Lebanese Militia Finds Sanctuary --but No Solace

Bitter and humiliated, hundreds of Israel’s allied militiamen and their families trudged into the Jewish state Tuesday, fleeing the loss of their homeland to Islamic guerrillas and accusing their patrons of cruel betrayal.

They waited long, hot hours in a line of cars three across that snaked more than a mile into Lebanon from this border crossing in Israel’s extreme north.

With babies in tow and suitcases stuffed with hastily gathered belongings, about 5,000 Lebanese had been admitted by early today. They were shuttled off to a Sea of Galilee “holiday village” where they contemplated their uncertain futures.

“Why did we fight together, side by side, for 25 years?” cried one distraught man as he passed through the barbed-wire crossing gate. “We fought together, ate together, got killed together. If I were an Israeli citizen, I would be ashamed of my government today.”

The rapid disintegration of the South Lebanon Army, which Tuesday essentially ceased to exist as a military force after more than two decades, touched off a searing debate in Israel about betrayal and humiliation. Israelis, who eagerly wanted to end their nation’s messy involvement in Lebanon, were instead suddenly feeling humiliated by what was widely seen as a panicked retreat. And some were feeling guilty that their proxies might be left in the lurch.

“A Day of Humiliation” was the banner headline in Israel’s top-selling newspaper, Yediot Aharonot. Callers to radio phone-in programs expressed dismay and outrage at having “abandoned” the SLA.

Viewed as nothing more than mercenaries or traitors by many other Lebanese, the officers of the SLA, especially, fear retribution.

Hafif, an officer who would not give his last name, waited more than seven hours Tuesday crushed against the fence at Fatima Gate before he, his sister and six small children could enter Israel.

“The army came and told us those that wanted to leave had to get here quickly,” he said as he loaded the group’s bags into a silver Volvo that awaited him on the Israeli side. “From here they told us we could go to Sweden, to Canada, to Australia. . . .”

Tensions ran high at the crossing. One man shouted angrily and threatened American reporters with a pistol when they tried to interview him. A gun battle between Israeli troops and suspected Lebanese snipers, apparently firing from an abandoned building nearby, broke out later over the heads of the queuing new refugees.

Ahmed, a worker in an Israeli textile factory, stood on the Israeli side of the fence and scanned the long line of desperate faces. He was hoping to see his wife and three children, whom he had left behind in their home village of Reihan two days before, not expecting that the occupation would collapse so quickly. Now he couldn’t reach them, and phone lines were cut.

“Nobody can imagine what will happen,” he said.

A few minutes later, a group of about 20 Druze, wearing white fezzes, began a journey in the opposite direction, making their way back to Lebanon to rejoin families. Several embraced and sobbed as they went.

These are the kinds of scenes that are distressing to Israelis who liken the collapse of the southern Lebanese occupation zone to the fall of Saigon.

“Just like that last helicopter on the embassy roof in Vietnam, we witnessed a set of difficult images last night that will be forever engraved in our collective consciousness,” wrote commentator Hemi Shalev in Tuesday’s Maariv newspaper. “We too learned that there are no happy withdrawals, no free withdrawals. The scent of humiliation permeates the air.”

Shalev joined a chorus of critics who believe that the Islamic Hezbollah guerrillas now taking over southern Lebanon have pulled off a propaganda coup that shows them calling the shots while Israel reacts clumsily.

For their part, Israeli government officials defended their actions and said the unfolding scenario is one they anticipated. A senior military official said the SLA, which numbered about 2,500 to 3,000 fighters, was to be dismantled anyway under the United Nations resolutions governing the withdrawal, so its collapse has only made matters easier.

Government officials promised Tuesday that the fleeing SLA men and their families will be given “all the rights of immigrants,” which include a yearlong tourist visa, health insurance and work permits.

The men and their families were bused, incongruously, to a small lakeside resort that advertises on its billboards “touring, relaxation, entertainment and camping.”

Christian holy sites, including the one where Jesus is believed to have delivered his Sermon on the Mount, are a few hundred yards away.

Israeli officials took unusual precautions to keep the new refugees away from the press, closing off the premises as a military zone. Only government ministers, lawmakers and employees of a windsurfing company that services the resort were permitted entry.

Inside the compound, according to the windsurfers, who were interviewed by cellular telephone, the children sang songs while the adults sat in confused silence or stared listlessly at the water.

One of the lawmakers who visited was Ariel Sharon, the architect of Israel’s ill-fated 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Among those inside the holiday village were men he has known since before the invasion, he said, and Tuesday, after all that has happened, he could not “look them straight in the eye,” he said.

Another was Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet refusenik who is now interior minister and in charge of the benefits that the Lebanese will receive.

Outside, a few Israeli-based Lebanese relatives of the SLA awaited news. One 40-year-old man who said his name is Hashem wanted to help his sister and her two children, who were among the refugees. While he was talking, they called him on his cellular phone to bemoan the fact that they did not even have time to pack toothpaste.

Hashem said his uncle was Akl Hashem, the No. 2 man in the SLA, who was killed by Hezbollah earlier this year in its single most high-profile slaying. He wore a T-shirt that bore Hashem’s likeness and that also illustrated the irony of the moment.

In Arabic script under a picture of the SLA commander in military camouflage, the T-shirt read: “Israeli army, you are inside our hearts.”

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SLA Fact Sheet

A look at the South Lebanon Army, Israel’s now-collapsing allied militia:

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Size: At its height, up to 3,000 Christian and Muslim fighters. Hundreds have surrendered, been captured by Hezbollah guerrillas or fled to Israel in recent days.

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History: Formed in the late 1970s by the late Maj. Saad Haddad, who sought help from Israel as he battled Palestinian guerrillas. Allied with Israel in the ‘80s, providing Israel with a friendly force along its northern border. Trained, equipped and bankrolled by Israel during its 15-year occupation of a self-declared “security zone” in southern Lebanon.

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Weaponry: Artillery pieces, light weapons and about 160 tanks, many aging Russian T-55s. Some armaments were destroyed by the Israeli air force after being abandoned by SLA crews.

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Recruitment: Some volunteered, but others were coerced into service or joined because of chronic joblessness in southern Lebanon.

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Future: Still has its headquarters in Marjayoun, the principal Christian town in the Israeli-occupied zone. Israel says it will offer shelter to fleeing fighters and their families, about 10,000 people in all.

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Leadership

Led by Gen. Antoine Lahad, a former Lebanese army general who has been sentenced to death in absentia by a Lebanese military court. Lahad lives part time in France.

Source: Times wire reports