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Under the guns of Syrian-backed forces sent into Lebanon to enforce the Pax Syriana, Christian Phalangists last week attempted to follow the political advantage they gained from the presidential election with a military one. In some of the fiercest fighting of the civil war, left-wing Lebanese and their Palestinian allies beat back the fresh assaults from the right. At least 500 more people were killed or wounded by indiscriminate shelling on one "Black Sunday," and the death toll since the war began rose to more than 19,000. Among the victims were Edouard Saab, 47, the editor of Beirut's French-language paper, L 'Orient-Le Jour. Members of the Palestine Liberation Army who had been sent into Lebanon by Assad were also slain in the fighting. The P.L.A. plight was complicated in one battle by dual orders—from Damascus to fight Iraqi-backed leftists, and from Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat to withdraw.
The deaths sparked the ominous new demonstrations in Syria. The funeral of one dead Syrian officer—a hero of the 1973 war who had led a successful assault on Israeli fortifications on Mount Hermon—turned into an anti-government protest, according to an Israeli report. Riots occurred in at least one Palestinian camp outside Damascus, where protesters carried placards attacking Assad by name. Said one placard: ASSAD FIGHTS LIKE A LION IN LEBANON, BUT A CHICKEN ON THE GOLAN.
That was a reference to the fact that next week Assad must decide whether to renew the six-month mandate for United Nations observer forces on the Golan Heights. Israel agreed to renewal last week. Assad is expected to extend the mandate, since Syria at this juncture can hardly risk the tension that would follow expiration, much less another war with Israel.