I found this great cartoon at Major Conflict. I think it perfectly sums up the world attitude toward Israel. It is a complete double standard. Terrorists who operate openly inside of Lebanon (with the support of much of the population and the government) cross into Israel, kill and kidnap soldiers, and then fire rockets into Israeli population centers, and Israel is supposed to do what? Sit down for tea?
When Lebanon decides that it no longer wants to provide sanctuary for Hezbollah, then it will no longer be under any attacks from Israel. Simple as that. The "world community" should see it that way, too. Let's have a UN Resolution condemning Lebanon for starting this conflict -- not one condemning Israel for responding to it.
Take a few minutes to check out some live blogging from a bunker in Northern Israel at: http://israelibunker.blogspot.com for some insight into conditions on the ground in that area.
When Lebanon decides that it no longer wants to provide sanctuary for Hezbollah, then it will no longer be under any attacks from Israel. Simple as that. The "world community" should see it that way, too. Let's have a UN Resolution condemning Lebanon for starting this conflict -- not one condemning Israel for responding to it.
Take a few minutes to check out some live blogging from a bunker in Northern Israel at: http://israelibunker.blogspot.com for some insight into conditions on the ground in that area.
3 comments:
I don't think Israel had a choice. Iran had supplied Hezbollah with much longer range missles and something had to be done about it.
I always snicker when I hear people drone on about negotiating with Hezbollah or Hamas or the Palestinian Authority or whoever...in their eyes, peace negotiations are just a way to buy time so they can plan their next attack on Israel.
From 2000, when Israel ended its occupation of south Lebanon, up to the present crisis, the northern border of Israel has been quieter than it had ever been in the 20 years before. The only fighting between Israel and Hezbullah was in the Shebah Farms/Har Dov, which even Israel admits, is occupied territory (Israel says that it is Syrian territory and they have no agreement with Syria to give back territory, while BOTH Syria and Lebanon say that it is Lebanese territory). But even this fighting has been sparodic.
The current incident was sparked not due to a terrorist attack against Israeli civilians, but a guerrila military attack by Hezbullah against Israeli soldiers. Tzipi Livni, Israel's Foreign Minister, recently explicitly differentiated Palestinian guerrilla attacks against Israeli military targets from terrorist attacks against civilians. In an interview on the US Television news show ABC Nightline, recorded on March 28, 2006, Livni stated: "Somebody who is fighting against Israeli soldiers is an enemy and we will fight back, but I believe that this is not under the definition of terrorism, if the target is a soldier."
Israel had every right under international law to reply to this attack by proportionately targeting Hezbullah military targets inside Lebanon. However, Israel's reply was disproportionate to say the least, targetting civilian infrastructure and killing civilans in an effort not only (or largely) for the purpose of retrieving the captured soldiers, but to collectively punish the population of Lebanon for the Hezbullah's actions, hoping that this collective punishment (illegal by international law...aka a war crime) would pressure the people and government to act against the Hezbullah.
It was during these Israeli attacks on Hezbullah military targets, but largely and significantly on Lebanese civilan infrastructure, that the Katyusha missiles began to fall on Israel (which rightly should be condemed by the international community as a breach of international law, for targetting Israeli civilian populations and infrastructure)...
While Israel is using the excuse of the Katyusha attacks as the new reasoning behind their attacks against Lebanon, the six years of almost complete calm, WITH Hezbullah on the border, prove that the issue here is not about securing the safety of the Israeli civilian population, but an attempt by the Israeli military to save face and get revenge against an embarrasing hit against the "invincible" Israeli military.
The Israeli military's disproportionate response, in both Gaza and Lebanon, to attacks against Israeli military targets, has not resulted in a more secure situation for the Israeli population on either the northern or southern fronts of Israel, but brought about significantly more insecurity for both Israelis and the entire region.
I am so happy to finally hear some rational thought and discussion on the subject which clearly leads to supporting Israel in this endeavor. Normally the reaction is knee-jerk condemning Israel, as the rest of the world has done this time as well.
It is about time we have some rational thought!.
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