se)

Yves Moreau, a French jour-
nalist, comments on the April
10 operation of Israeli troops
into Beirut, Lebanon, in which
three leaders of the Palestinian
resistance and a number of in-
nocent bystanders were brutally
assassinated: . -

In order to justify the murder-
ous raid of Israeli commandos
in the centre of Beirut, Mrs.
Meir’s government has invoked
once more an exceptionally thin
pretext: the so-called right of
reprisals.

Not only do such “rights” not
appear in any international ac-
cords, but furthermore — and is
it mecessary to repeat this
again? — it is the Arab people,
and especially the people of Pal-
estine, who are the victims of
Israeli violence. Fundamentally,
it is the struggle of the Arab
peoples that is the legitimate
one. :

Assassination Policy

And if the methods that cer-
tain Palestinian groups use can-
not be easily condoned, what
can be said about the tactics
of a state — that of Israel —
which adopts bloody assassina-
tions in foreign capitals as a
continuous and publicly assert-
ed government policy?

As before, this latest raid did
not spare a number of innocent
victims. In the name of what is
it possible to excuse the death
of an old Italian woman, shot
down in cold-blood by an Israeli
commando, whose only crime
was to live in a Beirut apart-
ment next to that of Kamal Nas-
ser? .Or the assassination of a

i VIETNAM

What justification for raid?

Lebanese, whose unatonable sin
was to be mayor of a village on
the route of one of the comman-
dos?

Faithfully carrying out the
policies of Mrs. Meir and Moshe
Dayan, Gen. David Elazar, com-
mander-in-chief of the Israeli
army, stated at a press confer-
ence just after the completion
of the operation, that it was im-
possible, in principle “to respect
the sovereignty of Lebanon and
of its capital.

Go Anywhere

“Perhaps we will be forced to
intervene again in Beirut,” he
continued.

And he went so far as to pro-
claim, “There is no reason to
think that we are not capable
of going anywnere else in the.
world.”

Sheer boasting? Unfortunately
not. A murder was committed
a few days ago in Paris. It was
preceded, last December, by the
shooting of Mahmoud Hamchari,
representative in France of the
Palestinian Liberation Organiza-
tion. In October the setting was
Italy, where another Palestinian
representative, Wael- Zouaiter,
was assassinated.

The present Israeli govern-
ment does not respect any inter-
national border. For years it has
ignored United Nations resolu-
tions calling upon it to evacuate
vast expenses of -Arab land oc-
cupied in June 1967.

This expansionist __ policy

makes for a hotbed of war in
the Middle East. And a’ whole
chain of tensions and violence

REVISITED

By BERT WHYTE
HANOI—“Our problem is that
we have no money in this pock-
et,” said Hoang Tung, patting
his left pants pocket, “and no
money in this pocket, either,”
tapping his right pants pocket.
The editor-in-chief of the big-
gest Vietnam newspaper, Nhan
Dan, didn’t look discouraged
when he spoke. He was merely
pointing out the economic dif-
ficulties the country faces in re-
building its economy after the
long, gruelling but victorious
war against Yankée imperialism.
Fact of the matter is, Hoang
Tung seemed supremely confi-
dent. His hair is greyer than
when I first met him almost 12
years ago, but otherwise he has
changed little. A trace of a smile
crinkles the corners of his
mouth when he talks of the
problems that have to be solved
— as though they inevitably
will be solved, in due course.
“Even before the war broke
out we had to prepare to cope
with it,” he reminded me.
“There was war in Laos in 1960
and the beginning of a people’s
uprising in South Vietnam, so
we couldn’t pour all our efforts
into construction. Our finances
only allowed us to build some
small plants. We had consider-
able help from the socialist
countries — the Soviet Union,
China, GDR and others.
Enought to Eat
“The American bombings did
most damage in the big cities—
but no major plants were com-
pletely destroyed. . Many were
dismantled and moved away to
scattered areas: the Hanoi En-

gineering Plant is now back in-

operation. Some textile factor-
ies, like the one in Nam Dinh,
were hard hit, but didn’t lose
all their machines. During the

Hoang Tung, editor-in-chief of
the newspaper Nhan Dan.

war small handicrafts developed
rapidly, so we can supply people
with many of the ordinary com-
modities. As for agriculture, it
suffered most in the south of
the DRV, but last year produc-
tion was almost up to normal.
We have enough food to feed
the people, but there are short-
ages. Rice is rationed — 13 kilos
(1 kilo equals 2.2 lbs) per month
for ordinary persons, and 20-25
kilos for those doing heavy
work. Fish is a staple part of
our diet. There’s not much meat.
We have an abundance of fruit
and vegetables.

“There are great shortages in

housing, furniture, clothing,
communications. Our population
is growing rapidly — from 16

million in 1960 to 22 million to-
day. There are about five mil-
lion urban dwellers.

“Yes, we are poor and have
no reserves. SO we cannot settle
all our problems in a few years.
Our cadres are studying long-
term economic plans. But we’ll
begin by repairing those things

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1973—PAGE 6

‘1972,

has erupted out of it in many
parts of the world.

Minutely and _ painstakingly
prepared, this last raid on Beirut
denotes an increased belliger-
ence, with which the encourage-
ment and material aid collected
by Mrs. Meir in Washington re-
cently, has not little to do.

But around the world, and no
less in Israel, the number of
people who. are worried about
Israeli policy is increasing. It
is dangerous for all, especially
for those in Israel. Such “repri-
sals” will only fan the flame of
hatred even hotter, without selv-
ing a thing.

Jailed in Jordan

BEIRUT — According to the
weekly newspaper Al Dastour,
there ate now 2,830 Palestinians
detained in various Jordanian
prisons.

The paper, which published a
study om conditions of Palestin-
ian prisoners in Jordan, obtained
its information from Jordanian
progressives. The article reveals
that:

@ in the final two months of
13 Palestinian prisoners
died while detained in the cen-

tral prison of Amman, Jordan’s’

capital.

® 49 persons, having been.con-
demned to death, are awaiting
execution.

® 2,830 Palestinians are being
detained in the country’s jails.

The article’s conclusion was
that “after Israel, Jordan is the
largest prison of the Palestinian
people.”

munist Party of Canada.

Party's aid appreciated by NLF

A telegram addressed to William Kashtan, general sec-
retary of the Communist Party of Canada, and signed by ~
Nguyen Huutho, president of the presidum of the Central
Committee of the South Vietnam National Liberation Front,
was received last week. This is the full text:

RSVN special representation in-Hanoi has the honor to
transmit a cable on behalf of the National Liberation Front
and South Vietnamese people as follows:

I sincerely thank you for high appreciation and warm
congratulations towards our success at the recent Paris In-
ternational Conference on Vietnam.

We consider it a precious stimulation and encouragement
to the South Vietnam revolution and firmly believe that in
the long struggle for peace and independence, neutrality,
democracy and national concord, proceeding to peaceful re. _
unification of our fatherland, we shall enjoy the continued -
support from the Canadian people and the Communist
Party till total victory. All best wishes to you and the Com-

Israeli raids into Arab territories increase in intensity and frequency.

Confidence abounds as”

which must be repaired—roads,
bridges, factories. And. we'll re-

organize our coal production.

Much emphasis will be put on
agriculture and handicrafts. As
for building big industrial plants
—well, we’ll get around to that
in time.” :

Hoang Tung again gave his
confident half-smile. And when
I asked him about the rising
birth rate, he laughed outright
and said: “We can do without
everything but children. We love
children.”

% rr a
The road from Hanoi to Hai-
phong is  pockmarked from

bombings but our driver hunch-
ed over the wheel, kept one
finger on the horn and a foot
on the gas, and made the run
in a little over two hours. As

-we turned in for the night my

interpreter, Hoang Wan Dinh,
said: “We Vietnamese like to
get up early. Will you be up
for breakfast at 6 a.m.?” “Only
if you. pound on the door,” I
replied.

Sharp at 5 am., however, a
rooster crowed outside my win-
dow. The sun obediently rose
at his call. Satisfied that he had
worked this miracle, the rooster
crowed lustily several times.
This brought replies from other
barnyard bureaucrats. Dogs be-
gan to bark. And that was the
end of sleep. :

With local party functionary
Nguyen Van Giam acting as a
guide, we drove a few miles
south of the city to the Nam
Hai glass factory, NOW just a

heap of rubble as @ result of a~

bombing in July 1972. The work-
ers are rebuilding the plant and
a slogan on one wall reads: Nix-
on Phai Tra No Mau (Nixon
must repay the blood debt). The
whole area around the factory

was blasted to oblivion, but cas-
ualties were light — one killed,
two wounded.
Non-military Targets

On the way back to town we
stopped at another village where
B-52 bombers had cut a six-mile
swath, destroying an apartment

block and many small homes.-

This happ&ned on Dec. 23 last
year, and there were 100 casual-
ties. =

On the outskirts of Haiphong
the city’s biggest open air thea-
tre, seating 15,000, had been
bombed. The main building was
disembowled and the stage was
damaged. ‘When will you be
able to put on your next per-
formance?” I asked Nguyen Loi,
Manager of the theatre. “By
May Day,” he said stoutly.

Haiphong is an important port
on the Cam River, about 15
miles from the sea. As every-
One knows, the harbor was

bombed many times and the

Americans laid mines which pre-
vented ships entering or leav-
ing port.

I boarded the mortally wound-
ed Jozef Conrad, a 10,000-ton
Polish freighter which suffered
two direct hits amidship on the
night of Dec. 19, 1972. Four sea-
men were killed and five wound-
ed. Next to the Conrad lay the
Kilinski, from Gdansk, hit by
fragments.

Socialist Aid

Walking along the docks we
waved and exchanged greetings
with deckhands on two Soviet
Ships, the Zaisan from Vladivos-
tok and the Nina Sagaidak from
the same port, the Jatter unload-
ing flour. Also in port were the
Viet-Bao from Bulgaria, the
Halle from Rostok, two small

Vietnamese ships and a little

freighter from Canton. The Chi-
nese seamen ignored our greet-

ing, staring stonily Past our
group. That afternoon We yisited
the Duyen Hai Engineering fac-
tory and talked to Nguyen Van
Kien, deputy director, and
Hoang Cam, Ssecretaty of the
party committee. wa
“Our factory has four plants.
— this is No. 1, the Others are
located several miles away,”
said Nguyen. ‘‘Before 1954 we
were a small outfit, only 50
workers, and Our main job was
to repair machines for the Hong
Gai mine. We also produced
pumps and threshing machines
and parts of sawing Machines.
The plant was enlargéd, we pe-
gan to supply machinery for a
local cement works, and since
1971 have built shipyard equip-
ment, excavators to deepen the |
river bed, and small fishing ves:
sels. af
Moved Plant ite
“During the war We moved
most of our plant tO the eoun-
tryside and continued produc
tion. Working and living condi-
tions were primitive but our _
people never complained ang the |
city named us their ‘best fight
ing aid.’ We have 600 workers
in this plant and 3,000 ajto-
gether in the four sections 4
rage age is 25, and 30% are
women. We have 160 engin
eersy? : ee
“How many: party Members?”
I asked Cam. ;
“There are 308 party mem-
bers and 1,300 youth Members.

One of the main taSks jg to |

improve our technigue, study
technology.” RS
We inspected the shops. 7 no |
ticed lathes made in Hanoj En |
gineering Plant (built with So |
viet assistance), alSo
from Czechoslovakia, Poland,
the USSR, the GDR and China