September 99

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Dateline: Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan

Dr. Elaine C. Hagopian is Professor Emerita of Sociology, Simmons College, Boston, MA. During the past decade, she has conducted cultural and educational group tours to the Middle East. The tour this past June included 33 participants from all walks of life, and covered Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

The Lebanese Scene. "Our priorities are wrong," noted our philosophical guide. "The previous government focused on building a new international airport, rebuilding the destroyed downtown area with exquisite but expensive office buildings, and allowed chaotic construction in the most naturally beautiful parts of the country, but ignored the vast Lebanese refugee population that migrated north after Israeli bombings in the south."

Clearly, evidence of corruption was everywhere. The Bay of Jounie, once an idyllic picture of beauty and tranquillity, was now weighed down with ugly construction. Builders secured permits to build anywhere they fancied by paying a "fee" to the proper official. In contrast, in shanty towns along the coastline north from Beirut, the Lebanese refugee population live in squalor. There are no social programs or economic assistance. Health care for all Lebanese is cruelly expensive, but definitely out of reach for the unfortunate. One sees extraordinary wealth and abject poverty. And yet, Lebanese seek to emulate the image of the past-Beirut as the Paris of the middle east. Indeed, life was once so very sweet in Lebanon for those with even modest means, but it was a life which ignored the fault lines of the confessional and provincial nature of the society. Lebanese again seem to repress the reality of their society, and frantically pursue individual happiness at the expense of communal welfare. The reality is too painful, and the image too seductive. Still, in the villages one can find commitment to neighbors, and generous, but not ostentatious hospitality.

Lebanon now suffers from economic depression, exacerbated by the immense debt accumulated by the previous government. Prime Minister Hariri may have donated a state-of-the-art School of Management to Boston University, but he has left his country in economic shambles.

Nonetheless, private higher education in Lebanon is thriving. The American University of Beirut continues to attract a large student body from Lebanon and the surrounding region. The campus, where I taught during the tumultuous period of the 1973 war, seemed correct but lifeless, as though sealed in a time vacuum. The Lebanese American University, the French-oriented, St Joseph's University, and the expanding Orthodox Christian University at Balamand continue to turn out well-trained graduates, but particular fields, e.g., medicine, law, and engineering, are oversubscribed. Trying to re-orient students and their parents to other fields needed by the society has proven difficult. Human resources in Lebanon are therefore warped.

The Foreign Occupation Scene. Lebanon still has two occupying armies on its soil. In the south, Israel and its client renegade South Lebanon Army occupy 10% of Lebanon. The southern Lebanese Shia movement, Hizballah (Party of God), resists the Israeli occupation. Under a 1996 agreement, Israel and Hizballah agreed not to fire on citizens of Israel or Lebanon. Shortly after our group left Beirut, the Israeli-controlled South Lebanese Army killed a Lebanese woman on the edge of the so-called Israeli-occupied "security zone," hence violating the 1996 agreement. The Hizballah lobbed a few Katyusha rockets into northern Israel in retaliation. Israel then executed a massive bombing of electrical power plants and bridges around Beirut, killing several people and injuring more than 60. Hizballah responded by firing more rockets into northern Israel.

The Syrian army also remains in Lebanon. Most knowledgeable Lebanese admit, sometimes grudgingly, that the Syrian role in Lebanon is necessary for keeping order. The country's weak governmental structure is not capable of denying Israel control of Lebanon and its resources. Presently, the new Lebanese Government seems to be in control of domestic policy.

The Palestinian Refugee Scene. In spite of the horrific conditions under which Palestinians live in Lebanon, there was a sense of community self-help not seen in the West Bank and Gaza. Anni Kanafani, widow of Ghassan Kanafani-former spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was assassinated by the Israelis in 1972-continues her ceaseless efforts to establish kindergartens for the camp children, and also to provide special programs for handicapped and mentally disturbed children. The reading, painting, and multi-media programs done in conjunction with El-Dajani's Center have produced amazing pieces of work by the children. Programs are held with the women at PARD Samoud, aimed at overcoming the unhealthful living conditions in a building without running water, electricity, or heat. Determined to hold their families together, these women work as maids and dressmakers, and some have even begun basic cottage industries such as producing yogurt.

At the National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training, orphaned children are offered vocational training in fields in which Palestinians are allowed to work in Lebanon, such as computers. To reinforce children's Palestinian identity, a program of Email connection between Chatilla children and children in Deheishe Camp in Bethlehem (West Bank) has been initiated.

Former PLO representative in Beirut, Chafic El-Hout, resigned from the PLO when it appeared obvious that Arafat was going to sign the flawed Oslo Declaration of Principles, that has worsened the condition of Palestinians. Still, he takes it upon himself to represent the Camp residents to the Lebanese government. He says that newly- elected President Lahoud is prepared to find a way to ease the situation for Palestinians in Lebanon, but will not shoulder Israel's responsibility for the Palestinian refugees. Hence, no integration into Lebanese society will be allowed and there will be no rebuilding of destroyed camp buildings or expansion of the camps. Nonetheless, under the new government, the situation has eased somewhat for Palestinians, with opportunities opening up for the men. Anni Kanafani spoke to the need for giving Palestinians civil rights in Lebanon until such time as their national status can be resolved.

One observer noted that Lebanon needs to destroy identity cards which list individuals by faith. Only a secular, democratic state will bring peace and prosperity to Lebanon, he contended.

Syrian Society. In Syria, group participants felt they were in a much more authentic Arab society than Lebanon offered, and that the Syrians they met had a strong sense of personal integrity and honesty. The stereotypes of Syria presented by American mass media began to disintegrate one by one.

Schooling is free to all Syrian citizens as well as resident Palestinian refugees up to and including university education. There is no official discrimination based on gender, class, ethnic origin, or religion. The Syrian government has enacted a wide range of laws guaranteeing women's equal rights, the implementation of which is sometimes hindered by traditions which are not derived from religion, but often are mistakenly thought to be. Women are in a variety of professional fields, in Parliament, and in cabinet posts.

Free health care has brought mortality rates down significantly, and life expectancy rates have risen over the past 30 years; live birth rates are at their highest levels. A tour of the Assad Teaching Hospital revealed modern kidney dialysis units, available to the average Syrian. The operating theaters were state-of-the-art. The Syrian Government has a strong commitment to providing preventive health care as well. Syria is just at the beginning of a smoking cessation program. No advertisements for cigarettes are allowed on Syrian television, and information programs about the effects of smoking are being tested.

Most important, one does not sense the kind of ethnic/religious divisiveness that characterizes Lebanon. Our Kurdish driver volunteered his observation of life in Syria as having "amaneh," meaning that one could count on one's rights regardless of ethnic or religious background. Syria is officially a secular country.

Palestinian refugees in Syria have the same rights and privileges as Syrian citizens. They do not live in camps as in Lebanon, but in normal houses in neighborhoods within Syrian cities and towns. They retain their Palestinian identity, and hence, the right of return to their original property in the area that became Israel after the 1948 war. Palestinians who join the Syrian Baath Party often climb to high positions within the society. Neither they nor their Syrian counterparts, however, have the right of free political expression.

The Political Scene. Syria suffers from a lack of water resources. Although there is an agreement among Syria, Iraq and Turkey about the share of Euphrates water to which Syria and Iraq are entitled, Turkey holds it back and has extensive development plans for it. The Israeli occupation of the lush Syrian Golan Heights has also cut off water supplies and arable land. Syria has embarked on a program of tree planting in the desert areas to restore agricultural cultivation and to provide relative food independence for the country.

Faced with the superior power of the Turkish/Israeli alliance on the one hand, and an encaged Jordan and Palestinian Authority on the other, President Assad plays a weak hand very shrewdly. Further complicating the space allowed Syrian diplomacy is a strong American presence in the Gulf that constantly damages Iraqi society and its military power.

Last year, Turkey threatened an invasion of Syria that could have involved the Israeli military's air power as well. Assad, knowing that Syria could not withstand such an assault, met Turkey's demand to oust the Kurdish PKK leader, Ocalan, from Syria, a move which eventually led to the arrest and trial of Ocalan in Turkey.

With the election of Ehud Barak in Israel, Syria has made it known that it would like to resume peace talks, in the hope of regaining the Golan Heights. Barak has reiterated the Israeli demand for immediate and full normalization of relations with Syria, but the Syrians are prepared to offer only gradual, piecemeal normalization. Barak and Assad's signals to each other to re-open peace talks are important for both countries. Assad fears that Israel may begin a pullout from southern Lebanon before a negotiated peace has been signed, hence robbing Syria of the Hizballah card. On the other hand, Barak fears pulling out of Southern Lebanon-Israel's Vietnam nightmare-without having a peace treaty with Syria that would guarantee no action by Hizballah along the international border between Lebanon and Israel.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat wants to hold a summit meeting with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt to "coordinate" strategy, but Assad has refused because Arafat went it alone in Oslo. Arafat is now fenced in by the process he undertook.

Syria remains a dictatorship where human rights based on political dissent are violated regularly. Yet there is a sense (if not a reality for all segments of society) that Syrian society is freer than in past years, and that culturally and intellectually, life is very pleasant.

Jordanian Society. Entering the modern and architecturally beautiful city of Amman, one has the sense of being in a westernized city, but Jordanian society is actually quite conservative. Traditional forms of marriage arrangements between families continue among both Christians and Muslims. Nonetheless, there is a significant women's movement whose priority is the prohibition of honor killing and the punishment of those who continue to commit such acts.

Higher education in Jordan is being promoted through a growing number of universities, and health care meets a high standard, but neither is free to Jordanian citizens.

Unemployment is very high in the Kingdom. The present deficit of $7.5 billion is higher than the annual income of the country. Although European and American creditors have been asked to forgive part of Jordan's debt, only a rescheduling of debt has occurred since Abdullah II ascended the throne. Crime has increased in the country, apparently as a result of economic conditions.

The Political Scene. Since my last visit to Jordan, shortly after the Jordanian/Israeli Peace Treaty, the atmosphere of despair and anger over what are perceived to be the consequences of that treaty is palpable. People are frustrated by Israel's disregard of the terms of the treaty, especially regarding water resources. King Abdullah II has been taking measures to improve the Jordanian economic situation, a difficult task given the scarce resources of the country. Politically, the new King's options are limited to continuing support for the "peace process," and offering his good offices to facilitate that "process." As a younger leadership begins to take over in the Arab countries, more informed and coordinated Arab policies will result, along with a process of democratization, already introduced in a limited form by the late King Hussein. But the reinvigoration of the Arab world will take a long time.

In the meantime, there is a quiet bitterness among Jordanians who must deal with Israelis in their midst. Jordanian tourist workers complain that Israelis do not respect them, and show a disdain for Arabs in general.

The United States is perceived, correctly, as the staunch ally and supporter of Israel as well as the source of pressure on Arabs to capitulate to Israel's terms for "peace." Although the US State Department issued an alert warning American citizens to exercise caution while in Jordan and other Arab countries, our group did not experience anti-American feelings during our tour. In fact, our group was welcomed warmly everywhere we went. Clearly, the people of these countries differentiate between our government's policies and most of us as a people.

There is no doubt that many problems continue to confront these countries. Although there were signs of despair and frustration, they were counterbalanced by the beginnings of programs that lay foundations and hope for the future.