As Israel’s Armed Proxies Withdraw From Jezzine, SLA Fighters Watch Treatment of Those Who Stay Behind

By Sallie Shatz

In early June, in the small town of Jezzine in southern Lebanon, history was made. It did not receive the media coverage it warranted, however, because at the same time a war was ending in Kosovo. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of 75 square kilometers of Lebanon were liberated after 14 years of occupation preceded by nine years of civil war which also included alternating invasions or occupations by Palestinian, Israeli and Syrian military forces. In this beautiful mountainous region where time seems to have stood still during the void of occupation, this region is now restored to its homeland, Lebanon.

“They are gone with the wind,” laughed one resident of Kfar Houna, standing in front of the wreckage of a car mashed on the side of the road by a northbound tank on its way to Jezzine to support retreating soldiers of the Israeli-funded Southern Lebanese Army (SLA). What prompted the woman’s amusement was the fact that the car’s owner, who was unlucky enough to have parked in the path of an Israeli tank, was himself a member of the SLA, the departure of which has changed the face of scenic Jezzine. Turning serious, she said, “We don’t know what will come to us in the future. We were living in war, not in peace.”

One of the major campaign promises of newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was to be out of southern Lebanon within a year.

Now, less than a month after his election, the SLA has withdrawn from the enclave of 36 mountain villages that make up the Jezzine region, which was not considered part of Israel’s “security zone,” the 10 percent of southern Lebanon that Israel formally occupies. Nevertheless Jezzine has been occupied since 1985, and during this time the once-thriving market town has dwindled from 30,000 to 5,000 inhabitants.

The special occupation of the Jezzine area has a history all its own. After the 1982 invasion that took Israeli forces as far north as Beirut, Israel withdrew from this area in 1983, setting off fighting in the Chouf area south of Beirut between Lebanese Maronite and Druze militias. However, there was no intervention from the Lebanese army, divided by civil war.

Israeli forces set up their line at Kfar Houna, and the SLA, in response to attacks on Maronites to the east of Sidon, took control of the area. Those who wanted to stay on their land were forced to work for the SLA. Now they are regarded as traitors subject to a mandatory jail sentence of three years.

Of the 600 from the Jezzine area who chose to stay and work for the SLA, 200 already have been cleared, 157 are dead, 203 are surrendering to the Lebanese government and approximately 100 have stayed with the SLA and withdrawn with Israeli forces deeper into Israel’s “security zone.” (There are about 40 who are unaccounted for.)

“This is a political move by Israel, not a military one,” said one of the 203 SLA defectors. Politically, what happens to them can be seen as a “litmus test” of how the rest of the occupied area will be affected by a full Israeli withdrawal.

In fact the SLA could no longer control the area. In Roum, the first town from which the SLA withdrew on June 1, the SLA militiamen stationed there had been brought from Marjayoun, within the Israeli security zone, and paid $1,800 U.S. dollars a month to man this most dangerous post. Normally SLA militiamen receive between U.S. $400 and $800 a month. In Lebanon, where the minimum wage is U.S. $168 a month, the inflated payment to SLA soldiers indicates the danger they faced from the Hezbollah militiamen who, hill by hill, are driving out the occupiers of southern Lebanon.

As with much of the tragedy of Lebanon, the chess game that is played with human lives is hard to comprehend. Since 1982, 157 militiamen and 65 civilians have died in the Jezzine area, not to mention the number of Hezbollah men lost.

In the week between the announcement of the withdrawal and its completion, there were eight deaths and several severe injuries. Southern Lebanon was more of a war zone than a place anticipating peace.

One of those killed was an Irish soldier with the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Private Billy Kedian, 22 years old, died as the result of a direct hit on a UNIFIL base by an SLA mortar shell, which also wounded Irish Private Ronny Rushe, who is still in critical condition.

How or why the SLA shelled the UNIFIL compound is yet to be answered. Israel has acknowledged the shelling but has not apologized for the human losses sustained.

Also killed in the same week were five SLA militiamen by roadside bombs and a Hezbollah member during air raids.

As early as May 27, SLA militiamen had started to move their families from the Jezzine area to vacant houses in Marjayoun, closer to Israel. Then, on May 29, SLA commander Antoine Lahad announced the pullback from the Jezzine area. After more Hezbollah roadside bombs and Israeli air attacks, a convoy of trucks and tanks went north to support the withdrawing SLA militiamen and their equipment.

As the SLA withdrew first from Roum toward Jezzine, the convoy came under heavy attack by Hezbollah, halting the retreat for several hours. This was followed by the removal of all journalists from the town of Jezzine, which was barred to all but residents.

The following day when journalists, including this writer, returned, only four SLA were visible. After the SLA men had been photographed and interviewed while Israeli air raids took place in the surrounding hills, the journalists retreated to the town of Roum, liberated two days earlier, and to a hotel which had just reopened to house the journalists barred from Jezzine.

The residents of Roum were happy but kept their distance from journalists other than to bring around trays of cookies. As everyone sat in the town square watching the sunset, residents exchanged newspapers which contained reports of their liberation and political cartoons of the week’s events.

Thanks to the influx of journalists the economic health of Roum seemed well on the way to recovery from the years of SLA occupation, until reports arrived that journalists were being allowed back into Jezzine, which was still garrisoned by the four SLA men.

When we arrived, a Lebanese journalist asked one of the SLA sergeants, “Why don’t you quit and get a normal job in Lebanon, open a shop and support your state?”

Nimr, the SLA sergeant, responded, “My problem is not with Lebanon or with Israel, it’s with Syria.” He said he feared that if he leaves the SLA Syrian forces or their proxies will kill him. He said he preferred to wait to be judged by Lebanon, not Syria.

Meanwhile there were explosions from outposts in the hills overlooking Jezzine, where ammunition was being destroyed. Again the townspeople of Roum brought us cookies.

Around 1 a.m. Nimr began praying before a statue of the Virgin Mary as the others threw their possessions into their armored personnel carrier. As they prepared for their withdrawal the tough SLA men bared their souls and told us their stories.

Manuel, an 18-year-old youth who seemed as naive and innocent as an Iowa schoolboy, admitted he joined the SLA because he hated school. He said he didn’t believe in the SLA but would stay with it until he sees what happens to the 203 militiamen who were giving themselves up to the Lebanese authorities as part of the withdrawal from Jezzine. He was dressed in an Israeli jacket, with IDF in Hebrew as a name tag, as was Johnny, the driver of the armored personnel carrier.

Shortly after 2 a.m., the occupant of a Mercedes came to give the order for the final pullout. There were exchanges of prayers as Nimr and Johnny came to each of us to shake hands and give us pieces of paper with pictures of St. Charbel and other religious symbols on them.

Manuel had backed away and watched uneasily from the top of the vehicle.

Johnny drank from a bottle of whiskey while loading shells into the large gun mounted on the roof. “God is great, our fate is in the hands of God,” he said as they drove through the town, the last vestige of the occupation of Jezzine. In the 15 minutes it took them to make the seven-kilometer journey to the new Israeli frontline at Kfar Houna, there were no sounds of explosions.

A former minister of parliament from the area, Edmond Rizq, conducted a press conference, declaring, “This is a new dawn, I am very happy and proud.” He went on to state his hopes for the future in an area reunified with Lebanon. There were champagne toasts and then, for the rest of the night, sounds of unmanned Israeli drones overhead, and many air raids.

The next day the town of Jezzine came to life. At first there were only a few flags and 25 police officers patrolling the town square. Then some of the surrendering 203 former SLA militiamen allowed themselves to be interviewed by foreign journalists under the trees on the edge of the square.

Then more flags came out and by the end of the day they were flying from every telephone pole. Now it was the turn of young boys from Jezzine to carry flags and hand out cookies to every motorist who passed by.

Father Paul Khawead, from the nearby Mashmoushe Monastery, and a group of lawyers from the region have formed a committee to aid the 203 SLA men who stayed behind.

How much did any of these men regret their actions? In the barracks in Roum, written on the wall was “God, forgive me when I die.” In the barracks in Jezzine, which the militiamen obviously left in a hurry, there were a large number of empty bottles of whiskey—and Maalox. In every locker and in almost every room were religious tokens of St. Charbel, the Virgin Mary or reproductions of religious frescos. Oddly, however, 60 percent of the SLA force were not Christians. Many, in fact, are Shi’i Muslim, just as are the Hezbollah militiamen who defeated them.

One man who chose to remain anonymous told us that he had quit the SLA two months earlier, after fighting for the SLA for seven years, when his mother died. “Our commander gave us a choice,” he said. “If you want to stay, stay. If you want to leave, leave. There was no pressure.

“If we stay in the SLA, we don’t have a future. I want to live my life with my family. I want to go back to Sidon. Israel just works for Israel. They will not take responsibility for us. I don’t trust them. I will accept the solution [Lebanon’s judgment].”

He went on to add that the Israeli government supported the SLA to have a buffer between its troops and Hezbollah, making the SLA its front line to protect Israeli soldiers. Another man, a 71-year-old cook who used to collect wood with his donkey in the mountains before working for the SLA, said, “I was with the SLA for 11 years. I am not afraid, I did nothing wrong. I want my government to be fair.”

A former Lebanese ambassador to the U.S., Simone Karam, a resident of Jezzine, stated, “It’s been almost a quarter of a century that Jezzine has been on its own. We’d like to see our government and state return law and order to Jezzine. Currently there is a power vacuum.

“Throughout these years our relationship with Hezbollah has been difficult. There is concern for the fate of our people. We would like it to be resolved positively with Lebanon’s security forces in Jezzine.”

There seems to be a call from the people of Lebanon to be lenient with these men. Hezbollah has publicly stated that the residents of Jezzine have nothing to fear. In a bill introduced by Hezbollah’s members of parliament last year, Hezbollah called for amnesty to all SLA fighters who defected within three months of the bill’s passing. So far the bill has not been passed. In the meantime, the Hezbollah political leaders have called for the Lebanese government to try these men fairly, in hopes of encouraging other SLA militiamen to quit.

While Hezbollah has issued assurances the area is safe for its residents, Israel has said that if Hezbollah enters the area it will be shelled until all the inhabitants leave. Meanwhile, as celebrations continued, Lebanese President Emile Lahood and Prime Minister Selim Hoss visited the area to congratulate the citizens on their steadfastness and to assure them of the Lebanese government’s commitment to help the region.

As far away as Sidon, on the coast, Hezbollah supporters were passing out candy to everyone headed south to celebrate. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah called the withdrawal “a victory which must not be measured in the size of the liberated area, but in the fact that the enemy was forced out, humiliated, without any security arrangement or negotiations and pursued by the resistance.”

Sallie Shatz is a free-lance photographer and journalist presently based in Lebanon.