http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=4&datee=05/28/00&id=79643
Sunday, May 28, 2000
The SLA are getting more than they deserve
By Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz 05/28/2000
Suddenly, Israelis have become so moral. A survey published by Yedioth
Ahronoth shows that a majority believes the South Lebanon Army
(SLA) has not been treated fairly. Donations and toys for SLA refugees
and their families have been collected all around the country in recent
days. Orthodox Jews at the Hesder Yeshiva, in the Atniel settlement,
have taken a phrase from the Book of Psalms, praying for "Arabs who
are allies of Israel." The yeshiva's rabbi, Menachem Fruman, has even
called for the establishment of a committee to foster national
soul-searching on this issue.The work of Fruman's envisioned
committee would do nothing for 300 Palestinian children killed during the
Intifada. Nor is he calling for Israelis to do penance for the killing of 100
civilians at Kfar Kana, in Lebanon, during the IDF's 1997 Operation
Grapes of Wrath. Nor are toys being collected for children who lived in
2,200 Lebanese homes destroyed by Israel.
Instead, it is the treatment of SLA soldiers which bothers Israelis - and
right-wingers, not previously known for their great sympathy with Arab
suffering, are leading the pack in this spree of contrition.
Israel's new refugees, its retired mercenaries, are being treated in a way
which no previous group of Arab refugees would ever have dreamt of.
Despite the great public sympathy and the guarantee that the SLA
refugees will be given citizenship within a year, despite the bitter weeping
for them and the fact that an IDF Major General (res.), no less, has been
appointed to attend to SLA refugee absorption needs, a majority of
moralistic Israelis believes that the SLA men have been treated unfairly.
Suddenly, Israelis are shocked to witness the plight of Arabs who were
expelled from their homes and left helpless. They are filled with pity as
they see families which have been ripped apart. Is it really necessary to
remind this contrite public that these aren't the only indigent Arab
refugees in the region, and that they aren't the first refugees for whose
dire circumstances Israel is to blame?
There can be no denying that on an individual level, the plight of the SLA
men is a tragedy. Families have been uprooted from their country, lacking
all means to support themselves. But they themselves bear primary
responsibility for this situation.
Young Lebanese who enlisted in the SLA consciously chose to sever
themselves from their own country and join forces with its enemy. They
were fully aware that this was a story whose conclusion was
predetermined. They couldn't have reasonably expected that Israel
would remain in Lebanon forever; nor could they have expected that the
Lebanese would forgive them for their betrayal. In the end, collaborators
always have to pay for their deeds - and the most that the SLA men can
hope for now is that Israel will provide them sanctuary during their
moment of woe.
Israel has met this hope. In doing so, it has acted as justly as the
circumstances allow. In view of their current situation, the SLA men's
anger is understandable. Nonetheless, it is not righteous anger. They are
paying for their acts.
Betrayal of their native land is not the sum total of these acts. Scattered
among these SLA men are some who not only do not deserve a safe
haven in Israel, but who should also be put on trial in front of an
international tribunal for war crimes. Voluminous evidence of their
wrongdoing, which remained fragmentary throughout the years of the
Israeli occupation in South Lebanon, is now available. This is evidence
which proves that a cruel regime ruled over the tormented southern
Lebanon strip. The broad traits of the occupation were decided by Israel,
but its daily execution was carried out by the SLA.
The SLA men know the reasons why they had to flee with such frenetic
haste from their villages. Data compiled by human rights groups, such as
B'tselem's "report from afar" released at the start of 2000, depicts a
blood-curdling picture: horrifying torture, arbitrary expulsion, prolonged
detention without trial, stringent limitations curbing freedom of
movement, and more. It's small wonder that more than half the
population in South Lebanon fled during the last 15 years.
The correspondent of the British newspaper The Independent wrote this
week about what he witnessed at the liberated Al Khiam prison: Electric
wires used to torture inmates during interrogation, a whipping-post,
boards on which prisoners were tied-down, letters which were never
distributed, and a crutch used by a prisoner crippled by torture. The acts
of abomination at Al Khiam took place under Israel's supervision and
with its encouragement; but they were carried out by SLA men. Some of
them are now dwelling at hotels in Israel's North, and Israel guarantees
them a future in this country. They don't deserve it.
