confrontation and
the steadfastness--this mythical steadfastness that have gone on for 7 months
_ under the hell in which we have been living in Lebanon. What has happened?
They have used the latest U.S. weapons--the F-15's and F-16's. Even the
F-18's which they have not yet used do not intimidate us. Let them use
them and let them use with them even F-80's. They are welcome. -
Did the Vietnamese succumb ? We will not succumb. The Vietnamese did not
succumb and, therefore, we will not succumb. The Algerians did not succumb
and, therefore, we will no t siiccumb. Our nation has enormous resources and
the Palestinian revolution is on the threshold of the 16th year of its life.
It is the longest Arab revolution and it is still steadfast everywhere.
It is steadfast in the occupied Jordan [sic]. There are 11,000 policemen,
beside the Zionist army, to confront the escalating operations of the
Palestinian revolutionaries in the occupied territories.
The Zionist enemy is using Lebanon as an experimental field against child-
ren and women and is testin g the U.S. weapons there. We have no choice
but to fight against his b arbaric attacks.
[Question] Where does the brother general commander of the Palestinian
revolution place the event that is preoccupying the world at present, namely
the uprising of the occupied territories, and what are its dimensions in
the confrontation battle a gainst the Camp David plot and its tripartite
alliance, especially under the present circumstances?
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[Answer] First, we must examine what is h appening in t}~e occupied terri-
tories, considering that they are one of the fundamental fronts on which
we are fighting against the Camp David plot. At the same time, it is one
of the fronts in which the Carter-Begin-al-Sadat trio has launched its
counter-attack in retaliation for the steadfastness and confron tation
resolutions which were followed by the Baghdad su~nit after which came
the conference of the Arab ministers of f oreign affairs and finance to
implement the resolutions agreed upon.
This counter-attack h as been focused on our people in the occupied terri-
tories and has taken the form of a number of serious, fascist and oppressive
measures, such as the confiscation of land, the construction of settlements,
terrurization of the population through deportation and detention and the
adoption of collective punitive measures against towns and villages--mea-
sures which have reached the point of seiz ing the sources of water. As a
result, our people in the occupied territories have produced th is magnifi-
cent reply which is currently crowned by the splendid popular uprising
against the Zionist authorities' decisions to depoct one of our cadres and
of the leaders of our people in the occupied territories, namely brother
Bassam al-Shak'ah, the mayor of Nabulus.
The other side of the battle is the intensifying military war of attrition
against our Lebanese and Palestinian peoples--a war in which the latest
weapons, even those banned internationally, are used, causing the destruc-
tion of numerous Lebanese towns and villages and of Palestinian camps and
the eviction of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese and Palestin ians. The
fact is that this infernal terrorist war is still going on and ttiat the
Zionist enemy leaders are still implementing it.
But this will not intimidate us and will not cause us to hesitate in
retaliating against the enemy, whether in the occupied territories or in
southern Lebanon, with all the means af mi litary and political struggle.
We have all become experienced in this struggle and we, and all the Arabs -
with us, will not retreat. Our steadfastness has proven that the Arab
nation does not lack the resolution and th e steadfastness.
[Question] The current battle between the Iranian revolution and the
United States of America seems to be open to all possibilities. After the
talk about a Palestinian mediation came the Palestinian statement warning
the United States of the consequences of a ggression and declaring that the
Palestinian revolution stands with the Ir anian revolution in the same
trencii. How do you view the steps of this confrontation?
[Answer] rirst, we have not and will not exert mediation efforts with the -
Iranian revolution concerning the hostages detained in the U.S. embassy.
We and the Iranian revolution are in one trench. ~Iowever, we did move
at the outset and made swift contacts with our Iranian brothers on the
basis of the principle that this country is a friend of the [Palestinian]
revolution. We moved accordingly and Brig Gen Sa'd Sayil, alias Abu-a1-
Walid, the chief of the operaticns room, was sent to Iran to explore the
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situation. In the wake of the developments that have taken place, begin-
ning with the stopped importation of Iranian oil and the freezing of the
Iranian assets in U.S. banks by the United States, and after U.S., British
and Aus tr alian military moves to display their militar~ muscle in prenara-
tion for committing some foolish acts, we are now viewing the situation
from a d ifferent angle. The decision to freeze the Iranian assets in U.S.
banks is a serious and unparalleled precedence in the world. This means
- that they are pushing the area toward the brink of war, especially since
this happened at a time when brother Bani Sadr (the present minister of
foreign affairs) declared the readiness of the Iranian officials to release
some det ainees. The U.S, decision to stop the importation of oil was taken
at this time. I see real danger in the freezing of assets and in the U.S.
' military movement and it is no speculation to say that it is "a declaration
of war." We are observing .the movement that accompanies the U.S. intensifi-
cation and we are analyzing the bases on which the parallel Zionist move-
ment will take place and in what direction this movement will proceed. There- -
fore, we are studying the reply to this movement. I have given an order
that our forces be put on the alert so that they may be ready to support
the Iranian revolution or to answer any attack that the Zionist enemy may
be thinking of launching against our people in southern Lebanon.
I am warning that the clouds of war are now gathering in the area. The
United S t ates and its ally, the Zionist entity, are responsible f or any
folly committed by either of these two allies and to which the other [al- -
SadatJ a 1 ly may be dragged.
[Question] Some people consider the escalated U.S, confrontation against
the Iranian revolution, the ban on the imp~rtation of oil and the freezing
of the assets as tantamount to an advance warning to the Arab summit,
especially to those ~~aho think of using the weapon of oil and of Arab
assets. What is the Palestinian revolution's answer to such a warning?
[Answer] Historical stances are not measured by the yardstick of loss a~d ,
profit. Consequently, I disagree with any person in our Arab nation who
measures matters with this yardstick. "0 you believers, you have been -
destined to fight and you may hate something that is good for you." [Loose -
translati on of Koran quotation]
As for th e warning, especially to the Palestinian revolution, I say that
_ the Palestinian revolution threatens and is not threatened and warns and
is not warned. The Palestinian revolution has repeatedly declared its
opinion on this issue with utter clarity.
[QuestionJ Your latest visit to the Soviet Union on the eve of the Arab
summit and of the U.S.-Iranian confrontation battle has been placed within -
the framework of organizing the conf rontation and giving it an international -
dimension. What is your opinion of this interpretation?
[Answer] There is no doubt that my visit to the Soviet Union has been
successfu 1 and it will certainly b e ref lected on the situation. I prefer
to let th e events talk.
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[Question] Does the visit have any connection with t~:~ steadfastness
and confrontation conference held in Algiers recently?
[Answer] The~~most importan t aspect of the Algiers conference is that we
formul~ced in it a common plan to confront all the current developments
In tlie area, Lncludin~; coorclination duri.n~ the forthcomin~ 1'unis cc~nfc~rence.
[Question] Some people wondEr about the alternative program to the Camp
David accords. What does the Palestinian revolution say?
~i
[Answer] The Palestinian revolution has offered the alternative. The
alternative is military escalation. The alternative is this large-scale
diplomatic movement. The revolution has projectPd the alternative with
this vast political activity, even inside the United States itself..
Let me ask: What was the alternative before France in World War II? There
was (Beitan) and there was de Gaulle. (Beitan) called for surrender to
Nazism. De Gaulle said no we will not surrender and he triumphed.
~ The alternative is ~:o continue fighting and is in continued fighting. The
alternative is in s~.eadf as tness. The alterna~ive is in confrontation. There
will come the day wl~en our Arab nation will be able to regain its terri-
tories. It has bee~i proven throughout history that the victory of oppt�ession
_ does not last. We notice that throughout history, the forces of oppression
were not able to stand fast. The French stayed in Algeria for 130 years
and used to say that Algeria was French. Where is France now insofar as
Algeria is concerned?
We celebrated at the beginning of this month the 25th anniversary oE the
inception of the victorious Algerian revolution and we saw the weapons that
are ready to take part with us when we adopt the decision for the compre-
hensive confrontation. We saw the Mig-25's, the SAM-9's and the 72 tank,
in addition to the latest weapons. I am certain that the Algerian revolu-
tion is ready to take part in the laberation war when it flares up. I
repeat that what is important is to adopt the decision, the stea~'fastness
decision.
'Ct~e dccLsion is rl~at of steadfastness ar present. The Palestinian revolu-
tion l~as been ahlc. to move Erom the steadfastness decision to impleinenting
the decision of political, military, diplomatic and popular confrontation
at more than anc front. The Arab nation is required to move and to get
prepared to use its weapons.
Within 48 hours, Carter used the oil weapon and weapon of freezing assets.
Aren't we entitled to use any of our weapons? It is as the poet has said: -
Forbidden to its nightingales is the branch; but permitted to birds of all
otlier kinds.
~re we forbid~ien to use our weapons whereas the United States is permitted
to use its weapons against Iran and to exploit its economic weapons against
_ Ciiba and China while we fiesitate to use one single weapon of ours?
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- INTER-ARAB AFFAIRS
SALAH KHALAF DISCUSSES LEBANESE PROBLEM, SAYS PALESTINIAN STATE IMMINENT
Beirut AL-ANWAR in Arabic 2 Nov 79 pp 4-5, 11 -
(Interview with Salah Khalaf by Fu'ad Da~bul and George Tarabulsi: "Text !
_ of Abu-Iyad's Interview With AL-ANWAR: I Call on Lebanese Front for !
Dialogue and for Frank Discussion; Resistance Will Not Again ~Take Picnic' i
in Lebanon's Quick Sands; Our Cause Is Strengthened With Support of Amin
al-Jumayyil and Danny Sham'un; Our Operations in South Are Suspended and '
Will Remain So; Lebanese Crisis will be Solved in Seconds if All Parties ;
Sever Their Relations With Outside World; Palestinian State Closer Than i
Observers Think"~ ~
[Text] Salah Khalaf (Abu-Iyad) has stated in an exclusive interview with '
AL-ANWAR that he does not expect new battles in Lebanon and that the ~
Palestinian resistance will not again waste its time on a picnic in Lebanon's ~
quick sands.
He called on the Lebanese Front for a meeting of frank discussion to put all
matters in the open and to eliminate fear from the hearts. He said that if ~
every faction severs its relations with the outside circles, be they Arab
or international, then the Lebanese crisis would be solved within seconds.
Abu-Iyad lauded Amin al-Jumayyil's and Danny Sham'un~s recent statements in j
the United States. He also lauded Bashir al-Jumayyil's position toward the
United States. He said: When Amin al-Jumayyil and Danny Sham~un are on my ~
side, my cause is strengthened domestically and externally. j
He said that the solution in Lebanon is achieved by way of unanimous Lebanese ~
detente with the Palestinians, through legitimacy, and in the presence and '
under the patronage of th~ State of Syria.
He also said: The Lebanese Front is not the only one responsible for
sabotaging the solution. There are numerous sides sabotaging it. There are
kingdoms and more kingdoms and there is a national unity between the crooks.
There is unity between the two [eastern and western] areas and they steal
cars in the eastern areas and sell them in the western and vice versa.
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Abu-Iyad said that he supports absolutely the army's entry to the south and
that i� Lebanon's Arab Army commits whatever may harm the army, "we will
fight it."
He further said� Our operations i.n the south are suspended and will remain
suspended. He added� We support any measure that has been taken or will be
taken in the future to abolish the armed manifestations.
Abu-Iyad declared: The Palestinian state will be realized in a shorter time
than most observers expect. I do not want to divulge a secret but what I
want to say is that all the contacts that are taking place are bringing closer
the close~ and ver.y close, zero hour.
Following is the text of the interview:
[Question] The key to an interview with Abu-Iyad is this traditional question:
Where does the path to Palestine pass through?
[Answer] (Laughingly) Strange. I have explained this point more than once.
(Question] We would like to hear it [explanation] from you once more.
[Answer] I am not evading an answer to this question. On the contrary, there
are many things that are more important to talk about. I am telling this
story for the tenth time. However, there is no harm in repeating it to
AL-ANWAR. I was making ~ speech on the occasion of the martyrdom of two
Lebanese in the area of 'Aynturah. A woman came weeping and bemoaning to
the podium and said: Wouldn't it have been better for them to have been
martyred for Palestine? I was deeply touched and walked down from the podium
to her. to try to comfort her. While talking with her, ~ne of those present
interrupted and said loudly something to the effect that the path to Palestine
passes through Junyah, 'Aynturah, etc. It so happened that a journalist was
present and reported the statement, attributing it to me. The Phalanges
radio got enraged and launched a scathing atCack against me. The truth is
that I did not wieh to answer those attacks ;it the time because of the
special circumstances under which the country was living. However, I did
explain the matter properly when the storm had subsided. Believe me I did
not make that statement and also believe me ChatI am not one to make such
statements.
Reorganizing Relations
(Question] Brother Abu-Iyad, the fact is that you are now in charge of
reorganizing the Lebanese-Palestinian relations and that you are exerting
thankful efforts in this regard. Where have these efforts of yours reached
so far? -
[Answer] The fact is that I am not exerting these efforts on a personal basis
but on assignment by the other brothers.
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I believe that the meeting that has taken place between brother Abu-'Ammar
and President Sarkis (and before him with Prime Minister al-Huss) constituted _
a positive and very important phase, especially at a time when the issue
of Lebanon and of its southern part and our issue in particular are passing
through a very serious stage in which only serious and positive statements
are permissible. This meeting crowned a series of ineetings held with
several sides and all those meetings were positive. Their outcome is not
tangible yet. However, the good results of the meetings will show shortly.
Listen carefully to what I am going to say. One side, even two sides
together, cannot play a positive role in isolation from the other sides.
It is not enough for the government to be positive and it is not enough
_ for the resistance to be positive. Positivity must the slogan of all
the parties concerned and all concerned should sit around the negotiations
table and solve all the problems.
Here, we must not forget Syria's role, regardless of the opinion of some .
- sides in the Arab Deterrence Forces, because Syria has its influential role
on the Lebanese stage, like it or not. Disregarding Syria's role in any
political solution is in itself a disregarding of reason and of logic.
Therefore, I say that an understanding must be reached with the legitimate -
Lebanese government and this government must be made to represent all so
that when an understanding is reached between the government and the resis-
tance, this understanding will be reflected on all concerned. The legitimate
government [al-shar'iyah] is the first and the last authority and it is the
big river into which all the other tributaries must flow and in which they
must p].ace their trust, beginning with the National Movement and National
Front and ending with the Lebanese Front, because the solution will come
with and through the government. There is no alternative to the govern-
ment, not now and not in the future. Lebanon's salvation will come through _
understanding and without an understanding there will be no solution, regard-
less of what moves the parties concerned made and regardless of how sincere _
they are in their moves.
[Question] You are talking about the solution, frankly? Is there one
problem or are there several problems on the Lebanese stage. What is the
link between them [problems] and where is the starting point?
[Answer] Fragmenting the problems in Lebanon is a very faulty thing. However,
it can be said that there are hotter problems than others and there are
problems that can be postponed and others that cannot.
The hot problem presently is the south. But the other problems are no less
hot than it is. The north is a problem. What is happening in the eastern area
is a problem and what is happening in the western area is also a problem.
- The legitimate government's control over all the Lebanese territories is a
problem and detente is a problem. All these are problems and if you wanted
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- ta arrange them on the basis of priority, you would not be able to. The
solution, in my opinion, will not come except by way of a Lebanese deten~e--
as I have always stated without ever changing my opinion--and then through
unanimous Lebanese detente, through the legitimate government, with the
Palestinians, in the presence and under the patronage of the State of Syria.
_ These are general statements. If you want details, then I can assure you
that several~hands are tampering with the south and pouring oil on its raging _
fire. I will give you an example of this fact in the interview with Sa'd
Haddad published by one of the newspapers. Is the aim of this interview to
sabotage the solution or ~ust to get it ready? If the aim of the interview
is to have the army enter the south on agreement with Sa'd Haddad, then it
would have been better not to have published the interview and to have taken
the feelings of the others in this regard into consideration.
National Movement's Role
- (Question] Sorry for interrupting you but it is said that Sa'd Haddad has
embarrassed you and has exposed some of the practices to which you resort
vis-a-vis the government. For example, when agreement was reached between
you and the legitimate government on the army's entry to the south [words
missing] to decide the agreement by throwing the bal? in the National
Movement's court. Then Sa'd Haddad came and threw the ba11 in your court
_ anew, thus exposing the unclear intentions in the dealings between the
Palestinian revolution and the Lebanese legitimate government. What is your
reply?
_ [Answer] The f act is that a part of what you have said is somewhat true. But
on the other hand, I cannot disregard the National Movement which has its
weight on the Lebanese stage.
_ Let us speak more frankly. When the Syrian forc:es, and then the Saudi
forces, were evacuated from Burj Rizq, the legitimate government was compelled
to negotiate with Bashir al-Jumayyil and Danny Sham'un for days to gain their
approval for the army's entry to the said area. This is a reality in Lebanon
created not by Abu-Iyad but by the circumstances, by the Lebanese structure
- and by the equations agreed upon throughout long generations.
The following question occurs to my mind here: If the Lebanese army were
stronger and if the I'halanges and Liberal parties did not have their effective
presence in the eastern area, would the Lebanese army command take the trouble
or condescend to negotiate with this or ~;iat, as it has done with Bashir and
Danny? I don't think so. But when a man is powerless he finds himself
compelled to enter these areas through understanding and dialogue, exactly -
as has happened between the I,ebanese army and the leaders of the Lebanese
forces.
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In the south, and regardless of the weight of the other forces, the National
Movement has its presenc~e, its intrinsic strength and its strong entity.
Suppose here that I approve the army's entry to the south and the National
Movement opposes it, what would happen? The answer is very simple, namely
- that r'~is movement, in cooperation with Lebanon's Arab Army, can fully
prevent the army from entering, exactly like when Sa'd Haddad and his grn~p
opposed the army's entry. Isn't it so?
Kingdoms and Kingdoms
[Question] They will prevent the army if you want this to happen.
[Answer] It is not so. I approve frankness, provided that you accept my
frankness also.
Until now, I have not heard a single sweet word from the other side so that
I may feel comfortable and may establish a balance in my relations with this
side. Listen ~to Bashir's or Danny's statements, or even to the statement
made by the Lebanese Front after our agreement with the government. They
are statements full of defamation. This is shameful and it is a sabotaging
of the solution, in my opinion.
Don't take my words to mean that the Lebanese Front is solely responsible
for sabotaging the solution. Not at all. There are numerous sides sabotaging
it. There are kingdoms and kingdoms and every one who has his kingdom is
happy with it. Let this age of kingdoms end. Let the real Lebanon live.
Abdicate to the legitimate government and let it live.
As for us as Palestinians, I assure you that we do not wish to support one
= faction at the expense of another because we need to have all the sides
satisfied. This is why I say that what has delayed the speedy entry of the
army so far is the violent statement issued by the Lebanese Front and then
by the opinion of the National Movement which has its presence in the south.
Add to this the interview given by Sa'd Haddad.
Finally, and regardless of the position of all the well-known and the secret
columns that want to sabotage the solution, quote me as stating that we
support the entry of the Lebanese army in the manner that the government
deems fit, but on the basis of comprehensive agreement among all the sides
because separate and offhanded solutions usually lead to failure most of
the time.
[Question] The legitimate government has projected a specific visualization
or a specific working paper for the expected Arab summit and this visualization
or paper is close to your personal projections. Prime Minister al-Huss has
said that Lebanon cannot go to the summit without a Lebanese-Palestinian
detente supported by Syria.
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We notice that this thing [visualization] which is close to yours is
faltering. What we mean is that the [army's] entry to the south will
establish the'government's authority at the expense of the kingdoms
pres~nt there. As long as you are in agreement in your pro~ectiona, as is
evident from your statements and meetings and from Prime Minister al-Huss's
statements and utterances, then why do you let the other marginal obstacles
obstruct the realization of your 3oint goals?
(Answer] I would like in my turn, to ask you this question in view of the
fact that you work in the press and keep up with the news: Do these words
[of yours] apply to the eastern area? Can the army enter a single building
in the said area without the approsal of the Phalanges or the Liberals? You
cannot ask me, brother, to be more royalist than the king. I am telling
you for the tenth time that the National Movement and the National Front -
~ have their presence that nobody can deny, not me, not you and not anybody.
Never understand my words to mean that the National Movement is intransigent
and opposes the solution. Not at all. The movement projects the issue
within the framework of a comprehensive solution for the entire Lebanese
issue. This is the movement's apinion and this is its position and I have
nothing to do with the matter.
This is what I have explained to Prime Minister al-Huss in my meeting with
him.
_ [QuestionJ What was the government's reply? `
[Answer] This question would be better addressed to Prime Minister al-Huss
personally.
National Movement Isn't in Our Pocket
[Question) The prevalent view is that the resistance made recently international
political and informational gains equal to what it will lose as a result of the
army's entry to the south which will have the area of the resistance's
military influence reduced. It seems that the government and the resistance
do not see eye to eye in this regard. What is your opinion.
[Answer] The situation is not exactly as you have pointed out. But I excuse
you because the error you have fallen into is the same as that into which
more than one side on the Lebanese stage has fallen.
Everybody thinks that the National Movement is in our pocket. This is wrong. -
It is true that we influence the movement and it influences us. But this
influence is not to the degree that you or those better-informed than you -
imagine.
Let me give you as an example of this fact the day in which the Palestinians
met with Sham'un and a1-Jumayyil. Didn't the National Movement get enraged
at us? And did it leave a single word that it did not say against us? Is
, this true or not? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to carry the
sword and kill them because they made statements against this meeting? -
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To answer your question, the positions of the resistance and those of the
National Movement should not be linked because each of them has its inde-
pendent presence. Even though there is cooperation between us at the level
of certain matters, everything has its limits ultimately.
[QuestionJ Don't you think that the resistance's weight tips the scales in ~
its favor?
[Answer] These words are correct only in one case, namely when the legitimate
government is in control of all of Lebanon with the exception of the area in
- which we are present.
But the fact is, frankly, contrary to this because there are numerous areas
over which the legitimate government has no control--areas whose dossier
nobody is opening.
Allow me to ask you this question: Why hasn't the army entered the north? ~
You may tell me that ex-President Sulayman Franjiyah has a special viewpoint ~
in this regard. Great, but why isn't this issue raised in the same manner '
in which the issue of the south is raised in our face or in the face of the -
National Movement? '
[Question] Ex-President Franjiyah's view is that the army is present in the
north now and that there is no need to bring more forces from other areas
because the elements that are currently there are enough.
[AnswerJ I don't know to what degree what you say agrees with the reality.
All that I know is that ex-president Fran~iyah opposes the army's entry to
the north. ~
In any case I have brought up this issue to demonstrate to you the lack of ;
balance in the legitimate government's relations with the parties concerned ~
on the Lebanese stage.
Brother, don't ask me to sell all the people at a time when the other side
gives me no facilities and not even a spark of hope.
We want to make matters easier than you think. I can assure you of this.
As a proof of the truth of my word and of my good intentions, listen to this
story: In the recent incidents in the north, five Palestinians were detained.
- Nobody knows this because we have not published a statement in this regard.
I understand that there is disagreement between Sulayman Franjiyah and the
Phalanges or between him and Samir Ja'ja' and his group. But what do we have
to do with this issue? What has our reaction been? We have not published a
statement on the five detained people, why? Because we do not wish to embark
on pitfalls of this kind and we do not even wish to pour oil on the fire. On
the contrary, we wish to extinguish the fire with utter sincerity and seriousness.
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I
. ,
Is it true that five people were detained Ln Nahr al-Barid Camp as a
spontaneous reaction to the incident [of ~~ive detained PalesCinians]. But
- what did we do? Beli~ve me we sent a delegation immediately--by land--and
- supplied him with a special message for the release of the detainees and with
an order from the command stating that everybody is totally forbidden from
getting involved in the sectarian game because it does not serve the Palestinian
cause but ratfier obstructs it and diverts it from its correct line and its
real goals.
Why don't you look for the roots?
When will we see all the Lebanese concerned seated around one table, talking
and solving their problems with pure hearts and with absolute faith?
Believe me that we will gain more at such a time. Why? Because when I have
t~min al-Jumayyil, George Hawi, Danny Sham'un and others on my side, my cause
is further strengthened internally, externally and in the Palestinian state.
Brother, it is time for us to get rid of you and for you to get rid of us.
It is time to break this partnership. Isn't it?
- [Question] Brother Abu-Iyad, you have asked for frankness in the discussion,
haven't you?
[AnswerJ Yes, and I insist on frankness.
Self-Criticism
[Question] Whatever form and manner the dialogue between the Lebanese Front
and the government takes, it is still a dialogue between Lebanese in their
homeland, Lebanon, whereas the dialogue between the government and the
National Movement is different in view of the influence of aliens, yourselves
included, on this movement. This is why the Lebanese Front expects concessions,
when there is talk about concessions, from you first. What is your opinion?
[Answer] Le:t me ask you in my turn: Isn't the National Movement a Lebanese
movement? Isn't George Hawi Lebanese and does he not have the Lebanese
identity card? Isn't the Communist Party a Lebanese party licensed by the
government for over 50 years?
Ibrahim Qulaylat is Lebanese. Muhsin Ibrahim is Lebanese and In'am Ra'd is
Lebanese. True or not? And others also. All that is there to the matter
is that tlieir presence has happened to be in the area in which we are
present. Therefo~e, you cannot deny their identity or their presence and
you cannot turn a blind eye to their armed military presence. I invite you
to the south tu see and ascertain the soundness of my words for yourself.
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Let me, moreover, talk to you from a purely opportunistic position and a
purely opportunistic stance. Why do you want me to sell the National
Movement at a time when the other side demands that I be disarmed, be
distributed like sheep among the Arab countries and be expelled from Lebanon?
They say all this whereas T hear words of support and welcome from the
National Movement. Should I meet all this witfi ingratitude? No, by God.
Our honor prevents us from doing such a thing. _
Unity of Crooks
[Question] At the outset of the two-year war, the resistance declared that
the plot was aimed against it and against its entity and presence. Yet,
the resistance did get involved in the fighting. Now that the storm has
subsided, will the resistance engage in self-criticism so as to formulate '
a comprehensive solution for the Lebanese issue, or what?
[Answer) Self-criticism should not be embarked upon by the resistance alone
but by all the sides because all the sides got as deeply immersed as we did.
We were only defending ourselves. I did not come to Lebanon of my own free !
will but as a result of an ignoble aggression against my country.
It is true that I do not accept to have Lebanon slaughtered f or my cause, and ;
it would be selfish on my part to accept such a thing, but it is also ;
unreasonable for me to be idealistic to the degree whereby I let myself be ~
slaughtered for Lebanon. What is required is a balance and what is required
is to give the right to those entitled to it, justly and fairly.
So if a Lebanese, be he on this or that side, does not feel love for Lebanon, j
am I required to be more sentimental than he is? ~
I am not talking about the opportunists, whom I attack constantly, and I am j
not talking about the [war] merchants and those who collect protection money. ~
I have said in a previous statement that there is national unity in Lebanon ;
between the ~rooks and the thieves. Believe me there is unity between the j
two areas. They steel a car from the eastern area and sell in the western ~
area and vice versa. A bank is robbed in the western area and the robbers
go to the eastern area and vice versa. Add to this all the violations in the
areas of al-Biqa', Ba'labakk and others.
There is a long and widespread joint-stock network which has its political
detente in Lebanon.
So don't ask me to engage in self-criticism alone and dor.'t ask me exclusively
to liquidate my presence and my cause. Ask me to make things easier and to
cooperate with the gc~vernment and I am ready to implement the request imme- -
diately.
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The issue of the army's entry to the south does not affect my cause or my
presence. In any case, it is not my right as a Palestinian to say no to
the army's entry, even if this army itself does not want to enter.
You are unaware that the ax~y has entered the south twice and that its
vehicles come and go without be~;~t~ harassed by anybody. When the army
entered Kawkaba in western al-Biqa', who assisted its entry, who facilitated -
its task and who prevented it from advancing and who shelled it? This is ,
something that everybody should know, isn't it so?
[Question] Perhaps this happened because it was the vanguards army. -
[Answer] No, not at all. The army entered on the orders of the command.
The army's composition is not important. What is important is that it
entered on the orders of Brig Gen Victor Khuri, the army commander, to take
positions in the border strip area.
This army could not advance because of the shelling by Haddad's forces so
it entered the areas that were under the control of thE resistance. The
resistance withdrew and handed its positions over to this army.
When later on Prime Minister al-Huss demanded officially in the name of the
government that another battalion enter--this battalion entered the area by
way of the zone under the control of the U.N. forces--it was suggested that
the battalion be taken there by helicopters. We were the ones who turned ~
down this suggestion. We said it is a disgrace to our honor to let the army
- resort to these means in order to move in its own country. We insisted
that the army enter in the manner that it deems proper and that preserves
its dignity and honor.
Now I ask you to go to the south to see how the army vehicles move with
utter freedom and without being impeded by any obstacles, not even obstacles
created by Lebanon's Arab Army. ~
In any case, not even Lebanon's Arab Army will commit any act to undermine
the Lebanese army. Should Lebanon's Arab Army do so, we will fight it.
In Sidon, there is an army barracks that has been completely turned over to
- the army. The same goes for Tyre where we told the command a long time ago
to come and take it over. So practically, the army is in the south.
One time they suggested to us that they move a battalion consisting of 200
troops from the zone of the U.N. forces operations to take over the Tyre
barracks. We told them: No, leave these troops where they are and bring
us others from another area. We said this because we have no problem in
this regard. The truth is that those who imagine that we are against the
army are wrong. We are for the army and for facilitating its mission.
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- I want to tell you something, and let them deny it [if thzy can]. After the
battalion (consisting of 500 troops) had entered the south, Prime Minister
al-Huss wanted to add to it 56 more elements so that its sectarian structure
may comply with the Lebanese equation (6 and 6 repeated). When this was
done, Israel made contacts through the U.N. forces and demanded that the
additional e.lements be withdrawn immediately. Do you know why? Because in
accordance with the truce agreement, the Lebanese army is not permittec~ to
deploy more than 1,500 elements [along the borders]. Now there are more
than 1,OOQ troops among us and we wish that they would be raised by 500 or
1,000 more because we support them in every decision they make. But what is ~
required is a political solution. The problem is not one of deploying or
_ not deploying the army but of linking this issue with a comprehensive solution
to the Lebanese issue in its entirety. This is at least what we have under-
stood from the Syrians and from the leaders of the National Movement and of
the National Front.
Cairo Agreement
[Question] Is the Cairo agreement still extant?
[Answer] The problem is not one of provisions but one of souls. Our problem �
is that as long as no alternative is found, the Cairo agreement will continue
to exist.
[QuestionJ Now only one equation exists: To save the south or to save the
Cairo agreement? Should we let the south be lost so that we may not amend,
' change or raduce this agreement?
[Answer] I don't know. In any case, this issue is no t in the picture now
so why are you bringing it up?
[Question] Prime Minister al-Huss has been clear in an interview he gave to
' a local newspaper that the Cairo agreement is still extant but that the time
is nnt right for discussing it because this is the time for saving the south.
What is your opinion?
[Answer] To start with, I have not been speaking to you about the Cairo agree-
ment but have been trying to explain to you the viewpoint of the National
Movement which insists that there is an agreement between the resistance
and the Lebanese government that gives the resistance the right to move
freely. If the army enters the south and sets up its roadblocks, will the
freedom of movement still be given to all these factions or what? This is
the question asked by the National Movement, the National Front and the rest
of the brothers.
Insofar as we are concerned, our viewpoint is special and 4ifferent. We
have four or five camps in the south and the question is: Can the army,
with its present capabilities, secure the necessary protection for these
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camps against any brutal raids hy the Zionist enemy? Of course not. In
any case, this is not required on the army because we may not ask the -
Lebanese army'to do what the Egyptian or Jordanian army, or even the Syrian
and Iraqi armies, cannot do.
Lebanon's issue is well-known. It is also well-known that Lebanon needs a
political solution and needs detente. I will tell you here that regardless
of the National Movement's viewpoint, we support any flexibility that leads
to saving the south, to keeping any form of occupation away from it and to
sparing it the repeated blows that cause the people there to suffer. I
again assure you that we support any step benef icial to the south.
[Question] Last week Fatah issued a statement saying that it does not agree
to have the south saved at the expense of the revolution. What is your
opinion?
[Answer] It is not exactly so. In any case, I have already told you that I
do not agree to r~ave Lebanon slaughtered for my sake and that, likewise, I
do not agree to be slaughtered for the sake of Lebanan. This is the equation.
Let Them Take Tyre Barracks
[Question] Fiow can we harmonize this equation with the loss of the south [sic]?
[Answer] Do not fear, the south will not be lost. All this is nonsense.
But if you mean that the problem is that of the army's entry, then you are
wrong because we are not against the army's entry. Moreover, we are committed
to the utmost degree not to embroil the south in any new problems. The
issue is bigger than this. I have declared repeatedly that we ~ave stopped
- our operations from the south. We haz~e also undertaken not to announce
military statements from Lebanon. We are also co~itted not t~ shell and
strike [from the south]. We have not and will not say no to the army's
entry to al-Biqa', the south, the north or any other area.
The Tyre barracks is there. Let them come and take it, and you may quote
me. This is an undisputable issue. But the question remains: Are all these
actions meant to save the south or to impose policies and solutions that we
reject?
[Question] Will the Palestinian revolution agree to freeze its military
activity, or to reduce it at least, in the present phase?
[Answer] What I would like to say, and say it publicly, is that our operations
from the south have been suspended and will continue to be suspended. As to
the question of reducing the military presence in the camps, this issue is
connected with the right to self-defense until bette~~ circumstances are made
- available to us.
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[Question] Brother Abu-Iyad you talk about protecting the camps and you
- yourselves are the ones who have bzought the bear to the vineyard.
[Answer] How is that?
[Question] The Cairo agreement cancelled [asqatat] the truce agreement con-
cluded with Israel and provided the opportunity for the latter to carry out _
military acts and acts of aggression against the south, aimed at the camps
and other parts.
This means, in other words, that you gave the Zionist enemy the opportunity
to enter the Lebanese territories at any hour and any time. What is your
opinion? ~
[Answer] Let us put the picture in a different frame and ask: Do you want
- us to prevent our people in the occupied territories from carrying out military
acts against Israel so that they maq spare Lebanon?
The Cairo agreement permits us to open fire from the Leban~ese territories.
Yet, we do no t do this so as not to expose Lebanon or its southern part to
any danger.
The issue, brother, is not of agreements. The issue is one of aggressive
intentions harbored by Israel for Lebanon. This makes us ask: Why don't
they strike our camps in Jordan which are 10 times more than the camps in
Lebanon? Why don't they strike our camps in Syria? Why? Why do they
strike the south alone?
_ [Question] You have put us in a whirlwind of questions. What is the answer?
[Answer] This is a political issue. They conceal their aggressive intentions
toward Lebanon behind the screen of striking the Palestinian camps existing _
in it.
Their ambitions in tt?e south are historical. Moreover, by striking the
south, they sow discord and conflict among the sons of the same line.
The custom was for them to retaliate for any operation we carried out with
a similar and more violent operation, but lasting one day only. But this
time, they have been striking for 7 successive months with the aim of creating _
a rebellion against the revolution and with the aim of sowing discord and
conflict between the southern citizen and the Palestinian people living in
the south, especially since the Arabs have offered and southern citizen
nothing.
Imagine a person who;:e children are killed, his house destroyed and his blood
shed and who does not: f ind a drop of oil to compensate him for his loss. In
my opinion, all this is a part of a plot aimed ultimately at involving Lebanon
in the Camp David negotiations.
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.
I say that Camp David is against Lebanon. But which Lebanon? The Lebanon
of the Lebanese Front.
;
[Quest3onJ Do you mean to say because of the resettlement plan?
[Answer] Yes. Resettlement is dne of the provisions of the Camp David
accord. To~~e specific, it is one of the provisions of the accord's
supplement cbncerning self-rule which stipulates that no Palestinian shall
return to Palestine beyond the Palestinians already there.
This means that I will continue to sit on your chest, Lebanon, until Israel
permits 10 or 20 persons from Lebanon and 10 or 20 more from Syria to return -
to the West Bank.
Self-rule means that 400,000 Palestinians will remain in Lebanon and 300,000
_ Palestinians will remain in Syria [and will become] Syrian citizens and
Lebanese citizens and so forth in the rest of the Arab countries.
This is why all the resettlement enemies are our friends and why they should
fight and self-rule plan and the Camp David accords in particular because -
they are against their interest as they are against ours.
Why Heavy Weapons? -
[Question] As long as you are not using the south as a base for launching
your operations against Israel, what is the reason that makes you keep the -
heavy weapons th~t you have in the camps present there?
[Answer] Simply, the justification is that any occupation of or strike
against a~1d seizure of the positions of the U.N. forces will mean ending
thP revolution or dealing it a back-breaking blow.
What I want to say is that the alternative for def ending the camps has not
been secured yeC and, therefore, I am f orced to carry the weapons in antici-
pation of any Israeli raid. As you know, the aim of the Israeli attacks
is to involve us in a new Camp David. You remember that a U.S. plan was
once made public in the form of an announcement [i'lan], later denied,
talking about a Lebanese-Palestinian-Jordanian-Syrian meeting, in addition
to direct Israeli dialogue with the PLO. This plan was folded and then
re-announced.
[QuestionJ Wasn't this plan projected durirg the two-year war?
~[Answer] Yes. But it was then projected another time, calling for pressure
to be exerted on the PLO to enter the Camp David equation (to discuss the
self-rule issue).
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13el.ieve me, upon my lio?ior, that self-rule mean:{ resettlement und mcunN the ~
continued presence of the Palestinians in Lebanon in spite of the Lebanese.
It also means that, according to this plan, our people in Lebanon will
become Lebanese, in Syria will become Syrians, in Jordan will become Jor-
danians and so forth. This means that they will divide us among the -~rious
Arab countries to take up their citizenship and merge in their societies.
From this you can understand why we insist on the creation of a Palestinian
state over any inch of the Palestinian soil. From this also you can also
understand why we insist on the support and friendship of all the Lebanese.
Look at Amin al-Jumayyil. I have heard his speech in the United States in
which he spoke about the Palestinian people and about their right to self-
determination. These are words over which the heart rejoices and which
should be spoken by every Lebanese because through them comes the only
solution to the issue. I want to ask you: When I have a homeland and a
flag, what would I need a forged passport for, as I said this in comment
on the case of Muhammad al-Yusuf who was arrested in Europe because of his
forged passport?
_ What can I do when there is nobody to take care of my affairs? I am, there- '
fore, compelled to produce forged passports. Here is where it can be under-
stood why we insist on the Palestinian state. What is the meaning of this -
state, even on a part of the Palestinian soil? It means that I will be
able to feel my humanity and it means that there will be no justification
for carrying the weapons in Lebanon or anywhere else because then the
Palestinian will, naturally, go to his homeland to live in it. Whoever wants
~o stay where he is, his status becomes the same as that of all the Arab
citizens in the Arab countries, no more and no less.
Somebody may ask: Will this state be big enough for all the Palestinian
people? My answer is: How many Lebanese are living in Lebanon and how ;
many Lebanese are expatriates?
[Question] Those living in Lebanon are 3 million and the expatriates and 9 ,
million.
(Answer] Excellent. It is enough for these 9 million that their passports ~
are not forged and it is enough for them that they feel that they belong to
a homeland.
Physical residence is not important. What is important is the spiritual
residence, i.e. the symbol. Yes, the symbol of belonging is the only impor-
_ tant thing. Without this, there is no solution, in my opinion.
[Question] Any reasonable man observing the Arab wars against Israel realizes
that the Arab states Tiave failed several times to regain the occupied
territories by way of the regular armies. On the other hand, the Lebanese
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citizen finds that instead of resorting to underground fedayeen action, the
Palestinian organizations resort to creating regular armies in the manner
whose failure has been proven. Can this phenomenon, and all the camouflaged
fatigues and~heavy weapons accompanying it in the camps, be explained.
[Answer] I want to answer you with the same frankness. A man speaking about
an incident without speaking about the circumstances involved is like a man
seeing with one eye. Therefore, let us look at both sides. When we speak
about the heavy weapot;.s we must also look at the Israeli artillery in Sa'd
Hadciad's arsenal--an urtillery that shells the villages which believe,
practically, that they are shelled because of my presence there. If these
_ villages don't feel that I have the same gun that Sa'd Haddad has, they
feel that I have abandoned them.
This is the reason for the presence of some heavy weapons in the hands of the
resistance. When the causes disappear, there will no longer be any call for
_ their presence and we will give them up with atter simplicity.
On the other hand, there are Israeli aircraft that fly boisterously over our
heads day and night at a time when the Lebanese government does not have any
deterrent means.
You may tell me that the resistance cannot shoot down the Israeli aircraft
that fly at high altitudes (F-16 aircraft). The reply is that I can at
least keep them away from the camps and not give them the opportunity to
fly at low altitudes and mow down our children and our youths with their
machineguns directly.
To be very frank also, we were forced to use the heavy weapons during the
two-year war when the western area and Tall al-Za'tar were being hit. But
today, I defy ar?ybody to prove the presence of a single heavy weapon in
the [wesEern] area, unless you consider the DSHK or the Klashnikof a heavy
weapon.
Armed Manifestations
[Question] What about the armed manifestations?
[Answer] Insofar as the armed manifestations are concerned, we support any
_ measure that has been adopted or that will be adopted in the future. I tell
you sincerely that we will be the first to eliminate the armed manifestations,
even if this leads to a military clash among us.
. But don't ask me to be more royalist than the king and to give up my weapon
at a time when I find tens of rifles directed at my chest, beginning with
Sa'd Haddad and endi~ig with the last man like him.
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Ob~ections Against Sa'd Haddad
[Question] What are your objections to Sa'd Haddad and why did you make ~
him your enemy even before he had dealt with Israel?
[Answer] I want to ask in my turn: Why did Sa'd Haddad consider us enemies
and why did he fight us?
[Question] Sa'd Haddad has told one of the information media that he fought
against Israel when he was in the s~rvice of the legitimate government and
that, therefore, he was one of the strongest supporters of the Palestin~.an
resistance. But he suddenl}~ found himself surrounded by the joint forces
that blocked all the paths to safety in his face and the face of his group
whereas Israel opened its gates and saved them from certain death. We under-
stand from this that you, and not him, initiated the hostility. What is
your opinion?
[Answer] If you want to simplify things in this manner, I have no objection '
to the simplification. But the fact is that the matter is not this simple.
Here I will again repeat what I have already said, namely that it is difficult
to separate things from each other. Therefore, Sa'd Haddad's problem is
part of a whole and is not a self-contained problem existing in isolation of
what is happening and what surrounds it on the Lebanese stage. j
The issue of hostility of Sa'd Haddad is not one of personal hostility ~
between us and him. He is one of the symbols of a group operating on the
instructions of a certain command.
Frankly, we are not the ones who asked for the Syrian forces. Those who
asked for them are Lebanese ex-President Sulayman Franjiyah, with the welcome !
_ of the leaderships of the Phalanges and Liberal parties leaderships and of
Sa'd Haddad in particular. We were fighting against the Syrian forces, and
everybody knows this.
Now that the equation has changed, we are not to be blamed. They must recon-
sider their calculations carefully and must determine their goals more
precisely in the future. I
[Question] But the problem of al-Qulay'ah and Marj'uyun started before the
entry of the Syrians. Isn~t it so?
[Answer] No. Let me refrestn your memory better because I have experienced
the events on the inside and I know them more than you do. _
During the two-year war, we had no problem whatsoever in the south. On the
contrary, whoever wanted to rest went to the south.
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But when the war subsided in Beirut, the southern front was opened (the
Deterrence Forces did not enter this area). Imagine the plan--and I say
the plan even though I am not one of those who alw~y!s talk of plans and
who level accusations offhandedly at the American intelligence and agents
[sic]. But unfortunately, every plan blossoms and grows when it finds a
fertile land for its roots to get hold and a climate suitable for its growth.
Ex-President Fran~iyah once asked me: Abu-Iyad, I want to know how Tyre
port can receive weapons designated for the Palestinians at a time when
Israel can blow up and destroy the port any time it wants and yet it doesn't -
do it, why? I told him at the time: This is true and Israel is aware of
every piece of weaponry we receive. Israel doesn't touch the weapons and
lets them reach us for a simple reason, namely because its interest calls
for continuation of the war in Lebanon. If the weapons don't reach me, the
war will not continue because the Lebanese Front will then become stronger
than me. Israel has no interest in having the front becoming stronger than
the Palestinians or in us becoming stronger than the front because it wants
the stage to remain aflame and wants all to continue fighting.
The Christians think that Israel likes them. This is wrong. It doesn't
like us or them. The proof that it doesn't like them is: Why didn't Israel
hit the ships loaded with weapons that were coming to us in Tyre port?
The truth is that it didn't do so, not when we were f ighting the Syrians
and not when we were fighting our brothers the Christians, and not even
when we were fighting each other. It didn't do so because its interest,
and that of ~he United States behind it, is in continued fighting and in
the constant attrition of our resources in secondary conflicts. It is
- regrettable that we, as Arabs, are a willitig instrument in Israel's hand most
of the time and that we implement these plans like sheep, not knowing or
being aware of what we are doing.
As for the statement of Sa'd Haddad that you have mentioned in the question
saying that he supported us and that he fought with us against Israel, I
cannot deny this and it may be true. But are we the enemies of Sa'd Haddad
personally? No, we are not his personal enemies.
[Question] Can the Lebanese issue be solved with violence?
[Answer] This is not at all possible. Review Lebanon's long history. Lebanon
is tantamount to an equation. When the Marunites and the Islamic sects
_ agreed to coexist wi~.hin the fY�amework of a single state, there was a well-
known agreement and :i covenant calling for loyalty to Lebanon alone. "No
east and no west," tliis is the gist of the equation and any flaw developing
in this equation destroys it.
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When Camille Sham'un, Pierre al-Juu~ayyil and other leaders bring themselves
to task and when we and those in the National Movement and the National
Front who support us bring ourselves to task and engage in self-criticism,
then the solution wi11 get closer because we will then learn where we have
co~itted our mistakes and our follies and everything will end peacefully.
Violence is no use at all and it has never been the way to solve any problem.
I will give you as an example of this the two-year war: Neither could they
advance to al-Shiyah nor could we reach 'Ayn al-Rummanah. We stayed where
we had been and we got killed for nothing.
Authorizing al-Jumayyil �
[Question] Brother Abu-Iyad, why is what is valid locally not valid at the
level of the Middle East? In other words, why do you think that the violence '
that cannot achieve a thing in Lebanon can achieve everything outside it? ~
Can peace realize what war cannot realize or not? i
i
i
[Answer] You say peace, but what peace? Would you agree that, as a result
of self-rule, 400,000 Palestinians stay in your country and be resettled in
it forever?
I
[Question] Of course not. ~
[Answer] If you agree, then I authorize you in the name of the Palestinian
people to negotiation on my behalf on the issue of self-rule. Consequently, ;
I authorize brother Pierre al-Jumayyil to negotiation on my behalf. Let him
ask Israel and ask the Americans what self-rule is. If they don't tell him
that self-rule means resettlement, don't call me Abu-Iyad. ;
Now I want to ask you, as a Lebanese, with the logic of the Lebanese Front: ,
Would you accept any alien on your land? ~
[QuestionJ No.
[Answer] Definitely not. You cannot agree to have a single inch of your
land occupied by a Palestinian, a Syrian or somebody else. True or not? '
[Question] True.
[AnswerJ I consider all of Palestine my land. Yet, I will accept a Palestinian
state on only 22 percent of the Palestinian land. On this basis, what do
you think? Am I supporting peace or war?
[Question] Peace, of course.
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.
[Answer] Alright, don't you know that there are xejectionist fronts and
acceptance fronts? And the moderation characterizing the PLO at the inter-
nati:onal level and Abi~-'Ammar~s viait to Kreisky, Austria and Turkey, ie
all this remofe from the logic of our political moderation?
[Question] No.
Resettlement Plan
[Answer] But there is something called the United States and a Zionist lobby
controlling if. This is why al-Sadat's treason came as a violent shock to
_ us. This is because ~e had gone along with al-Sadat to the degree of blind-
ness. He was our personal friend and we supported him completely.. He said
to us: Geneva. We did not oppose. He said: Negotiations. We also did
not oppose. But we expected this to be within the framework of a compre-
hensive Arab solution. Had al-Sadat delayed a little, Israel would have
capitulated to a Palestinian state in spite of itself.
A1-Sadat's real treason was in his acceptance of the logic of self-rule.
I am ready to show you the Egyptian passports he has prepared for a 100,000
Palestinians living in his country.
The resettlement began at his end. A1-Sadat accepted the plan that Begin
had brought from Poland. The Jews "got a beating" on the hands of the Germans
in World War II and some of them took refuge in Poland. There, the Polish
Government gave them a self-rule affecting people but not the land. Be~in
"is now trying to apply to us in Palestine" this self-rule which he had
gotten in Poland.
Palestine is land [sic]. What I mean is that in the 2000-year history about -
which they talk, the Jews lived on this land for 70 years only. I am saying
these things because they always say that Palestine is the promised land
and the land of "I don't know what."
I am keeping silent on all this history and I say that I accept a 5tate on
a part of the Palestinian soil. Why don't they give me this opportunity?
~y?
[Question] Wouldn't the opportunity be made available to you through direct
dialogue?
[Answer] What dialogue? Can any man in the world offer his enemy more than
al-Sadat, the head of the biggest Arab country, has offered?
Af ter long negotiations, he surrendered to them himself, Egypt and the oil.
He will even divert the Nile to al-Naqab [Negev] and yet they have given him
- nothing in return, not even that trivial self-rule about which they are
talking.
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[Question] Perhaps Isxael has given al-Sadat no concessions at the Palestinian
level but has given him his right at the Egyptian level to demonstrate to
the othera that direct negotiations and recognition of Israel are the basis
of every concession. Now, the question is: Are you ready to negotiate with -
Israel if there are no preconditions?
[Answer] It is proven historically that any revolution in the world and any
state that negotiates from a position other than one of strength will slip
into endless concessions.
_ A1-Sadat fought and then stopped the fighting. He then started to make
concessions one after the other and to the degree where he has now reached
the point of inability. They are now looking for a substitute for al-Sadat
because he is terribly weak at the domestic level. Do not ask me for things
in advance like all those who contacted us for mediation, saying: "Stop the
operations, even if only for a certain period of time."
Israel's logic is not to recognize the PLO and not to allow the creation of
a Palestinian state and not and not and endless nots. All this is insigni-
ficant when we are strong because strength overcomes all difficulties and
unities all knots.
Fedayeen Operations
[Question] Do we understand from your words that the coming days will witness ,
an escalation in the fedayeen operations against Israel, perhaps to make up
for the time squandered by the revolutidn in its fight against the Lebanese
in the two-year war? _
[Answer] The operations inside [the occupied territories] continue and they
are all from inside. This means that the people are escalating the operations
without orders. ~y the way, I would like to take this opportunity to say
that the worst part of the two-year war is that it diverted our attention
from fighting the Zionist enemy.
Establishment of Palestinian State
[Question] What is the obstacle preventing so far the declaration of a -
Palestinian government in exile?
[Answer] Sir, if the Palestinian government were the solution, we would
declare it. There is nothing easier than to declare a government and to
issue the decision forming it. But the PLO has powers beyond those of any
government that can be formed or may be formed in the future.
In any case, I want to remind you here of the Government of All Palestine
which started in a building and ended in a kitchen.
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We will, however, declare this government one day. We will declare it in
the Palestinian state. This state is coming shortly and I see it as clearly
as I see you and the brother in front of ine. Believe me and quote me as
saying: The Palestinian state will be realized in a shorter time than most
observers expect. The contacts being made at the European and international
levels and the recent visit of Abu-al-Lutf to Belgium are in isolation
from any political issue.
I do not want to divulge a ~ecret here but what I want to say is that all
the contacts taking place bring the close, and very close, zero hour
closer.
In any case, there is a world public opinion that now acknowledges the
Palestinian people's right. Even the Americans themselves have never paid
as much attention to the issue as they are paying now. Therefore, what
concerns us is to keep Lebanon calm so that we may be able to move. When
I hear Amin al-3umayyil speak abraad about the Palestinian issue I consider
him a lot better than Shaykh "Ahmad ibn Husayn" when the latter speaks on
the same issue. Amin's words are better and stronger. This is what I want
to say. Amin and others constitute a support for us. So why should I
fight him?
I am not sectarian and I do not like to kill by the identity card [which in
- Lebanon includes the religion of bearer].
Why should I be counted as a figure with the National Movement and why should
I be counted as a figure with the Muslims in this country. I do not like to
be counted with anybody. But there are sides that push me forcefully to
be a figure and I don't want this.
[Question] In your capacity as the engineer of the relations between the
state on the one hand and the National Front, National Movement and the
resistance on the other and tlirough your experience with all these sides,
have you not developed a certain visualization for a plan to solve the Lebdnese
issue?
(Answer] The solution will become available when we, as Palestinians and as
Lebanese, sever our threads, be they Arab or international, with the outside
circles. When we cut off these threads, beginning with those with Israel
and ending with those with the Arab Maghreb and Arab East, we will reach
an understanding immediately.
[QuestionJ The other side is ready. Are you ready for this step?
[Answer] If the other side is actually ready to hold a dialogue with the
National Movement and the National Front, then it is natural that I am ready
because whoever wants to hold a political dialogue, he has to hold it with
all the parties concerned and not with just one side. Anything else is futile.
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[Question] There is fear in the wake of the ~Arafat-Sarkis meeting that you
will cause President Sarkis to be lost in the Lebanese conflicts, as you
did with ex-President Fran~iyah. What is your opinion?
[Answer~ I respect and appreciate President Sarkis. He is the symbol of
the unity of this country and his stay in power means continuation of the
symbol and of the national unity. So don't talk to me about loss and getting
lost, may God keep you.
[Question] Which is the side fit to hold a dialogue with the Lebanese Front?
[Answer] As you know, the Lebanese Front is no longer one front, the same
way that the National Movement is no longer one movement. It is the same
here and there and I think the~i know each other well.
[Question] Was the Sarkis-'Arafat meeting an offhanded meeting that it
produced no practical resolutions, or what?
[Answer] The meeting was not a question of improvisation or not. When the
president assumed office, he could not solve all the conflicts in a matter
of days or weeks. All he had to do was to stand fast in the face of all
obstacles. In fact, matters hav~ proceeded from good to better. Moreover,
the aim of the 'Arafat-Sarkis meeting was not to find a magic wand to solve
the crisis in a matter of hours. The issue discussed was the isaue of the
south. Within the limits of what was discussed concerning the south, there
was agreement.
There are numerous parties performing on this stage. It is true that I am
frank, but not to the limit of revealing all that is in my heart.
[Question] You will go to Syria with the National Movement and the National
Front. The question is: Will you (the resistance) present a solution glan
out of your desire to pacify the atmosphere?
[Answer] The meeting will not solve the crisis, nor will other meetings.
Numerous meetings were held in the past with the Syrian brothers and with :
others and I cannot divulge to you the content or the nature of those i
meetings.
But from my meetings with President Sarkis, and others, we have found that
we cannot tell the Syrians: We tiave agreed on such and such, so kindly
accept what we have agreed upon. It is exactly as the opposite is not
permissible.
I say that we must reach agreement with all the parties concerned in one
thrust. Believe me when I say that if every side severs its outside tie, be
it Arab or international, the cxisis will be solved within seconds.
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Contacts With Israel
[Question] IC was rumored last suurmer that contacts took place between the
resistance and some Israelis abroad. How true are these rumors?
[Answer] A decision taken by the Palestinian [NationalJ Council calls for
- holding contacts with aIl the democratic, progressive and national forces
inside and outside Israel. This decision gives us the opportunity to contact
any non-Zionist Jew and this is what actually happened.
[Question] How do you interpret the moderate stances taken by Moshe Dayan
recently and do you think that they are a form of trickery and cunning?
[Answer] No, I don't think they are a form of trickery. In any case, I have
just told you that history has become with us. Israel cannot continue to
play the game of the poor and persecuted p arty forever. The world has come
to acknowledge now something called Palestine and the Palestinian people.
[Question] It is repeatedly said that the resistance and the Lebanese Front
may f ind themselves in one trench. How do you explain this?
[Answer] I wish, and I say this sincerely and with all my heart and not just
as a courtesy or a nicety, that all the Lebanese, led by the L~banese Front,
would be with us in the trench.
[Question] Are there contacts between you and the Lebanese Front?
- [Answer] The contacts are suspended at present because of Amin al-Jumayyil's
travels.
[Question] Through the resolutions and the pro~ections made by the Lebanese
Front, where do you meet and where do you part company?
[Answer] I have no objection to the Lebanese Front or to others except on
the basis of the position this or that side takes toward me and my cause. -
They too should establish their objections to me on the basis of what positions
I take taward Lebanon. This is unless what is meant [by the question] is a
separate understanding between the front and the Palestinian resistance and
desertion of all the other parties concerned. If so, then the issue is a
losing one.
I wish that the rest of the brothers would give me the right and honor to
negotiate in their name. I also wish that there would emerge from the
Lebanese Front reasonable people who understand our circumstances as Amin
al-Jumayyil understands them.
Forgive me, I do not want to dwell on this subject so as not to hurt anybody
unwittingly.
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[Question] Bashir [al-Jumayyil] also understands your circumstances but
what he holds against you is your intervention in the Lebanese politics.
[Answer] (Laughingly) My friend, Shaykh Bash~r is attacking us relentlessly,
why?
Meeting of Frank Discussion
[Question] What is required, as you have said, is to reach understanding.
Isn't it so?
[Answer] Yes, let all our affairs be presented openly and let us tell each
other what are the things that scare us and the things that scare them.
There must be a meeting of open discussion between us to eliminate the fear -
from the hearts. We will then settle our differences and find the solution
suitable for all of us.
[Question] The Lebanese Front's position is very clear and is su~ed up in I
that the weapons present in the hands of the foreigners who support the ~oint !
forces upset the Lebanese equation of balances.
[Answer] This is a faulty starting point and an inaccurate view of things. !
Delving into the sea of details will do us no good. What is required now is
for every side to acknowledge the presence of the other side. What Lebanon
has suffered so far is enough. This is why we should all ced~ our rights ~
for the sake of Lebanon that has suffered enough woes and catastrophes.
We in the organizations have our numerous differences but we give them up
for the sake of the cause. Duty calls on all the Lebanese to give up in
their turn ever;~thing for the sake of Lebanon. The "failure to cede" led
to the war and perhaps ceding now will lead to ending the war.
_ [Question] Brother Abu-Iyad, Bashir al-Jumayyil concentrated in the speeches
that he has made recently on attacking the United States, considering it the
- party that has embroiled Lebanon and dragged it to its present situation.
Don't you think that this is a meeting point between you and him? ,
[Answer] There is a~oke that I always tell the brothers. This joke is
that when I read Shaykh Bashir's speeches I feel that I have mistaken the
title and replaced his name by that of brother Muhsin Ibrahim.
[Question] You haven't answered my question yet.
[Answer] He is fighting the United States and we are with him in the battle.
[Question] What is required at the level of restoring the relations with
the front?
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[Answer] The same way I appreciate their feelings as Lebanese, they should
appreciate my feelings as a Palestinian. This means that the harmful word
at times closes many paths whereas the nice word opens many hearts. I
read AL-'AMAL and AL-AHRAR constantly and I see those long and broad
editorials in their front pages every day. This is a disgrace. Believe me
that I try hard in the speeches I make on all occasions to avoid words such
as "isolationism, fascism, reaction" and others becauae I don't like to
pour oil on fire and because, upon my honor, I want this country to have
_ rest from gossip, hatred and malice and want a new page bright with hope
and love to be opened. Believe me, I am only a passerby in this country.
I and my people have a little time left for us to depart to the motherland. -
I mean by this that all the Lebanese should forget their differences because
this country is theirs and they have no other country. It is a pity on
their part to waste it with frivolous and meaningless diff erences. Let
_ them stop this propaganda war among themselves because it is more dangerous
than the rifle and the gun with its power of destruction.
[Question] The people are afraid of coming battles. What is your opinion? _
[Answer] After the Camp David accord, I was afraid of a battle. Last April,
I was afraid that matters would return to what they had been during the two-
year war. But it seems that the south was the alternative victim and the south -
has gotten its share throughout 7 successive months.
I believe that nobody has any interest in any future battle.
[Question] Should a future battle, God forbid, take place, will you be a
party in it?
[Answer] Not at all because we have no interest in fighting any side and
we will not again waste our time on a picnic over Lebanon's quicksands. I
call on all with all my heart to clear matters peacefully and to settle their
differences. I also call on them to always raise the slogan of abandoning
all that is external, be it Arab or foreign, and to return to their previous
equation because there is no alternative to it.
8494
CSO: 4802
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ISLAMIC AFFAIRS
IMPLICATIONS OF POPE'S U.S. VISIT TO ISLAMIC, ARAB WORLD EXAMINED
Kishk's Article on Visit
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 26 Oct 79 pp 36-38, 43-44
[Article by Jalal Kishk: "Fanatic Viewpoint on Visit of Pope John Paul II
to United States; Has Confrontation Between Christian West and Muslim East
Started; Intensifying Conviction in West on Need to Use Force Against Third
World to Solve Crisis of Advanced World; Rosalyn Carter Tells Pope: You
Have Come to Us as Example of Vision That Unites Mankind--Vision of Our
Creator; World Is Eager for Spiritual Leadership and Pope's Approach Gives
Him Great Opportunity to Succeed in Role of Savior of Christian World;
Most Serious Occurrence in Pope's Visit to United States Is His Announce-
ment of 'Termination of Missionary Work Among Jews;' What About Missionary
Work Among Muslims; Middle East Got Longest Paragraph in Pope's Speech Before
U.N. General Assembly Because Middle East Is Quest and Urgent Issue of
Europe; Iranian Professor Says: Pope Wanted to Eliminate Traces of Khomeyni
and of Islam From U.S. Information; Pakistani Professor Says: West Tricked
Us, Maintaining Its Religion and Missiles and Leaving Us With Poverty and
Atheism"]
(TextJ AL-HAWADITH is generally perceived as a paper that publishes whatever
information it receives and whatever ideas fit for reading occur to the
minds of its editors [presumably meaning reportersJ. In confirmation of
this common concept, and not in any way as a means of testing it, I sent
this unfriendly dispatch on the Pope's visit which observers here believe
~ will constitute a historical landmark and a turning point that will affect
our f uture for several generations to come or at least, as THE U.S. NEWS
AND WORLD REPORT has said, "the Pope's visit will influence the world's
non-religious life for several years to come." (15 October 1979)
The Pope's visit has been a complete political act. Even though Carter--in
his capacity as the president of the biggest Christian country which was
until a few years ago hostile to the Catholics and which is still one of the
f ew countries, if not the only country, in the world that do not grant the
papal delegate the status of a diplomat, not to mention of the title of
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ambassador which this delegate enjoys in most countries of the world--was
compelled to say, in order to reassure the non-Catholics, "T have agreed
with *he Pope that the church should not get involved in politics and should
not be linked to a political system," the Pope lef t no political issue which
he has not discussed, beginning with the Lebanese problem, "coexistence,"
oppression in Latin America, the North-South dialogue and ending with the
future of Jerusalem and with Camp David.
; There is nothing over which. people can disagree as much as they disagree
over religion, contrary to the common illusion that religions unite people
and to the illusion that the faith of peoples can unite one day over one
religion. The most ferocious wars have been the ones waged in the name of
religion or, to put it more precisely, out of fanaticism for a religion. `
Though there are economic, social, political and geographic causes behind
the religious wars, this does not mean that those wars should not be
described as religious wars, considering that their commanders declared
them in the name of religion and that the masses were killing and getting
killed in the name and for the sake of religion. Therefore, even though
the Pope's visit has taken place in the name of religion, it has provoked
and will cor.tinue to provoke sharp political arguments in more than one -
place.
I have lived an exciting week following up the details of the "pilgrim -
Pope"--the first Pope of t:~e Catholic Church ro tour the United States and
- to be received at the White House where the tradition was one of hostility
to the Catholics, of wariness toward them and of accusing them of subser-
vience to a foreign country. As we have said, the United States is the
_ cultural extension of and the heir to Great P,ritain whose renaissance was _
established on succession into an independent church, on hostiZity to
Catholicism and on banning the throne and all influential positions to
Catholics. Until the 18th century, Catholics were still hanged in New
York. The United States waged war against the Catholic Europe in Latin
America (95 percent Catholic). Pope Pius IX appealed to the U.S. Catholics
' to desert the [U.S.] army and join the Mexican army in t:.e U.S.-Mexican
- war (1848}. When Kennedy, a Catholic, ran in the ele~tions for the presidency
and was compelled to issue an announcement pledging to abide by the separation
of state from church and not to succumb to any authority outside the United
States, it was as :tf he converted to Protestantism. When the Vaticaa men -
- protested, John Kennedy said wrathfully: "Now I know why Henry VIII seceded
with the British church." It is true that the situation has changed and
that the Catholics have now become the second sect in wealth and education--
the first is the Jewish sect--and that the Catholic Church in the United
States owns 50 billion ~iollars, mostly in real estate investments. However,
w~riness of Catholicism and of the papal influence is still an effective
element in the U.S. policy and the U.S. thinking. This is why it is a must
to ask: Why this enthusiastic reception [for the Pope] and what are its
dimensions and consequences?
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I have preferred not to express my opinion in this article so that I may
not be exposed to more than the charge of disseminating atheism--a charge
whose perpetrator, scientists are unanimous, is not an atheist--and why I
have preferr~d to transmit the viewpolnt of observers who have viewed the
visit from various aiigles. -
On the morning of Wednesday, the second day of th2 papal visit, the telephone
in my room a't'the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York rang. The caller was
my friend Hasan Shari'atizadch, an Iranian professor teaching electronics
- at a university in the western United St~tes and one of the most zealoua
men for Khomeyni's revolution. This professor had come to meet Dr Yazdi,
- the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, during the latter's visit to the -
United Nations. I had become acquainted with Dr Shari'ati in Beirut and
London. He was violent in his arguments, fanatically opposed to the western
civilization and in a hurry for the shah's downfall. I used to warn him
agairst going too far in his zeal so that Iran may not be afflicted with what
has afflicted the Arab world which had re~oiced in the downfall of its
reactionaries only to be visited by worse tribulation.
Dr Hasan said: I am inviting you tonight to the most amazing dinner party.
I have been able to get two tickets by using my connections and we will go
_ together.
I was aware of his sarcastic and symbolic way. I tried to find out what he
meant by this amazing dinner to which we were to go with tickets. However,
he hastened to say:
We will attend the Pope's mass at Yankee Stadium with 80,000 guests. Perhaps
you and me will be the only Muslims at this dinner.
I said: And where is the dinner?
He answered: Haven't you read the papers? Don't you listen to the radio?
Don't you watch television? They are meeting there to eat Christ's flesh
and to drink his blood.
I shouted: Damn you. You will become an old man while remaining as fanatic
as a teenager.
He spurted with the zeal of revolutionary missionaries: If we grow our
beards, we are accused of reaction and fanaticism but if 80,000 people meet
in the capital of the industrial and financial world--the city of dissolution
where 5,000 under age girls are raped every night and where an incident
[crimeJ takes place every 12 seconds, the city that built the atomic bomb
and that has reached the moon [sentence incomplete]. This city has 80,000
young and middle-aged men and women who work in various professions and
who havE different educational backgrounds--80,000 men and women who will
shove each other to eat Christ's body and drink his blood so.that they may
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be united with Him, exactly like the primitive people of Australia and Africa
who eat the lion's heart to become lions. These 80,000 are the ones who
have gotten thE opportunity to have the honor of the holy communion. If
the place permitted, 100 million pe~ple would take part in ~he dinner. -
Mennwhil.e, we the Muslime are accused oF bel.ieving in myths.
I said: Stop it. You know that this is purely symbolic.
He answered: And this is the most dangerous aspect of the issue. Were they
. to really eat and drink, then their behavior would be understandable. But
for the elite of the western world's civilization to believe that with the
blessing of a man bread turns into Christ's body and wine into His blood
and for this elite to consume them with happiness, then isn't this the
basis of the western civilization's brutality? If they drink the blood
of Him whom they love and who sacrificed for their sake, then what will
they do with their enemies?
_ I said to enrage him: They love their enemies and they bless those who
curse them, such as you.
He said: Come let us go see a live show of the beginning of the Crusades
and of the trip of Peter the Pious who mobilize the west, or Europe, against
the east nine centuries ago.
I tried to dissuade him, for fear that he might become emotional or get into
an argument with a zealot who may turn my friend's death into a miracle!
I said that it would be better for us to watch the ceremony on television
and that my Pakistani frj.end Ahmad al-Marudi, a secular atheist who teaches
political science at Georgetown University in Washington would ~oin us.
- A1-Marudi had come to New York to help the Pakistani U.N. delegation to
refute the charge that Pakistan is trying to produce an atomic bomb which
people here call the "Muslim bomb," considering that there is already a
_ Christian bomb, a communist bomb, a Budhhist bomb and a Jewish bomb. Onlq
the Muslims remain without a bomb. I also said that my friend Muhammad
Marshal, a Black American Muslim who teaches comparative civilization in a
New Jersey university would aiso join us. Marshal had learned of my presence
hare and came for more discussions. There was also a fourth friend, namely
Jayyid 'Ayyad who is an Egyptian Christian residing in New York. 'Ayyad -
- immigrated in the 1960's because he had gotten married to a Muslim woman and
converted to Islam and it was thus impossible for him to live or work [in
Egypt]. It was evident from the group structure that it could not take a ~
neutral stance toward the Pope's visit and perhaps this gives the group's
opinion its weight amidst the wave of enthusiasm for the visit.
We agreed that we would not ruin the viewing with discussion or comments,
that each of us would write down his observations and that we would discuss
them at the end of the visit. I have decided, as I have already said, to
_ transmit some of these observations. It is true that they are like the
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- observationa of the group of blind people who were asked to describe an
ele~hant after each of them had touched a part of its body. However, the
picture with which each of us has emerged contains a part of the truth, or
at least the~impact of the visit on each of us.
The Iranian'~ Opinion
My friend Hasan has written:
' "The Pope's visit is the direct reply to the Iranian revolution. This
revolution, led by Khomeyni, has been able to project Islam in all the
information media of the world. For 3 months, the masses in the west have
had Islam for breakfast and Is1am for lunch and then spent the night with
the Muslims in the press, radio and television. There remains no question
concerning Islam and the Muslims that has not been asked and there is no
westerner concerned with gublic affairs who has not wondered about this
rel;gion which is capable of moving the masses and about this old man who
is nearing his 80th year of age and who has been able to topple the strongest
regime in the third world without weapons. -
"Khomeyni has not gone to the information media but with the strength of the
revolution, he has brought the information media to the mosque. Thus when
they thought that the last nail had been driven into the coffin of the Islamic
civilization, they suddenly found the Iranian revolution reviving the giant
and demonstrating the stirrings of the Islamic movement or the Islamic
revival in more than one place, and this time in the form of the revolution
of the Third World.
"5o the church has had to make a move. If there is no reason for the infor-
mation media to go to the Vatican, then let the Pope go to the information
media. The Pope's trip to Poland was a propaganda demonstration to convince -
the west that not only Islam fights cou~unism. The trip was also a visa
for the U.S. information media, which was controlled by the Jews, to visit
the remains of the Auschwitz camp where Jews were tortured and to underline ~
human rights. But the media in a communist country do not provide the
- needed international coverage. This is why the Pope has come to the inter-
national center of information--to the United States--to eliminate the traces
of Khomeyni and of Islam from the television screens. As Hayes Johnson has
said in his editorial in the WASHINGTON POST: "The Pope has restored religion
to the frontpage bannerlines day after day and to the television screens
hour after hour." (8 October 1979)
"In the 1950's and 1960's, religions--or rather say Christianity in Europe
and the United States--experienced a big decline in the number of believers
and members. A:~urvey conducted by NEWSWEEK on the number of clergymen
who abandoned the clergy during the reign of Pope Paul VI says that the
number amounted to 22,324 clergymen out of a total of 23,357 clergymen who
requested to be absolved of their vows. The Pope approved all but 1,033
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requests. These "apostates" are the ones who could not harmonize their -
values and teachings with the church values or harmonize life's necessities
and naturets instincts on the one hand and w3th the church prohibitions on
the other. With the intensifying criticism against the church's political,
social and sexual positions and even against the church's positions on
divorce and birth control and, what is more important, with the prosperity
prevailing in the west--thanks to cheap oil--the number of students in the
Vatican's theological schools has dropped since 1965 from 49,OOQ to 11,200
students, or less than one quarter. In the United States, the number of
priests has dropped within 10 years to 14,998 thus decreasing by 67 percent.
- The number of nuns is now 50,000 whereas it was 181,421 in 1966. There has
also been an evident drop in the number of young clergymen. This drop has
reached the degree whereby 75 percent of the Catholic clergymen will be over
the age of 65 in the 1980's (Pope Paul VI's abolition of the right of cardinals
above 80 years of age to vote has been considered one of his greatest
accomplishments). This draught has not been confined to the Catholic Church
which has the biggest [Christian] following (700 million followers) and
which constitutes, as the WASHINGTON POST has described it, "the oldest and
most efficient bureaucratic establishment in the world," as well as the
most diverse and disciplined establishment at the international level. The
Jewish and co~unist attempts to compete with it at the level of creating
an international organization have failed. However, the movements of returning
to religion began in the 1970~s with the receding wave of prosperity and with
the failure of the secular establishments to solve the problems of the
western societies. But those abandoning the church turned eastward, seeking
Islam or the untried religions of the Far East. In Africa, Islam spread
during the 1950's and 1960's with the disappearance of the European domination
and with the popular reaction against this domination and its establishments.
The church was one of its most prominent establishments in the life of the
masses. Moreover, some Christian rulers imgosed by the European domination
over a Muslim majority tried to preserve their positions and the unity of
their countries by moving closer to the religion of the ma~ority. But the
church quickly rectified the situation and was able to dissociate itself
from the colonialist European history. It consecrated the first black cardinal
whereas its previous history of more than 19 centuries had not included a
black man. Polygamy was permitted in Africa and the church intervened clearly
in the events of Biafra, Southern Sudan and Chad. The Christian circles
in the west blessed the intervention of the Christian ruler of a Muslim
state whose capital is Dar es Salaam to topple the Muslim Idi Amin, the friend
of the Arabs. Idi Amin has not been the only murderer in Africa but rather
the Muslim murderer there! A U.S. television announcer said on the occasion
that the Pope's miracles include the overthrow of Idi Amin and his replace-
ment by a Christian ruler in a single year. Bokassa, the Christian African
ruler who dared to convert to Islam, also fell. He was toppled by the
forces of the biggest Catholic country in the world. Still, (BOIS NEWS)
warns that the Muslims in France have become the second largest community
and that they have outpaced the Protestants and the Jews (1 October 1979).
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F
"It was thought that the adoption of secularism by most of the Islamic
countries and the emergence in them of regimes fighting religion under
various slogans lxad ended the eastern problem. But the Iranian revolution
came, as I have already said, to touch off the crisis anew and to project
the htstorical confrontation between the Christian west and the Muslim
east.
. ~
"So the church moved.
"The press here expects a religious revival as a result of the papal visit.
The press also expects a rush for ~oining the clergy ranks similar to that
which took place in the 1930's following the economic crisis [the depression, _
presumably]. This point is very important. The economic crisis [depression]
pushed the youth toward war and religion--religion in the church and war in
the Fascist and Nazi parties. The west is now approaching an international
crisis. This visit by the Pope may perhaps be the beginning of the religious
move and the French army's move in Bakassa's empire may also be the beginning
of the return of European imperialism. There is an ever-growing conviction
in the west of the need to use force against the third world to solve the
crisis of the advanced world. The proposal submitted to President Carter
to declare the OPEC a national enemy against whom the Americans should be
united is a sound proposal theoretically and one that reflects the thinking
of an ever-expanding current in the United States and the west. But the
fault in this proposal is that it has disregarded two fundamental elements.
The first is that the masses do not proceed to fight under frank and open
economic slogans. There has to be an ideological cover. Even the ships of
the first colonists looted gold and spices and engaged in piracy under the
banners of Christianity and of the white civilization. Therefore, an
ideological cover is a must to mobilize tl-.e masses. The second reason
[element] is that the U.S., or even western, leader to perform this role
_ is not available. The role is real and needed, but it is still looking
for a hero-=or a world looking for a leader. The western media are trying
to project the Pope in this role. TIME [magazine] (15 October 1979) has
said: "Within one year, the Pope has jumped into the spotlight as a shining
leader for whom the world is thirsting--a leader capable of stirring people
to realize accomplishments bigger than their thinking. He is the man of
all ages and of all faiths. He is the star in the sky." The magazine quotes
Billy Graham as saying: "He [the PopeJ is the most respected religious -
- leader in the world." The magazine further cites Reverend Avery Dulles, the
son of John Foster Dulles and the nephew of Allen Dulles (a former U.S.
secretary of state and a former U.S. [CIA] intelligence director who ousted
Europe from the Middle East) who is studying theology at the Catholic
University, as having said: "The world is yearning for a religious leader-
ship. But this leadership needs to be embodied in a person. The Pope's
style gives him a great opportunity to succeed in this role." NEWSWEEK has
said: "The manner in which he arouses enthusiasm evokes the feeling that
the Ho1y Spirit has appeared in the United States."
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"The Pope's visit has projected the slogan and nominated the leadership:
For the sake of Christ, for the unity of the Christian world and against
the evil Islam and the Muslims (I am still quoting the Iranian brother's
comment) who are allying themselves with the devil and withholding oil
from the lamps of the west. Ttie leadership is this Polish Pope with his
sweet smile, who is firmly determined to preserve the church teachings
and who is so open as to whistla with the teenagers in Madison Square
Garden!
"Is it incidental thatthe Pope has not mentioned Islam and the Muslims
except once, namely when he spoke about special guarantees concerning
Jerusalem? Is it inr_idental that all the papers and radio and ~elevison
stations have not tried to get the comment of a single Muslim [on Pope's
visit], even though they have asked all other sects and groups, beginning
with tlie Jews and the atheists and ending with the supporters of free
homosexuality? Is this because there is a feeling that the visit and the
Christian revival are directed against Islam and the Islam revival represented
by Iran's revolution?
"The Pope has been extremely courteous to the Jews, beginning with his visit '
to Poland which was tantamount to the visa on his passport [s:tcJ and his
repeated talk ab~ut the Jewish [sic] concentration camps, his saluting the
Jews with the word 'shalom,' his talk of the common Jewish heritage and his
words: 'I address a special greeting to the Jewish community leaders who
- have honorecl me with their presence here. I met a few months ago with a
number of Jewish leaders in Euiope and we recalled the words of the sec~nd
Vatican synod which was held under the leadership of my predecessor, Pope
Paul VI--the Synod which decided that our two co~unities are bound by
religious faith. We acknowledge very clearly that our common future is
through fraternal dialogue and fruitful cooperation. This is what is
~appening now. As one who has shared your suffering in my country, Polanc3,
I greet you in Hebrew. Shalom.' (From Pope's speech at Battery Park, New
York, 4 October 1979)
"Perhaps the most serious declaration or gift presented by the Pope to the
Jewish community during his trip is his declaration that 'missionary work
among the Jews will be stopped.' Thus, the missionary efforts will be con-
fined to the Muslims. The Jews have considered the missionary work an act
of aggression that arouses hatred and constitutes a rejection of their
faith. More than one Muslim side has tried to persuade the Vatican ~to stop
missionary work among the Muslims because of its ramifications but al~ their
efforts have failed.
"It is the right of the Jews who have seen Iran's direction under the canopy
of bhe Islamic tide to rejoice at the Christian-Islamic confrontation
Rabbi Mark, chairman of the U.S. Jewish Committee, has said: 'The Jewish
community has been deeply touched by the Pope's charisma and by his words
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words at Battery Park which have reflected love and respect. There has
also been a strong response to his reference to the torture camps. The
Pope's predecessors used to ignore the 150 million non-Catholic Americans."
Concluding his statements, the Iranian friend says: "The Crusade has started.
Its factors had been gathering since the end of World War II and the inde-
pendence of the Islamic world and have been given momentum by the Iranian
revolution. Perhaps this explains why Dr Yazdi, the minister of foreign
affairs, focused in his speech before the United Nations on pointing out
the difference between Islam and Catholicism. His focusing on this point
was the result of his feeling that the Islamic revolution in Iran is the
target of this challenge. It is worth noting~;that the Crusades started when -
_ ' the first Shi'ite state came into existence in the Islamic world." (He
means by this state the Fatimid state in western Asia and North Africa.)
Pakistani's Opinion
I will be content with this part of the Iranian friend's observations for
understandable reasons. I will now move on to the observations of Ahmad ~
al-Marudi, the secular brother, who has said:
"I cannot believe what I hear and see. It is as if I am seeing a film on
the 12th century. I thought I was living in the center of the secular and
material civilization and the stronghold of democracy until I heard them call
the Pope 'his holiness.' We have rebelled against Islam, even though no
individual is holy in Islam. Not even Muha~ad, upon whom--~the Muslims
believe--an angel descended from heaven, is described as his holiness. The
Muslims say: 'Only God is infallible.' There is no Muslim leader or
clergyman who claims that he has performed a single miracle. When the Shaykh
of al-Azhar, who was a sufist, said that he saw in his dream--and there is
no restriction an dreams--the prophet of God crossing the Bar-lev line with
the Egyptian army, the secularists and the progressives in the Arab world
got enraged and accused the shaykh of believing in superstitions and of
returning tb the middle ages. They said there is no place for religion and
for the metaphysical in the age of guided missiles and Phantom aircraft.
_ In the United States, special places are set aside in every one of the Pope's
meetings for the disabled and the sick who have come from all parts of the
United States to wait for a miracle to cure them now that medicine in the
- most advanced country has failed to cure them. An announcer even asks New
York's cardinal about the prerequisites for appointment to the cardinalship
and the cardinal enumerates them, saying that they should include two
_ miracles. The announcer, who had broadcast live the landing of the first
U.S. citizen on the moon, then asks the cardinal without displaying any
signs of doubt: What is your miracle? The cardinal answers very modestly:
'Curing a believer who had throat cancer!'
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"I have been asking myself all this week: Are we the victim of a very
malicious game from which we have emerged with neither missiles nor religion
but with poverty and atheism whereas the others have preserved tYieir reli~ion
acid ~~1f~nted thcir fing~ c~n the moon?
"I was stunned to see the Pope dressed in more spendid clothes than those
worn by any king, wearing a crown on his and holding a scepter in his hand. -
The WASHINGTON POST was not wrong when it said that Rome's church has
preserved the traditions and message of the Roman Empire and of the imperial
court. The name of the Vatican Government is the Curia, which is the same
as that of the Roman court or of the Roman Senate building. The title
_ Pontifex used to mean the high priest in the Roman empire. This title has
now turned into the Pontiff" (the Great Bishop, as we the Arabs say).
The Pakistani brother's message goes on the say: "The west is still in love
with the emperor god and what I have seen during the Pope's visit makes me
_ reassess all that I have learned on the hands of western professors and
what I have read in the materialistic secular books.
"Who would have believed that Rosalyn Carter would say: 'You have come to -
us as an example of the vision that unites mankind--the vision uf our
Creator.' Are we the only ones who have renounced our Creator?
_ "Who would have believed that Edward Kennedy, the candidate for the presidency
of the biggest industrial country in the world, would kneel before the
Pope to receive his blessing? As for Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia's mayor,
he knelt on one of his knees until his head almost touched the Pope's knee
= to receive his blessing. Rizzo's picture has been published in all the
papers and has been considered a propaganda in his favor in the face of the
campaign [investigation] conducted against him by the Attorney General's
office on the charge of brutality against colored people?!
"As soon as the nun awaiting the Pope's arrival received the Pope's cap, she
started kissing it and got so deeply absorbed kissing it that she did not
realize that his holiness himself had arrived!
"At Yankee Stadium, the 80,000 Americans went on cheering, chanting and
praying for 7 hours while waiting for the Pope's procession. When he
arrived, they became frenzied and stretched their necks. They envied those
in the front seats because they could touch the extremities of the Pope's
retinue! The prominent cardinals and l~ishops, each with his specially
colored cummerbund to indicate his ranlc in the church court, were bowing
before the Pope, removing his crown an~i putting on his head the sma11 cap
[yarmulke] worn by the Jews. But this cap was white one time, red another
and purple most of the time. They theti attired him in special clothes
similar to those of doctors in operation rooms. When Reverend Donald Hanson
sweated, the Pope wiped his forehead atid the j~urnalists and photographers
rushed to ask the man about his f.eelin~;s about this gesture and about what
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the Pope had told him. Hanson said that he was amazed and felt so ecstatic
when the Pope's hand touched his forehead that he forgot whatever words
_ were exchanged between himself and the Pope!
"The cardinal or bishop of New York moves toward the Pope with the censer
which I thought had disappeared from the west and only remained in use in
the religioi~~ ceremonies of the backward dervishes in our countries. The
Pope holds the frankincense in his hand and gives the signal to incense
the altar to expel the devils and the evil spirits that may be hiding
inside it, even though the criminal and general int~lligence men and the
Vatican guard had examined the altar with electronic equipment and with
dogs trained to discover bombs and explosives, but that cannot discover
devils! (Our apologies to AL-HAWADITH readers. This is the opinion of a
secularist who does not believe in religions, even though his fanaticism is
obvious).
"After incensing, the prayers began. I was astonished by the number of New
York. youths who have memorized the prayers. If a test were given to the
youth of Karachi, Cairo or Damascus on al-Fatihah chapter of the Karan,
the majority of them would fail the test. The ceremonies continue and they
bring the bread and the wine to the altar. ~ao bishops carrying an open
bible approach the Fope and stand next to him while the Pope reads som~
phrases without touching the book. The parish representatives then read
paragraphs from the Book of Genesis and the masses sing hymns after each
reading. Meanwhile, the Pope moves his hand, making the sign of the cross.
The New York masses shout with joy for the blessing received. Sorrow appears
in the voices and eyes of those sitting in the upper tier because they are
outside the circle of blessing. The Pope's compassion extends to them and
he raises his scepter, which is almost 2 meters 1Qng, upward so that flashes ~
of blessing may touch them and they cheer and express their thanks.
"The colors, the red carpets, the clothes and the altar cost 400,000 dollars
and none of them signifies in the least the simplicity of Him who was born
in a manger or the fisherman, whose 264th successor the Pope has declared
himself .
"The prayers were completed and silence prevailed. The Pope closed his eyes,
_ waiting for the solutions. _
"The Pope opens his eyes, the solutions aY�e received and everybody shouts:
Hallelujah. The Poge rose, held a small loaf oi bread and waved it to the
masses. The lights were turned cn the cameras focused on the small loaf of
bread in ttYe Pope's hand which looked as if it had turiied into a rock from
Mars ar l.nto an atomic bomb! Then the communion started!
"Twenf:y fi~re persons had already been selected to receive their communion
from the Pr~pe personally and to enter history. These people are entitled
to wear a blue f lower in their buttonholes for life an~' the flower can be
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inherited. Four hundred priests had also been delegated to give holy com-
munion to the 80,000 people. The rule in holy communion is that the priest
personally put the bread in the believer's mouth. However, the churches
of the United States have permitted the believer to take the communion
bread from the priest's hand and insert it in his mouth by himself. This
has been considered a revolutionary reform and a compromise with the
Americans obsessed by sanitation, especially since doctors had warned that
an infection could be spread with the priest's hand mov~_ng from one mouth
to another. But I have noticed this time that the people were eager to get
the communion bread directly inserted in their mouths, perhaps because of
the special occasion.
"It is well-known that all the efforts exerted to include married clergymen
or women in these ceremonies had failed. The Pope declared in clear terms
his rejection of the demand raised in the church for years to permit nuns
to serve the lord in the clergymen's ranks [presumably conduct mass and
other religious services]. It is well-known that there are in the United
States 154,000 nuns looking for equality with the priests. Only SO of them,
i.e., or~e in every 3,000 have dared declare the demand and to protest politely
the Pope's position. Those 50 nuns stood during the Pope's speech with bands
_ around their arms, and only after a nightlong vigil of prayers. But the
~'ope insisted that the ministry is the work of inen and that God has chosen
man for this vocation. Had God wanted women to be equal with men, Christ _
would not have come in the image of man! -
"Clare Randall, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches,
has said: 'The Pope has stated that a woman cannot become a priestess.
Insofar as his holiness is concerned, the Pope has asserted that women
cannot have the same relationship with God as men. Else, couldn't God have
used women the same way he uses men?'
"A woman colleague at the university asked me--the Pakistani friend says--
for my opinion and I said: If there is a vocation in which equality between
man and woman should be achieved, it is the vocation of serving God in the
_ ministry because both men and women lose their distinguishing characteristics
and turn into beings above male and female when they sacrifice the strongest
instinct, rather the greatest blessing bestowed upon them by nature (this
is the Pakistani's opinion)--namely the instinct of asserting their maleness
or femaleness by engaging in sex. She asked me about Islam's position
and I remembered my Iranian friend and his mistrust of the U.S. media. I
said: You pay too much attention to the Muslim woman and I remember some
of what has been written on whether the Iranian constitution provides for
the right of a woman to hold the position of president of the republic.
However, I have not read a single comment on the Pope's speech in Ireland
where he said that the woman's place is in the house to give birth to children
and raise them. The Pope also said: 'Do not heed those who tell you that
work or success in any job is stronger than the response to the voice of
the instinct to give life and to care for this life.' I haven't read any
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comments on his words: 'A woman must obey and believe, exactly as the Holy
Virgin obeyed and believed the angel Gabriel.' I said (the Pakistani goes
on to say): In all of the Pope's tours, I have found the women to be
modestly dressed, wtth hems below the knee and with arm-long sleeves. It
is well-known that a woman is not allowed to meet the Pope with a bare
head. Golda Meir's anecdote is well-known. She was to meet the Pope but
had no cap and she refused to buy one from Rome so as not to squander
Israel's hard currency assets. So she asked E1 A1 to bring her an old cap
from her home in Jerusalem on its first trip. Had she not covered her head,
Meir would_not have been able to see the Pope and the historical meeting
would not have taken place. So, why all this uproar over the shadur
[Iranian women's national dress]?
"I asked my woman friend who is a university professor: Which is harder on
a woman: to wear a veil or to be denied her femininity as a wife and a
mother? Why are you interested in the west in the sexual freedom of the
Muslim woman while you fail to object to banning sex finally to 150,000
women in the United States alone and to no less than 15 million women.in
the world? The only thing she was able to give in the way of a reply was
that the second case occurs with the woman's choice and volition. I told
her: But freedom does not happen once. There has to be the right to
reconsideration. The Pope refuses to absolve any priest or run of the ir
vows. Contrary to Pope Paul VI who absolved 20,000 people, Pope John Paul
II has not approved a single request so far. He has even said that the
ministry is an eternal choice. He stated this in Latin for stress: Tu es
Sacerdos Aeternum. 'We do not return God'a gift. God who has said yes does
not like to hear no...."'
Going on with his observations, the Pakistani friend says:
"I am astonished that the Pope has instructed the U.S. society with the
teachings of Paul who died 20 centuries ago. The Pope has prohibited pre-
marital sex and birth control and has banned divorce 'because the marriage
of a Christian man and a Christian woman is eternal and irrevocable, as
God's love is irrevocable.' He has also prohibited abortion. 'We speak
in God's name, we who set the restrictions of the Christian law accord ing
to the divine right. Saint Paul has explained the relationship between
justice and the truth.' The Pope has also said: 'All values, morals and
liberties must obey and be bound to the teachings of the church.'
"I asked: How can Saint Paul's teachings be fit for a society that has
invaded space and built skyscrapers--and the Pope pleased his audience when
he mentioned the word for skyscraper in the nine languages that he knows--
and now the teachings of the Koran, the prophet Muhammad and of the caliphs
who founded a state and managed a multi-national society extending from
ocean to ocean, keeping in mind that Saint Paul carried no political o r
social responsibility, did not even have a family and met a grievous end
at the hands of Rome's tyrants who crucified him with his head hanging down?
How can his teachings be fit to guide the American society and not the teachings
of the caliphs for the Pakistani society which still lives in the lOth century?
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"Why is our religion the only backward religion?
"How can the NEW YORK TIMES emerge with a title saying "The Ethics of
Copulation" and then cite under it the Pope~s opinion of the sex act and
then we refuse to have our shaykhs speak, even though they permit divorce
and birth control and say there is no ministry in Islam and even though the
reaiity is closer to the opinion of our shaykhs? A survey conducted by the
N.B.C. showed that 66 percent of the Catholics support the use of birth
control means, 63 percent support the right to divorce and 53 percent believe
that a clergyman should be permitted to get married.
"I have thought a lot of the sly method to which the NEW YORK TIMES (5
October 1979) resorted. On that day, the paper was abounding with
reports of the papal position toward women. Then without any occasion, it
selected this day to publish an article by Christopher Warren dealing with
the chapter of the "Green Book" concerning women and menstruation and the
impossibility of equalizing women with men and stressing that this is the
opinion of Islam."
;
Many things have caught my attention and big questions are revolving in my
mind but I prefer to postpone them until the view becomes clear. What I
would like to stress is that I do not agree with the Iranian brother on
beating the drums of crusades. I believe the papal rise reflects a more ~
serious historical development, namely Europe's return to the international
arena af ter an absence of more than 20 years--a united Europe aspiring for
an international role, especially in the Middle East, Africa and Latin
America. Cattiolicism is Europe and Rome is Europe's spiritual capital when
the latter moves against the Arabs. Rome is the city that subjugated the -
Middle East to the first pre-Christian empire. The Vatican has inherited
Rome's throne. The Arabs are the ones who eliminated Rome's control, or
half of this control, over the eastern Mediterranean, who blockaded
Christianity in Central Europe and who beat the Europeans to Asia and Africa.
The Vatican's Rome is the city that United Europe against the east a second
~ time during the Crusades which, though failing Lo subjugate the east,
formed the beginning of the European renaissan~e which re-imposed European
control over the eastern Mediterranean. The church is the side that
organized the expulsion of the Arabs from Andalusia (Spain and Portugal) to
be replaced by the European bloc most strongly tied to the Vatican until
the present. The heirs to Andalusia are the ones who carried Catholicism -
to Latin America. The third round between Europe and the Middle East ended
with Europe's victory, with subj ugating the entire east to Europe's control
and with Europe gaining control over the new world and introducing this
world to its religion and its civilization.
The United States has been able to oust Europe from the Middle 'r',ast and Asia
and then from Africa. Europe, which was divided and crushed by the war,
succumbed to the ouster. But in 20 years, Europe has united in the Common
Market and Britain, which always eschewed its European (affiliation), has
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~
been compelled, with ~ts independent church, to return to the European fold. -
It is rumored that Britain's crown prince is in love with a Catholic girl
and wants to 'change the r_onstitution so as to eliminate the restrictions
imposed on the Catholics. Whoever wants Europe must learn to coPxist with
the Catholics. _
The united Europe is the strongest economic power in the world at present
in terms of stability and growth rate. Europe is the closest to the Middle
East, is the most experienced in i~s affairs and has the deepest roots and
connections in it. Europe was united only twice bzfore: Once und er the
Rome of the caesars and once under the banners of Pope Urban II. This is
the third time. When Europe unites, it turns its attention toward the
eastern and southern Mediterranean. The Europeans are telling the Americans:
Yo u have failed to replace us. The Soviets are grabbing the Middle ~ast
away from both you and us or are creating chaos and sedition in it. Hand
over the Middle East to us and we will run it for the benefi.t of the advanced
world. We wi11 give the Soviets their share and give you your share and
pr event friction between Washington and Moscow. Otherwise, we will build
our nuclear power and will act in our intierest, even if by way of recon-
ciliation with the Soviets. Perh~.ps Brezhnev's initiative [withdrawing
_ troops and tanks from East Germany] is intended to encourage this inclination _
and to reduce the importance of the U.S. protection.
The U.S.-European confrontation over oil and the Middle East crisis is well-
known. The latest demonstration is Europe's rejection of the Camp David
ac cords, or the U.S. settlement. This is the position that the European
Pope has also taken--namely the position of expressing reservation on the
agreement and de~anding a comprehensive s~ttlement. It was no coincidence
that the Middle East got the longest paragraph in the Pope's speech to
th e United Nations. This is because the Middle East is Europe's quest and
its urgent issue.
_ The Pope is Europe's spiritual leadership and he has come to the United
States to display his blessings and his muscle and to demand a mandate for
a European movement. Will he get such a mandate? _
I will be content with this much for tl-~is week and we shall meet again.
Chief Editor's, FaTran's Responses
Lo ndon AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 2 Nov 79 p 17
[TextJ Should the editorial ~~nagement scratch out any paragraphs f rom an
ar ticle by one of its prominent writers?
The question was presented at a meeting when an article hy Jalal Kishk
en titled "Has Confrontation Between Christian West and Muslim East Started?"
was received from Washington. This is the article that was published in
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the last edi~ion and that has created sharp reactions among various circles.
_ The article contained a violent opinion againat the political movement of
II[R Ilc~l.ineAa ,Tohn Paul lI. In the article, the wrtter adopted the vic~w -
ul' the communlste and [he 'lef.tiats on thi.9 movement. '1'hie is u populur
view in the European and American papers and magazines, aome of which
have said that th~ U,S. intelligence killed Pope John Paul I to bring in
the Polish Pope so that he may lead a crusade against atheism. But Jalal
Kishk has surpassed all the world's atheists with his distrust of the Pope's
movement. He has added to the sentiments of these atheists his own feelings
as a man from Upper Egypt wb~ is fraught wi~h the memories of the feud between
the Muslims and the Copts. He has added to all this the Muslim Brotherhood's
view on issues pertaining to the essence of Christian theology. According
to ons of the editors opposed to publishing the article altogether, Kish.k
measures the statements of Christ's heir on earth with the yardsticks of
those most fanatically opposed to Christianity.
It is Jalal Kishk's opinion that as long as His Holiness the Pope acts as a
- political leader, then it is the right cf all people, even if they are Jews
and Mazdaists, to evaluate his works and acts. This opinion could have '
been acceptable had Kishk not gotten everything mixed up, i.e. had he not ;
overstepped the bounds of criticizing the Pope's political movement and ~
reached the point of ridiculing religious rites which he, and his opinion,
would have done better to leave out of the article. But the ma~ority of the
colleagues, especially the Christians among them, demanded that Jalal Kishk's -
article be published in full so that if t~:ere is anything concealed in the
hearts it may come out in the open and ~nay be easy to answer. It was the
opinion of these editors that secreCy is harmful in such issues. Kishk is
one of hundreds of thousands in the Arab and Islamic worlds. So let us hear
his opinion and then answer him.
_ In f act, as soon as Kishk's article was published we sensed the presence of
an intense rage against tha article and its writer and a strong desire to
answer i t .
The contradiction into which Kishk has fallen is that he has given himself
surprising liberty in discussing beliefs while launching a campaign against
the west. He has not acted as an easterner in respecting religious beliefs
and rites while imagining that he was defending the east. Kishk should have
eithertaken the freedom of the west and lauded the western civilization
that acknowledges freedom or he should have a3hered to his easternism and
clung to the bounds of its traditions.
The mistake that we, as an editorial management, have committed is that
we have considered ourselves like the U.S. TIME magazine which published
_ in 1970 a cover bearing the single phrase "Has God Died?" and like the
London theater which has been showing tiie play "Jesus Christ Superstar"
for 10 years and which is still showing this play.
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~
We must admit that we did not think that publishing the article was a
mistake until we started receiving the responses which have made u~ doubt
the soundness of our view.
The discussion is open and ~hts is only the beginning.
Chief Editor
The reader is perplexed by Jalal Kishk's article on the confrontation between
the Christian west and the Muslim east. Which of the two characteristics of
the article is more serious: Its fanaticism and ignorance or its ill
~ intentions? Perhaps the only virtue of the article is that it has been
published in the west where the writer has exploited the west's freedom
to the maximum to say things about this west which F~ould have gotten him
to charge corruption in the world had he said them about Islam in the east
- where he would find a million Khalkhali and Zia-ul-Haq ready to drink his
~ blood.
It is fortunate that the writer did not find an Arab professor to express
his view along with that of the "faithful" Iranian professor Hasan Shari'ati-
_ zaden and of the atheist Pakistani professor Ahmad al-Marudi because the
faith of the Arabs, by virtue of their being the founders of Islam, cannot
turn into atheism and hypocricy unless such Arabs are professors in western
universities.
The logical flaw in Jala1 Kishk's article is that the writer uses both summer
' and winter under the same roof and judges the same issue with two conflicting
yardsticks. The writer has permitted himself to wonder how people in the
Christian west still cling to ancient and "paganistic" rites despite their
vast scientific and technological progress whereas he finds nothing wrong in
the fact that all the knowledge and technology that the Iranian and Pakistani
~ professors imbibed in the west have not penetrated the surface of their
minds. Moreover, the writer has permitted himself to portray the confron-
tation between the west and the east, which is a confrontation that is older
than Christianity and Islam, as a confrontation between the Christians and
the Muslims.
Finally, Kishk has permitted himself to encroach on the essence of Christianity
and of the Christian fauth whereas he has said nothing about the message
of Pope John Paul II which inas been received with hostility by millions of
the faithful Christians themselves. What is in Jalal Kishk's article is
directed against Christianity and the Christians and not against the Pope
and the Vatican. There are many Christian G~riters and intellectuals who
view the Pope's message as reactionary and who believe that the Pope has -
closed the door in thE race of the religious and social reform begun by the
Catholic Church under his predecessors, which is the Pundamental issue.
The Pope has thus put "suppor~ for religion" above religious reform. This
is a purely political position emanating from the fact that the present pope
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belongs to a country ruled of~icially by atheism. 1'he immc~diate confrontation
- in this country is between the regime and the church. We would not be
exaggerating if we say that the progressive Christians in the west view
the present pop~ as more of an "eastern Muslim" than a western Christian.
_ But this is something and the essence of Christian.ity and of the Christian
a faith is something else. We do not think that anybody in the Christian
west or the Muslim east will permit himself to talk about Ayatollah Khomeyni
and Islam with the convoluted logic which Jalal Kishk has permitted himself
to use in talking abaut the pope and Christian:ity. We find many in both the
east and the west who criticize Khomeyni's policy, actions and views but
we find none who attack the essence of Islam or of the Islamic faith, even
though Khomeyni has turned the Iranian city of Qom to something that looks
like an Islamic Vatican and has entrenched the clergy by giving the clergy-
men the power to dominate people. This is what the Christians in the west
_ have renounced since the middle ages.
We have not found any of those who criticize Khomeyni and his views permitting ;
themselves to ridicule the Muslim rites of touring the Ka'bah, of praying '
prostrated, of watching for the Ramadan crescents on a rainy and cloudy night ,
when science can determine the time of the crescent's agpearance right down '
to the minute and the second and other rites, customs, traditions and ~
symbols.
- Despite the scenes and the practices that Jalal Kishk has described in his
article, the west, which he has called the "Christian west," is still pre-
dominated by the secular tendency. This is definitely no secret Lo Kishk
who pretends to be a secularist in attacking the west but immedi.~~elv sheds
away this quality when projecting the views of the two Muslim professors,
disavowing this secularity to the degree whereby he brings the atheist
Pakistani back to his religion!
Though it is natural for the pope's visit to any country to receive such
enthusiasm as that which the writer describes as close to hysteria, it is
not at all true that this phenomenon is employed to overshadow Khomeyni or
to obliterate him at the level of the media. Moreover, Pope Paul VI, the
- present pope's predecessor, received similar, and even greater, enthusiasm _
on his trips and all this happened before the emergence of Khomeyni.
The question that Kishk asks through his Iranian friend--namely: Are we
the victim of an extremely malicious game from which we have emerged with
neither missiles nor religion but with poverty and atheism whereas the others
have preserved their religion and planted their flags on the moon?--intimates
_ that the Christian world is the cause of the Islamic world's backwardness.
It is true that the west is largely responsible for the east's backwardness
because of its colonization of the east for a long period. But this is a -
political, economic and military issue, Even the Crusades with their
religious characteristic are included within this sphere. The political,
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economic and military west rpsponsible for the backwardness of the Islamic
east is also responsible by the same degree for the backwardness of vast
Christian couritries comprising a continent in its entirety, namely the
Catholic and Latin South America.
But an important part of the east's backwardness is the responsibility of
the east itself. Why hasn't Kishk discussed this aspect? Why hasn't he
wondered about the absence of the democracy and the public liberties which
he has used to write in the west whatever he has written about the west--
why hasn`t Kishk wondered about the absence of this democracy and of these
liberties in all tt~e eastern Islamic countries?
This response does not emanate from a Christian faith, and this is a personal
matter. Neither does the response emanate from a desire to defend the west
where Christianity is only one out of many dimensions, even though it is a
broader and more comprehensive dimension than others. This response emanates
from the eagerness for the Islamic east's progress and liberation, especially
the Arab East where Islani has a meaning different from that prevailing in _
the other non-Arab Islamic countries. The Christian Arabs or the Christians
who live in the Arab East and who are bound to Arabism and Islam by stronger
cultural and intellectual ties than those that bind them to the Christian
west, despite all the old and new attempts to break these ties to Arabism
and Islam, can only understand what Jalal Kishk has written as one of these
, attempts, even if he has different intentions. ~
Even if we acknowledge for the sake of argument that the Christian west and
the Isla~ic east are in a conflict and that Islam and Christianity cannot
meet and cannot coexist, in the current confrontation in the east a con-
frontation between Christians and Muslims or one between Christianity and
Islam?
If this is the situation, then the answer is known in advance, namely that
the outcome of this confrontation will be in the interest of a third party.
But we don't believe that Jalal Kishk meant to end up with this conclusion _
intentionally. All the same, he has done so.
Dr George Farran
Father George Rahmah's Response
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 16 Nov 79 p 70
[Text] The article "Confrontation Between the Christian West and Muslim East"
has angered a number of writers, thinkers and intellectuals. It is natural
that the interpretations and the responses would be different. Some have
expressed the belief that Jalal Kishk used the pope as a cover to criticize -
Christianity in an unobjective and unscientific manner whereas others have _
found the article interesting and wo ..hy of discussion. AL-HAWADITH opens
its pages for the expression of every opinion, provided that it is compatible
with the rules of dialogue and of clear debate and that it is free of slander
and insinuation, especially on such a sensitive subject that deals with beliefs.
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[Father Rahmah] AL-HAWADITH has accustomed us at times, especially since the
eruption of the Lebanese-Palestinian war and the Lebanese-Syrian war, to a
degree of objectivity or the so-called realistic and scientific analysis
- of events. We were the first to welcome this step, implemented by a
"Lebanese" information medium with wide circulation.
We believe that Salim al-Lawzi, AL-HAWADITH owner and its chief editor, -
understands perfectly well what we mean by our statement. But what is
surprising is that AL-HAWADITH has suddenly resu~ed the inciting "Lebanese"
and Arab method of information that was followed in the past and that contri-
buted decisively toward losing most of the rightful Lebanese and Arab causes.
In its edition No 1199 of Friday, 26 October 1979, AL-HAWADITH stunned us
by a rude and tendentious article written by Jalal Kishk under the title of
"Has Confrontation Between Christian West and Muslim East Started?"
To start with, we would have liked to consider the title an inlet to a
scientific spiritual-ideological analysis, because we respect the beliefs of
the others, but we found instead that the article contains from the outset ~
a tendency to incide the instincts--a tendency for which this is not the time. '
We were amazed how the chief editor of AL-HAWADITH who is well-known for his ~
objectivity could have permitted the publication of this article at a time ;
in which the Lebanese, not to mention their spiritual and secular leaderships,
are seeking to realize real national detente?
Our amazement was not diminished by the introduction with which the writer
presented his published "thesis" and in which he said: "AL-HAWADITH is
generally perceived as a paper that publishes whatever information it receives
_ and whatever ideas fit for reading occur to the minds of its editors...."
Before answering AL-HAWADITH and the article writer, we would like to assure
Kishk that this justification is not enough and that it is tantamount to an
endeavor to escape censure for passing and disseminating malicious ideas
through a plan with which Kishk may be better familiarized than ourselves.
We are aware that meeting with God is an act of revelation whose theological
dimensions cannot be comprehended except with a blessing from God who lights
the way for our minds to understand the spiritual values and to live with '
- true faith in God and with constant sacrifice for the sake of our fellowman. _
The universe in God's creation and man, the image of God, cannot rise to the
level of the message unless he works with matter itself and spiritualizes
it so that it becomes a clear reflection of his self-sacrifice and of the
universal sacrifice that allows our human nature to mix with the divine
nature towards which God, with His blessings, has urged us. This awareness
cannot be actually realized except through man himself to whom the qualities
of divinity are revealed when he is open to himself and to the others more
strongly. The first example of Our Lord Jesus Christ was this openness to
the entire world, considering that His sacrifice for mankind was not intended
for the salvation oF a certain group of people but for all mankind, even men
- who do not deserve it.
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This is why it is a great honor given to very few people to rise to the
level of sacrifice and to understand that the death of Him who was crucified
on a wooden cross was intended to turn the hearts of inen into go1d. The
blessing has been given to all men but, unfortunately, many of them have
refused and continue to refuse this blessing. The symbol has become to some
people the "trickery of clowns and participation in the communion of salva-
tion has become an instigation to shed the blood of enemies."
We are aware that man is the enemy of that which he does not know. This is
why the article has fallen short af the scientific standard required by the
modern and correct media. The article has come as instigation and as a plot
against the sanctity of our religion and against the most su~lime spiritual
personality in the world. This is something that we reject utterly because
the sanctity of faith should not be a commodity in the hands of those who
live under a malicious state of ignorance in the age of light, of giving
and of freedom, especially since the second Vatican synod has urged all
those who believe in God, regardless of wha.t religion they belong to, to
stand like a f irm barrier in the face of rising atheism~ We were disappointed
when we read the article of AL-HAWADITH's Kishk because we would have sincerely -
- liked to maintain some of our respect for this paper.
We would have also liked to refrain from descending to the level of the article
writer who has exposed his utter lack of.spirituality and morality and who
has described others, who are the superior ones in this world, as reactionaries,
thus proving and confirming irrefutably that he is a reactionary, rather
that he is specialized in spreading false and reactionary atheism. In his
article which smells strongly of lackeyhoQd, the writer has used criticisms
and phrases forgotten by time and not at all pertaining to scientific
thinking. Had he had any objective scientific thinking, it would have
behooved him to present to us new criticisms emanating sincerely from either
his fanaticism or his atheism, it doesn't matter which. But, unfortunately,
he has proven that he is the voice of past masters whose ideas are outworn
and obsolete and no longer have any connection with modern life.
If this Kishk were a scientist, he would have the right to discuss science.
If he were a thinker, he would have the right to offer us his views on
the pages of AL-HAWADITH or others. Were he a theologian, we would permit
him to debate theological matters with us. This is why (Pasquel) says:
"Only God speaks about God." Kishk is not a scientist, a thinker or a
theologian. He is not even a journalist though he has published his article
as a journalist interested in AL-HAWADITH.
Kishk's citing of two "professors," one Iranian and the other Pakistani,
and his using them as a means to hide himself and his master--whom, it
seems obvious, is returning to the "war of retrogression"--does not mean
that we hold many of the educated Muslims in Lebanon and in the world--Muslims
- who, we imagine, have been as disgustad with his article as we have--
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responsible for the two opinions. It also seems that the owner of AL-HAWADITH
welcomed this article and gave its title a prominent place on the cover of
his magazine because of the reactionary, chauvinistic, ignorant and
reactionary opinions it contains.
AL-HAWADITH owner is aware, we think, r_hat the hard currency that flows
these days from well-known sources abrc~ad to the agents and the spies does
not justify such inflamatory articles which, regardless of how num~rous,
cannot touch the Christian values through their representatives, led by
His Holiness Pope John Pau1 II who lives the teachings and instructions of
Christ and who urges us to love our enemies and to be tolerant toward
them despite the thousands of Christian martyrs who have fallen on our land.
Moreover, His Holiness the Pope requires us, in our homeland and in the entire
world, to achieve peace and social justice, to secure human rights and to
spread love in the hearts of both the f.riends and the enemies so that we may
create a new world dominated by justice, freedom and equality.
On the issue of the Christian symbol, AL-HAWADITH's Kishk says: "Were they
really to eat and drink, then their behavior would be understandable. But ~
for the elite in the western world to believe that with the blessing of a i
man bread turns into Christ's body and wine into His blood and then to con- '
sume them with happiness, isn't this tY~e basis of the civilization's
brutality? If they drink the blood of Him whom they love and who sacrificed ~
for their sake, then what will they do to their enemies?" We will not
answer this statement because only the sons of blessing have been given the
power to probe the depths of the divine nature. Our concerns as true Lebanese
and as internationalist Christians go far beyond such articles and halluci-
~ nations which prove that the writer is suffering from various complexes, -
including the complex of the Crusades--crusades which the comprehensive
- thinking of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who is concerned with all the
peeple of the world, never entertains.
. Once again, this is what indicates the reactionary character of AL-HAWADITH's
Kishk and the others like him. This characteristic has turned Kishk into a
complicated man whose thought is void of any traces of development, of
the future and of history.
Finally, we are content to say that love alone builds and that hatred ~
destroys. We are from a Lebanese school of information that knows perfectly
well how the sound building should be and that adheres to the ob~ective
word as a noble and sacred slogan. Our criticism of Kishk is nothing but
an expression of our love and our vish that he would seek the sources of
sound thinking carefully and would aspire for human, national and infor-
mational ethics. We hope that Kishk and others will not compel us to
resort to harsher replies.
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Ultimatel civilization is not a
y, group of Kishks hanging onto the "modern"
state of ignorance [as opposed to pre-Islamic state of ignorance] extending
from the ocean to the Gulf. Civilization consists of a number of bright,
- rare and immortal values that the Kishks can only fin3 in the spiritual
and human resources that they are proceedinF, to fight and to criticize
with the mentality of dwarfs.
Ultimately, what remains is the love which we urge Kishk and his likes to
adhere to--a love that may cure them, perhaps gradually, of their sicknesses
and their insurmountable sectarian complexes. This is a part of our message ~
in this world which is full of Kishks and people like them and which is
also full of love, joy and happiness. -
Reverend Dr George Rahmah
From the Lebanese Newspaper AL-'AMAL
Dr Taysir Kawwa's Criticism
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 16 Nov 79 pp 75-76
[Text] I read in AL-HAWADITH edition of 26 October 1979 an article by Jalal
Kishk, your correspondent in the United States, on the pope's visit to that
country. My comment on what Kishk has written is divided into a comment on ~
the form and comment on the substance.
It is my opinion that the title published on the cover of the magazine has
not reflected all the contents of Kishk's article and i~, therefore, subject
to the charge that it is a title intended for provocatioi: and sensationalism
or for selling the magazine.
In the light of what is happening in the Arab world, and especially in
Lebanon, this question-like title is an evil instigation. Page 44 of the
magazine carries a picture of a U.S. policeman kissing the pope's hand while
kneeling and above the picture there is the caption: "U.S. security kisses
his hand for blessing." Has it come to the point where a single U.S.
policeman represents the U.S. security? Is this what is called these days
calm and responsible journalism? Moreover, I would like to ask Kishk about
the language with which he communicated with his two atheist Iranian and
Pakistani friends (considering that he is only the transmitter of atheism)
and about the nature of his article. Is it a dialogue between himself and
two other persons and who are these two persons. Or does his article
transmit opinions which he and his friends discussed at a social get-together
one evening and with which Kishk, with his journalistic ~erspecacity,
decided to present to the readers before the gems that they had discussed
could be lost in the fog of thought and in the folds and memories of nights?
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This is all insofar as `~he form is concerned. As for the substance, I
believe that there is no difference between what Jalal Kishk's two friends
said and what Kishk has transmitted, citing his two friends. The outcome
I.~ the s~zme, namely that iseueg have been brought up what woul.d hnve Uecn
better left alone by a political weekly magazine--rather it is the duty of.
journalistic integrity, honesty and responsibility not to bring up such
issues in such a manner. Kishk's article consists of a number of intel-
lectual flights, rude opinions and illusions attired in the garb of "facts"
and supported by neither science nor historical facts.
Perhaps the propagation of these views in recent times constitutes one of
the most painful catastrophes of the Islamic world--a world whose view
the article seems to be defending. It seems to me that what has ruined
Lebanon, which is in the Islamic world, is the multiplicity and abundance
of this kind of view, i.e. the views founded basically on myths, super-
stitions and delusions. To be fair to Kishk and to his informers, the source
of these views in the past two generations has not been confined to fanatic
Iranians or Pakistani atheists nor to the students of intermediate schools.
There are establishments calling themselves universities that have produced ~
this kind of inentality and that have expressed views and opinions not much
different from what we have read in this article.
~
Kishk says that he sent this unfriendly letter about the pope's visit. Whom ~
does he mean to deprive of his dear friendship? To whom does this man ~
write? From whom does he get the inspiration for his writings?
This article is full of flights of the imagination and of judgments that
are supported by neither science, reality or history. You want examples?
Aere are some examples. Who said that the fiercest wars are the wars waged
in the name of religion? Who said that the most ferocious of wars were
declared in the name of religion? The wars that broke out among the
Christians, even at the peak of the so-called Crusades, and the wars that
erupted among the Christians in Europe itself, in Asia, in Africa and in
the two Americas were a lot more ferocious than the wars that the Muslims
waged against the Christians. Moreover, the wars, the severance of heads
and the plots carried out by Muslims against other Muslims were, and continue
to be, more ferocious than what happened between the Muslims and the Christians.
Do you have any doubts? Then ask the serious men of learning and researchers
and not correspondents of the caliber of Kishk and not his friend, the
electronics professor. Ask those who know and they will give you the definite
answer. Wars, Crus~des or other wars, are not determined by one factor but
, by several factors. The declared cause of a war is rarely the most important
cause. The most violent war in this century started because of the assas-
sination of a Christian prince in a Christian European country on the hands
_ of a Christian European youth. This is what has been said. Examine, Mr
Kishk, the history that they taught you in elementary schools, that is if
you have graduated from an elementary school. Examine history to learn the
background of wars. ~
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The article insinuates that the Catholic church, the representative of the
Christian west, is trying to assume the leading role in attacking the Muslim
east or that the church is capable of polarizi:~g the west or is, in fact, in
the process of polarizing the Christian west to prepare for war against the
Muslim east. Since its foundation and until this moment, the Catholic church
has not stopped tr;~ing to lead or to resume a leadership role who~e sweetness
this church tasted in past ages. There is no doubt that the Catholic church
is an international religious organization primarily. But it has been
trying for long ages to resume the nolitical status that it enjoyed at one
time. The outcome of the desperate attempts is that the church has not yet
succeeded in`leading any of the west's movements and has not been able to
do more than provide some social services. The latest reports are that
the church was not able to rally more than 100,000 people at Yankee Stadium
and places other than Yankee Stadium. The American c:.owds that received
the pope do not amount to even 0.5 percent of the U.S. population. When
the pope was in Ireland, he asked the Irish to try to coexist peacefully
but as soon as he left Ireland the war situation returned to what it had
been before his arrival. In the United States, and it behooves Mr ~:ishk
to inform his Iranian friend Hasan Bey of this, the N.B,C. has providerl
statistics indicating that "66 percent of the Catholics support the use of
birth control means, 63 percent of them support the freedom of divorce and
53 percent believe in the need to permit priests to get married." This
means that the majority of the Catholics who applauded the pope, rejoiced
at his presence, cheered for his long life and kissed the hem of his robes
oppose the teachings of the Catholic church which is represented by the
. pope, i.e. the pope who is "Europe's spiritual leadership" (and I don't
understand what this word means in this position)--the pope who came to the
United States to display his blessings and his muscle and to demand a
commission for the European movement. Muscles, really!! Sir, the Catholic
church, like any international establishment, has certain beliefs and it
has not, is not and will not (and this is the church's right, even its
duty) stop trying to project itself as the solution to the human problems,
tragedies, catastrophes and crises. Like any international organization
~ with its followers and supporters, political and non-political organizations
1 and veteran and amateur politicians will try to exploit the church, if
possible, and to use it as an instrument as they a.re exploiting religion
itself and using it as an instrument. Kennedy who knelt before the pope,
that is if he did actually kneel, may have done so because he is a believer
and he will have thus done what a faithful Muslim does when he prostrates
himself on the floor [to pray because each religion, and each religious
$erson, has its way of expressing its religious feelings and beliefs, or�
Kennedy may have knelt, and this is more likely, being certain that the
eyes of the U.S. Catholics were focused on him to find out the degree of his
respect for the establishments and their representatives and the degree of
his respect for the Catholic church in particular. But for us to consider
what Kennedy and others did [during the pflpe's visit] as if it were the start
of an offensi~re Christian western campaign against a Muslim east is naive,
unrealistic, ridiculot~s and shortsighted. No wars, Crusades or otherwise,
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will occur unless the same social, economic and psychological factors
existing when Europe launched its first Crusades and its other wars come
into existence again. If new east-west wars erupt, then only those who
are blind and tendentious will call them crusades. The west does not
fight in the name of religion or of the cross but exploits the cross, if
possible, in any of its wars. This has happened in the Christian Europe,
in Korea, in Vietnam, in Palestine and in Africa. It is said that the
Americans did not respond to Camille Sham'un's appeals to rescue Lebanon in
1958, even though they were aware that Lebanon's rulers at the time were
appealing to Christianity and ruling in the name of protecting this
Christianity. The Americans d1d not land their troops on Lebanon's.shores
until 'Abd-al-Karim Qasim's coup was staged in Iraq. The United States of
the religious Eisenhower landed its troops in Lebanon to defend its
interests, out of fear for those interests from the influence of the com-
munists and to prevent that influence from reaching the Mediterranean.
_ The Muslims, Mr Kishk, have started a war that will be more devastating
and more ruinous than what you and your friends want to revive, i.e. the
memories of the Crusades. How? Let me tell you. The pope is Polish and
Poland is ruled by the c ommunists. The pope greeted the Je~ss in the United
States, which is hostile to coum~unism and most of whose affairs are con-
trolled by the Jews, with the word Shalom. As far as I know, Poland and
the Vatican have not fought Israel and neither has Israel fought them, so
why blame them? The pop e is Polish and the westerner with an ordinary
education, and the pope seems to be one, does not pay as much attention to
our problems as we, or our educated men, pay to the international problems.
It is my opinion that the pope, with all my respect and appreciation, does
not know much about the Palestinian tragedy yet. Leave these matters aside
and tell me: Has the pope done more than Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat has done?
Didn't al-Sadat send his Shalom to Begin in Jerusalem from the sanctuary of
al-Azhar, one of the strongholds of Islam? Didn't al-Sadat and his Egyptiian
ministers shake the hand of the Israeli minister of defense when the latter's
aircraft were pouring their lava and fire on the Muslims and the non-Muslims
and desecrating the hono r of Islam and of Arabism in a spot only 400 kilometers
away and in a land considered part of the Muslim east?
Sir, the Catholic church has lost a great lot since it was at the peak of its
strength and the pontiff is trying now, as his predecessors tried, to regain
what was lost. But his dignity and the dignity of the church have compelled
him to declare in his sp eeches in Ireland and the United States his -
determination to adhere to the church's fundamental beliefs. The church is
looking for a role, for a task and for an important mission so that it may
emerge as a state that wants more than the western world is willing to give
it. They gave tfie pope the international Hyde Park (Corner) Podium, i.e.
the U.N. podium. The ou tcome? Clamor, celebrations, emotions, tears of
joy, fireworks, feasts and television pictures. And then what? Nothing. -
The pope came to the United States to get the blessing and not to give it.
Perhaps he came to mediate and negotiate between the western and the communist
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worlds. The we::terr media have portrayed the event to the television-
addicted world as if it were meant for the opposite. No, Mr Kishk, the
westerners receive whomever they have an evident interest in receiving or _
receive whomever they deem as ready to be a vehicle for these interests, be
he a Muslim easterner, a Chriatian easterner, a Christian westerner or
whatever.
The manner in which :he issue of the western civilization and of its current
moral crisis has been presented in the article is, to say the least, primitive
and emotional. I am referring here to the Pakistani Jalal Kishk. It seems
that this man has looked only at what dazzled him in the western civili-
zation. He has looked at the veneer and rushed toward what he calls
atheism, as if the west is responsible for his atheism. This man does not
know how to view the west and how to view religiousne~s and atheism. I
- doubt if his concept of morals is compatible with the west's concept of
these issues. In the west, as well as in the east, and among the Christians,
as well as among the Muslims, there is religiousness and religious people.
Religiousness means (among other things) rites and cutoms. Each religion
has its rites and its symbols, even atheism has its rites and symbols!! ~
Human behavior has more rites and symbols than anyti?ing else. Even language
itself is ultimately a bunch of symbols and rites. Taking the bread and
the wine is a symbol and considering the bread and the wine a symbol of the
blood and body of Christ of Nazareth is of the essence of the religious
rites, the same way that the pilgrimage of no less than a million Muslims -
from all parts of the world every year to the venerable Mecca to kiss the
Black Rock (among performing other duties and rites) is considered of the
essence of Islam. The west has nat abandoned its faith nor the rites that
usually accompany faith (religious rites and symbols usually have psychological
social functions which cannot be discussed now). However, the west has
separated faith in the Creator and in religion from the establishments that
manage the people's secular affairs, i.e. it has separated the church from
~ the state. States in the west have resorted, like all states in various
ages and under various crises, and especially under crises, to the people's
common beliefs and have invoked an~ instigated these beliefs to create an
intellectual current that gets the people prepared for certain work. But
religion has not always been the ;hing invoked and religion has not always
perfo~ed what is required. The state's use of psychological mobilization
or instigation will not succeed in mak~~:ig people rush toward certa~:n action
unless specific social, economic and psychological conditions are in existence.
tihat is happening in the west at present is to prepare the people~for likely
problems with the others. When the Russian communism was the mdin enemy
of the west, the instigation, mobilization and psychological charging was
directed against communism. Now the west is afraid that oil will stop
flowing to it or that the Russians will get control of this oil and this is
why the west is trying to mobilize the ordinary westerners and to prepare
them for a battle with those who have the oil or with others who covet
this oil. The west is doing this because it may have to fight these oil
owners or those coveting the oil some day. Amo~g the combatants fighting
alongside the west, there will be Muslims--if developments continue in their
present course.
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No man, regardless of how powerful and tyrannical, can turn a Muslim into
an atheist or a Chr istian. A Muslim is a Muslim with the faith in his
heart, and so is the Christian. Confusing faith and religion with world
affairs, with international affairs and with international political moves -
is extremely stupid and ignorant. It is easier for the American ruler to
. persuade the Americans to fight the Muslims or the Arabs than to persuade
them to f ight the European Christians, for example, for reasons that cannot
be dwelt upon here. But we saw how in World War II the U.S. Christians
fought the Christian Germans and the non-Christian Japanese! The hostility
directed at the eas t is not against the Muslims but against the latent
power represented by the capabilities of the east, the entire east with
both its Muslims and its Christians. If crusades are being prepared by
the Christian west against the Muslim east, then the first bullet in these
crusades has already been fired. Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat and all the Muslims
- who suppor t him secretly and openly, and they are many, have fired this
bullet and the bull et has been fired at the Muslim east. The politicized
Marunites in Lebanon who constitute a minority, even among the Christians
with whom I have the honor of sharing Lebanon and its citizenship, would ~
not have dared decl are what is in their hearts in the hearts of other
Muslim and Christians in Lebanon and in other parts if it had not been for ;
the public support and example given by Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat and his '
secret supporters, and they are many.
The source of our catastrophes is still within us. The west does not want
for us what the hon.orable and loyal among us want for us, and this is
natural. The west does not want to lose what it possesses, and this is
natural also. But we are losing what we possess with recklessness, _
ignorance, stupidity~ and with judgments not controlled by any logic,
rationality or reas on. The issues aroused by Jalal Kishk through his two
friends are serious and complex and should not under any circumstances be _
discussed in this f orm and manner in a magazine that proclaims to be a
political and info rmational weekly. The last column of Mr Kishk's article
is nonsense. I beg you and the readers earnestly to re-read the contents
of this ar ticle as of page 38, beginning with the words "the church moved"
until the end of the article. This is drivel and not the words of a
responsible journal ist in an age that no longer permits us to confuse the
issues, to clown and to engage in trickery. The most eloquent answer for
- what the west is pr eparing for us is that we prepare silently--prepare the ,
hearts, the minds and the arms in a manner that gets them ready for a battle
- and not fo r a new d emonstration and for vituperation and clamor. If the
Iranian professor s ays that "the pope wanted to obliterate the traces of
Khomeyni and Islam from the U.S. media" then believe him! Poor pope! Once
upon a time he used to summon kings and crowns to his presEnce and now he
is compelled to go to the United States to offer his services and to start
the new Crusade from that remote place! No, sir. Khomeyni will continue to
be in the U.S. media as long as he heads a state in which the west has vital
- interests. How we wish that enlightened minds and free pens would concen-
trate on analyzing what is happening on the international stage and analyzing
the role that the C atholic church is attempting to perform on this stage in
these hard times.
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Mr Jalal ?~ishk~s article contributes toward spreading ignorance and does
not enlighten.
Father Kawkabani Responds to Jalal Kishk Article
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 23 Nov 79 p 69
[Article by Father Yuhanna Kawkabani: "Who Benefits From Defamation of Head
of Only State That Hasn't Recognized Israel?"]
~ [Text] Responses to Jalal Kishk's article on "confrontation between Christian
we~t and Muslim east" continue to come. AL-HAWADITH publishes in this issue
the response of Father Yuhanna Kawkabani which he starts by saying:
The article writer and his two friends are free to be "f anatic and unfriendly"
and to love the pope or hate him but they are not free to write what they
have written. AL-HAWADITH is not free to publish and highlight in a special
way what they have written about the Christian beliefs and sacraments with
which they deal with such sarcasm and scorn that nobody has ever before
dared to do in a Lebanese paper. We ask Salim al-Lawzi who knows that he
_ has more readers and admirers among the Christians than among the Muslims:
How can he condone the publication on the pages of his magazine of these
primitive and fanatic views that are unfriendly toward both Christianity
and toward the pope? A1-Lawzi is also perfectly aware that what has been
published in this edition is punishable by law because it disparages
- Christianity and debases i.ts rites and because it slanders and deiames the
head of the church. This entitles the people concerned to sue him in the
courts and requires the public prosecution to move automatically to confiscate
the edition and to pursue the article's writer and publisher. But the
prosecution has not done so and we do not expect to do anything under the
circumstances. As for the right to sue, this is up to the people concerned.
However, we are eager for Mr Salim al-Lawzi to know that what he has published
and highlighted in evident collusion will not undermine Christianity and
the pope but rather harms his magazine and distorts the impression we had
of AL-HAWADITH as a magazine characterized by objectivity and by intelligent
daring that provokes skillfully without disparaging the dignity of the
establishments or the individuals about whom it writes. But in this
article, the magazine has fallen into cheap and unintelligent sensationalism.
The naive, fanatic and unfriendly manner in which the three musketeers of
this article have distorted the Christian rites and attacked the church
and its head is, to say the least, shameful and unacceptable.
It is unacceptable that Salim al-Lawzi permit Jalal Kishk to transmit on
the pages of his magazine and through the mouths of an Iranian wh~m Kishk
describes as "fanatic as teenagers" and a Pakistani whom Kishk introduces
to us as "an atheist secularist"--it is unacceptable that al-Lawzi permit
Kishk to transmit abservations which the writer himself admits are like
those of "the blind who were asked to describe the elephant after each of
them had touched a part of his body." This anecdote is well-known. However,
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Kishk proceeds to say that "the picture with which each of us has emerged
ccntains part of the truth (what truth?) or at least the impact of the visit
on each of us...." This is exactly like the impact of light on a man blind
in his eyes and in his heart. They understood from the mass service less
than the said blind understood from touching parts of the elephant's body.
We are no t about to defend the Christian sacraments here, and what is the
use of de�ense and debate with people in whom the blindness of heart has
b een coupled with ill 3ntentions, envy, pride and unfriendliness. They are
like the Pharisees whom Christ refused to teach and to whom he refused to
explain his sacraments because of the blindness of their hearts, their
malice and their price and whom He was content to scold wlth harsh words.
Concerning the Pharisees, and those like them, Christ instructed his
disciples: "Do not throw your gems before pigs so that they may not trample
the gems with their feet and then turn on you and mangle you." -
Were the three musketeers faithful Muslims with sincere intentions, we
would remind them of the instruction of their prophet who said "do not ;
argue with the followers of the book [Christians and Jews]." We would also '
remind them that the prophet instructed hi~ people to respect the Christians I
"because they have priesta and monks who do not act in arrogance," despite !
the ideological differences existing between Islam and Christianity. Many '
believe that what the Koran says about "the feast that God sent down from '
heaven to the apostles so that it may be a feast to their first and their
last and a token from God" (surat al-ma'idah 111-114) is a frank reference
to the holy communion which the Christians performed from the outset, of
which the prophet �~as aware and which he did not ridicule, unlike the
article's three musketeers who liken the faithful receiving their communion
to "the primitives of Australia and Africa who eat the lion's heart to
become lions." Had these three asked one of the participants in the mass
about the meaning of his participation, about the motive of faith that stirs
him and about the spiritual fruit that he reaps from the feast of love and
- peace, they could have possibly understood and they could have possibly
remained silent, and their silence would have been wiser and more prudent.
We come now to the pope's visit to the UnitEd States which, it seems, is the
crux of the article, and ask with astonishment: Why does this Iranian who
is as 1�fanatic as teenagers" insist on finding in the pope's trip "the direct
reply to the Ixanian revolution" and on linking it with the trip of Peter
the Pious who mobilized the west, or Europe, against the east 9 centuries ago?
, In these words of the Iranian, there are two accusations: One ridiculous
and the other serious.
The ridiculous aspect lies in imagining the pope being envious of the leader- _
ship of Khomeyni who, according to the Iranian, "proj ected Islam in all
the international information media for 3 months...so that...the masses in
the west have had Islam for breakfast and Islam for lunch." It sounds as if R
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the Iranian imagines that Pope John Paul II also has Khomeyni for lunch.
Therefore, and as long as there is no reason for the media to go to the
Vatican, as the Iran_ian claims, and considering that the Iranian revolution
has brought the media to IChomeyni's mosque, "it was decided that the pope
would go to the media and so he came to the United States!"
Is it true that the information media tiave no reason to go to the Vatican
where there is a constant stream of visitors and pilgrims, of whom the pope
receives tens of thousands every week, not to mention the big occasions when
hundreds of thousands from all four corners of the world meet in his
presence? Mbreover, what is the pope's behavior or statements entitles
the "teenage",Iranian to think tt~at the pope is jealous and envious of
Khomeyni and what hostile position has the pope taken against the Iranian
revolution so that the Iranian may censure him? Isn't this rydiculous?
As for the serious asnect, it lies in the implicit instigation emanating
from the comparison between the pope and Peter the Pious--a comparison
portraying the pope touring and calling for a new crusade and urging "the
Chri~ti.an west to confront the Muslim east." (This is the title of the
article ~nd a letter can be understood from its title). It seems that the -
article's three musketeers are convinced of this. It pleases the Pakistani
to see "this papal visit as the beginning of the religious movement." The
Pakistani also considers the French army's move in Bokassa's empire the
start of the return of the European colonialism and asserts that "there is
an ever-growing conviction in the west of the need to use force against the
third world." When analyzing "the proposal presented to President Carter
to declare the OPEC a national enemy of the U.S. people," the Pakistani
finds that though "theoretically sound" this proposal lacks two elements:
The ideological cover which alone can stir the masses and the heroic leader
prepared to perform this role. "This is why, the Pakistani says, the
western media are trying to project the pope in the role of this leader!"
Thus, this wretched Musli.m finds himself facing a ready crusade with all
its elements complete and lives, af ter publishing the article, trembling -
in fear, with his hand on his heart and counting down the days while waiting
for the ominous zero hour in which the Christian west will pounce on him
under the pope's leadership!
Now, what do all these statements mean and why this insistence on distorting
the image of the pope and on pinning these strange accusations on him when
the entire world is pleased with his state~ents, stances and initiatives and
when this world is praising this extraordinary religious personality who
is prepared to perform a major role to serve the world's peace? TIME
magazine has said about him what it has never said about anybody else,
describing him as "the brillia~zt leader for whom the world thirsts and who
is capable to stir people to realize accomplishments bigger than their
thinking.... He is the man of all ages and all beliefs." Billy Graham, -
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the famous Protestant preacher, has described him as "the most highly
respected religious leader in the world." Rosalyn Carter, the U,S.
president's wife, welcomed him as an "example of the vision thatunites _
mankind, the vision of cur creator."
So why this rash attack on Christianity and on the head of the church of 700
million followers and the head of a state which continues to refuse until
this moment to recognize the State of Israel and t o submit to the
_ "Judaization" of Jerusalem? In whose interest is all this and who benefits
from this defamation campaign? Does AL-HAWADITH s eek to create a new 13
April through this campaign? The magazine's editorial management has
declared that "the discussion is open." Sv, does it expect this discussion -
to lead to a new sedition?
Else, what is it? What does AL-HAWADITH editorial management seek? Publi-
- cation of the article was decided at an "editorial meeting," as the explanation -
published in edition No 1200 points out, despite all the pitfalls to which ,
the editorial management refers in its explanation. The management coupled ;
_ its explanation with a response to the article att ributed to Dr George I
Farran. I do not know who Dr Farran is. It has b een said that he is a i
mere name with which the editorial management signed this response which i
does not diverge in its contents from tha views expressed in the explanation ;
and there is absolutely no difference in form or s tyle between the explanation i
and the response. AL-HAWADITH is skillfull in these methods and considers ~
Chem a form of journalistic shrewdness, and they are, except in this case. !
In this case, they constitute nothing but an abortive trick and a shameful ~
- approach.
All these means with which the man in charge of AL-HAWADITH has tried to
disavow and camouflage deceive nobody at all. The question we ask him
remains: Who benefits from this article? Who benefits from slandering
and defaming Catholicism, the head of its church and the head of the only ~
state that has not recognized the State of Israel and the state whose head
has not accepted the "Judaization of Jerusalem?" Logically, the only
beneficiary is this state [the State of Israel]. Isn't it so?
T~iill Salim al-Lawzi accept that such questions be raised an.d such suspicions
engulf him and his magazine?
8494
CSO: 4802 -
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ISLAMIC AFFAIRS
SOCIOLOGIST ANALYZES ISLAM'S CHALLENGE TO WEST
- Paris LE MONDE in French 9 Dec 79 p 16
[Interview with Egyptian sociologist Anwar Abdel-Malek by Paul Balta:
"Islam's Challenge to the West"--date and place not given]
[Text] The disorders unfolding in the Arab-M~oslem world
betoken a clash of civilizations. The Eygptian sociolo-
gist Anwar Abdel-Malek analyzes this colossal challenge
thrown to the West.
Egyptian sociologist, research fellow at the National Center for Scientific
Research, Anwar Abdel-Malek also heads the "project on socio-cultural de-
velopment alternatives in a changing world" of the United Nations Universi-
ty whose headquarters are in Tokyo. He has published two series of books
in French, Arabic, and English. His works on the Arab world include "Egypt:
A Military Society," "Contemporary Arabic Political Thought," "Ideology and
National Rebirth," and "Modern Egypt."
The other series, dealing with a restructuring of political and social the-
ory around the social dialectic, includes "Sociology of Imperialism," "The
Army in the Nation," and "Specificity and Social Theory."
[Question] Periodically, since the end of jdorld War II, convulsions have
shaken the Arab aud Islamic world, which extends from the Atlantic (Morocco,
Mauritania) to the Pacific (Indonesia) and from the Mediterranean (Maghreb,
Machrek) to the Gulf of Benin (Nigeria), and counts close to 1 billion _
people. How do you explain these phenomena, which surprise when they do
not frighten the West?
[AnswerJ Let me respond with a question: How is it that the war in Indo-
china, the transformations in Cuba and Nicaragua, the crisis in southern
Africa--not to mention the Sino-Japanese Treaty of August 1978, which lays '
the foundation for the third center of worldwide influence in the future--
that all these events appear, if I may dare to say, less menacing than the
revolutions and transformations in progress in the Islamic Afro-Asiatic
area, whose geopolitical epicenter is Egypt. Yet the latter are part of the
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totality of national liberation movements. But one must follow this fur-
~ ther: as one senses in the West, this movement, which arises in a highly
particular Way in this area of civilization W:~ere more tha~n eight P~undred
million people live With unique intensity, has its own tonality, its oWn
specificity.
Up until the beginning of the 16th Century, the East--that is to say the
sphere of Asiatic civilization around China and the sphere of Islamic Afro-
Asiatic civilization around the Arab nation--was pre-eminent. Not only Were
- Chinese science and technology superior to those of the West, but so Were _
medicine, logic, mathematics, chemistry, geography, throughout the Islamic
World, both Arab and Persian. The two areas Were linked by the routes of
the silk-traders... `
Isolation
The great maritime discoveries of the lSth Century and the circumnavigation
of the globe, the rise of the Portuguese middle classes and merchants in
~ the great centers of Mediterranean Europe, resulted in the isolation of the ~
Arabic epicenter, progressive concentration of the Wealth, from the Cru- i
:.ades to the black slave trade and the despoiling of the Indians, then, ~
subsequently, colonialism and imperialism in the southern, south-eastern, ~
and later still the eastern part of the Asiatic continent: for five cen-
turies, Europe's phenomenal expansion laid the foundations for a pre-emi-
nence that remains to the present day.
The East remained quiescent during this swing of the pendulum. The East, it
Was said, Was in decline. Let us see. Recent studies have shoWn that this
Was not really the case. The social and national continuity of political
power and the power of cultural and spiritual ties of the great religions
of the East, Islam and Buddhism, Were not adequately taken into account. In
fact, the East held out, albeit in second place. Then came the epoch of the '
great bourgeeis, democratic, scientific, rationalistic revolutions in the ~
Europe of thr; En?ightenment. Under the impact of the penetration of the
great European empi.res, the East, Which Was sleeping, asked itself a double
questions Why the decline? How to revive?
Resurgence '
The resurgence of the East, courted since the second half of the 18th Cen-
tury, principally in Egypt, then, half a century later, in China, India,
_ and finally Japan, became divided into two campss that of the westernized
liberal modernists, and that of the fundamentalists--and reactionaries, as
they are so often abusivply called--who were searching in the return to the
foundations of their national cultures, with their philosophic and religi-
ous components, for the keys ~o a rebuildinP, of the enfeebled body of
the nation.
In these tFro areas of civilization, the spec:ific feature was modutated in
tWO different ways. It is sufficxent to look at the map to see that it has
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been the Arab-lslamic Norld ~hich, since the First Crusade (Ninth Century)
up to our own day, is in closest proximity to the penetration of the West;
thus it is within the latter that tensions are most radical and profound.
The tonality of the resurgence of the Islamic East appears the more harsh
for its proximity to Europe and because two of the three oldest nations in
the world, Egypt and Persia (the third being China) adopted Islam in the
Seventh Century. This resurgence of Islamic tra~ition, accompanied by that
of eastern Christianity, is manifesting itself in populist radicalism and
cultural revival just at the moment when the West is asswning a very dif-
ferent character from that of the great revolutionary epoch. In effect, it
split into tWO very different parts in 1917, its epicenter shifted from
Europe to the~United States, and it is undergoing a crisis Which is less
that of petroleum or markets than a crisis of its Whole Promethean scheme
of civilization.
The extreme limit
The West seems to have reached the extreme limit of this scheme, in Which
man, master and conqueror of nature, proposed unlimited production oriented -
toward exponentially increasing consumption aiming at enjoyment and
pleasure. At the very time When one sees an immense quest for values and
ideals, the Western sky seems singularly bare; from Which springs the ex- -
plosive, astonishing, unacceptable aspect of the resurgence of the East. It
is there, I think, that one must search for the source of the shock, the
undercurrent of anger, the anxiety which you mention, because the East, in
quest of spirituality, renaissance, and not only independence, seems to
shoW the West glimpses of its own emptiness. NoW you see the submerged part
of the iceberg, Which goes Well beqond the oil and financial crises.
- [Question] Doubtless, but today~ Mossadegh, Nasser, and Boumedienne cut a
rational and moderate figure by comparison With the Imam Khomeyni. One has
the feeling that, along with the irill to independence, we are seeing a re-
turn to the Middle Ages, With obscurantist overtones, to the point that one
must ask whether it is Mossadegh or Khomeini who incarnates Islamic poli-
tics, of which you are a theoretician.
- [Ans~er] The Iranian revolution ~?as preceded, a quarter of a century ago,
by the Nasserian revolution (1952-1970) which Was--with the Chinese revolu-
tion--the most important political event of the second half of the 20th
Century. It was accompanied by Mossadegh's action (1951-1953), which roused
the excitement of the masses and provoked against him one of the bloodiest
coups d'etat of our era (same 10,000 deaths), not forgetting the Algerian
war (1954-1962), happily overtaken by the realism and ~isdom of the adver-
saries of the past.
Shi'ites and Sunnites
It is nevertheless true that there still exists a split which comes to us
from history. In effect, after the first four caliphs, successors of the
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Prophet Mohamrtnad, the poWer of Islam was attached, betWeen the ninth and
fourteenth centuries, to the Omayyad dynasty i.n Syria and the Abbasid
in Baghdad, then to the national dynasties of Egypt and to the prestigious
martial dynasties of Morocco. From a sociological point of vieW, this sig-
nifies that it was the sedentary populaCions of the old water-oriented
societies, near the ports and great crossroads of international commerce,
that institutionalized political and spiritual poWers Sunnite Islam.
In return, the Shi'ite irredentists, pushed back into the hinterlands of
east and cpntral Asia, continued their ardent quest for historical legiti-
macy and for national, stabilized state power. In the Sunnite zone, a sym- -
biosis Was achieved between spiritual and temporal poWer, the latter having
since long ago, in ancient states like Egypt, pre-eminence over the former.
The spiritual came to legitimize and reinforce in some ways the authority
of the state, which profited from the antiquity and depth of the field of
history. This explains hoW, for example, the revolution of Nasir, heir to
this history, could have been a naZional revolution Which aimed at the re-
structuring, then the strategic development, of the economy, the society,
and the culture toward socialism, ~ri.thin the context of an Arabic, African,
Islamic, eastern culture.
It~is here that one can see the difference from Islamic politics in the
Shi ite. vein of Ayatollah Khomeyni, in the Way in Which the Iranian people,
for the ~irst time in t~o centuries, endow themselves ~?ith a national,
independent state. Today, this state is in the hands of the popular masses,
difficult, it is true, to control at this stage. But let us recall the stir-
rings and violent shifts Which Were produced, in a nation as highly struc-
tured as France, during its revolution. A great number of years was neces-
sary to bring France from 1789 to the Empire, the Napoleonic Code, the Ecole
Polytechnique...
It is also necessary to compare the contributions of Mohamed Ali With Tah-
taWi and the Saint-Simonians in Egypt, to those of the Pahlavi and SAVAK in
Iran, the absense of national autonomy and the penetration of state institu-
tions by Zionist services. The Iranian revolution wanted to put an end to
these discrepancies and recover the state for Iran. For the moment, religion
has replaced the traditional type of state, but one can speculate that ra-
- tionality irill return and the state will be endowed with its proper
institutions.
The October War
~Question] How do you explain the expansion of Islam in Africa and the re-
verberations of the Irarian revolution that one finds throughout most of the
Arab countries, while the leaders of these states seem to fear the effects
of its contagion, as was recentlq noted at the Tunis summit?
[AnsWer] The expansion of Isla,m as a model for civilixation is felt even
more strongly in Asia than in Africa. The turning point Was the October War
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of 1973, Which indirectly unleashed the oil crisis, suddenly revealing the
extreme fragility of the Promethean model of civilization of the Western
bourgeois societies. It was only natural that vast sectors of the Moslem .
Afro-Asiatic countries--and as much in the ranks of the common people as
in those of the middle classes and the intelligentsia, upon thus seeing
the credibility of this 4lestern modernization crumble, should have wished
to return to the foundations of their national cultures, of Which the most
basic is Islam and its heritagQ. Since that time, tre Iranian revolut~on
has multiplied the effects of the October War.
From that zime on, the question Was posed: Why not, after all, fo11oW our
oWn path? Why not try to achieve a critical modernity rather than an imi-
tative modernism, as the Moroccan leader and thinker A12a1 E1 Fassi said
in the 1940's? On this point, it is fitting to note the communal charac-
ter of sedentary, Afro-Asiatic rural soc~eties, which endorse the notions
of fatherland, social and family solidarity, a community of believers, con-
sensus, national unity rather than the values of individualism, that ghetto
of egoism bound up in the race for profit and pleasures. Briefly, from 1973
to 1979 the Afro-Asiatic world--not only the Isla.mic--made a powerful re-
_ turn to the profoundly vital legacy of its own uniqueness. It is here that
the reverberation of the Iranian revol~tion in the Arab World finds its ex-
planation: it is, at the same time, an objectiive extension and a deepening
of the line of march of Nasirism and the great Arab national revolutions,
notably in Algeria. This reverberation, combining the "oumma" (community of
th~ faithful) with the political primacy of national rebirth, reaches not
only the popular masses and the national bourgeoisies, but also the
' intellectuals and the previously mute armed forces.
, Counterblow?
(Question] Are we heading inevitably toward a violent confrontation be-
tween the East and the West?
I [AnsWer] In times of crisis, our common duty is to keep our heads, to main-
tain our moral and intellectual responsibility. Among the causes of the cur-
i rent unrest, there is to begin Frith an economic-strategic factor: the re-
strucCuring of international relations which is called the new internation-
al economic order, Which--although it is not an economic war--has brought
~ to the fore in an extremely disturbing way since 1973 in the Arab-IsZamic
region--the oil crisis. All the World feels thus involved on a daily basis
with the events Which transpire there. Beyond that, as We have already
seen, the confusion which has been produced in this region is accompanied
by a quest that is spiritual, religious, philosophical, and moral, at the
- very same time as the consumer ethic, the pleasure ethic, and the ethic of
individualism are caught in dilemmas which can only deepen. It is this
which, to my mind, lies at the basis of the unrest.
It is possible to conceive that in certain conditions the only solution
- Would be to put an end to it, by the violent suppression of this challenge,
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Which appears as a negation of the W~st. For my part, I F?ould envision
prospects ~hich are more complex, but also more humane, more constructive,
and more realistic. The annihilation of Islamic politics seems, after all,
a difficult job on the operational level, and considering the concentrations
of populations and the economic, political, and human potential within this
immense arc. It ~aould be a case, at best, of a counterblow which would not
~esolve the crisis of the Western consumer societies any more than it Would
miraculously make oil more abundant.
[Question] Isn't the World geo-political balance also a factor that should
, be taken into account?
[AnsxerJ F~cactly. The Isla~nic Afro-Asiatic region borders the Soviet
Union, China, and India, and it is Moslem populations that live at the
junction of the two great socialist poWers. One can thus foresee that a
prolonged operation in this region would arouse anxiety, and perhaps a
counterreaction, on the part of the Soviet Union, Which is directly con-
cerned ~ith the security of its borders, and with its preser.t and future
supplies of gas and oil. All these reasons lead me to believe that the most
- extreme scenarios merely play on the sensitivity of public opinion, stirred ~
up by the predo~inantly metropolitan mass media, rather than proceeding
from intelligent thought.
i
Another voice i
Certainly, the curreat period of tension will continue for a generation--
and transform the world. Conflicts, contradictions, regional confrontations,
periodic crises will be our daily bread, in the meantime. But the overall
balance of power will forbid crnssing the thr~shold of maximum tolerance
and continuing on toWard a world war. This intense dialectical process will
lead to a non-synchronous restructuring of certain factors (energy, food,
control of space and the oceans), as it Frill le~d to a worlciwide movement
of critical and comparative reflection; the "other," the "others," Will no
longer be the "barbarians," of reductionist cliche~. Questions will be
- posed such ass "How can one be a Persian, French, American, Ethiopian,
Egyptian, or Mexican, in the contemporary World?"; or again, "How to com-
bine authenticity and modernity, specificity and contemporaneity, the past
and the future, ~rithout losing oneself?"
_ This great questioning of the philosophy of history and the sociology of
civilizations is bec aning today the focal point of the intellectual quest,
in a time of growing risks. There is no royal road. But it is important to
note that while from the Flest there once arose the voice of Charles de
Gaulle, today from the West comes the voice of .John Paul II, who explicitly
wants to base the continuance of the West on a return to the sources of its
Christian authenticity and on a dialog Wi.th the non-Western worlds of Asia,
Africa, and Latin America, as well as With the socialist societies.
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Is this not in fact a line o� action parallel to that of Islamic politics?
To that of the great Maoist synthesis betxeen Chinese philosophy and the
socialist revolution? Why refuse to see these bridges--these possibilities
of a non-conflictive dialog of civilizations--which could lead toWard com~
plementarity, mutual enrichment, greater security for all, a less inhwnane
life, and a world in xhich spirituality and the satisfaction of needs Would
not be mutually exclusive? A World in which men would agree at last to ~ork
out a new model for civilization--a mod~~l allo~ring for multiple paths, ex-
cluding Prometheanism and Manicheism, ar.cepting at the same time brotherhood
and the urgency of the dangers threatening the globe, chiefly the self-
destructive dimension of nuclear arms.
9516
_ CSOs 4800
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IRAN
I
i
AYATOLLAH MONTAZERI EXPLAINS STANCE VERSUS UNITED STATES, NEIGHBORING STATES
F Beirut AL-SAFIR in Arabic 19 Nov 79 p 12 '
~ [Interview with Ayatollah Montazeri by Basim al-Sab': "We Are in Position
i of Attack Against United States; Saddam's Criticism Inspired by Others"]
i -
[Text] Tehran--Ayatollah Mantazeri, the chairman of the Council of Experts
[majlis al-khubara'] and the Imam of Tehran, has asserted that the Iranian
revolution is not in the position of reaction or defense and that it is still
_ in the position of attack against the U.S. stance.
Montazeri has denied that the embassy operation has taken place as a screen
for dismissal of the former goverziment or for passing the constitution.
He criticized the Iraqi position and President Saddam Husayn's position in
' p articular and has described Husayn's statements on Iran as "statements
inspired by others."
Montazeri's statements were made during an interview which AL-SAFIR con-
ducted with him at his headquarters in the Council of Experts and in the
office which was used by the former shah and has now turned into the private
office of the Imam of Tehran.
~ During the interview, Montazeri sat on the floor covered with a thick
~ moquette in the big salon with its conference table which the shah used for
~ his meetings with his visitors at the parliament. _
~ Following is the tzxt of the questions and the answers:
[QuestionJ The revolutton is currently facing the dilemma of the challenge
against the United States. How will the revolution, which is young in its
capabilities and experience, be able to confront this challenge and what
are the forms that this confrontation will assume?
[Answer] Iran`s revolution is, as you have said, young but the Iranian
people have been able, with their sacrifices, to take their first steps.
The more martyrs this revolution offers and the more the people lose in
terms of their money and resources the more steadfast they will become.
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The internal enemy, who happened to be the shah, exerted strong pressure
on the people and that pressure only made the people stand fast more reso-
lutely and cling to their rights more firmly. To destroy the shah, the
p eople offered many sacrifices and martyrs. If the external enemy wants
to attack us now, it is a foregone conclusion that the Iranian people will
sacrifice and will fight more firmly in the future.
The world today is not as it used to be in the past when the U.S. imperialism
could occupy a country easily if it wished to do so. They have tried this
in Vietnam and other places and they have found that exerting pressure on
peoples, killing and falsification can only cause them harm. Even the
American people themselves oppoaed their administration, saying that it
squandered their resources and killed their troops. This is why the U.S.
administration whose actions are opposed by its people cannot exert pressure
on us today. If it intends to attack Iran, then th~ Iranian people who of-
fered thousands of martyrs in the face of their internal enemy will stand
fast more resolutely in the face of their external enemy. We consider mar-
tyrdom through Islam and for God as perfection and we ask for martyrdom for
the sake of God. ~
Another Vietnam
[Question] Do you think that [do }ou believe in] psychological mobilization '
I
to confront a major power such as the United States? ;
[Answer] I have said that the United States, even if it is a super power, I
cannot attack us unless it has lost its mind and unless it wants to create
another Vietnam. I believe that the pressure by the U.S. people, like the
pressure exerted in the case of Vietnam, will prevent it from committing
such an act. We want the U.S. people to oppose their administration because,
in addition to squandering the people's resources, this administration has
destroyed the prestige of the U.S. people, especially in the third world,
Palestine and Lebanon. Does the aid that the United States advance to Israel,
when Israel is killing the Palestinian and Lebanese brothers daily, serve the
interest of the U.S. people? Does this mean anything other than squandering
the people's money, levying taxes on them and oppressing them with heavy so-
cial burdens? We want the American people to oppose these actions. We want
them to especially oppose the delivery of their monies to the tyrannical
Israel to strike our brothers in southern Lebanon and the harboring of the
traitor shah and the other criminals of the world. We believe that as there
are oppressed in the third world, the majority of the Americans are also op-
pressed and their rights usurped, especially the U.S. blacks. The U.S. peo-
- ple believe in Christ and Christ fought tyranny, dictatorship and crimes. `
Isn't it the duty of these Christians in the United States to oppose their
administration for harboring the criminal shah? Does Christ condone this
and was this his will?
Rather, It Is Attack
[Question] In the first days of the U.S. embassy operation, you were in the
- position of [initiating the] action. Now that 15 days have passed since the _
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operation took place, it seems that the picture is changinge You are in the
position of reaction and the United States is in the opposite position. The
United States puts a stop to the importation of oil and you then stop pump-
ing [production]. The United States declares the freezing of assets and you
then declare their withdrawal. Don't you think that the Iranian position
is shaky at present?
[AnswerJ There are no Iranian reactions. We are proceeding on our path and
we are not in the position of reaction and defense. We are carrying out our
work without fear of the United States. Our position was offensive origi-
nally and it is still so. As for the issue of the oil embargo, all the oil
areas of Iran asked us to put an embargo on oil to the 'Jnited States and
the Revolution Council was thinking of this issue. We had adopted a posi-
tion in this regard before the U.S. administration adopted its position to
stop the importation of oil but the United States declared its position be-
fore we did. The word reaction may have been used in the papers but we are
still in the position of attack.
We Don't Antagonize Any People
[Question] It is reiterated that the embassy operation was carried out ~o
provide a screen for local conditions, including the government's inability
to solve some problems, such as unemployment and inflation, and to stress
the need for approving the constitution which has been under discussion for
a long time. kThat is your opinion?
[Answer] Unemployment, inflation and numerous other problems are i~~lherited _
from the defunct regime. But now that the United States has adopted the
deposed shah and has agreed to give him asylum, Muslim students have occu-
pied the embassy. This step is not meant to cover the problems, The ac-
tions carried out by imperialism are meant to distort the facts. We know
that the United States is trying to distort our reputation in the western
society. We harbor no hostility to any state or any people and we want our
.
relations to be relations o� friendship with all and to be established on
reciprocal treatment, provided that no state interfere in determining our
future or plundering our resources, be such a state western or eastern.
[Question] Assuming that the shah's issue was not present or that he has
died, what would your position vis-a-vis the U.S. policy be?
[Answer] In case the shah dies and the United States stops plotting against
us and seeks to establish serious relations with us, then we are not the
enemies of anybody. Our revolution is an Islamic revolution and our goal
is an Islamic goal. We do not want to humiliate anybody and we don`t want
money from anybody. But if the United States wants to resume its previous
attitude and if it doesn't stop its plots, then we will stand against it.
The evidence of its plots in Kurdestan, Khuzestan and other provinces is
ample.
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[Question] It seems that the U.S. economic blockade against Iran is not the
only one aimed at you. You are surrounded by i:eighbors, including Afghan-
- istan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain (and Iraq, adds Montazeri), against _
whom you have launched a violent attack recently. How will you deal with
this issue and what is the nature of the relations with these countries?
[Answer] We have felt recently that some neighboring countries have moved -
against us. Foremost is Traq which is working against Iran to the degree
that Saddam Husayn has said in a press interview that Iraq is not in con-
frontation with Israel but in confrontation with an "Iranian colonization."
We know that Saddam Husayn does not have the capability to make such state-
ments and rhat these statements are inspired by others. Until sometime ago,
the shah performed the role of the area's policeman and perhaps Saddam
Husayn himself want to perform this role to a certain extent. They want
to distort the Iranian revolution and they say that we want to intervene
in other areas, such as Bahrain, K~wait and Iraq. All this is false and a
twisting of the facts.
- As I have already said in a Friday sermon, we do not covet a single inch of ,
the territories of our neighbors, not in Bahrain, no~ in Iraq and not in '
Kuraait. They must believe that the path we are following is the path of de- ;
fending Islam and that we do not want to attacK any state. But our task re-
quires us to protect the oppressed. When our Palestinian brothers and our ;
brothers in southern Lebanon and Afghanistan are attacked, defending them
- become; a humanitarian duty dictated by the conscience and by religion--"and
be enemies of th~ tyrant and supporters of the oppressed." But we have no
intention to attack any neighboring country. We are marching forth on our
path, regardless of whether the United States approves or not and regardless
of whether the neighboring countries approve or not.
- Naturally, I don't mean by my w~rds all the Arab countries but only some of ;
them. All the words I have addressed to the Arab h2ads of state have been
intended for advice solely because the Muslim is the brother of the Muslim
- and the duty of every Muslim requires him to order good deeds and to pro-
scribe abominable deeds. These words that I am addressing to the Arab heads
of state are meant for advice and not for a threat. Let them learn a lesson
from the shah's fate because my heart burns for them. I am only advising
them. Peoples have become enlightened and aware ~f their responsibilities.
Any people suffering under oppression will move and will not remai.n silent,
as they used to do in the past. The world is now closely interconnected.
There is radio, television and telephone and peoples learn from each other
and see that the oppressed have triumphed against the oppressors. This
gives peoples the sense of the responsibility to confront tyranny.
What is right must be said. One of our problems is that we did not dispatch
- after the revolution delegations to explain our good intentions to the neigh-
- boring and to the European countries and to demonstrate to them sincerely
the truth of this Islamic revolution. Perhaps this is the reason why our
revolution is misunderstood abroad.
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The pen was, unfortunately, in the hand o~ the enemy who started to write
and say that f ascism has comP to Iran and who started to talk about the _
executions, the killings and other things. But we will, God willing, send
delegations very shortly to explain the goals of our revolution to the
- western and neighboring countries.
Left, Right and South
[Question] What is yo~~r evaluation of the nature of the relations with the
leftist and rightist political forc~s existing in Iran?
[Answer] Our revolution is an Islamic revolution that has no connection
wit~ the left or the right. Our Islam is a straight Islam. The tree of
Islam is straight and is neither eastern nor western. We have not changed
our position at all. We accept whatever is Islamic and we have no inten-
tion to com+nit aggression against anybody. We refuse that anybody, be he
eastern or western9 interfere in our affairs. Our government will be an
Islamic government .
_ We are enemies to nobody. It has been proven so far to everybody that free-
dom is present in Iran. But some people are trying to hatch plots and con-
~piracies against us, as has happened in Kurdestan and Khuzestan.
[Question] The Iranian revolution has sent more than one envoy to get ac-
quainted with the situation in southern Lebanon. Have any specific measures
b een taken in this regard?
[Answer] So far, I am not aware of the measures taken in regard to southern
Lebanon. But I support the delivery of aid to the south. This is the duty
- of every Muslim. I hope that in the future we will devote greater attention
to foreign affairs than we are devoting now. This is presently the case be-
cause i~nperialism does not give us a chance to even scratch our head. -
Upon completing the ~uestion to this answer, Montazeri asked that the inter-
view be ended because it was time for prayer and even past the time of prayer
and of fast breaking--the ayatollah was one of thousands who declared a
political fast.
Notice: The questions were addressed in Arabic an~l Imam Montazeri answered
them in Farsi.
8494
CSO: 4802
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ISRAEL
OPPOSITION PARTIES' DESTRUCTIVE MET~iODS HARM NATION
_ Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 9 Nov 79 p 3
[Article: "Opposition Party Ought To Fight Fairly"]
[Text] The campaign of opposition at any price is carried on by the aline-
ment. It makes one wonder about its ability to lead a stable and constitu-
tional government. In a democratic country worthy of its name there is
room for parties in power and parties in the opposition. All movements
have a constructive role in democratic life and all contribute to the coun-
try and its citizens. Any opposing party, naturally, hopes to be in power
ultimately. But it ought to remember that when the time comes when it is
in power, the current ruling party will be the opposition. Therefore, it
ought to select a political weapon which does not backfire.
It is important to choose a weapon that will be efficient but not cruel. _
The opposition is entitled to use its weapon against the government, but
not against the form of government and certainly not against the country.
The Histadrut as a Political Weapon
' It is not this way in Israel. We can see that the alinement fights the
government too strenuously and often does not play by the rules of consti-
tutional states. The Histadrut, which j.s utilized unfairly, does not "be-
long" only to the Labor Party of the alinement, but to all workers in
Israel. There is constant incitement of worker committ~es--especially in
government offices and government owned plants, as well as in highly sensi-
tive places--to call strikes and confrontations, al1 of which cause dis-
comfort and difficultie~ for our people. All this is done in order to -
create political unrest, hundreds of thousands of workdays are lost to the
economy and losses of billions of pounds are incurred, which further shakes
the economy.
This is how hidden unemployment of thousand~, maybe even hundreds of thou-
sands, is created. All this is done under the claim of supposedly pro-
tecting the rights of the workers, or lessening their burden or efforts,
by increasing their numbers above and beyond what is necessary for the
economy or to raise productivity.
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It is no secret that productivity in Israel is one of the lowest in the
world--in spite of an investment of billions in mechanization and moderni- -
zation. .
The percentage of service workers is far higher than that in other indus-
trialized countries, whereas the quality of services is very poor.
Ridiculous Norms '
Norms that are set are ridiculous. There are places where a worker can
produce seven "norms" a day. The average standard of living in Israel is
much higher than the GNP, and as a result Israel's national debt has been
increasing drastically to the point th.at it endangers our national exis-
tence. All this is done by the opposition in the hope of toppling the
government at any price, as if to say: "Let us die with you."
In regard to political weapons, the situation is very bad, too. Mr Bar-Lev,
general secretary of the Labor Party, supports the PLO's legal arguments on
the evac~.iation of Elon-Moreh. The younger generation in the Labor Party -
also oveitly supports an independent Palestinian state. Peres has'hinted ~
- to the American administration that he would be "reasonable" in negotiations ,
on the future of the West Bank and, therefore, it would be just as well if
the American administration makes it difficult for Israel and "helps" its
government to fall. There are unrestrained attacks on the IDF by personal ~
attacks against the chief of staff, Lt Gen Refa'el Eytan. It is difficult '
to tolerate the personal injustice done to Eytan, who is known by all his
acquaintances as the epitome of honesty, morality and fairness. But, as
_ was mentioned, the alinement is not choosy about its means. E~~:iything is. _
- permitted.
The other small opposition parties, such as Sheli, the Communists and others,
_ do not even resort to a"fig leaf" approach and talk with venomous hatred
about everything. '
j
The media, regret~ully, looks for sensations and does its best to expose i
every defect in vivid color, completely out of proportion. On the other ~
hand they ignore, or cover up, anything positive that is accomplished.
Thus, they create a distorted image about what is happening here. Obvi-
ously, it is common for our media to be quoted by our enemies throughout
the world.
Self-Destructian
This atmosphere of "Let's attack them" even influences the minist~rs. Quite
often one gets the feeling that they are fighting each other. All ministers
are for cutbacks of billions, on one condition--that it does not affect
their ministry. It is no secret that the present number of government and
local employees could serve a country of 10 million, instead ~f 3.5 million,
and even then it could be reduced.
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No wonder morale is low and incentive is at a low ebb. There are no
restraints. The administration is weak and this can be seen by the Arab
communities. They see and feel quite well what is going on, and why _
shouldn't they exploit the situation for their own benefit? The com-
- mander of the military police has published some shocking facts. Thau-
sands of soldiers are deserters. There a_e numerous cases in which
soldiers sold weapons to Arabs. Drugs are being used by some serving -
on our security forces. The list goes on.
The sense of self-destruction keeps working and attacks everything.
There is no doubt that, in spite of it all, there are creative powers in
this nation and a lot of light is shining from many directions. We have
wonderful youth with a sense of self-sacrifice and honor of God. Many
institutions and plants function impecably. But the question still is,
can this state afford--considering its economic, military and political
situation--to continue to allow this deterioration on these most sensitive _
and vital issues, thus endangering our very existence? Israeli parties
ought to adopt new standards of behavior and new norms of struggle. They
ought to behave as the most orderly nations do.
Even countries that are at war do not utilize all destructive weapons at
their disposal. There are rules of war which protect the warring coun-
tries, victorious and defeated alike, from total destruction. Why, then,
can't parties within our country spare this enormous achievement ~ahich
they themselves have helped to create? Why are they willing to destroy
it and all its people? It is entirely possible that we may have to stem
not only economic inflation but also the inflation in democratic rights,
since they are so exploited.
We have become a~oke among all our friends. No wonder our enemies think -
we are doing their work.
A party in opposition should fulfill its obligations faithfully. It
should expose and protest weaknesses and fight negative phenomena. It
should explain its different political way, which may be better and more
just, but it cannot utilize destructive weapons or unacceptable means
which threaten our very existence.
8646
- CSO: 4805
i
?
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ISRAEL
CLOSURE OF'HAZOFEH'LIKENED TO PARTY SUICIDE
Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 9 Nov 79 p 2
[Editorial: "Urgent Call on NRP To Rescind Its Decision To Close Down
HAZOFEH"J
j
[TextJ The NRP's central committee's decision a year ago to stop the pub- ;
lication of HAZOFEH ,as received uncomfortably by members and friends of
the party. The veteran daily, established 43 years ago by the great late ~
Rabbi Me'ir Bar-Ilan, is a public, political, cultural and literary trea- ;
sure of the first degree for the national religious community. It is the !
only publication of the Mizrakhi movement, both in Israel and in the ~
diaspora, which publishes news and commentary and guards Jewish values
and issues. It is a source of Zionist religious thinking and a forum for
evaluating Jewish literature and authors.
Like any other daily which reflects current events, their repercussions
and assesses them, it needs to be constantly developPd in regard to infor-
mation and editorials, as well as format and scope. For many years it was
on the rise. The central committee's shocking decision to silence the
religious community damaged the paper extensively, although it continues ~
to be published. The paper's thousands of readers are very critical of
those who decided to close the paper down, thereby damaging it. They con-
sider the decision stupid, shortsighted and rigid. ;
- A party daily is always in the red. This is true of every such paper in ,
the country. But it has no equal as the daily voice of the party and the '
movement. The list of public campaigns that the paper initiated, faith-
fully pursued and saw to victory is long. The paper is open minded and
r.emoved from party pettiness.
In many respects the daily paper is worth more than a representation in
the Knesset or local governments. It serves as a bridge between the party
and its members and nurtures their ideological, political and cultural com-
panionship. The paper is not only a mouthpiece for the party, but its _
continued publication is its very spirit.
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Closing down the HAZOFEH will be a heavy blow to the prestige of the NRP
and the religious Zionist movement. Blows lead to other blows. A mute
party, whose mouthpiece has been silenced while other, smaller parties,
have daily~papers, loses its credibility. In times of public campaigns,
this party has to turn to hired writers.
The NRP is a central partner of the coalition. HAZOFEH, to a large extent,
is the only publication which explains the government's policy in a balanced,
factual manner, without avoiding self-criticism. The NRP's voice, balanced
and true to principles, is heard daily via the media and reaches thousands
of readers and listeners. The NRP can point to the fact that it alone,
among the coalition parties, has a daily paper which explains both its posi-
tion and that of the entire coalition.
Whether the government ends its term or conditions are such that early
elections are called, we are approaching a climate of elections in Israel.
The NRP will have to struggle to maintain its position as a central party
with the ability to sway votes, as well as to try to improve its position
on the political map. Its opponents are secular parties which conspire
to neutralize the NRP with coalition combinations. The NRP will also con-
front religious parties, such as Hat'khiya and so forth, which will try to
nibble at its electoral power. The daily newspaper is as necessary as air
" is for breathing. In the future, as in the distant and recent past, and
in the present, too, it must be at the front. There is no substitute.
A large and complex party, such as the NRP, which is the uppermost party -
for organized religious Judaism, can withstand the financial burden of a
daily paper. A true reorganization of management and editorial staff is
needed. The best people should be channeled to these positions. If this
is done, there is a good chance for incrEased circulation so that the re-
sulting income could be counted in the total balance.
Before it is too late, activists of the NRP are implored upon to not close
the paper; to close it would be tantamount to suicide. The first thing
that has to be done is to convene the central committee of the party and
the Po'el-Hamizrakhi. This meeting ought to be given the authority of a
convention so it could decide on the future of the daily paper which for
years has contributed to the rise of the party, to the development of its
_ projects and to its numerous campaigns.
This convention would be most constructive not only if it decides to main-
- tain the paper but also to strengthen it and broaden its scope, if it man-
dates thousands of inembers to subscribe to it and the institutions of the
party to support it financially.
The sinful thought of silencing the mouthpiece of the national religious
movement has to be dropped. Moreover, as a movement which wants to enhance
its position and spread its values, the NRP is mandat~d to help HAZOFEH
out of its financial straights and turn it into a viable organ for Judaism
~ and its values and ways.
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If, God forbid, the paper is closed down, there will not be a vacuum.
Instead of a daily paper for the whole party, a paper which supports and
unites what is co~non to all, there will be a lot of loud publications
each promoting its own "stars" while maligning everyone else. There are
already some signs of such divisive splinter papers.
The readers of HAZOFEH, loyalists of the united movement, warn that clos-
ing the paper would be like suicide by the party. This is a warning in-
tended to prevent any further deterioration.
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83
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ISRAEL
AGUDAT ISRAEL STAND ON ABORTION LAUDED
Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 6 Nov 79 p 2
[Editorial: "Agudat Israel Is Praised for the Strong Stand It Took Against
Abortion"]
[Text] It is very rare that Agudat Israel captures the headlines and is
heard widely in the international arena. It is rare that the party is men-
tioned favorably. It has a lot of adversaries who are waiting for it to
make a mistake, and they can be found on either side of the fence. Invari-
ably, when it does make the headlines, as it did on 5 November, it is not
for an insignificant reason but involves matters of theology. The editors,
therefore, congratulate Agudat Israel for being "caught" for important
tr.ings, whereas others are "caught" for trivial reasons. This is the only
difference between Agudat Israel and other parties.
.
Agudat Israel has opinions and ~;ositions on every political, economic and
social subject. Its representatives in the Knesset committees represent
- the party respectaUly. But it never uses its parliamentary power to its
fullest extent, and it does have some clout on any other issue. Its repre-
sentatives in the Knesset fight for their opinions and are among those who
are heard quite often, if only because their opinions are original and
based on ancient Jewish tradition. Its representatives in other national
institutions fulfill their mission consistently and in a manner that evokes
respect for them and their party.
But it has never thrown its full weight on any economic, political or so-
cial issues. Not because these subjects do not concern it, but because it
= always looks for a compromise. Its moderation tends to influence matters.
Only when it comes to the basic issue, to the one issue about which the
party really cares, has it ever done anything worth mentioning.
Agudat Israel was out of the coalition for many years. It was often re-
ferred to respectfi~lly. Often~, it could have had the decisive vote. But
it preferred to forego the advantage o: being in the coalition--and there
is no need to explain what that buys--as 3.ong as its basic demands were
not met. Those demands were always set ry rhe learned men on its council,
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which is Agudat Israel's highest authority. Its representatives always
consider themselves as the spokesmen of the council. There was no other
reward, financial or prestige, that could s*aay the party. It was never
in the opposition for the sake of opposing. Exclusion from the coalition
was never a burden, and it certainly did not bother its conscience.
Following the political "revolution" of the elections to the ninth Knesset,
a new atmosphere was created, in which the basic demands of Agudat Israel
were accepted. This time the party revealed a position unheard of in
IsraeZi politics. It voluntarily gave up any position in the coalition,
in a ministry, or in the executive branch. All its demands were restricted
to theological matters. Even when it demanded that a discrimination be
corrected it was a matter of theology, for the sake of strengthening reli-
gious education in all its aspects.
It would be more than audacious to accuse Agudat Israel of "blackmail" as
the chairman of the Likud delegation to the Knesset has ~ust done. For
Agudat Israel this is strictly a matter of conscience, and nothing else. ;
This is a question pertaining to the future of the Jewish people. There ~
is no selfishness here. On the contrary, those who fight the revocation ~
of the social subsection of the abortion law are shockingly selfish them- ~
selves, and can only be accused of pursuing convenience. They would like ~
a state of lawlessness. Agudat Israel has a matter of theology at hand. ;
Even the mere fact that the sub~ect has been put in the headlines is valu- i
able, even as a protest against a conspiracy to hurt thousands of innocent ~
souls and if only to bring the matter to the attention of thousands, many '
of whom are so misled'that they do not realize th~e seriousness of the sin.
Thus, Agudat Israel has shown again that it has not regressed in any way
from the line it has drawn, and that to date it has been perfectly obedient
_ to its learned council and follows the commands it gives. Lucky are those
who are partners in this respect for the Torah.
~
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ISRAEL
SETTLERS MUST COOPERATE WITH GOVERNMENT POLICY
Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 9 Nov 79 p 2
[Editorial: "Call To Evacuate Elon-Moreh With No Further Delays"]
[TextJ The ministerial committee for defense matters has empowered the _
defense minister to discuss with the settlers of Elon-Moreh the issues of
their temporary and permanent resettlenent after they evacuate the present
site in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court. As reported,
the settlers refused to meet with the defense minister. They explained
this decision in a letter to the prime minister, saying that the minister's
position is well known and that there is no possibility that they can reach
an agreement with him. They would like to negotiate with the prime minis-
ter himself .
Their refusal is unacceptable. Settlement is dependent on government
funds and government security forces, and it is inconceivable that the
settlers can decide whom they will and will not talk r_o. ~t was reported
later that Gush Emunim would decide on 9 November about meeting with the
defense minister. ihe resolution of the ministerial committee should pre-
vail. -
The court's deadline is set for 22 November. It is hoped that the evacua-
tion can be accomplished without any confrontation and that resettlement
can be done at another location in the region. It is inconceivable that
the settlers will insist on remaining on the site so that force will have
to be used. Such a miserable scene ought to be avoided. A spectacular
evacuation would hurt~ the settlers themselves. The threats to enlist sup-
porters from throughout the country to help in the confrontatiun with the
IDF are empty threats~� Most of the public would denounce a superfluous
and harmful confrontation between the settlers and the government, the IDF
~nd the rest of the population. Law and order apply to all without excep-
t~~n.
The proposed sites for temporary and permanent resettlements ought to be
examined factually, and the final decision should be up to the government.
Ultimatums should not be issued. With all due respect to the pioneering
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spirit, the national religious camp, from which most of the settlers come,
is encouraged by this spirit which leads to settlements in all parts of
the Land of Israel. But a limit has to be recognized. It is also better
to talk with understanding *_o a government for whom the concept of a whole
Israel and the idea of settlement are a matter of policy.
It is very desirable to hasten the settlers' evacuation and temporary re-
settlement. The more the settlers prefer to make threats, the more they
will harm themselves and all of us. The settlers are bound by the govern-
ment's resolutions.
The approach of the NRP ministers is reasonable. It calls for a broad
settlement plan in the region which is well financed and secure against
legal challenges. The settlers want progress toward their goals, which
ought to be the concern of the settlement policy. The details of the plan
- are controversial. All of its aspects should be considered, and the ma-
~ority view ought to prevail. Friends and supporters of the settlement
idea, those who have considerable strength in the government, want the
settlers to enable them to formulate a practical plan. . i
, ~
In the negotiations between the settlers and the government the whole ques-
tion of settlement is at stake and not ~ust that of Elon-Moreh. There- i
fore, it is most desirable that political goals be checkad, for stubborn-
ness can topple the government. This is what the extreme organization, ~
which came out of an extreme ideological group, wants. The more this trend
is held in check within Gush Enumin, the more chance there is for an agree-
ment.
Those who seek a confrontation, as their cliches demand, will not topple
the government, but they could disrupt settlement. Political interests
could raise a lot of dust but hurt the very cause of establishing Jewish
settlements in Judea and Samaria. This is i~ot true of the pioneering, who ~
are absorbed with the goal of diligently en?.arging Jewish settlement with
a sense of devotion and great ~esponsibility. This contributed to the
larger settlement pro~ects in th~ country.
The national religious community, which looks upon all settl~ament in Judea
and Samaria with favor, has a vested interest in the settlements proceed-
ing in an orderly and respectable manner.
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I SRAEL
AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS MINISTRY MUST BE SET DOWN
Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 5 Nov 79 p 2
[Editorial: "The Reinstated Public Relations Ministry Should Have the
Authority That Its Predecessor Lacked"J
[Text] The government's resolution to establish a public relations minis-
try has both good and bad aspects. When the Likud government was formed,
the prime minister said that there is no need in a democratic society for -
a police or internal public relations ministry. The government has fol-
- lowed this principle. It abolished the separate police ministry and made
it part of the Interior Ministry. Likewise, it did not reinstate the
nub_lic relations ministry which had been abolished by the previous admin-
istration following the resignation of Public Relations Minister Aharon
Yariv, who claimed there was no need for this ministry.
The idea of reinstating a public relations ministry grew out of coalitionary ~
ne~ds. But the Israeli public relations problem has a~aays been on the
agenda. The feeling is that our overseas public relations work is ineffec-
tive. Former foreign ministers adamantly refused to have public relations
roles taken away from them. The public relations ministries that were es-
tablished handled only internal public relations, whereas public relations
for the outside world remained within the jurisdiction of the Foreign
Ministry. This is why Aharon Yariv resigned. He felt he lacked the tools
and authority to conduct a public relations job.
The scenario may repeat itself this time, too. The Foreign Ministry will
object to having any overseas public relations issues taken away from it
and, as the prime minister says, in a democratic country there is no need
for internal public relations since democratic governments do not reeducate
citizens with governmental decrees, but, rather, they let them think for
themselves and make their decisions on election day.
Against this background it will probably be very difficult to reinstate
the public relations ministry, with its mechanism dissected and its minis-
ter lacking any real authority to act. T'ne broadcasting authority is an
institution in itself, independent of the government. TherP are some who
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think it is totally independent on all fronts. We have seen this recently
when for 2 days the national broadcasting system headlined the story of
the officer involved in the Litani operation who was sentenced for kill-
ing a terrorist but his sentence was reduced by the chief of staff. It
cannot be assumed that the new public relations minister will achieve what
his predecessors could not, namely, the direction and barancing of our
media. Public relations work overseas is in the hands of the Foreign Min-
istry representatives and, although they have not accomplished much, it
will be difficult to remove them from their traditional ~urisdiction and
transfer them to a new public relations ministry. Therefore, the rein-
statement of a public relations ministry should be followed very carefully
so as to not turn it into an empty ministry lacking authority.
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ISRAEL
NEW POLICE SUPERINTENDENT Ft~CES MANY CHALLENGES
Tel Aviv HAZOFEH in Hebrew 6 Nov 79 p 2
[Editorial: "Thoughts on the Police on the Occasior~ of the Appointment
- of a New Superintendent"]
[Text] The appointment of a new police superintendent is a good oppor-
tunity to air some weighty thoughts on the subject of the police. We do
not aim to criticize, since those of us who are on guard are unlike any-
one else when it comes to respect for authority, as was set forth by our
ancient sages who said that if not for fear of the authorities people
would be at each other's throat. The authorities are represented, so to
speak, by the police. If it were not for the police, people would indeed
be at each other's throat, and there is no need to elaborate on this point.
The job of supervis~ng the police and of fulfilling all that society ex-
pects of it is one of the most difficult positions in the country. And,
it mi~ht be added, it is least appreciated by the citizens, both those who
need the palice in times of trouble and those who expect moie of it as a
watchdog of internal security as well as the organization in charge of
external security and the war against terrorism.
In recent years, the police force has had to take on another j ob, which
it sometimes has to confront on an unequal footing: the war against the
underworld, which has become very noticeable. This is one of the most
difficult tasks it has been given, and it is an endless task. The under-
world has a ~hocking way of growing. The atmosphere has a lot to do with
it. Fear has contributed a lot, by which we mean the citizens' fear as
they feel helpless and defenseless. The blight of drug traff ic has intro-
duced murder to the scene, and we cannot ignore this phenomenon, which af-
fects those on the edge of society. People do not end up on the edge all
of a sudden. Deterioration is a prolonged process, like that of a bad
child.
The police force has to confront juvenile delinquency, which is also the
original product of the affluent society. This society provides clients
for our jails and creates a bad social scene. The police cannot treat the
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1 ~
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_ problem at its source, but can or~ly deal with what it sees. It does not
- deal with edL~cation, and it is not set up to do so. One ought to remem-
bei� that not all those who reach the ranks of the police real~y belong
there. There is a certain reluctance on the part of the public to join
the police force. There are many reasons for this, This editorial is not
trying to depress the new superintendent, Herzel Shapir, or even add to
his depression; although, this is all being brought up at the time wh~n
he responc?.s to the challenge. The goal is, after all, to say that as big
� and as com.plicated as the ~ob is, so are the exPectations of society.
The police force can take credit for many ~uccesses, but it is far rrom
_ able to meet its obligation fully of protecting the man on the street, re-
covering his sense of security and maintaining law and order. The police
_ should also be on good terms with the public, and this, after all, is a
- rather comglex society. Sometimes the police have to come in as an arbi-
trator between the feuding sides. They are called upon to s erve as police-
man and judge alike. The editors would like to wish the new supc:�i:itendent
success in his new position. His success is in tr.e interest of us all.
All of society i~ supposed to respect the authorities. Othe rwise, we would
be at each other's throat. !
~
_ ~
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ISRAEL
r~
AMOS HOREV SPEAKS OUT ON CURRENT ORDNANCE ISSUES
Tel Aviv MA'ARKHOT HIMUSH in Hebrew No 71, Oct 79 pp 2, 4-5
[Interview with Brig Gen (Mil.) .~1mos Horev, president of the Technion, by
Ilan Shkhori--date and place not given]
[Text] The army cannot function without the reinforcing echelon of the
professionals. At the height of its friendship with France, it was pro- _
posed that we build a troop carrier and tank in Israel according to a
_ French design. One of the largest ordnance corps projects in Israel to
recondition and strength,~n tanks was originally designed and built w~th
. the goal of independently manufacturing the Bri+.:ish tank "Chieftain."
Great caution must be exercised with regard to decisions which are likely
to weaken the professional backbone of Zahal (the Israeli Army). Despite
the peace agreements, we must maintain maximum efficiency of our defense
structure.
[Question] Amos Horev, S years have passed since you left military life
as head of the quartermaster corps and before that as the chief ordnance
officer. Today, looking at it from the outside, what in your opinion is
the central problem facing Zahal?
[Answer] One of the central problems of Zahal, if not the most important
_ one, is the issue of professional manpower. For a long time, I have been
concerned about the goals to develop a professional manpower pool in
Israel, goals which have a g~eat influence on Zahal in maintaining the
capability of arms and safeguarding their technical fitness. There have
= been many "runaways" from the technical professions. At present, the
- State of IsraeZ and Zahal do not have a technological reserve which can
meet all the needs at all levels, and I see a great danger in this phe-
nomenon. Zahal's problem is not simply to acquire more or less sophis-
ticated weaponry, but to maintain these weapons. The acquisition of
weapons systems and their maintenance are two complementary activities,
and there is no doubt that the army cannot function without a profes-
sional echelon of,maintenance.
~ [Question] How can this difficulty be overcome?
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[Answer] We will not overcome this problem by bringing in ~rorkers from
Cyprus, Greece or other countries. We are faced with a serious problem,
but it is not a general lack of manpower.
Israel's population at present numbers approximately 3.5 million people. .
In a work force of 1.3 million, it is certainly possible to find the work- _
ers that the technical economy and Zahal need. There is, of course, the
option of solving the problem by improving the efficiency of the system.
However, it would t:~ inaccurate to say that by increasing _*he efficiency
of the system we ca~: do with 30 percent less manpower because, in order
_ to improve the efficiency of the system, we would need professionals at a
very high level, and this is a kind of vicious circle.
There is, however, a simpler solution. At present, many professionals,
among them senior officers in the ordnance corps or in other professional
corps, leave the army at aroun3 the age of 40, when they are at the peak
of their professional ability, to begin civilian careers. Why should an
ordnance man at this age leave after having accumulated over the years a
great deal of knowledge and experience in this work and in solving profes- ~
sional problems? The situation of this ordnance man is not comparable to
that of the paratrooper who leaves his regiment at a similar age in order
to begin a new life. This situation should be handled diffE~ently, espe-
cially when the ones who are leaving are senior officers. , ~
[Question] Mr Horev, you have not hidden, at least in the realm of those ~
making security decisions, your active opposition to the manufacture of
the "Chariot" tank and to the reasoning that underlay the design of this
tank. Why?
[Answer] I do not want to get into a public argument on this subject.
This is not the place, and it is certainly not the appropriate time. I
must say, though, that I had several reservations regarding Brigadier
General Tal's views concerning the planning and production of the "Chariot." ~
I had objections concerning the timetable of the over-all process and what
could be deduced from it. I expressed my opinions and reservat~ons to
those who make the decisions.
[Question] But you are convinced of the adequacy of the design and produc-
tion of arms in Zahal? ~ ~
~ [Answer] Of course. One thing we have proven without a doubt, and that is
- that we must develop complex and sophisticated weapons in an exceptional
manner. We have the personnel and means to do this. There were times when
we did not believe that we were capable of doing it. Today things are dif-
ferent. We have developed various kinds of arms: air-to-air missiles,
ocean-to-ocean missiles, communications systems, munitions, cannon, armor.
It is hard to believe this when we look back and ask ourselves: What did
we actually know 20 years ago? There is no doubt that we have made great
strides. Although we have not attained the needed quantitative scope, we
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have accumulated vast experience. I have always believed that in the
areas of research, development and manufacturing, we have no reason for
feelings of inferiority in comparison with other countries.
[C~uestion] Does the planning and production ~f the "Chariot" constitute
our first experience in designing heavy armor?
[Answer] In the past, we had several chances to manufacture large weapons.
At the height of our friendship with France, it was proposed that we manu-
facture tanks ana troop carriers in Israel according to a French design.
A few French generals came to Israel, professional army commanders, to ex-
press their views to the defense minister and the chief of staff, but
nothing came of it.
[Question] And aside from that?
_ [Answer] There were other opportunities. At the end of the seventies,
we were carrying on very advanced negotiations with the British about the
production of the "Chieftain" tank in Israel. Everything was set, includ-
ing the base for production, and we had arrived at the very eve of the
signing of an a~reement when suddenly the British "backed down" for polit-
ical reasons.
One of the largest ordnance corps works in Israel for the reconditioning
and maintenance of tanks was planned and built originally as a base for -
the manufacture of the "Chieftain" tank. At that time we received two
"Chieftain" tanks for tests, and the agreement was that subsequently we
would begin production. At the same time, Libya also asked for tanks of
this kind, and the deal was canceled. The benefit to us in this whole
matter involved the construction of a mighty enterprise for the production
of heavy industry--a project capable at present of producing any tank from
a"Hepton" to the improved "Centurion" and every one of their parts, even
the most complex.
[Question] Did the collapse of the deal with the British on the manufac-
ture of the "Chieftain" cause Zahal to consider develaping its own tank?
[Answer] From the point of view of the idea, you could say that that is
correct. We always wanted to produce a tank in Israel. There was a -
period when we were waiting for the chance that the Germans would propose
that we manufacture the "Leopard" tank, but this also did not work out.
Of course, all this time the desire grew within us to design and make one
ourselves. Although we did not think about basic original systems, like
an engine, the fact is that despite everything we got there.
[Question] Mr Horev, what is unique about Zahal's or.dnance corps as com-
pared to similar professional corps in other armies?
[Answer] The obstacles that the ordnance corps must face in Zahal are not
just simple obstacles but ones which stem from the fact that the weapon is
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_ on the battlefield. The ordnance corps know that they must make maximal
use of the weapons and that when a weapon is damaged in battle it must be -
immed:~ately restored to action because there is no substitute. In addi-
_ tion, there are other differences. In the United States, for example,
there is a logistics command, and its structure is completely different
from the structure of Zahai's forces.
[Question] Are you in favor of switching to such a structure?
_ [Answer] Absolutely not. I am aware that in Zahal they are con~idering
reorganization, and I do not go along with this plan. One must be very
cautious about making decisions which may weaken the professional backbone
in Zahal. It must be remembered that without an ordnance corps, Zahal
could not function for even an hour.
[Question] Amos Horev, how do you view the next war, if, in fact, one
breaks out?
[Ans~rer] That depends on when it breaks out. If the war starts next year t
- or in the near future, it will be a war of more: more soldiexs, more can- ~
non, more tanks and more missiles. In its essence, however, in its prin-
ciples, it will not differ from the Yom Kippur war. What will characterize
it will be its great intensity. If the war takes place in the more distant ~
future, and I am speaking ab~ut at least 20 years away, then it is impos-
sible today to anticipate and estimate what types of weapons will be used j
on the battlefield. '
[QuestionJ A short time ago, a peace agreement was signed with Egypt.
Perhaps in the near future, peace agreements will also be signed with other
Arab nations. In your opinion, should peace in some way influence Zahal's
form?
[Answer] The efficiency of our defense system must be maximal because the ~
- dangers will never disappear. We cannot afford any other situation. ~
~
i~
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LEBANON
PALESTINIANS AGREE TO HALT OPERATIONS FROM SOUTH LEBANON
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 9 Nov 79 p 17
[Article: "Palestinian-Syrian Agreement To Suspend Military Operations in
the South"]
[Text] "We did not enter the wide door t~.~ a settlement based on the two
Camp David agreements at a time when the situation in Lebanon was completely
in our favor. Is it conceivable that we would enter the narrow door offered
in Lebanon now?"
These were the remarks made by Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs 'Abd-al-Halim Khaddam in his office in the Foreign Ministry
building in Damascus upon the proposal of the "American in3tiative." The
features of this initiative became clear in the course of the visit by
Phillip Habib, a high official and envoy of the American State Department,
to Lebanon last month during a meeting which included Habib, a Yalestinian
delegation headed by Yasir 'Arafat and a Lebanese delegation representing
the National Movement and the National Front.
Khaddam received Yasir 'Arafat following his arrival from Baghdad the pre-
ceding Monday evening, and held a meeting with him. One of the. main subjects
' of this meeting was the results of the Palestinian leader's visit to the
; Iraqi capital and his meeting with President Saddam Hu~ayn. The meeting
; was later joined by the two Lebanese delegations, whose scheduled meeting
~ with Khaddam had been postponed from Saturday until Monday due to his ill-
ness, and then was not held during Monday morning!
The Syrian foreign minister said: "I met with Phillip Habib'in order to
communicate our opinion to them,' that is, the Americans. Israeli inter- _
ference in Lebanon with weapons, money and men ~hrough its token figures
there is the direct cause of the Lebanese crisis. When that interference
ceases, then the crisis will cease. In that respect, it is possible to
provide assistance to Lebanon."
The participants in the "three-way meeting," which lasted roughly 2 and
1/2 hours, discussed the "French initiative" facing Lebanon and felt that
it was fragile. This initiative was made on the strength of the historical
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friendship between France and Lebar.on, and was an attempt by France from
_ the first to take over the issue of a Middle East settlement and serve its
interests in the region.
When the matter of the entry of the army into South Lebanon was proposed,
the Syrian foreign minister wanted to hear the opinion of the PLO and the
Lebanese National Forces. So he listened often and spoke seldom. The
Lebanese said that this proposal was accepted on the basis that it would
be Lebanon's main and direct rescue operation. Official information con-
tributed to this view. Indeed, the southerners were in agreement with
the idea of this entry, which they believed would bring about their rescue.
Moreover, popular pressure influenced Prime Minister Salim al-Huss, and he
took a sympathetic position on the issue of the south, consi:~ering it a
, humanitarian problem at the same time that the Israeli military bombardment
in the south is a"political bombardment" of the first order.
Nevertheless, the participants in the meQting on South Lebanon agreed on
the following position: The humanitarian feelings and the political situa-
tion in the area must be reconciled. Therefore, the three sides in the ;
meeting agree to the entry of the army into the south. ~
In addition, the participants decided to give assurance that resistance ;
_ operations originating from Lebanese territory will be suspended, and that i
all military provocations of Israel will be eliminated.
The participants gave their wholehearted support to the Arab summit confer- -
ence to be held in Tunis on 20 November, considering that any Arab meeting
- would be beneficial at the present stage and would yield positive results
~ for the Arab situation in general. However, no Arab meeting will possess
a"magic wand" with which to solve the current problems. The participants
in the meeting expected that the su~nit will discuss the issue of the
south within the framework of support for the legal authorities, concen-
tration bn the Bayt al-Din decisions "which diagnosed the disease" in the
first place, and the provision of financial and economic aid to help the
southerners remain steadfast.
The participants in the meeting did not express anxiety over the shift of f
the Lebanese problem from the realm of an Arab solution to that of an
international solution, in view of the fact that by this shift the Sov~iet
Union will become involved in the situation in Lebanon, gspecially in
light of the results of President Hafiz al-Assad's recent visit to the -
Soviet Union. The Soviets gave guarantees to S,yria from which it was
understood ti~at the Soviet Union is pawing the ground as a sign of its
determination to play a role in the region!
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LEBANON
SA'IB SA.LAM, WALID JUNBLAT, KAMIL AL-AS'AD FORM ALLI~NCE
London AL-HAWADITH in Arabic 9 Nov 79 p 17
~Article by Walid 'Awad: "The al-As'ad-Salam-Junblat Ai~iance: For
Internationalization With Conditions, and for A1-Huss Until He Resign~!"]
[Text] The question being asked in Beirut, especially in diplomatic circles,
may not concern who profited from the al-Bastah bomb so much as the nature
of the new alliance which unites former Prime Ministers Kamil al-As'ad and
Sa'ib Salam and Mr Walid Junblat. The first event was a bomb which exploded
and claimed innocent victims. The second event is a nolitical time bomb
which raises the question: Against whc~m or what will it be dirE~cted? '
Former Prime Minister Salam refuses to call it an alliance, because this
term has been worn out and negative in its impact. He prefers to call it
political cooperation among three individuals.
' Former Prime Minister al-As'ad, who places the politics of secrecy above
the politics of disclosure these days, wants to keep this three-way agree-
, ment out of the limelight, and is on guard against any reference to it in
� his newspaper AL-RABITAH, published weekly by his Socialist Democratic
Party. Walid Junblat meets any question about the matter with a smile,
and is content to praise the good qualities of the other two, A1-As'ad and
Salam.
The strangeness of the agreement lies perhaps in [aalid Junblat's presence -
among two leaders whom the National Movement, to which he belongs, has
classified as traditionalists, despite the socialist stamp of Mr al-As'ad's
party. Experts in Lebanese politics, however, know that the political game
in Lebanon has a special uniqueness. Indeed, it is a fertile area in which
doctrines and ideologies are associated with individuals. Thus a doctrine
sometimes takes the name of an individual, rather than the name of the
individual being absorbed into the doctrine.
Taking it step by step: Will the new alliance or agreement oppose the
internationalization of the Lebanese people if help is not forthcoming from
the summit conference in Tunis, or will it favor internaLionalization?
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Kamil al-As'ad personally, and likewise his party, are not against inter-
nationalization as a last resort. This was the basis of his threat which -
appeared in ~n editorial in his newspaper AL-RABIT~H, that a hard choice
would be necessary if contacts with the Arabs fail to yield positive re-
sults. In other words, Mr al-As'ad is in agreement with President Ilyas
Sarkis in this context. In fact, the Lebanese president has apprised A1-
As'ad of his messages to the kings and leaders of the Arab states before
forwarding them to his envoys, Repre~entativPS Rene Mu'awwad and Zaki
Mazbudi. The president of the chamber of deputies was in agreement with _
the veiled threat to resort to an international solution.
Moreover, Sa'ib Salam has suggested to President Sarkis on several occa-
sions that he go to the United Nations and say: "This is the problem of
my country. Now save it." This suggestion signifies a shift from the
Arab solution to an international solution--a shift from Arab treatment to '
international ~reatment, and the lazer beams which constitute the modern
method of cauterization. But there is a difference between a shift which
occurs without Arab approval and one which occurs with Arab approval, and
Salam is a proponent of the latter formula--a formula which me-ets with i
. understanding and mutual agreement in some Arab states.
Walid Junblat, on the other hand, envisions an international solution in
which the Soviet Union is allowed to participate in the origination of any
formula, as opposed to one in which the Soviets are dissociated from the
formulas applied to South Lebanon and the Middle East crisis. This could
now be the direction of the international harmony proceeding from SALT II
in Vienna.
In this respect, the alliance is a f ront which includes rather than opposes
President Sarkis. In fact, it may even be said that in one way or another
President Sarkis is the foremost of the four in this agreement.
- Again taking it step by�step: Is the new alliance opposed to the A1-Huss
government, or a cover for it?
Actually, it is difficult at this point to sort all this out. The govern-
ment is an A1-As'ad-Salam government. However, it is a Salam government
inasmuch as its head, Salim al-Huss, is supported by Sa'ib Salam against
any other would-be leader. On more than one occasion, this position has
caused difficulties for A1-Huss at meetings of the Islamic grouping. The
government is also a Junblat government by virtue of Bahij Taqi-al-Din
_ and the friendship of 'Ali al-Khalil--and indeed, the friendship of Prime
Minister al-Huss above all. But on the other hand, the three, A1-As'ad,
Salam and Junblat, are against hegemony--pardon the Chinese expression--
over the government from the B'abda palace. They are also against the
sin~ling out of the ministers in committee meetings, or against the security
meetings held by President Sarkis in the B'abda palace with the most impor-
tant absentee being, for example, the minister of interior!
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All this is predicated on the survival of the government. That is to say,
the government is above all a government of the chamber of deputies. But
if it occurs to the prime minister to threaten to resign--and he is said
to have done that when faced with the intensification of the mazut [heavy
fuel oil] crisis and increased smuggling of this substance abroad--then
fiis replacement must be someone whose characteristics are clear, and some-
one who commands respect and does not force matters with a friendly settle-
ment. In the view of Kamil al-As'ad and Walid Junblat, Salam's accession
to the prime ministership, whether willingly or unwillingly, would free the
country from many negative factors, and it is possible that in preparation
for such a phase, A1-As'ad and Junblat will undertake to clear Salam's
road to the palace of the obstacles which are hidden here and there.
What is required in the new alliance, therefore, is strong government which
is able to withstand the next phase which the cou~~cry will enter following
the Arab summit conference, now that negative security and economic factors
have begun to take a heavy toll on the country, beginning with the basic
facilities of the state. For when the citizens are deprived of security,
good bread and the most basic means of life, and are victims for the traps
_ laid by all the different "mafias"--foremost among them the "mafia" of
control over the daily morsel--then the need for strong government is the
pressing national desire.
While awaiting the summit conference, sincere individuals hope that disgust
does not overwhelm Salim al-Huss, and we get out of a conference crisis
only to enter a crisis of government.
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LIBYA
QADHDHAFI'S AFRICAN POLICY REVIEWED, STUDIED
Paris ,AL-NAHAR AL-`ARABI WA AL-DUWALI in Arabic 12-18 Nov 79 pp 20-21
[Article by Bassam Tayyarah: "PLayer of Contradictions on the Chessboard
of the African Continent"] ,
- [Text] Libya, like Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, plays a dual role on the
African continent by virtue of its geographical position and its sensitiv-
ity to movements around it. What is this role, what is the policy that
defines it, and what are Qadhdhafi's goals which at times cost him so
dearly?
Libyan dipl.~macy in Africa is characterized by many pockets of resistance.
Following the October 1973 war and the revolution, Libya constantly en-
deavored, by means of various forms of financial and oil support, to get
the leaders of the African states to sever the3r relations with Israel.
This policy was successful in some states, the most prominent of which at
the time was Uganda. In the wake of the effects of the October war--es-
pecially the dreadful increase in the price of oil, the victims of which
were above all the poor Third World countries, and especially the African
states--Libya sought to draw the international political wave to its side.
Brandishing the oil weapon, it tipped the scale in most African states
toward a severing of relations with Israel. ~
The African states kept waiting for the results of the financial promises
which had been showered upon them. Libya was one of the first Arab states
to move in Africa, and the Bank of Arab-African Cooperation was established
with the participation of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Libya.
In contrast to the meager Arab activitv directed toward Africa, Libya's
_ policy was distinguised by energetic action and active diplomacy in the
African capitals.
This activity was usually accompanied by large amounts of aid, ranging from
~ financial aid and cooperation agreements, to the provision of weapons, all -
the way to manpower, as was the case in Uganda when Libya paid an enormous
price for that brief attempt to save the regime of Idi Amin, the "believ-
ing president."
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- The dream of expanding the domain of Islam and spreading the Islamic appeal
are among Qadhdhafi's foremost concerns. Thus, from Cameroon to Uganda
and from Niger to Central Africa, the capitals and other cities saw mosques
and Islamic centers spring up over a period of years--not to mention the
broadcasts which spread the Islamic appeal abroad and taught the Arabic
language. Agreements with the African states included the condition that
radio stations be established which would broadcast in Arabic and spread
the Islamic appeal.
For example, theLe was an agreement with Niger which called for the estab-
lishment of the largest radio station in Africa whose broadcasts would
cover the entire continent. Thus, in a sr.ort time, some African stat~s
saw their leaders conv2rted to the Islamic religion. These included Idi
Amin and Bokassa I, the latter renounced Islam after only a few months.
The African States Become Suspicious
Financia~ aid, as well as support for some specific liberation and polit- ;
ical movements, remained the main elements of Libyan policy in the conti- ~
nent. Observers in the West labled this approach the "Libyan petrodollar ;
policy."
However this aid was alwa s tied to ~
, y policies and issues sanctioned by ~
Tripoli. Libya's long-term financial loans in the African capitals and '
other cities were distributed to large numbers of citizens, and most of
these loans were made without any tie to particular regimes. Such was the
case in Nouakchott, where the Libyan Arab Bank distributed financial aid
without the knowledge of the authorities. This policy, along with Libya's
direct aid to organizations, aroused suspicion, doubt and sensitivity
among the African states concerned, especially since most of them are
plagued with internal problems and opposition in the form of armed or
political movements.
Reversal of Roles
Libya has played important roles in many African liberation movements,
most prominently in Chad, wY~ich had witnessed a total and universal re-
versal of roles and positions. After sup~,orting Hissein Habre, the former -
leader of the Frolinat (National Liberation Front), Libya shifted its
support to Goukouni Oueddei, who succeeded Habre with Libya's strong help
after Tripoli and Hissein Habre had a difference of opinion as a result
_ of Habre's statements c~ncerning Libyan expansion in the prefecture of
Aozou, the strip along the contested comm4n border.
Afterward, Goukouni united with Hissein Habre in forming an alliance to
oppose Asil Ahmad, Libya's new man in the Chad conflict.
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The reasons for these reversals of alliances can always be traced back to
- the racial and religious division in Chad, since the northern region ad-
joining Libya is Moslem. This area remained remote from the centers of
administration after independence and throughout the rule of Tombalbaye.
The division between the northern and southern regions was aggravated fol-
lowing the Frolinat's success, achieved with Libyan support, in directing "
numerous strikes at the Chadian government's army. This caused a split in -
the army, the majority of which was made up of southerners. Therefore,
some people began to speak of partitioning Chad and forming a federal or
confederal union between the two sides.
The southerners accuse Qadhdhafi of attempting to extend Islam over south-
ern Chad by means Qf the north Chadian liberation forces in order to estab-
lish a greater Islamic state extending from the border of Mali to northern -
Chad and including Cameroon and some parts of Niger.
_ This idea dominates many African circles, which speak of Libya's backing
of the "Grouping of Democrats in Mali" movement, led by Medina Soumbounou,
which is trying to overthrow the regime of Moussa Traore.
Medina Soumbounou, who is living in Tripoli, speaks of a union composed of
Togo, Benin and Mali (united by the Islamic religion). He calls his scheme
the "Islamic Coast Union."
In addition, Qadhdhafi, along with Algeria, supports the Polisario movement
with weapons and materiel. However, the question on everyone's lips is
why Qadhdhafi has not yet recognized the Saha.ran state despite his positions
in support of the Polisario.
- The Eritrean liberation movement, on the other hand, wonders why Libya
backs the regime of Mengistu Haile-Mariam in Ethiopia which is fight_ing
the liberation movement. Is it because of Soviet backing or Soviet pres-
sure?
Conf licting Positions ~
Libya's position on the Horn of Africa is rift with contradictions. It
has sided with a regime which embraces Marxism-Leninism against an Arab
liberation movement. In addition to support from the eastern communist
b~oc and South Yemen, the Ethiopian regime enjoys strong backing from Libya.
Is this an attempt to gratify the Soviet giant and maintain a strong rela-
tionship with it, thereby averting the danger of a collapse similar to
those which have befallen many African leaders in the absence of support ~
from one or the other of the two giants? Or is it that the presence of
Libya's big neighbor, Egypt, forces Qadhdhafi to seek such support no
matter how contradictory his position becomes, with a view to the great
importance which the Soviet Union attaches to the regime of Mengistu
Haile-Mariam in Ethiopia?
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Far away from the Horn of Africa, Libya's African policy remains intercon-
nected with the aims of resistance to all outside interference in African "
affairs. This is what brought Lihyan and Algerian leaders together on the
~ issue of Zair~ when French and Belgian divisions were sent to suppress the
Katangan gendarmes' movement to defend the important province of Shaba,
as we1J. as on the operation to depose Bokassa I, i:i which France played a
major role. These events have caused great tension in Libyan-French
' relations recently. Sources report that Libya has held up its payment of
some obligations to French companies as a signal that this weapon could be
used against any foreign interference.
' But observers regard it as unlikely that French-Li~yan relations will
deteriorate further, because both sides share a common interest in avoiding
such a development. France needs Li~yan oil, and its exports to Libya are
a basic means of offsetting the costs of the imported oil. Moreover, the -
opening up of Libya to Western Europe, especially France, constitutes an
economic outlet aG well as an avenue fr~r non-Soviet modern weap~ns which
will enable Libya to escape situations similar to its situation in the
Horn of Africa and ward off the specter of eventually having to diversify
its sources of armament, as happened to Sadat's Egypt in the past and to '
Somalia more recently.
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j
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MAURITANIA
_ CIRCUMSTAIdCES ENGULFING OULD DADDAH'S RELEASE DISCUSSED
London AL-HAWADITii in Arabic 2 Nov 79 p 27
[Article by Huda al-Husayni: "They Released Ould Daddah and Arrested His
Followers"]
[Text] Somewhere in Paris and amidst his family (his wife and three sons),
a lean, pale-faced man was following the developments in his country and
_ his area. He is Mokhtar Ould Daddah, a former Mauritanian president. -
- Bitterness was devouring the features of that calm face that maintained '
its calm throughout 14 months of detention after the coup that had toppled
Ould Daddah on the charge of [responsibility for] the economic collapse
which Mauritania experienced and the charge of being more pro-French than
necessary. It was said at the time that these charges were disseminated
to provide a cover for the state which ~~ad;; the coup, namely France itself.
On 10 July 1978, Mauritanian ex-Presi.dent Mokhtar Ould Daddah was placed
under house arrest and on 2 November 1979, he arrived in the French capital
- where an atmosphere of excitement surrounded the event. The Mauritanian
Government continued to deny reports of ex-President Ould Daddah's release
for a full week.
vow that the news of Ould Daddah's release has been corifirmed, does his
release have anything to do with th e recent developments witnessed by
Mauritania? How did the Mauritanian ex-President spend th e period of his
detention and where has Mauritania reached meanwhile?
First, why was Mokhtar Ould Daddah released? An informed Arab source has
told AL-HAWADITH: It is well-known that most of the Arab states (especially
~ Saudi Arabia) and of the African and European states intervened for his
release but the Mauritanian off icials paid the matter no a ttention.
Af ter the deterioration of the situation in the Western Sahara and in
Central Africa, France had to listen to the advice of its friend the pre- ~
sident of the Ivory Coast, Houfouet-Boigny, caho asked the French with dis-
_ approval: How can you impose Bokassa on us and not compel r4auritania to
release Ould Daddah? A reliable French source says that French President
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Giscard d'Estaing personally contacted Khouna Ould Haidalla, the head of
_ the Mauritanian Government, and asked him to fulfill the promise he tiad
made during his visit to France on the 18th and 19th of last month. Because
' of the need of the current Mauritanian leaders for the French political
and military support, they found themselves forced to perform this humani-
tarian act toward Ould Daddah.
- Ould Daddah's ouster from power has not turned Mauritania into a strong
country economically. Rather, the split among its leaders has furthered
divided the country. Likewise, Ould Daddah's release has caused a lot of
problems among the Government members themselves. _
. The decision to release Ould Daddah was taken by only two of the Mauritanian
Government's members, namely Prime Minister Khouna Ould Haidalla and Ahmed
Ould Abdallah, the chief of military staff and the minister of defense (a
relative of the Mauritanian minister of foreign affairs who has the same
name). Even the military commander of the province in which Ould Daddah
was kept under detention did not learn of his release. What is more, the
minister of the interior learned the news from an AFF report. i
When the news spread, the Military Council which has been ruling Mauritania ~
for 10 days (from 8 to 18 November) met and its members could not reach ~
agreement on how to phrase a communique stating that Ould Daddah had been ~
released. '
~
So, no communiquP has been issued yet. Rather, the problems have intensi-
fied and the exchange of accusations by the Military Council members has
escalated. The reason is that when they ousted Col Moustapha Ould Saleck -
(who had led the coup against Ould Daddah) on the second of last July, the
members agreed that no decision would be taken on any former Mauritanian
offir_ial except through agreement among all of them. But the release of
Ould Daddah has showed that the prime minister and the minister of defense
do not trust the other members. ~
As a reaction to this act, a faction in the Mauritanian Government has I
arrested Ould Daddah's friends on the charge of planning a military coup.
The most prominent current prisoners are Hamdi Ould Mouknass, the minister
of foreign affairs under Ould Daddah (he was arrested in Nouadibu?) and
Ahmed Mohamed Saleh who for 13 years assumed the post of acting head of
state whenever Ould Daddah was absent from the country (arrested in
Chinguetti).
How did Ould paddah spend his imprisonment period and who was against his
release? _
' Ould Daddah was jailed in the area of Oualata. He lost 14 kilograms and
almost died when he remained sick for 15 days, his temperature rising to
40 degrees centigrade in a cell with a temperature of 45 degrees centigrade.
Col Ould Saleck, who was then the president of the republic, turned down a
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request by the physicians to transfer Ould Daddah at least to a hospital
in (Nouadibu). (When overthrown, Ould Saleck developed a kind of insanity
and is now living in the village of Kiffa, in southern Mauritania, which
has a population of 300. He roams the streets and when he sees an aircraft
flying in the sky he says: This is me when I was president of the republic).
- Ould Daddah's release came as a disturbing surprise for those who had
exerted efforts to turn down the requests for his release. One of those
most disturbed is Col Ould Boukhreiss, Algeria's strongman in the Mauritanian
army and Ould Zamel, "who represents Algeria in the Mauritanian Government."
- It is the view of both men that Ould Daddah's release may change the poli-
tical equation in Mauritania. This is why observers say that the arrest of
Ould Daddah's friends after the release of Ould Daddah has been made so that
the Mauritanian Government may not lose Algeria's confidence.
Ould Daddah's friends in Paris say that he is not thinking, at least pre-
sently, of returning to power but that Mauritania`s current situation
frightens, even horrifies, him. It is true that Mauritania has steered
clear off the war throughout 14 months but it has never in its history been
internally divided as it is now. His friends also say that his political
vision is clear and his ideas are firm and that he still helieves that there
is no place for a state in the Sahara. It is his opinion that the Algiers
agreement concluded by Mauritania with the Polisario and in which Mauritania
ceded the southern part of the Sahara is a horrible agreement that consti-
tutes an insult to Mauritania.
- One of Ould Daddah's friends has told AL-HAWADITH: "He is a pious man who
knows no malice and a poor man who owns nothing. When those staging the
- coup found nothing against him, they turned to his wife and made accusa-
~ tions against her. However, we can assert that she did not interfere in
politics."
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MOROCCO
EFFECTS OF' U.S. DECISION TJ SUPPLY COUiJTRY WITH WEAPONS DISCUSSED
London AL-HAWADITH ir_ Arabic 2 Nov 79 pp 30, 33
[Article by Sulayman al-Farzali: "U.S. Armament of Morocco; Brzezinski
~ Finds in Party to Honor Saudi Ambassador Fat on Piece of Bread; U.S.
Decision Revolved Around Option to Weaken Ally or to Strengthen Him as
Means for Negotiation; King Hassan Has Learned Lesson That Concession Only
Leads .to Further Concession"]
[Text] The argument was heated at the conference room of the U.S. Depart-
ment of State, even though Cyrus Vance maintained his well-known calm through-
out the meetings. The two arguing teams are led by Harold Sounders on the
one side and Richard (Musa) on the other. The subject of the argument is
the war in the Western Sahara, the Algerian-Moroccan relations and the U.S.
~ role in North Africa.
Harold Sounders, head of the Middle East Desk at the U.S. Department of
State, took the side of Morocco and Richard Musa, the head of the African
team at the department, took Algeria's side. The spiritual father of this
African team is Andrew Young, the former ambassador to the United Nations.
The conferees agreed on two points and disagreed on the method and the
results. The first point on which agreement was reached is that Morocco,
led by King Hassan II who is an ally of the United States, cannot be aban-
doned. The second point over which there was consensus was that what is
required is to achieve a negotiated solution between Algeria and Morocco.
_ Brzezinsici, President Carter's national security adviser, was not absent
from the picture, nor was the CIA. This third team, i.e. the security
team, was present by proxy and by its effect on the president's final
decision [sic]. This third team did not say what it wanted but stated
instead what it did not want. Brzezinski exerted side efforts so that the
decision may not be taken under the "complex of appeasing" the current of
the third world in which the scales are tipped in favor of Algeria, thus
causing the decision to be harmful to Morocco and not beneficial in winning
over Algeria because of weak decision of the kind would cause the United
States to lose guaranteed friendship with riorocco and would not guarantee
a firm friendship with Algeria.
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The question of negotiation is the second point on which agreement was
reached. Here, the discussion probed deeply, according to the inf ormation ~
- gained from the press co~ents. The fundamental question asked was the
question: Which facilitates the negotiation process: For your ally to be
strong or ~o'be weak? The mere posing of this question means that there are
cases in which the United States resorts to weakening its allies to compel
them to negotiate!
But the issue is different insofar as Morocco is concerned because weakening
Morocco or permitting it to slide into a state of weakness will not facili-
tate pushing Morocco toward negotiation as much as it will expose it to
danger. On the basis of this logic, the sounder option is to push Algeria
toward negotiation by strengthening Morocco.
When on 16 October 1979 the discussion file reached the (General State
Policy Revision Commission) in the White House to sift and purify the file
and to conclude from it a recommendation on which President Carter is to
base his final decision, it was evident that the security team had won the
round, but with a compromise resulting from the presence of legislative j
complications, the most important of which is the fact that the U.S. admin- ~
istration had reduced at the outset of last summer weapon sales to Morocco ~
f rom 45 million dollars to 30 million dollars only. I
~
The compromise was suggested by Brzezinski after he had felt a behind-the- ~
scene Saudi desire to strengthen Morocco so that a settlement may be reached.
The formula with which Carter's national security adviser came up called
for supplying Morocco with certain offensive weapons but not in quantities
that give it the opportunity to negotiate fram a position df strength.
However, Braezinski had been waiting for the right opportunity to demon-
strate the wisdom of his position. This opportunity came, according to I1EW
YORK TIMES cotmnentator William Safire, at the party given by Ali Ben Jalloun,
the Moroccan ambassador in Washington, in honor of Faysal al-Hujaylan, the
new Saudi ambassador (former ambassador in London). That party was attended ;
by three senators, Brzezinski and Frank Carlucci, the CIA deputy director.
When toasts were exchanged, the Saudi ambassador underlined the firm frater- ;
nal ties between the Saudi and Moroccan kingdoms, asking the Americans
clearly to extend a helping hand to King Hassan. This was the phrase, ,
according to Safire, which was tantamount to the "mother's milk" or the
"fat on a piece of bread," as we say, insofar as Brzezinski was concerned.
- On the following day, President Carter decided to supply Morocco with six
Rockwell Bronco aircraft, a number of assault Cobra helicopters and
other weapons valued at 200 million dollars. It has been understood
that Saudi Arabia will pay more than two-thirds the sum. But President
Carter did disregard Morocco's request for mobilE radar units capable of
detecting infiltration occurring at several points simultaneously.
The Moroccans say that the Polisario served the U.S. decision with its
recent attack on the town of Semara, relying on Cuban military expertise
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and aid at a time when the U.S. sensiti.vity to Cuba is high. As for
Algeria which has been aroused by the U.S. decision, it has disavowed
the Semara~operation, pointing out that the area is 250 kilometers away
_ from the Polisario concentration in Tendouf whereas it is only 50 kilometers
away from the Mauritanian borders. Algeria has thus indicated that the
Polisario carried out the operation from Mauritania. There are those who
say that A~geria has wished to imply to the Americans that it does not have
full control over the Polisario.
, Alg~ris has countered by sending a high-level military delegation to the
- Soviet Union where Moscow has promised, in a joint communique issued in the
name of the two parties, to strengthen Algeria and has supported its view-
point on the Sahara issue.
King Hassan takes and demands in the style of Habib Bourguiba, the great
struggler. As soon aa he was certain of the U.S. decision, he declared
that he will accept nothing less than a clear and decisive victory in the
Sahara, to be followed by negotiations. A dispatch from AL-HAWADITH bureau
in Paris says that in a short interview with the French television last
- Tuesday, the Moroccan monarch appear.ed to be clearly relaxed, puffing away
the smoke of his expensive Cuban cigar, even though he used to smoke French
cigarettes previously.
In this regard, the expectation of Democratic Senator George McGovern (who
ran against Nixon in the 1972 elections and who was the target of the Water-
gate scandal) that giving Morocco offensive weapons will push it more _
toward intransigence than toward negotiation, thus taking the side of those
calling for weakening the ally to compel him to negotiate--this expectation
has proven true.
Some Moroccans enthusiastic for the king's position toward the Sahara say
that Hassan has learned the lesson that concession only leads to further
concession. These Moroccans say that had the king not ceded his demand
for Mauritania, had he refrained from recognizing it as an independent
state and, finally, had he not acknowledged its control of one-half the
Sahara, the ongoing war would not have occurred. Had the king seized
Mauritania, he would have seized the Sahara and perhaps parts other than
the Sahara, this being a reference to the border area disputed with Algeria
(Tindouf area).
The Mauritanians are now afraid that matters will run in a ceunter-circle
and this is why they have asked France for a military force to be stationed
in Nouadhibou port (150 elements). Morocco has not gained control of the
entire Sahara and if it establishes its control there, then Mauritania will
by necessity fiitd itself under the Moroccan control, especially since its
internal s~tuation is shaky as a result of the constant fluctuations caused
by the war. Some Moroccan officials do not even hesitate to say that
i4auritania has ended as a state and that its future is tied to the fate of
the struggle in the Sahara.
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After acquiring the U.S. offensive weapons, King Hassan is now capable,
according to some Fr.ench sources, to implement what he declared 2 years ago
concerning "the right to hot pursuit" against the Polisario inside the
Algerian and Mauritanian territories. Should this happen, it will consti-
tute a qualitative development in the struggle because it will be a direct
military confrontation between Morocco and Algeria. Even though the
United States is satisfied with the Arab mediations between the two sides,
especially the Saudi mediation, and with the involvement of new sides in
this mediation, there are in the U.S. Department of Defense those who say
that it is futile to look for a settlement before the Algerian-Moroccan
clash occurs. Mediation before a clash is a mere endeavor. After a clash,
mediation is a solution. The mediation should, in the opinion of these ~
people, be American. This will not happen until Algeria acknawledges that
99 percent of the cards of the game are in the hands of the United States,
exactly as Anwar al-Sadat did, thus finding Camp David waiting for him.
North Africa, according to the visualization of the U.S. str ategists, is
within the "U.S. Middle East precinct" and not within the "Soviet-Cuban
wing of Africa."
Kin Hassan has la ed the I
g p y game skillfully. He has no political troubles ~
at home and all the parties--leftist, rightist, opposed and loyal parties--
support his stance on the Sahara. His problems are economic and military. '
However, his wager that Saudi Arabia would reduce his economic problems and
the United States his military problems has proven not to be an imaginary
_ wager and he has begun to reap some of the fruits of this wager.
The skill of King Hassan lies in the fact that he has upturn ed Morocco's
political map since the early 1970's. Whereas the Moroccan opposition,
especially in the days of Mehdi Ben Barka constituted the Arab face of
Morocco because of its relations with 'Abd-al-Nasir and the Ba'th Party,
this opposition's concerns have now become 1oca1 and King Hassan has became
the country's Arab face. The king has relied on the army and the army
leadership inherited from the French and it later became ev ident to h;m
that the non-Arab leaderships were the ones plotting against him, e~,pecially
Oufkir who wanted to strike the throne by striking the Arab-orient~ed _
Moroccan opposition. Qnly fate saved King Hassan. Had it not be~~n so,
Oufkir would have done what he wanted and would have trapped the king after
wiping out the opposition.
This is why the king reached reconciliation with the opposition from an
Arab position. It is from this position, according to the Moroccans who
believe in this view, that the king decided to give the army an Arab image
by sending troops to fight in the Golan against Israel in 1973. As soon
as the king raised the slogan of liberating the Sahara and called for the
Green March, he found behind him an unprecedented consensus and a united
domestic front. Moreover, the delicate balance in his stance toward Egypt .
after the Camp David accords gives him a greater opportunity to maneuver and
to prevent a pro-Algerian Arab alignment exerting pressure on him. This
stance may even help him to channel the Arab pressure toward Algeria to compel
it to negotiate and to settle the problems peacefully.
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The Algerian protest of the U.S. armament of Morocco is natural, in the
view of the Moroccans. What is not natural is Algeria's silence over the
entry of French forces to 24auritania. The Algerian silence is, in the
evaluation of the French jsic], agreed upon by Algiers and Paris because
it prevents the domestic Mauritanian situation from deteriorating. The
Mauritanians add that this is due t~ two reasons: First, Mauritania needs
a non-Moroccan and non-Algerian military force to demonstrate its nonalign-
- ment toward the conflict and, second, the French presence prevents parti-
tioning thelcountry between Morocco and Senegal which demands the areas adja-
cent to it and that are inhabited mostly by non-Arab blacks. There are
even those among the Mauritanians who accuse Morocco openly of intending
to divide Mauritania with Senegal, even though the ~~ccan officials
- underline their eagerness for the unity of the Mauritanian territories.
William Safire's statement that the Saudi ambassador the moved to draw
the attention of the Americans to the importance of giving Morocco the
necessary aid may not be true because the NEW YORK TIMES urged on that day
(18 October) Carter's administration not to give Rabat military aid because
the United States has no threatened interests in that area. Some U.S.
reporters say that Safire, who writas in the NEW YORK TIMES, wants to give
his paper an unrealistic weight in charting the U.S. policy, even though
the paper is an influential one. What is true, in the opinion of the U.S.
reporters, is that the U.S. admizistration has certain information that there
are Cuban forces and experts working with the Polisario, some of whom have
been brought from Ethiopia and some from South Yemen. Moreover, some mem-
bers of the Polisario are being trained in Cuba.
_ The Polisario sources say that this is not information but an American con- ~
clusion derived from a statement by King Hassan II saying that foreign
circles are making moves in the area. These sources deny decisively the
presence of foreign forces with the Polisario and accuse the Americans of
using this "as a pretaxt to interfere and to wipe us out."
Observers in Europe feel that the Algerian-Moroccan clash is imminent and
that it will take place at the first Moroccan hot pursuit inside Algeria.
But Prince Sa'ud al-Faysal, the Saudi minister c.~f foreign affairs, who
visited Algiers and Rabat recently is still optiniistic that the situation
between the two fraternal countries will not reach this point. Moreover,
the Saudi sources say that the Algerians have complained of the Libyan
intransigence in instigating the Polisario to exploit the opportunity to
_ free itself of the Algerian custodianship or to balance it so tl-.at Algeria
may not be able to impose a settlement on the Polisario, as was the sit-
uation more than a year ago.
Even though the Moroccans have their doubts about this Algerian claim and
interpret it as an attempt to scale dawn the Moroccan intensity against
Algeria and to push Rabat toward further moderation so as to avert a direct
confrontation, the Saudi mediator believes, regardless of the soundness or
invalidity of either claim, *_hat Libya must be neutralized under all circum-
stances. There are those who believe that the Saudi monarch's visit to
Tr~.poli may have perhaps contributed toward this direction.
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T`ie Arab mediators will increase in number after the U.S. armament of
Morocco the same way they increased in number when al-Sadat declared his
readiness to help Morocco. At the time, the Saudi mediator was joined by
other mediators from Tunisia, Syria and the PLO. However, the pressure
- ~aill be on Algeria this time.
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MOROCCO
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOI,ATIONS DECRIED
CasablancaAlr-MUHARR.IR in Arsbic 18 Nov 79 p 8
~Article: "Human Rights; the Gap Bet:~een Principles and Fact"
~ex~ Our newspaper has gotten copies of dozens of letters sent to the
- prime minister, the minister of justice and the Ministry of the Interior
about the condition of a political det:~inee in Morocco, Abraham al-Sarfati.
The purpose of the urriters of these le ~ters, most of whom are members of
European branches of the International Amnesty Organization, is to draw
the attention of officials to the dete.^iorating state of health of this
detainee~ and to inquire as to what st;ps the government is going to take
about this situation that is incompati~le with the most basic prerequi-
sites for respecting human rights and, lastly, to urge that al-Sarfati be
released.
It should be pointed out that internatinnal public opinion has been won-
dering for a long time about the grave tampering with human rights in our
countxy. This has shown up in a numbe� of ways and the concern has been
intensified by the various breaches of political freedoms. The past few
months has seen a wave of arrests in w~ion circles and the expulsion of
many persons in the fields of educatioi~ and health and other labor sectors.
There are more than 1,200 families suflering from these actions. Qne thing
that drove home this abnormal situatioi~ was the death under torture of a
young man, Tluhammad Karinah, a USPF fi~;hter.
So, our country is still completely un~especting of basic freedoms and
everyone is still demanding that every possible effort be exerted in this
regard. The conclusion we draw from t;iis flood of letters taking a posi-
tion of solidaritv with the political ~tetainee, Abraham al-Sarfati is that
our masses are still a long w~y from e~ijoying txue democracy since how can
one talk of democracy when families ar: dying deprived of their liveli-
_ hood and dozens of fighters are still .'acing unknown fates in the gloom of
the jails.
- Making the matter worse and driving it home is th e fact that a number of
countxie; of the so~called third world have taken steps this year to offer
anmesty of political prisoners but we, however, have seer~ no trace of thia
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_ in our countxy. Accordingly, l~orocco remains as one of only a few count-
ries living with signs of persons in political exile and under arrest be-
cause of their ideas and unable to practice their professions. All this
would form a tremendous and valuable force ~aere it used to build a new
Morocco that needs the efforts of all its na~:ional skills.
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MOROCCO
IPdTERIOR MINISTER QUESTIONED ON PERSECUSION OF LTSFP BY LOCAL AUT~iORITIE5
Casablance A~MUHAFtRIR in Arabic 26 Nov 79 pp 1,8
~Article: "Actions of Local Authorities in Cert.ain Quarters and Violations
of Public and Democratic Freedoms and Human Rig}ts Are the Subject of
Questions by the Socialist Union of Peoplets Forces Opposition"
~ex~ Thursday~s session of the Chamber of De~uties was set aside for
answering verbal questionso There ha,d been 25 questions scheduled for -
' study in this session but the minister of the interior asked tha.t answers
to them be deferred except for a question by Muhsmmad Bebsa~id a.bout
actions by 1oca1 authorities towax~d ofFices of the Socialist Union of
People"s Forces ~SF~ in a number of arovinces and the harassrogB~t, perse-
cution and maltseatment of USFP fighters at the hands of local authorities.
The question by Brother Muhammad Benss ~id in the name of the USI~'P opposi-
tion was phrased as follows:
The repetition and the singular nature of the moves of the local auttiori-
ties again st the offices of the USFP F srty now prompts us to put a question
to the go~rernm~t to explain the fact: of the following situations to the
chamber of deputies and to public opinion:
- 1. In Hadd F1 Rawadi, in Imzourhene Ce idat and A1 Hoceima Province, the
- authorities rejected a request..~o set ~p an office for the USFP branch in
that caidat.
Even though the papers filed met all l:gal prerequisites which should have
warranted giving the party officials a provisional voucher, the papers
were returned ~aith a rejection.
2. In :
koura District in Ouarzazate F^ovince, the authorities t~ent ;o far
as to u~e civil force to prevent the c~eiiing of party headquarters in
contravention of all constitutional an~ legislative ~t4~u~es.
3. In E1 Rashidiyah, the authorities iemonstrated the same treatment, us-
ing the same means to the same end.
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_
On 2i3 July 1979 the city of Ben Sliman was witness to incident~s about
uhich the least that can be said is that they show the txuth about the
extent to which public freedoms are respected in this country and the ex-
tent to which there is respect for the constitutional and legis3.ative
statutes that contain these freedoms and their principles. =
The USFP headquarters was attacked and its door broken in.
~o iron banks were attached to the door as a sign that it was no t to be
opened.
Some members of the office uere put in the trunk of the khalifa~s car and
were driven through the streets of the aity to humi.liate them pubZicly.
There uas an attack on the home of Brother ~Arif, an official member, by
the authorities~ men who beat up him end members of his family. He was
then mistreated by the khalifa who crowned that by personally beating and
kieking him until he fainted, ~Ari.f still being in the process of recuper-
ating from heart surgery.
i
Following these incidents ~hich have been repeated and have groun in num-
ber and given their similarity although they happened in diffprent prov-
inces and cities, we must ask the government:
;
S~nce the laws and regulations ere legislation in accordance with which
the rights and duties of groups and individuals are defined:
1. What is the objective of the local authorities, the authorities of the
government, in this treatment directed specifically against the offices
- a~~d fighters of the USFP?
2. Are the authorities in all these quarters being innovat~ve in the
field of viola~tion of constitutianal and legislative statutes?
3. In this event, how does the government think best to cope uith these '
"3ecentralized" violations and what urgent, appropriate means to deter
the local officials from this "insubordin.ation against the constitution ~
and legislation?"
~
Brother Bensa~id spoke to clarify his question, statin~ the following: ,
On 21 August I directed a question to the prime mir.ister and the foreign
miriister about the activities of the authorities aga~.nst the USFP offices.
I had thought the minister of the interior would handle the reply on be-
half of the prime minister and I had hoped the prime minister would be
present at this session so that I cou ld get an answer fro m him as well.
In any case, my question is directed in particular at certain serious
incidents which our country has witnessed in various parts of Morocco.
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Iiad these been isolateci .i.-~cidents, we would have said that they were co-
- incidence and the ~ort of incidents that happen or happen by niistake.
_ However, their repetition and their serious nature and the violation of
political rights and c~~nstitutional and legislative statutes make us sound :
this al~rm so that we m,~y acqusint ourselves with the progress of ttiese
- activities and draw some conclu~ions about these events.
Because time is liruited, I shall conf~ne myself to some of the incidents
without mentioning a11 of them.
Brother Bensa~id mentioned the harassment the party had encountened in
Hadd El Rawadi in Imzourhene Caidat and Al- Hocei.ma Province, in Skoura
District in Ouarzazate Province and in El Rashidiyah as relat.ed in the
question but he went into the Ben ~li.m3n incidents in detail, s~ying:
I shall give an example in some detail about the Ben Sliman incident., ad-
ding that there are a ntunber of USFP officials who have in one way or
ar~other been prever~ted from giving lectures after the headquarters was
licensed and after legal measures were taken.
The Ben Sliman incidents were distinguished by an odd character, neither
in form nor in ~s publishe~severity ~f the violations of the constitu-
t:ion and legislative statutes. The he3dquarters of the USFP was attacked -
b,~ the authorities and a large number of their supporters and the door was
broken in and then sealed shut with tw.~ iron bands as a sign that entry -
was prohibited.
The sanctity of the Yomes of some offi~e officials was violated. The
doors of their homes were broken in an3 i;hey were talcen by the pash~ ~ s
khalifa in the trunk of his car and taKen to the pash~~s headquf~rters
through the streets of the city as a sort of public humiliation. To be
precise, there was an attack on the ho;ne of the branch clerk, ar, official
of the office, by the authorities~ men. He was beaten and punc}:ed in the
khalifa~s office by the khalifa at a time when this brother was in a poor
state of health because he was recuperating from heart surgery.
ps I said before,there have been repetitions of these incidents.and we did
not come straightaway to the cr.amber of deputies to announce them. In
fact, the minister of the interior is aware of the extensive correspor~dence
and intercessions there has been and o� the meetings that have taken place
in the ministry~s offices about these violations. Naturally i~e state that
the democracy we publicize and the slogans for which we raise cannot exist
in this country while it practices dem~cracy of another type.
The fact is that the presence of the USFP opposition in this chamber and
in this assembly is proof of the legitimacy of the USFP's existence.
Bro ther Bensa'id then cited several se~tions of the constitution~
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emphasizing that no one has the right to violate the law since all Moroc-
car?s are equal hefore it.
The tenth section states: No ona will be arres~ed, d~tained or punislied
except in t�he instances and in c~nformity with the procedures stipulated
in i,tie law.
It states in the secorid paragraph: The sanctity of the home will no~t be
violated anci i~~~ will not be searched or investigated except in accordance
with the procedures and measures stipulated in the law.
These are the constitutional sections which the constitution applies to
_ protect public freedoms and democratic rights.
With regard to statutes, the statute on public freedoms and the freedom
of assemblies and parties, despite some gaps in its wording, does not give
anyone the right to dissolve any party or society or to obstr~:ct or halt
their activities except through judicial writ.
;
~ We believe that there are some men in the establishment who still have a ~ ~
way of thinking that is totally incompatible with the basic precepts of ,
democracy. Ne see this when tiiey state without any embarrassment that the ~
constitutic:~ is a~.rritten law and they don ~ t concern themselves witti the ~
constitution in practice.
This statement is often made and thP minister of the interior knows this
because he has more means of getting information than we have. We know
the particular circumstances of ths instances of which we speak; he
knows the state of the co~try and the pr~actices of hia underlings in the
ministry with regard to the law and the extent to which they respect it.
These irresponsible practices and the legal violations are used as a wea- ~
pon against us in a11 national assemblies and gathering,s. .
The circumstances of our country in no way permit tampering witl~ the pub-
lic freedoms guaranteed by the constitution or with the basic p~�ecepts of
democracy. We must all be mobilized to protect democracy so that the do-
mestic front will be stronger than at any ti.me in the past. We most ur-
gently need to strengthen, coordinate and consolidate this front. '
Brother t4uhammad Bensa~id closed his statement about the hnrassment of the
USFP offices and w!:at the USFP fighters in a number of provinces were
suffering in the way of pressures and provocations and persecution to the
point of beatings and mistreatment in v~.olation of the basic principles
_ of public and individual freedoms and in violation of bPSic human rights.
7'he minister of the interior replied that the activities of the authori-
~ ties were basically focussed on the ordinance having to do with societies
and that these activities were all in conformity with the law, The
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minister~s reply, which came in the form of a~statement of fact" of the
sort which he sends to the press, was completely lacking in any reference
to whaL the USFP fighters and officials ~n the provinces are bein~ sub-
jected to in the w~y of savagery, mistreatment, prison and in sults at the
hands of the local authorities and their supporters in a regular fashion
' and without regaxd to existing laws.
I Then A1.dai Ould Sidi Baba read a draft statement whi,eh~he said the sec~;ion
~ chairmen had agreed to issue and to submit to the chamber for ratification.
' The statement concerned the events at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, criticized
i this criminal action and expressed the support of the Chamber of Deputies
,
�or the Sa.udi government.
i After the statement was read, Brother ~Abdullah al-Radi intervened, saying
; that the USFP opposition shared the feelings of every Musli.m in the se cir-
; cumstances and criticized the violence and the attacks on the holiest of
i places for Mu~lims~ the Grand Mosque. He said that while it is the duty
~ of the USFP opposition to criticize all crim3nal acts aga~nst our religious
~ holy places, particularly during this month, the }~oly month, the month of
respect, it is difficult for it wi:ile criticizing these immoral actions,
to see the Chamber of Deputies supporting or not supporting a foreign gov-
ernment which it was not within its jurisdiction to support or oppose.
41dai Ould Sidi Baba stated that every Muslim had the right to criticize
this criminal action and to put his trust in the authorities who are re-
~ sponsible for protecting those holy places if they deserved this trust and
~ support and this is what His Majesty and the chamber had done.
j tl spokesman for the independent faction said that the statement had emerged
~ from an agreemer.t among all parliamentary factions and that were there a
i parliament in Sa,udi Arabia, it would be been directed i;o it.
' Brother Ibrahim Boutalib broke in with a point of order, saying: I teel
~ it my ~aty to interrupt to inform the chamber of what took place in tl�?e
~ meet~ng of chairmen in r~hich I represented the USFP. It was stated from
' this podium that agreement had been reached on th e princip]:e of criticiz-
ing what happ~ned in the holy place and that, in fact, is true. However,
I would remind the president that I said that I was surprised by the
absence of Brother al-Radi at the meeting and I questioned whether we had
sufficient ini'ormation about the inciderit. You told me, P4r President,
explicitly that you did not have information. We went ahead with the idea
of ex.tressing criticism and support but we did not reach agreement on the
wordin~;. 41e did not say "supporting a specific government," as expressed
in Brother al-Radi~s objection.
The subcommittee~ in the chamber are ~ti11 discussing the draft budget for
19g~ and debate is expected to begin in a gene~ral~' session the end of this
month.
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MOROCCO
CONDITIONS AT BRANCH OF CADI AYAD SCHOOL REVEALED
Casablanca AItMUHARRIR in Arabic 29 Nov 79 p 4 '
~Article by Beni Mellal: "The Cadi Ayad Branch School Is a Manifestation
of Neglect, Ugliness and the Death of Conscience" ;
- [~ex> This branch is located at the end of a quarter of tincarl hovels
and shacks known as "the national restoration." The occupants of these ~
ugly, delapidated houses live ~.rith no defaned and obvious work and in al- I
most total unemployment, engaging in trivial and unproductive, and at
times, destxuctive work. They live among pickpockets and beggars and all
types of perversions which are riFe in the i;incan quarters where there is ~
a total lack of values relating to a proper way of life that influence '
an individual~s psychological makeup and, consequently, his products, ~
health and temperment and even the elvnination of self-hatred. ;
With its squalid location, this branch is no better than the condition of ~
those tinplate houaee; surrounded everywhere with garbage and sf:wers and
human waste of all sorts here and there because of the lack of ~~oilets,
waste on which passersby sttimmble and studen~s trod, students whom you can '
see wher: they arrive knocking their sr~es on the ground to loosc~n what is
clinging to them or finding the walls of the two rooms better for that.
The suffocation,from the odious rotting wast.e inevitably spreads eye dis-
eases and other diseases that require officials to rush to hold medical
examinations, provide txeatment and root out the source of these contag-
ious diseases.
Let's go back to the two rooms and say: They are fit only for a place for
tanning hides or selling charcoal. A to tal of 195 students take turns in
them, broken down as follows:
1. The primary: ~o shifts, one of !~7 and the other 1~9.
2. The preparatory: Two shifts, one of 50 and tHe other /~3.
They lack all basic requirements for health that would make them a place
for rearing the new generation. The despicable condition of those two
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rooms is not even usable for a game of blind~~n~s buff, that game which is
like the posture of an ostrich to~ard a hunter.
The c~~ildren of today are the man of tomorrow and their educatio~ will
guide what they rr~11 be in the future. They wi11 be the people axicl that
uill be the sentence.
83g9
Cso: !+l~.02
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MOROCCO
BAR ASSOCIATION DENOUNCES ARREST OF I,E,WYERS
Casablanca AL-MUHARRIR in Arabic 29 Nov 79 p 8 ;
LArticle: "Communique From the Bar Associ.ation Office in Morocco About
the Arbritxary Arrest of ~ao Professors: Hasan Belqasim and Nuzhah '
a1-~Alawi" '
LTex~ The Bar Association Office in Morocco met on Saturday, 15 November I
1979, at the Bar Association headquarters in Tetouan. ~
i-
After stuc~ying a number of points concerning the upcoming 14th conf.~rence
of the Federation of Arab Lawyers, the provisi.onal committee that uas I
charged with preparing for the constituent congreas of African lawyers, ~
the new statute for the legal profession and starting work on preparing
_ its new internal s~atute and the facts of the arbitxary arreat of the
two professors; Hasan Belqasim and Nuzhah al-~Alawi, it released the fol- '
lowing communique concerning the latter point: ;
On 13 October 1979 at exactly 1140 hours, two policement equipped with I
communication gear raided the apartment of Prof Hasan Belqasim of the '
Bar Association in Rabat. They rushed into his bedroom and, after being
joined by a third person, took him off to provincial security headquarters
in Ra.bat where he remained under arrest for a certain period before being ;
released without being interrogated or without any charge being placed j
against him. When asked about the reason for the arrest, one of them re~-
plied in a threatening tone: "It~s better `'or you not to ask why." On !
the same day~ Prof Nuzhah from the Bar Association in Kenitra was arrested '
by the police in Rabat and she remained under arrest for several hours
before being released without ha,ving a specifie charge placed against her.
- The associations to which the two professors belong raised the matter with '
the officials but to no avail.
These two incidents were preceded by similar incidents, the last of. which
was the ar~ est of our colleague, Prof T~ahsan Boudrax from the Kenii;ra Bar
Association .for a certain period of tine on 27 July 1979 by the department
chief in Ker_itra when he made a complaint to him verbally against a member
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of the reserve force who had in sulted him. -
For some time now, the Bar Association has pr:~tested to officials about
such behavior and has informed public opinion about some of these actions.
It again emphasizes that such arrests that ~axe illegal in both form and
substance not only violate the sanctity of defense that is considered a
pillar of the judiciary but above all else and in addition to that gravely -
violate the basic guarantees of human rights and the principles of public
and private freedoms.
The Bar As~ociation which has for so long criticized in lawyers~ confer-
ences the theoretical and actual violations which ar e detrimental to
legality and the principles of justice and the sovereignty of the law can
but announce to public opinion that it denounces such practices, adheres
to those guarantees and p~rinciples and is determined to continue to work
to impose respect for them by all quarters.
8389
CSO: /1{,02
END
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