The Fate of Third Worldism in the Middle East by Rasmus C. Elling;Sune Haugbolle;

Author:Rasmus C. Elling;Sune Haugbolle;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780861547296
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Through his local reputation and his ability to gently engage and persuade, Abu Jubran was able to disarm not only this man but also a network of collaborators in ʾAytarun. Several of them repurposed their Israeli arms towards the defence of the village alongside the Joint Forces.

The Israelis were more successful in Marun al-Ras, exploiting clan rivalries to build a network of support. In the early morning hours of 2 March 1978, Major Sami Shidyaq’s battalion pushed into Marun al-Ras under the cover of darkness. Shidyaq’s effort was supervised by General Mordechai Gur of the Israeli army, whose engineering corps helped clear the way for the Lebanese troops. Residents of Marun immediately began to flee while FLA snipers shot at Bint Jbayl. Without contacting the Fatah leadership in Beirut, Ghabra and Tahir quickly sprang their battalion into action, and organised co-ordinated action with the Popular Front, the Organisation of Communist Action in Lebanon, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the pro-Iraqi Baʾth, and even the pro-Syrian Saʿiqa.46 Under the cover of artillery, Ghabra led a force of some eighty men directly up the mountain by foot.47 Their midday ambush quickly and efficiently defeated Shidyaq’s Israeli-backed forces, who lost eighteen men and four tanks. The Joint Forces incurred no losses and even captured a Sherman tank and three armed vehicles.48 When Haddad learned of his comrades’ astounding defeat he prepared a counterattack, but it was decisively rejected by his Israeli superior, General Gur.49

The FLA network in Marun collapsed completely in the wake of their defeat, with most of their followers fleeing to the Haddad-controlled areas. Israeli sources recorded that retreating Phalangist forces enacted their revenge by kidnapping local Shiʾi women, of whom they tortured, raped, and killed at least two.50 Most of the defeated FLA soldiers hailed from Dibl, where the resulting anger at Shidyaq was so great he was forced to flee permanently to Israel.51 Anticipating that their continued military presence in Marun would bring relentless Israeli attacks, the Joint Forces did not attempt to establish positions in the village. Abu Jubran understood the liberation of Marun al-Ras as a significant event that frustrated Israel’s attempt to create ‘a Shiʾi canton’ loyal to Haddad and Israel.52 The well-executed victory also improved the relations between the Joint Forces and the surrounding villages.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.