wfn.org | PC(USA) Officials Express Concern About Violence in Lebanon

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

GA99127 
25-June-1999 
 
                PC(USA) Officials Express Concern 
               About Escalating Violence in Lebanon 
 
FORT WORTH   Representatives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) here 
expressed concern about escalating violence on the Israeli-Lebanon border 
late Thursday night and early Friday morning. 
     "We are deeply concerned about this continued cycle of violence, and 
care that all parties demonstrate their commitment to the peace 
negotiations," said the Rev. Victor Makari, the PC(USA)'s liaison to the 
Middle East, who added that he hopes Israel will seek a diplomatic solution 
to the crisis rather than military one. 
     According to the Associated Press, Israel launched an aerial assault 
late Thursday night on power stations, guerrilla strongholds and bridges in 
Lebanon, killing six people and wounding at least 45, in retaliation for a 
Hezbollah attack on northern Israel Thursday afternoon.  Hezbollah rockets 
hit the border town of Qiryat Shemona and the town of Shlomi in western 
Galilee. 
     Israeli bombers struck as far inside Lebanon as Beirut, the capital. 
     The violence is increasing just after Israeli Prime Minister-elect 
Ehud Barak and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad publicly committed to 
reopening peace negotiations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized 
the retaliation. The office of Barak, the prime minister-elect, quickly 
issued a statement that he was not involved in the decision. 
     The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), based in Cyprus, issued a 
strongly worded statement on the morning of June 25, condemning the Israeli 
bombings and calling Netanyahu a "lame-duck" leader whose leadership "has 
been rejected" by the Israeli population.  Bombing Beirut, the statement 
argues, hits "the very heart of a nation" that is slowly beginning to 
rebuild after devastating years of violence. 
     The attack also crushes Lebanese hopes for a peaceful summer and for 
income from tourists to bolster the economy, the statement said. 
     "While the low-scale war has been ongoing in the south between Israel 
and certain non-governmental Lebanese movements, Israel has determined to 
take revenge against innocent people," said the statement, which was signed 
by the Rev. Riad Jarjour, the MECC's general secretary. "Minister-Elect 
Ehud Barak has promised complete withdrawal from Lebanon within one year, 
and has already begun some withdrawals to demonstrate those good 
intentions. This most recent Israeli attack comes at a time when one of the 
critical issues in Israel's election was its involvement in Lebanon. 
     "It comes when peace negotiations have seen a positive step, with both 
Syria and Ehud Barak confirming, independently, their intentions to 
negotiate with each other in good faith," the statement continued, noting 
that Syria wants negotiations restarted where they left off. 
     Israel threatened to continue its attacks on Friday. 
     Israeli troops have occupied a nine-mile zone inside southern Lebanon 
for the past 14 years as a buffer against Hezbollah attacks on towns along 
Israel's northern border.  According to a June 25 article in the New York 
Times, 25 to 30 Israeli soldiers are killed there each year. 
     Hezbollah is thought by some to be backed by Iran. Others maintain 
that al- Assad has used Hezbollah, as the British Broadcasting Company has 
reported, "as a proxy army, and southern Lebanon as a proxy battle-ground," 
rather than engaging the Israelis on the Golan Heights, which is his 
strategic interest. 
     In Hezbollah's opening attack   which it said was in revenge for 
civilian deaths in southern Lebanon   four Israeli civilians and one 
soldier were wounded.  Because the Islamic resistance movement does not 
recognize the existence of Israel as a nation, a statement issued by the 
guerrillas referred to Israel as "northern Palestine." 
     The New York Times reported that a 45-year-old Arab woman apparently 
was killed on Thursday when she was caught in crossfire between the 
guerrillas and the Israeli-backed South Lebanese army. 
     The Rev. Ben Weir, a former PC(USA) moderator   one of seven U.S. 
hostages held by Lebanese guerillas in the early 1980s   responded to news 
of Israel's retaliatory attacks with dismay.  "It seems to be 
disproportionate," he told the Presbyterian News Service, adding: "I think 
someone was wounded or killed in Qiryat Shemona. There's no excuse for 
that.  It hurts and it is a loss ... but to respond so massively   and 
Israel has said it will do it again, [that it will] use whatever force is 
available   will not help the peace process." 
     Makari, too, expressed dismay, saying, "In anticipation of a new 
government, Israel could have exercised some restraint ... to give the 
peace process a chance, since that was expressed as the will of the people 
of Israel, as seen in the recent election." 
 
Alexa Smith 

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