Page 2 - The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, July 2, 1976
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By SHELDON KIRSHNER CJN Staff Reporter
The Arab world is in an uproar and bitterly divided over the 14-month-old Lebanese civil war.
Observers of the Arab scene can scarcely recaJJ a time when shifting alliances made such a shambles of old friendships and traditional animosities. The bloody events in Lebanon have shaken the Arab Middle East profoundly, and it may be years before the opposing sides in the conflict mend their wounds.
Lasit week, with Syrian armored coluinns spread throughout Lebanon, a chorus of accusations continued to rain down on the Ba*athist occupiers. PLO chieftain Yasser Arafat, who had invariably.lookied upon the Syrians as his patrons, charged that Syrian tanks, jets and artillery were pounding Palestinian refugee camps "in the bloodiest butchery eyer."
Kamal Jumblatt. head of the leftist-Moslem forces in Lebanon, said Syria was carrying out "a Black September" — an emotional reference to Jordan's expulsion of Palestinian guerrillas between September, 1970 and July, 1971. And in the ultimate rebuke, the Druze leader asserted that Syrian President Hafez Assad was trying to achieve "the Zionist goal to liquidate the Palestinian resistance moveinent."
Meanwhile in Cairo, the foreign minister, who recalled Egyptian diplomats from Damascus, described the Syrian i;>vasion
as "a cancerous symptom eating away" at the war-torn country, and condemned the Syrians for preparing "bloody butcheries that are in reality a war of genocide." Echoing his remarks, Saudi Arabian King Khaled, who withdrew development funds destined for Syria, called Assad "an ignoramous in geography...attacking brother Arabs instead of Jews on the Golan."
Indeed, the clarion call reverberating throughout most of the Arab worid was that Syria was behaving like a lion in Lebanon and a rabbit on the Golan Heights front facing Israel.
Yet Syria was hardly silent as its critics tore into its convoluted policy of maintaining a political and military balancle between Lebanese Christians and Moslems, The Syrian minister of information, declaring that Damascus would not withdraw its troops Until peace and stability were restored in Lebanon, lambasted Kama! Jumblatt and the rival Ba'athists in Iraq for hatching "conspiracies" against the country.
And in Paris on a state visit. President Assad reiterated that view amid reports that elements bf the Arab peacekeeping contingent had arrived to take up positions.
Syria's rabid determination to maintain troops in Lebanon is consistent with the -policy its leaders have followed since the beginning bf this year. They dispatched units of the Syrian-controlled Palestine Liberation Army in January to thwart the rapid advances of Christian forces. But several inonths later, worried that the Moslems were getting the upper hand. President Assad sent in regular Syrian troops to Lebanon in a bid to stop the fighting and to install president-elect Elias Sarkis, a conservative Christian banker.
In committing some 14,000 men and 400 tanks to the war. President Assad turned the raging conflict into a three-cornered battle. In leaping head-first into the Lebanese firay, he took a great gamble — a gamble which thus far has paid few dividends as it has isolated Syria among its fellow Arabs. Now Damascus is at loggerheads with Egypt, which aspires to lead the Arab world, and Iraq, which halted the flow of crude oil to Syria's only refiner>' and reinforced its troop strength on the Syrian
frontier.
At home, Syria's adventure is hurting Assad. The war is costing as much as $1 million per day and therefore making a mockery of the cuh-ent budget. Although there appears to be no solid political opposition, Syria being a one-party state, sectors of the powerful officer corps are. grumbling because the prestige of the army was badly battered by the Palestinians' fierce resistance to stem the Syrian invasion. Since Assad's power rests with the military, he may be in trouble if he fails to mollify senior commanders.
An acute and cautious politician, he realizes he might lo^e his throne, not to mention his head, if he orders the army to deal harshly with the Palestinians. Assad remembers that he rose to leadership when his predecessor aroused the wrath of the military by botching a 1970 invasion of northern Jordan.
Syria's dilemma is clear. A precipitous withdrawal from Lebanon would be equivalent to losing face, yet deeper Syrian involvement would endanger the six-year-old regime frpm within. Historically, Syria's troubles in Lebanon are similar to the ones the Americans encountered in Vietnam. Like the United States, Syrian military prowess is greatly limited by strict political parameters. Assad can destroy the Palestinians in Lebanon, since Arafat's-bands, though tough and dedicated, are no ma:tch for the Syrians. However, Assad would not risk the opprobrium that would automatically result if he undertook a wholesale massacre of Palestinians.
As the crisis unfolds, Israel watches the gruesome spectacle with both satisfaction and grave concern. Israel is not adverse to the idea of Syrian soldiers killing Palestinian commandos. Yet Israeli officials know that in flaunting a Pax Syriana over ravaged Lebanon, the wily Syrians are gradually establishing their hegemony there. It is doubtful whether Israel would tolerate a Syrian-controlled Lebanon. Yet it is equally doubtful that the Syrians would relinquish the base they have built up in Lebanon at awesome material and physical cost.
The groundwork is thus laid for a possible clash between the bitterest of enemies — Svria and Israel.
LONDON [JCNS]-
Jewish charitable and Israeli fund-raising organizations here are anxiousr ly considering whether they will hold^ meetings and functions at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, in future, following the announcement that the hotel has been.bought by Arab investors.-
The buyers . are an international consortium including Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the Gulf. Only two of the new owners have been named. They are Sheikh Najib Alamiiddin, chairman of Middle East Airlines, anrf Dr. Lucien Dahdah, chairman and mainaging director of Intra Investment. Both are Lebanese.
The Dorchester Hotel is constantly used during; the year by Jewish chari-t i e s for dinners and dances as well as for meetings. Many leading Jewish personalities also stay there including Israeli leaders.
The Arabs paid $13 million for the hotel, which has been owned by the McAlpine family since 193 L Active behind the
scenes in bringing about the sale was Christopher Chataway, th6 former Conseryative Minister 6f Posts, who is managing director of Orion Bank, the London-based international consortium. He is a regular visitor to the Middle East. Now a director of ^he-
hotel he told the.JCNS: "I certainly hope that the new ownership will make no difference. It. is the intention of the new owners to keep custom from everywhere. They are certainly keen that Jewish-custom should be retained. It is a very important part of the Dorchester's
$275 million in aid eannarked for Israel
WASHINGTON^
Israel will receive $275 ^ . million in additional aid as part of a compromise package approved by the House of Representatives this week. Jerusalem had hoped for $550 million in assistance.
Observers here now feel that the decision by Congress ends a lengthy dispute between the White House and pro-Israeli circles in Washington. The action qame as the House approved a $5.6 foreign aid bill for the 15 months ending . Sept. 30.
Israels supporters had initially sought an extra
$550 million in aid and military credits on top of the $2.2 billion already earmarked for her, but President Ford, citing fiscal problems; had threatened to veto any bill that, included the additi9nal sum.
Prior to the House vote, several pro-Israel senators, including Jacob Javits of New York and Clifford Case of New Jersey, reportedly suggested a compromise of $375 million to fund Israel's military and economic needs for the three month period between the end of fiscal 1976 on June 30 and the start of fiscal 1977 Oct. 1.
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A spokesman for the Joint Israel Appeal in Britain would .make no comment at all when
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asked whether it was the intention of the JIA to held functions at the hotel, particularly as money would then be put into Arab hands.
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Douglas G. Farley, Manager
630-4645
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