-Caveat Lector- Get the latest news from http://leviathan.weblogs.com http://www.smh.com.au/news/0104/02/national/national6.html Instant Aussies: the warriors Israel shunned Bound for Australia ... Danny Nassif and his children on the Sea of Gallilee. By David Bernstein and Elana Shap Danny Nassif is 30, boyishly good-looking, with a tattoo of a parachute and a cross on his arm. He has been a combat soldier in the South Lebanese Army for as long as he can remember. He is sitting in an Israeli resort on the Sea of Galilee but he wants to be with his sister in Sydney. "My sister hoped I would be with her for Christmas," he says. "Now I'm hoping it will be Easter." But a furious argument in Australia's Arabic community has been triggered by the immigration of Mr Nassif and as many as 200 other members of the former South Lebanese Army - the Israeli-sponsored and trained militia that helped hold Israel's "security zone" in Southern Lebanon until last May. The New York-based Human Rights Watch and the B'tselem organisation in Israel have documented human rights abuses by the SLA against Palestinians and Lebanese citizens since 1980. About 3,000 Lebanese militiamen and their families fled to Israel after its hasty retreat from Lebanon. Most are afraid to return to Lebanon, where they fear they will be seen as traitors, while hostility from Israeli Arabs, who regard them as collaborators, is making it impossible to resettle them in Israel. In September Israel offered $US12,000 ($24,700) for an unmarried man and $US15,000 for a family if they went back to Lebanon. "They think we're stupid," Mr Nassif says. "Going back means going straight to jail, to torture and interrogation." Israel has asked other countries to take the refugees but, apart from Germany, which accepted 400, only Australia has agreed. Most of those who went to Germany are back in Israel, unable to tolerate the hatred from Palestinians and others there. "It would be like dropping a few SS troopers into postwar Carlton to bring 200 SLA killers [to Australia]," says Bilal Cleland, of the Islamic Council of Victoria. "They have a more dreadful human rights record than the Israeli Army." "It is strange that the Australian Government is bringing traitors to their own people, who have committed crimes against their own people, while keeping hundreds of refugees in detention camps," says Ali Kazak, head of the General Palestinian Delegation in Australia. But the editor of Sydney's The Middle East Herald, Sarkis Karam, says the refugees will be warmly welcomed by the vast majority of Australia's 160,000-plus Lebanese community. "This is a humanitarian issue, and Australia has a proud record in this area." A prominent Lebanese voice in Melbourne, Ray Werden, says community leaders made "very strong representations to [the Immigration Minister] Mr Ruddock to bring the SLA people here". He and Mr Karam concede that members of the SLA committed human rights abuses but say it was only a small minority - and none of them are coming to Australia. A spokesman for Mr Ruddock says there will be exhaustive security checks. "Anyone involved in atrocities or inappropriate activities will not get a visa.'' Because the screening would be so stringent, it would be some time before the first refugees arrived, he says. Only people with family already here are eligible. Last April Human Rights Watch found "grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by the SLA, including torture and expulsion of civilians from the Israeli-occupied zone". Yet the group also documented how "Lebanese men and boys have been forced to serve in the SLA against their will. The families have been punished ... if they evaded or deserted from service in the SLA militia". Mr Nassif says no ideology motivated his decision to join the SLA - just the high unemployment in his war-ravaged country. Daoud Nadaf, 54, says he has no regrets about working for the Israelis, but he draws his finger across his neck to illustrate what he thinks Israeli Arabs would like to do to him. He just hopes Lebanese Australians do not make trouble for them when they arrive. He pulls out his address book to look up where his three brothers live in Sydney and where he hopes he will be with his wife, Nassima. "Bankstown," he says with a broad smile. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
