Fateful Triangle

Aftermath609the city, and to call for a peace treaty with Israel,” but the official statedthat “Peace is not something that can be forced on the Lebanesepeople.” Further evidence of Phalange ingratitude was the failure ofPresident-elect Amin Gemayel to invite IDF personnel to a celebration tomark the unification of Beirut after the Israeli soldiers withdrew. “Invitedwere the U.S. Marines, the French and Italian army personnel, everyone,in fact, with the exception of the army that had paid such a heavy pricein blood in the Lebanon war, the Israeli army,” so the American Jewishpress lamented, clinging to the official doctrine of Israeli liberation andunconscionable Lebanese ingratitude. 38Shortly after his election, Bashir Gemayel had had a “historic” andapparently successful meeting with the leader of the Muslim coalition,former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, and “the Muslims rebuked andvirtually disowned former President Suleiman Franjieh and former PrimeMinister Rashid Karami * for their outright rejection of the new regime.” 39“In the three weeks between his election and his murder [BashirGemayel] managed to persuade many Moslem leaders, notably theformer prime minister, Saeb Salam, leader of West Beirut’s mainstreamMoslem politicians, to accept the Phalangist victory for the sake ofLebanon.” 40 In short, in Lebanon too the grand design was beginning tocrumble. We have already cited the subsequent reporting in Israelindicating that Bashir Gemayel was no friend of Israel, contrary to whathad been hoped, and perhaps was “no better” than his brother Amin,who replaced him after the assassination (see chapter 5, section 3.2).No doubt in response to these developments, Sharon announced onSeptember 4 that Israel might establish a “special status” security zonein southern Lebanon if Gemayel refused to sign a peace treaty. Shortly*Franjieh and Karami are allied to Syria, whose army controls their domains innorth Lebanon.Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky