Absolute madness, chaos and terror
Can you remember the last time the Middle East was a peaceful region of the world, a favoured destination of tourists? Neither can I, and this certainly hasn't changed over the past two weeks.
The current conflict in Lebanon is, according to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, merely a self-defence action of limited scope, with the might of Israel pummelling Hezbollah targets into submission. Many analysts are happy for Israel to do this; after all, they say, the Jews have suffered one holocaust, and if Islamist terrorists are allowed to run around the region with Kalashnikov assault rifles and Katyusha rockets, there might well be another one. Some American commentators have even gone so far as to congratulate Israel on the restraint they've shown, and point to the rocket attacks on Haifa as proof of Israel's right to defend herself.
The current conflict in Lebanon is, according to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, merely a self-defence action of limited scope, with the might of Israel pummelling Hezbollah targets into submission. Many analysts are happy for Israel to do this; after all, they say, the Jews have suffered one holocaust, and if Islamist terrorists are allowed to run around the region with Kalashnikov assault rifles and Katyusha rockets, there might well be another one. Some American commentators have even gone so far as to congratulate Israel on the restraint they've shown, and point to the rocket attacks on Haifa as proof of Israel's right to defend herself.
I believe these victims would beg to disagree.
So let's talk about Israel, let's talk about Hezbollah, and let's cut all of the bullshit that goes with it. Criticising Israel is not, as the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council leader claimed two days ago, inherently anti-Semitic. Decrying Israeli actions is not supporting terrorism. Nor is criticising Hezbollah fundamentally Zionist. Plain and simple, here are the facts, and eventually, my opinion.
It is true that, in its short, 58-year existence, Israel has been often threatened by its neighbours and by Islamic organisations that do not believe it to be a legitimate country. During the First World War, Lawrence of Arabia found himself promising his Arab allies the Palestinian territory when Britain finally withdrew, in contravention of his own, British government, who in the 1917 Balfour Declaration, implied the creation of a Jewish nation within Palestine. The British government compromised with the White Paper, which insisted that the Palestinian Mandate be governed jointly by Arab and Jewish representatives. This was bitterly contested by the Arabs, who claimed that they could easily be undermined if the Jews simply refused to take part in the democratic process, and by the Jews themselves; the Jewish underground terrorist organisation Irgun henceforth conducted attacks on British targets, and the group Lehi would, in 1948, assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat and United Nations administrator of the Mandate, who ironically had masterminded the escape of several thousand Jewish prisoners from extermination in Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
In 1947, the United Nations agreed on a partition of Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews, to which the Jews agreed and formed the state of Israel. The Arabs, however, refused, and after a short war between the new nation of Israel and several weak Arab countries, Israel emerged as the masters of Palestine, and began a systematic expulsion of Arabs within their borders. It is at this point that we can begin to see the origins of groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and the insistence of several Arab countries for many years (and even to the present day) that Israel is a bastard state that should not, by rights, exist. Over the coming decades, Israel would be forced into further military actions, in many cases brilliantly triumphing over vastly superior enemy forces, but the increasing debacle of the Palestinian Question and, later, Lebanon, would hound them for years to come, and well into the future as well.
So let's talk about Israel, let's talk about Hezbollah, and let's cut all of the bullshit that goes with it. Criticising Israel is not, as the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council leader claimed two days ago, inherently anti-Semitic. Decrying Israeli actions is not supporting terrorism. Nor is criticising Hezbollah fundamentally Zionist. Plain and simple, here are the facts, and eventually, my opinion.
It is true that, in its short, 58-year existence, Israel has been often threatened by its neighbours and by Islamic organisations that do not believe it to be a legitimate country. During the First World War, Lawrence of Arabia found himself promising his Arab allies the Palestinian territory when Britain finally withdrew, in contravention of his own, British government, who in the 1917 Balfour Declaration, implied the creation of a Jewish nation within Palestine. The British government compromised with the White Paper, which insisted that the Palestinian Mandate be governed jointly by Arab and Jewish representatives. This was bitterly contested by the Arabs, who claimed that they could easily be undermined if the Jews simply refused to take part in the democratic process, and by the Jews themselves; the Jewish underground terrorist organisation Irgun henceforth conducted attacks on British targets, and the group Lehi would, in 1948, assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat and United Nations administrator of the Mandate, who ironically had masterminded the escape of several thousand Jewish prisoners from extermination in Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
In 1947, the United Nations agreed on a partition of Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews, to which the Jews agreed and formed the state of Israel. The Arabs, however, refused, and after a short war between the new nation of Israel and several weak Arab countries, Israel emerged as the masters of Palestine, and began a systematic expulsion of Arabs within their borders. It is at this point that we can begin to see the origins of groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and the insistence of several Arab countries for many years (and even to the present day) that Israel is a bastard state that should not, by rights, exist. Over the coming decades, Israel would be forced into further military actions, in many cases brilliantly triumphing over vastly superior enemy forces, but the increasing debacle of the Palestinian Question and, later, Lebanon, would hound them for years to come, and well into the future as well.
Hezbollah was founded in 1982, as a counter to the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon; in this sense, it is a Lebanese irregular combat unit, whose original objective was to rid Lebanon of the Israelis. Naturally, given the conflicting interests of Iran, Syria and Israel in the region, and the Syrian and Iranian willingness to help an organisation whose purpose was to fight Israelis, it is natural that Hezbollah would turn to these two Islamic countries for financial, logistical and military support. It is likely that, from these allies, Hezbollah developed its second aim: to destroy the Israeli state. From this, we can imagine that the Israelis have every right to attack and annihilate Hezbollah. After all, that is exactly what Hezbollah is willing to do to them.
But this is not 1982, and, critically, Israel (up until this last week) no longer held South Lebanon. Since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah, like the Palestinian Hamas organisation, has turned more towards legitimate political and social policies. According to their published political platform in 2003, Hezbollah favors the introduction of an Islamic government in Lebanon by peaceful democratic means, and their extensive social works schemes indicate a willingness to move away from the question of the existence of Israel, and more to peaceful interior issues. In May 2006, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published that:
Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings - it also boasts an extensive social development programme. The group currently operates at least four hospitals, 12 clinics, 12 schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance programme. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members."Nonetheless, Hezbollah's militant wing has also remained active, and it is this which has now led to the current situation in Lebanon. In what appears to have been a gesture of solidarity with a Palestinian organisation which, on 25 June, captured an Israeli tank crewman, Hezbollah launched a raid into Israel, resulting in eight Israeli soldiers killed and two captured. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claimed that it was intended to provoke a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah; Israel still have several Hezbollah members imprisoned from the days of the Lebanon occupation. While the attack would surely seem to be unwarranted and brutal, the Israeli reprisals have been shockingly heavy-handed. What seems to have escaped Prime Minister Olmert is that, before Israel's opening air strikes on Beirut, many Lebanese were in fact vocally opposed to Hezbollah, even in spite of their public works schemes. Negotiations with Mr Nasrallah, though certainly distateful, would likely have achieved the return of the imprisoned soldiers, and Israel would have been applauded for making a clear indication that it was willing to come to an honourable peace with a once-implacable foe. Critics may argue that peace with Hezbollah would be an impossibility, but the same was said about Egypt and Israel, yet the brave diplomatic initiatives of Anwar Sadat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin and Jimmy Carter have led to lasting peace and goodwill between two countries which tried to wipe each other off the face of the globe just a few short years beforehand. Given the thawing of relations between Israel and many of her former foes, and the pariah status of Hezbollah's former allies, it would be entirely possible that Nasrallah would have been willing to compromise with Olmert, opening the door for further diplomacy.
Instead, Ehud Olmert chose the military as his instrument. And now hundreds of Lebanese civilians and several Israeli soldiers and citizens lay dead in the hot Middle Eastern sands.
Even though Prime Minister Olmert claims that Israel is merely engaging in a war against a terrorist organisation, their very actions are strengthening Hezbollah. Lebanon, and indeed much of the international community, view Israel's actions as strikes against Lebanese people and Lebanese sovereignty, and with the Lebanese military weak and unable to protect its own people, it is Hezbollah that is launching counter-attacks and fighting defensive actions against the advancing Israelis. Former Lebanese Army General Amin Hoteit sees Hezbollah as "an integral part of Lebanon's defences", and the longer they resist the Israelis, the greater their star will rise in the hearts of the Lebanese people, because, as Israeli jets launch missiles against columns of refugees, communications centres, fuel depots, ports and residential districts, and Israeli tanks smash through abandoned farmhouses and set entire villages alight, it is Hezbollah that will be fighting to beat off the invaders. It is Hezbollah that will launch reprisal rocket attacks against Israeli cities, and it is Hezbollah who will engage the Israeli Army as it rolls through the south of the country.
To the Lebanese people, Hezbollah will not be fighting just for it's survival. It will be fighting for their survival, and that is why Ehud Olmert has made perhaps the most catastrophic error in the history of the state of Israel; the more Lebanese citizens are killed or maimed by Israeli bombs, the more the world will see this not as a state defending its people, but as a state butchering the people of its neighbour.
For the sake of the Lebanese population, for the sake of peace, or even for the sake of his conscience, I strongly urge Mr Olmert to agree to an immediate ceasefire and indirect negotiations with Hezbollah. You have an historic opportunity to safeguard your people, sir. Use it.
Instead, Ehud Olmert chose the military as his instrument. And now hundreds of Lebanese civilians and several Israeli soldiers and citizens lay dead in the hot Middle Eastern sands.
Even though Prime Minister Olmert claims that Israel is merely engaging in a war against a terrorist organisation, their very actions are strengthening Hezbollah. Lebanon, and indeed much of the international community, view Israel's actions as strikes against Lebanese people and Lebanese sovereignty, and with the Lebanese military weak and unable to protect its own people, it is Hezbollah that is launching counter-attacks and fighting defensive actions against the advancing Israelis. Former Lebanese Army General Amin Hoteit sees Hezbollah as "an integral part of Lebanon's defences", and the longer they resist the Israelis, the greater their star will rise in the hearts of the Lebanese people, because, as Israeli jets launch missiles against columns of refugees, communications centres, fuel depots, ports and residential districts, and Israeli tanks smash through abandoned farmhouses and set entire villages alight, it is Hezbollah that will be fighting to beat off the invaders. It is Hezbollah that will launch reprisal rocket attacks against Israeli cities, and it is Hezbollah who will engage the Israeli Army as it rolls through the south of the country.
To the Lebanese people, Hezbollah will not be fighting just for it's survival. It will be fighting for their survival, and that is why Ehud Olmert has made perhaps the most catastrophic error in the history of the state of Israel; the more Lebanese citizens are killed or maimed by Israeli bombs, the more the world will see this not as a state defending its people, but as a state butchering the people of its neighbour.
For the sake of the Lebanese population, for the sake of peace, or even for the sake of his conscience, I strongly urge Mr Olmert to agree to an immediate ceasefire and indirect negotiations with Hezbollah. You have an historic opportunity to safeguard your people, sir. Use it.
posted by bodie at
11:34
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