Jammoul’s fighters should be revered, honored and offered a descent living

By Hussein Salloum

BEIRUT - Palestinian fighters were forced to leave Lebanon heading to Tunisia after a deal was brokered in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of the Lebanese capital in the summer of 1982.

Back then, only a few courageous Lebanese men and women broke the suspicious wall of Arab silence while the world that was busy watching the World Cup. These Lebanese fighters stood up against the Israeli occupation, and soon afterward, the Lebanese National  Resistance Front, later known as Jammoul, put up a brave fight against the Israeli invaders forcing them to retreat first from Beirut and later in 1985, from a great part of occupied Lebanese territory.

But starting early 1990s, the Islamic resistance monopolized the military struggle against the Israelis which ultimately led to liberation on May 2000.

Twenty-first years after its formation, several questions remain to be asked about Jammoul. First, what remained of it and second, what were the reasons that forced its virtual disappearance in the early 1990s?

History shows us that Jammoul was not the first Lebanese attempt to fight the Israelis. Yet it was the first popular and organized military effort that was composed of several Lebanese and Palestinian armed factions which resulted in a national front against the Israelis in Lebanon. The military front eventually led to the formation of an internal national front that was supposed to deal with internal socioeconomic challenges in a society that was so much torn up after an annihilating 15-year civil war which ended in 1990.

Jammoul sponsored an endless number of military operations against Israelis in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the South. Jammoul’s successful military activity eventually forced the Israelis to withdraw. Starting 1984, however, inter-Jammoul clashes led to internal fights among the factions forming the front to the extent that some parties did not hesitate to capture and kill fighters from rival groups who executed operations against Israel.

Meanwhile, Arab-Israeli peace talks took off in Madrid in 1991 with the participation of both Syria and Lebanon.

Consequently, participants in Madrid agreed on the “Land for Peace” principle which mandated greater control of Jammoul which no became an obstacle to the peace process. With Jammoul fighters standing defiant against attempts of control, military aid diminished. This was paralleled with a decrease in support from the then disintegrating Soviet empire while at the same time Islamic factions such as Hizbullah benefited from a worldwide Islamic tide which guaranteed the group arms and funds from countries such as Iran.

Several observes believe that the decline of Jammoul was mainly due to the fall of the Soviet Union since Marxist factions such as the Lebanese Communist Party and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had a big share in Jammoul’s operation. This is not accurate, however, since cracks in the front appeared way before 1990. Still the Soviet Union contributed the final blow to the ailing Jammoul.

In the course of its formation and later bravery, Jammoul provided the nation with much heroism and sacrifices that should be regularly commemorated and remembered. But commemoration falls short of honoring fighters who survived all of this resistance war. By just taking a look at the tough living conditions of former Jammoul fighters and that of their families, one would soon discover that neither the government nor political parties have ever rewarded these freedom fighters for their past heroism.

Some fighters today are even suffering psychological complications due to the harsh conditions they had gone through. Yet no one cares about their current status. A good example would be the issue of the former detainees in Israeli prisons. Those were freed on the eve of liberation, yet the government made them suffer as it failed to live up to its financial promises.

History can be often rewritten with its actual brave freedom fighters forgotten, but the least one can do is to support and honor the surviving fighters. Honoring should not be only restricted to celebrating anniversaries with lengthy and loud speeches. It should also look after those fighters, offer them a decent living and make them feel appreciated instead of making them regret their patriotism and feel that they were exploited for political trades.

Hussein Salloum is an activist from the Leftist Independent Groups. He contributed this article to Alternative