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SLA militiamen feel betrayed by Israel |
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May 27, 2000
MARJAYOUN, MAY 26 (AP) - Like many of his comrades, Jiryis Faris feels betrayed by Israel's sudden withdrawal that left him and other pro-Israeli militiamen at the mercy of their guerrilla enemies and a government that considers them traitors.
"The Israelis used us like human sandbags and dumped us once they had no use for us," Faris, a Christian, said after surrendering to Lebanese police. "The Israelis are cowards. If I could, I would join the Islamic resistance and fight the traitorous Israelis."
A few days ago, this kind of rhetoric would have been unheard of. The Christian-led South Lebanon Army militia and the Islamic Hezbollah have been bitter enemies since the Shiite Muslim militia was formed in 1982.
Now, with south Lebanon free of Israeli troops and their Lebanese militia allies for the first time in 22 years, a new reality is being created on the ground.
The SLA collapsed without a fight early this week. Its leader, Antoine Lahd, was in Paris. By the time Israel's last soldier left Lebanon on Wednesday morning, the militia of 2,500 men had disintegrated. Hundreds of militiamen surrendered to Lebanese authorities to stand trial, while others fled to Israel where they were settled temporarily in camps.
Hezbollah and other guerrillas were quick to take advantage.
When Marjayoun residents woke up Wednesday to find the Israelis gone, yellow Hezbollah flags already were fluttering over rooftops and cars carrying women in Islamic veils were speeding down their streets.
The guerrillas then got down to the business of eradicating all traces of Israeli and SLA presence: yellow road signs in Hebrew, red-and-white traffic signs pointing to the militia's border crossing, arms, ammunition and weapons left behind by the SLA.
The guerrillas encouraged civilians to join in the looting. A Hezbollah member said that, apart from weapons, people were welcome to take anything they could use.
Jinan Fadel, a 15-year-old student, on Wednesday skipped school in the village of Yohmor to do just that. She and her family drove a pickup truck to Marjayoun, 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, and right up to the SLA barracks, hidden in a dense circle of eucalyptus trees.
Even though Fadel said she "hates to touch anything the collaborators have touched," the family van was loaded with gray chairs, Formica desks and filing cabinets in a couple of hours.
Nearby, a Hezbollah fighter on crutches watched as fellow guerrillas checked tanks, examined mortars and donned vests and helmets abandoned by the SLA. The fighter was recently wounded in the leg by Israeli tank fire in Iqlim al-Tuffah, a Hezbollah stronghold.
"We have defeated Israel," he said, refusing to give his name for security reasons. "I'm so proud of what we've done."
While Marjayoun's Christian residents publicly welcome the guerrillas, many say privately they want the government to convince the SLA militiamen who fled to Israel to return and to show leniency to those who have surrendered.
"To their people, they're heroes," said Cary Samra, a real estate developer from Oklahoma City who was visiting his wife's family in Marjayoun. "I think the government should understand their situation and give them leniency."
"My husband is like the prodigal son who's returning to his father," said Hilweh Shamoun, whose husband, Gaby, and father, Youssef, surrendered to Lebanese police Wednesday.
Faris said that, like many SLA fighters, he joined the militia four years ago because, after Israel set up its buffer zone in Lebanon, "the government abandoned us, didn't send us money, didn't help us."
"We fought out of hunger," said Faris, a laborer who could not find a well-paying job in Marjayoun to support his wife and daughter. "We were forced to join Lahd in order to live."
"I have no regrets," said Faris. "I made a mistake and learned a lesson: one shouldn't join the Zionists." |