Ops! Lebanon: Withdraw Syrian Tro

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Nowhere in the world today is the truth of Lenin's aphorism that the state consists of special bodies of armed men more vividly illustrated than in Lebanon during November.

With the disintegration of the Lebanese army and the development of elements of popular control during the bitter civil war, the Arab bourgeoisie was faced with the serious problem of which particular body of armed men could represent their interests.

The careful balance in the Lebanese constitution between ditferent religious groups and political factions was shattered by • the advancing Palestinian Revolution rod the pro-CIA, pro-Zionist Phaiangist forces who were and remain active.

FORGOTTEN

Faced with the bloody confrontation between these groups in Lebanon, all the conflicts within ic various Arab rulng groups, professive' or reactionary, and sich disagreements as those between Egypt and Syria were forpotten.

An agreement was foisted on the Palestinians in Cairo on 26th October and early in November the 'green berets' of the Syrian 'peacekeeping' force were to be seen throughout Lebanon on their second and much more successful invasion of the year.

Though allegedly acting on behalf of the Arab League, few of the Syrian troops even bothered to adopt the insignia of the other organisation and a number of the tanks carried large and threatening looking pictures of President Assad.

BATTLE-WEARY

As late as 10th November, when the syrians entered Beirut, no news of troops from any other Arab country had been received by the correspondents in the country.

Despite the groups of battleweary people who cheered as the roops arrived, despite the tact that the Phalangists still wander around in their uniforms, the purpose of this invasion was to hold back the advance of the Palestinians.

As the Times correspondent on 15th November:

"It is President Assad, not Mr Sarkis (nominal President of the Lebanon) who holds power, reace, security and the administration of justice, the physical rebuiding of Beirut and the political credibility of Mr Sarkis are all dependent on the Syrian army that has spread itself across Lebanon."

The reason why it was necessary to mobilise the strength of all the warring factions of the Arab bourgeoisie was clear from some of the reports that came out as the Lebanese army took over.

From Tripoli in the North came the news of the rule of the leftistPalestinian alliance in the city in recent months.

ORGANISED

Faroq Moqaddem. commander of the leftist-Palestinian allance told reporters how they had set up their own police force, courts and a theatre. They had even run the telephone system. As Moquaddem put it:

"We have organised our own affairs and that is the reason we fought in this war. It was not about religion...what we wanted was control of our lives."

Whatever the efforts of the Syrians and their backers at this point, the struggles of the Palestinlans and the Lebanese working class Will inevitably throw up phènomena of this kind in the future, in many forms.

OPERATIONS RESUMED The Palestinians have clearly resumed operations against their Zionist enemies. Battles at sea were reported during the month, and on 22 November the first raid into Galilee for some months.

They will not be held back by the Phalangists who are operating quite openly now with the Israelis in the southern part of the country in an effort to prevent Palestinian raids being resumed there.

The Syrians of course ate leaving the border area free for this.

It would be interesting to know which aspect of these operations were discussed in the meeting on 19th November between fascist leader Amin Gemayel and Soviet diplomat Vladimir Kolotoucha.

Whatever dirty deais are hatched up in discussions such as this, there can be no resolution of the struggles of the Palestinians and Lebanese masses under the ments worked out in Moscow or anywhere else.

As the Times correspondent expressed it with some accuracy on 20th November:

"The Syrians, who have no experience in police operations, are just beginning to realise - as European armies have in the past two decades - that peace-keeping is not a role in which they can necessarily expect the support of the population.

There can be no doubt but that "lack of support' will ultimately express itself in terms of the most violent and bitter struggles.

The Syrian troops must be withdrawn and the Palestinians allowed to pursue their just struggle for national liberation.

As on every other question, the road to the liberation of Palestine goes through a struggle against the bourgeoisie of the Lebanon, and their masters in Damascus and their patrons in Moscow.

The need for a sociatist programme to bring together the disparate efforts of the Arab masses is made necessary now more than ever.

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FRANCE IN BINATIONAL NEWS, J