The Syrians don't really need our apples. The Syrians want the Golan Heights. But Syria needs Lebanon. Indeed, they have occupied Lebanon and have tyrannized, brutalized, Syrianized the Lebanese population for years. There are reportedly two million Syrian workers in Lebanon's bountiful country. The Syrians are draining Lebanon's resources, both material and human. They have kept the Hezbollah hot on our tail, and the Mukhabarat (Secret Services) on the tails of the Lebanese who cooperate with us. They have demoralized the Christians in the south, cruelly dividing families, forcing thousands to flee into exile following death sentences meted out in Beirut.

One would expect that for compelling strategic and political reasons, as a primary condition for negotiating an agreement, Israel would demand total Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, returning Lebanon to the Lebanese to conduct their own affairs. There is no outward indication that this fundamental element has indeed been introduced. In the absence of a total Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, this will leave our devoted and long-suffering Maronite Christian and other allies at the mercy of the Syrian hordes. Or worse, these courageous and loyal patriots who have been bled and mutilated while serving as human sandbags in keeping the Hezbollah murderers from moving into our neighborhood, will now be made into refugees in Israel, exiled from the homes they fought to protect. Alternatively, we will arrogantly arrange passports to France and other alternative places.

Israel, in the end, will emerge as immoral, ungrateful and exploitative, using and abandoning highly motivated idealists--both those in southern Lebanon and those on the Golan Heights--and bring the Syrians right to our front door, with nothing user-friendly standing between us.

Veteran observers agree that nothing that has faced the tiny state of Israel in the past was as rife with ominous and apocalyptic implications. Our only hope: in the Middle East, one must always leave room for both surprises, and for miracles.

Khana R. Feiler is a freelance journalist who lives and works in Jerusalem.

The Psychiatric Ward

Elyakim Haetzni

I am normal. Or at least I think I am. I take my cue from the fact that no psychiatrist has yet recommended that I be put away in the nearest institution. Even so, I sometimes think that I am indeed living in a mental ward. Permit me to explain.

Yasser Arafat was unwilling to receive another 5% of Judea and Samaria "free." He wanted in exchange, and received, a commitment from Israel that the next Oslo withdrawal will include neighborhoods bordering Jerusalem, namely, Abu Dis and El Azariya.

You might want to read the above paragraph a second time. If it seems logical to you, you may be advised to undergo some psychiatric tests.

Assad, too, is not willing to receive the Golan "for nothing." In exchange for Assad's agreement to accept the Golan, he is demanding --and will probably receive-- billions of dollars and modern military equipment for the hopelessly outdated Syrian army.

If all this seems logical to you --call your psychiatrist.

Minister Chaim Ramon of Labor promises the end of the "cycle of war" after Israel withdraws from the Golan. For the record, the IDF presented the Americans with the following "Peace Inventory": Tomahawk missiles, Apache Helicopters, Hercules jets, hundreds of Hellfire missiles and AWACS intelligence aircraft. The list also includes: observation towers with high-power floodlights, 60-centimeter walls next to each home, the closing of the northern road for the entire stretch of the Galilee panhandle to civilian traffic, and the distribution of beepers and personal ammunition to each citizen.

People who live on the outside of the mental ward have always had a slightly different perspective: we think that "the end of war" means less, and not more, arms!

Israel has enjoyed almost 30 years of quiet in the Golan, as a result of sitting 60 kilometers from Damascus. But we are now told that "quiet" is not enough, and that we also need "peace" --a peace which will bring the Syrians back to the Golan, will l modernize their army, and will solidify their presence on our northern border. This has frightened the directors of the mental ward, and they have asked the Americans for even deadlier ammunition provided by the U.S. to the Syrians. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new Middle East arms race!

Fact: The Syrian army is old and tired. As a result, says the ward's directors, "the window of opportunity has been now opened, and through it we must toss the Golan, before that window of opportunity slams shut!"

Question: Along with the Golan, the Syrians are to receive American arms of the type and amount that will transform the Syrian army into a major power. According to the very logic of those running the psychiatric ward, this means that the window of opportunity will have closed. If so--why give up the Golan?

Just think," cry the ward attendants, "a person can hop into his car in Tel Aviv, and reach Paris via Damascus!" It's worthwhile noting that residents of Paris have been able, for a long time now, to reach Tel Aviv via Damascus. If so, why has not one of them jumped at this

(Continued on p.12)

Outpost               - 8 -               January 2000