Fateful Triangle

Peace for Galilee330terms, noting here that they are a bit misleading.) The Muslim Karantinaslum was overrun by Christian forces with large numbers massacred,then “burned and razed…with bulldozers.” The Christian (Chamounist)town of Damour was then taken by “the leftist-Palestinian coalitionand…occupied, looted, and destroyed.” The propaganda of Israel and itsAmerican supporters regularly refers to the last of these atrocities asproof that the PLO was conducting a murderous war against theLebanese; what preceded is regularly omitted.3.2 Syria and Israel in LebanonSyria entered the war in support of the Christians against the leftist-Palestinian coalition, an act that Kissinger called “constructive” and thatwas tacitly backed by Israel, though Israel insisted that the Syrian armyremain north of the Litani. By July 1976, a Syrian-led “peace-keepingforce” had intervened under an Arab League mandate, still in support ofthe Christians. In August, the Tel al-Zaatar Palestinian camp wasoverrun after a long siege. Thousands were massacred by Christianforces using Israeli arms, armored personnel carriers and tanks, “stillwith Israeli Defense Forces markings in Hebrew,” Cooley writes, addingthat “By early summer considerable transfers of tanks, vehicles, artillery,and other military equipment had been made by Israel to the rightists[Maronites].” Israeli military forces now operated regularly in southernLebanon to establish rightist control. Syria launched another majoroffensive against the leftist-Palestinian alliance in September. ByOctober 1976, the “peacekeeping forces,” largely Syrian, numbered30,000.Subsequently, Syria turned against the Christian right. The MaronitePhalange under Bashir Gemayel established its dominance within theClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky