Controversial Books | Page 435

Beirut: Farewell to the Arabs 431 be no match against the Goliath of Islam. And on the success or failure of the organized Maronite fight for survival would hinge, to a great degree, the future of all other Christian minorities in this turbulent corner of the Middle East.2 LEBANON'S COMMUNISTS AFTER a week's effort I managed to corner Moustafa el Ariss, one of the important leaders of Lebanon's Communists. He was president of the Typographers Syndicate and of the Federation of Lebanese Workers, and had been a party member since 1934. He was not in jail—yet—because his union had gone on strike when authorities attempted to imprison him, indicating the iron discipline he maintained over his organization. Interviewing him at his headquarters, I found nothing subtle about El Ariss. He looked angry. A curl in his lip gave his face a permanent surly and scowling quality, "Why were you so hard to reach?" I asked. "You are meeting me now in the open." "I am not trying to be mysterious," El Ariss replied. "The police are searching for me in order to arrest me again." What he had to tell me was not fresh nor new. It was true to the extent that poverty and misery are universal throughout the Middle East. 'T know what poverty is," he said. "I have seen it among the people. I am their pupil. Last month thirty women went to Riad el Solh to say that the government flour was mixed with dirt, sand, and stones. El Solh said that he would eat the