New flood of collaborators expected to cross border

“Around 200 former “Israeli”-allied militiamen and their families are expected to return to Lebanon on Thursday, the largest single group to cross the border from “Israel” since the end of the occupation in May.
Although some estimates placed the number of returning Lebanese as high as 680, UNIFIL said that the “Israeli” Army had confirmed 200 would return.
Up to 6,000 collaborators, their families and many other civilians fled to the Jewish state during the “Israeli” troop pullout, fearing bloody reprisals at the hands of the resistance.
But the calm that has prevailed in the liberated areas since May has prompted many low-ranking former militiamen to return to Lebanon to stand trial.
More than 200 Lebanese have returned in the past two weeks alone.
Last week, Mohammed Olayan, a former captain in the militia, was persuaded by his wife, Nada, to come back to Lebanon and turn himself in to the authorities.
Nada, who had fled to “Israel” with her husband, returned to her hometown of Biyada on the coast south of Tyre two weeks earlier with their three young children.
Looking back on her experiences of the past four months, Nada blamed the mass exodus from south Lebanon on unfounded rumors of Hizbullah fighters killing civilians as they entered the occupation zone at the beginning of the withdrawal.
“We heard that Hizbullah was cutting people into pieces when they entered Houla. Biyada was terrified, not just the militia but civilians as well,” she said.
As panic-stricken militiamen began abandoning their outposts in the western sector, the Olayan family hurried to Naqoura, further down the coast.
“All night we could hear cars driving past heading for the border. My husband told me to pack everything and fetch the children and then we joined the river of cars,” she said.
The border crossing at Ras Naqoura was swamped with frightened Lebanese.
“The “Israelis” told us to leave our cars behind with our names and registration information inside. Then they searched us, counted us and took us to Tabariya in “Israel”,” Nada recalled.
She said that all the fleeing Lebanese were brought to Tabariya initially while the “Israelis” attempted to organize them.
“Even the “Israelis” were surprised by how many of us there were. They didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Her second night in “Israel” was spent sleeping on the ground in the open. “When it grew dark, homesick women began wailing and screaming. It felt like a dream,” she said.
The “Israelis” handed the head of each family $700 for expenses and provided milk and diapers for the children before dispatching the refugees to hotels throughout northern “Israel”.
Nada said that she never expected to remain in “Israel” for long and could not imagine one day returning to Lebanon.
“They’re not our society. It was like a jail,” she said.
With little to do, the refugees followed events in Lebanon.
“The “Israelis” bought us a television and we tuned it to Lebanese satellite channels. We spent all our time listening to the news,” she said.
But the rumor mill continued to grind out lurid tales of mass arrests and revenge killings.
“The rumors were put out by people who had no intention of returning to Lebanon,” Nada said.
“We decided enough was enough. Someone had to go back and make sure everything was alright,” Nada added.
Mohammed, who once commanded a militia unit in the western sector, was still receiving his militia-pay of $700 a month. The money was put into a special bank account and he was given a credit card for daily expenses. The “Israelis”, however, were offering one-time payments to all former militiamen willing to return to Lebanon.
Mohammed received $45,000 and Nada was granted $4,000.
“Before we left, we heard rumors that the government was taking all the money from returnees. The rumor mongers made us panic,” she said.
Nada returned to Lebanon 15 days before Mohammed.
“When I saw that everything was fine, I told my husband to come back. I told him that there was no blood on his hands and that he would be treated fairly. I told him that after he was released from prison he could live with his family in peace,” she explained.
Mohammed was among 33 militiamen and civilians to return last week. He handed his money to Nada for safekeeping before being taken into custody.
Nada plans to visit her husband on Thursday for the first time since he was arrested. She said she was confident Mohammed’s eventual prison sentence would not be unduly harsh.
“My husband was well known to everyone,” Nada said. “He has clean hands. When we arrived in “Israel”, people would look at him in astonishment and ask why he had fled.”
She said that she and her children had faced no problems from Hizbullah or any other party since returning to Biyada.

The Daily Star, 5-10-2000.