BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
BEIRUT, Lebanon - In the name of stopping terrorism and controlling the right wing, the Lebanese government has taken further steps to limit democratic rights.

On December 18, a group of four armed men opened fire indiscriminately on a bus full of Syrian workers in Tabarja north of Beirut, killing the driver. The same day, a bomb went off in the northern city of Tripoli targeting Syrian soldiers. In the previous two months there were four attacks on immigrant workers from Syria, according to the December 24 L'Orient Le Jour, a French-language daily published in Beirut. The same paper reported that a group calling itself the Christian Lebanese Resistance, in its "Communique no. 1," called on people to target Syrian citizens and troops. There are 30,000 Syrian troops currently stationed in Lebanon with the backing of the Lebanese government.

Following the December 18 terrorist attack, the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri launched a wave of arrests, targeting opposition politicians with ties to the right-wing leaders Michel Aoun, Samir Geagea, Dory Chamoun, and former president Amin Gemayel, who ruled parts of Lebanon during the civil war. According to the public prosecutor, 11 politicians were being held as of December 24. Journalist Pierre Atallah was charged with distributing a leaflet seeking to tarnish Lebanon's relations with a friendly country. No charges had been made for the bombings.

The Christian fascist and right-wing forces face the hatred of many working people, Muslim and Christian, for the massive crimes committed during the Lebanese civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990. The government uses the excuse of limiting the ability of these forces to start new troubles in order to carry out restrictions on the democratic rights of the population, in particular of working people.

This was one of the issues in a November 28 general strike called by the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL). The slogan was "Against the high cost of living and for democratic freedoms!" The strike was met by a massive display of state repression.

Strike protests new media restrictions
Walid Fakhr-Eddine, a journalist working for the Voice of the People radio station, was one of the 66 arrested that day. He described the day's events in an interview with this reporter. "The central issue in the strike was the question of attempts to restrict democratic rights," Fakhr-Eddine said, "in particular the new law on the audiovisual media, both TV and radio." He explained that the new law "under the guise of regulating and improving broadcasts sought, in fact, to deal a blow to the government's opponents. At the November 17 cabinet meeting they put forth the law that licensed only four TV stations.... This means seven TV stations will have to shut down. As for the radio stations, only three are now permitted to give news broadcasts. Eight others will be licensed for music only. Others are to be forced off the air altogether, among them the Voice of the People."

Almost immediately there was a response to these measures, Fakhr-Eddine said. "On November 25, 26, and 27, sit-ins began in front of the Government Palace, and then at the Parliament building. These involved between 200 and 1,500 protesters. On November 28 the general strike took place.

"The CGTL demanded that the broadcast licensing decision be reconsidered, that benefits for teachers be increased, budget cuts to the education system be reversed, and that the increases in indirect taxes, as well as in the social security taxes, be reconsidered. The budget of the education ministry is now 3 percent of the total whereas before it was 5 percent."

The November 29 issue of L'Orient Le Jour stated, "The state has once again resorted to the use of the armed forces to prevent the trade unions from exercising their right to expression, which is guaranteed by the constitution." The article reported that the capital city of Beirut was completely cut off from the rest of the country by the army and thousands of troops poured into the city. "Their orders were clear: insure that the governmental executive order of July 1995 banning demonstrations is applied." This decree has been used three times now against the CGTL.

"The government mobilized 12,000 troops," explained Fakhr-Eddine. "They prevented the mass demonstration from taking place. In one area 1,200 of us were able to gather; other small demonstrations of 200 or 300 people took place in various neighborhoods. We were totally surrounded by troops, attacked, and roughed up. The protesters were mostly youth. Some fled to the street where the headquarters of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the Communist Party of Lebanon (CPL), and the offices of the Organization of Communist Action of Lebanon (OACL) are located. They chased us. I was picked up by three men in civilian clothes and taken to a basketball court, where they held 62 of us. Most were released after a few hours, but six of us were held overnight, including myself. We were ordered released by a judge.

"Despite the atmosphere of repression and the ban on union demonstrations," the journalist continued, "the strike was about 75 percent effective. The media law was postponed and the teachers won some benefits."

Following the CGTL strike, Lebanon's tobacco workers struck on December 10. They demanded they be paid their cost of living allowances, and won a promise of payment by the end of December.

During the late December bombings and arrests the Ministry of Information outlined new restrictions for the media to observe. Satellite broadcasts that can be picked up outside the country were to be prevented from broadcasting certain news, including, "All news that would harm relations with Arab and foreign countries, such as statements from Lebanese opposition members. All news relating to the detention of suspects and those wanted by the security forces. All news concerning the presence of the Syrian army. All news that instigates sectarian problems." Lebanese TV is available through satellite in Arab countries.

Economic crisis in Lebanon
These developments are occurring in the context of a severe economic crisis resulting from a devastating civil war, the continuing war of liberation led by Hezbollah fighters against the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, and the overall depression conditions of world capitalism, which Lebanon's capitalist economy operates within.

Industrial and agricultural exports from Lebanon totaled $980 million in 1996, a figure comparable to the previous year, reported the December 31 issue of L'Orient Le Jour. Meanwhile, imports rose to $7.5 billion, up from $4.8 billion in 1994. Only 3,200 new industrial jobs were created in the last year, with capital investments of only $65 million. Close to 43 percent of the state budget goes to pay for interest payments on the national debt, which stands at $10.5 billion compared to $7.5 billion in 1995.

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment of the country in April 1996, dubbed operation "Grapes of Wrath," cost the economy a crippling $500 million.

Fakhr-Eddine said, "Agriculture in general is dead, hashish cultivation has also stopped but the peasants have not been provided with alternatives. Unemployment is estimated at 38 percent. The minimum wage is at $190 [per month], while rent and electricity add up to $200. It is clear that the reconstruction plan is not working. But people are very afraid of a return to the civil war, and this tempers your demands."

A drive through Beirut provides one with a contrasting view. Hundreds of brand new luxury apartment buildings are going up, along with fancy boutiques, expensive restaurants, and brand new Mercedes, BMWs, and other luxury cars. The war-ravaged downtown commercial district has been leveled now to make way for a brand new office and trade district. Reconstruction of the electricity and phone networks, practically obliterated by war, is almost complete.

Behind the luxury apartments, however, are working-class districts that are still in war ruins, as are the areas where peasants who have fled daily Israeli bombing in the South live. Meanwhile, close to 400,000 Palestinians remain in refugee camps in Lebanon. They have been iced out of any agreements between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government. Thus, they are a source of opposition to peace deals with Tel Aviv.  
 
 
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