Exiles in Zion: The SLA

During the last few months I have been watching Lebanon with more than a passing interest. Few countries have had to live through the seemingly endless nightmare of grief that a civil war spanning more than a generation produces, and despite the Syrian occupation and control of Lebanon, the divide that caused the war had not been breached.

It was more like all parties agreed not acknowledge that their homes were divided and silence produced the only tonic that allowed for the possibility of a tomorrow for the wounds of civil war were far too raw. It was not until the assassination of a politician that the fever of silence and denial broke and so the complex process of healing could begin.

This spring we shall the return of General Michel Aoun from exile and the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Now a relatively free election returned a parliament of reconciliation that declared an amnesty for Christian Militia leader Dr. Samir Gaegea. But Lebanon is not yet on the path to full recovery until one more group of Lebanese is allowed to return home and be absolved of the madness that divides.

From the Lebanese Daily Star the once taboo debate has begun:

BEIRUT: The most heated debate during Friday's parliamentary session involved a dispute over how to treat Lebanese ex-militia members living in Israel with their families. Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kenaan accused the Lebanese State of having abandoned the population living under occupation. Kenaan said: "The Government has to form a joint committee with Parliament to investigate events that led Lebanese families to take refuge in Israel."

He said the state is responsible for failing to provide for the occupied areas for 25 years.

Intense argument began when Kenaan claimed a Hizbullah official called for "slaughtering" all those who collaborated with occupying forces following the Israeli withdrawal.

House Speaker Nabih Berri interrupted Kenaan and asked him to be more specific and name the official.

Hizbullah Metn MP Ali Ammar commented furiously on Kenaan's claim that the official was [Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed] Hassan Nasrallah.

Ammar said: "The Israeli-U.S. so-called democratic deluge on Middle Eastern countries seems to have reached Lebanon."

Kenaan claimed that he "did not mean to dehumanize the resistance or its leader but was referring to a reliable source: a quote from one of the LBCI guests in a talk show."

Kesrouan MP Michel Aoun raised this question in Thursday's session, hinting at granting amnesty to those in Israel so they could return home; Hizbullah MPs strongly oppose the plan.

The Southern Lebanese Army was a Christian militia group whose sphere of operation was in southern Lebanon. It allied itself with the Israelis and in return for co-operation it received financing, weapons and training from their Israeli allies. Once the Israeli full withdrawal from Lebanon began in May 2000 the SLA collapsed in the face of a Hezbollah offensive. Estimates vary widely (2,000-7,000) on how many SLA members and their families fled Lebanon for sanctuary in Israel in May 2000. Mid East Forum and Jewish News Weekly both have older articles on the plight of the SLA in Israel. The dilemma of the SLA members and their families has not changed greatly in the years since these articles were published.

Many Lebanese look upon the SLA as traitors for aligning themselves with Israelis’ and thereby openly braking ranks with the notion of pan-Arab unity and to compound their sin; they sought refuge in Zion rather than lay down their arms and become the sacrificial lambs on Hezbollah’s altar. But the process of healing and the path to reconciliation from the divide of the civil war cannot be complete until all of Lebanon’s sons and daughters can once again come home.