Free Essay

Vicab

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Frank1996
Words 925
Pages 4
Source A
UK eyes alpha Assessment June 22,1982 national archives.
"Much of the Arab world sincerely believes that the United States administration had connived in, if not positively blessed, the Israeli invasion. Many of the moderate Arab leaders, including the Jordanians, Saudis and Egyptians are dismayed that the United States has failed to use its leverage over Israel effectively to deter new aggression and to prevent occupation of more Arab land. The perception that the United States has acquiesced in the Israeli action will be seen as evidence of double standards when the administration is condemning the use of force to settle disputes in other parts of the world.

"It will undermine faith in United States ability and willingness to defend other moderate Arab states from Iranian as well as Israeli aggression. It has all but destroyed, for the time being, Arab faith in the willingness of the United States to use its leverage with Israel to obtain a solution to the Palestinian problem which takes account of Arab needs."

Source B
Cabinet Speech Margret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher, fresh from her Falklands triumph, refused to talk to the PLO on the grounds that it had neither recognized Israel nor renounced terrorism. But there was movement nevertheless: Thatcher received an Arab League ministerial delegation but allowed Douglas Hurd, a foreign office minister, to meet Farouq Qaddoumi, Arafat's foreign minister. It was the first encounter of its kind and a landmark on the way to international recognition of an organization whose hard-fought claim to be the "sole legitimate representative" of the Palestinians must now be in doubt.

"A balance would thus be struck between the United Kingdom's sympathy with the Arabs over the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon and the fact that the Israeli Ambassador in London, Mr Argov, had been attacked by a splinter group of the PLO," the secret cabinet minutes recorded.

Source C
Jewish Virtual Library 2010
FACT
Israel-Lebanon border, June 1982

The PLO repeatedly violated the July 1981 cease-fire agreement. By June 1982, when the IDF went into Lebanon, the PLO had made life in northern Israel intolerable through its repeated shelling of Israeli towns.

In the ensuing 11 months, the PLO staged 270 terrorist actions in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and along the Lebanese and Jordanian borders. Twenty-nine Israelis died, and more than 300 were injured in the attacks. 1 The frequency of attacks in the Galilee forced thousands of residents to flee their homes or to spend large amounts of time in bomb shelters.

A force of some 15–18,000 PLO members was encamped in scores of locations in Lebanon. About 5,000–6,000 were foreign mercenaries, coming from such countries as Libya, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka, Chad and Mozambique. 2 The PLO had an arsenal that included mortars, Katyusha rockets, and an extensive anti-aircraft network Israel later discovered enough light arms and other weapons in Lebanon to equip five brigades. 3 The PLO also brought hundreds of T-34 tanks into the area. 4 Syria, which permitted Lebanon to become a haven for the PLO and other terrorist groups, brought surface-to-air missiles into that country, creating yet another danger for Israel.

Israeli strikes and commando raids were unable to stem the growth of this PLO army. Israel was not prepared to wait for more deadly attacks to be launched against its civilian population before acting against the terrorists.

After Israel launched one such assault on June 4–5, 1982, the PLO responded with a massive artillery and mortar attack on the Israeli population of the Galilee. On June 6, the IDF moved into Lebanon to drive out the terrorists.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger defended the Israeli operation: “No sovereign state can tolerate indefinitely the buildup along its borders of a military force dedicated to its destruction and implementing its objectives by periodic shellings and raids.” 5

Source D

Israel Records. ADL. 1989

U.S. forces in Lebanon, there since July 1982, were also subject to terrorism. In October 1983, a suicide bomb attack killed 241 U.S. marines. In February 1984, U.S. marines were removed from Lebanon. In March 1984, under pressure from Syria, the Lebanese government formally canceled its agreement with Israel.

In June 1985, Israel withdrew from Lebanon, except for forces stationed in the security zone in southern Lebanon, established as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel. The security zone is a strip of land three to five miles wide along the length of the Lebanese-Israeli border. Over the years, the zone has shielded Israeli civilian settlements in northern Israel from cross-border attacks. Many terrorists on their way to northern Israel have been caught and stopped in the security zone. At the same time, since 1985, many Israeli soldiers have been killed in the security zone by terrorist groups such as Hezbollah (Party of God).

The larger objectives of the Lebanon campaign left a significant imprint upon Israeli society. Israel's campaign in Lebanon was the first war Israel waged which provoked widespread debate within Israel. While many Israelis agreed with the limited objective of destroying the PLO's power in southern Lebanon in order to protect Israel's northern population, they disagreed with the larger objectives envisaged by Sharon and Eitan. These larger, unrealistic goals, they argued, had caused an unnecessarily high number of Israeli and Palestinian civilian casualties in Lebanon. For the first time, Israelis took to the streets for anti-war demonstrations.

Source E
Army Times publishing company 1981 Richard Allison

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