lebanon-israel conflict

Finkelstein: Is criticism of Israel anti-semitic?

I came across a (2005) Norman Finkelstein talk the other day on anti-semitism, titled: "Is criticism of Israel anti-semitic?" Finkelstein talks about the misconception and misuse of the notion of anti-semitism, the overwhelming lies and fraud inherent in well known Zionist publications and the simple reality of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when intentionally misleading influences are removed from the picture. Very sobering.

http://www.workingtv.com/finkelstein.html

Human Rights Watch

I've just browsed through the HRW website, hrw.org, and I was very impressed with the amount and detail of information available. There are countless publications on wars, natural disasters, political conflicts and essentially anything involved with mass human suffering.

Publications can be browsed by country. I briefly scrolled through a couple reports listed under Lebanon and Israel pertaining to the July 2006 war - they seemed to be very well structured and researched, and extremely well written. As well, the writing focuses mostly on human suffering - what, how and why it occurred - without delving into too much political analyses.

I haven't yet read enough to voice my opinion on whether the reporting is fair. Will do so in due course. I've added hrw.org to the links list on the left.

A great article on Hezbollah.

Today I came across a brilliant article on Hezbollah at thepeoplesvoice.org; written by Gaither Stewart. Totally unbiased, insightful and a true account of what Hezbollah is all about. Have a read :)

Do zionists believe themselves?

Recently I had a heated discussion with an Australian Jewish woman about Israel and Hezbollah. Not surprisingly her view was that Hezbollah was an organisation dedicated only to the destruction of Israel. I rebutted by telling her that Hezbollah developed out of a desperate need to defend their land and end Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon.

She referred to the 33 day war and was convinced that Hezbollah "started" the conflict by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. When I reminded her of the Lebanese prisoners in Israeli prisons, she brushed it off by saying "well they've committed crimes, just like the Palestinians - they deserve to be in jail".

At this point the discussion took an interesting turn. The irony of Israel's concerns about Hezbollah and Hamas wanting to obliterate the Jewish state, I said, was that Israel only came about by displacing millions of people and wiping out what used to be called Palestine. Fair enough argument? Not to this lady. She came back by confidently stating that "there is no such a country called Palestine" and that the Palestinians' plight is a terrible tragedy. At this point I interrupted, "but it's only this way because the Israelis want it this way". "No no!" she exclaimed, "It's the British who caused this mess, you need to review your history!". To that I simply laughed, and I ended the conversation.

I thought about what she said and I came up with some conclusions. If Britain "caused the mess" in occupied Palestine, does that mean that the Palestinians should not resist the Israeli occupation because the occupying soldiers are not British? What a joke. Let's be serious about this. You have an Israeli occupation and you have resistance - simple. It's really not that complicated.

From our argument I also witnessed first hand the extent to which people like this woman actually believe that Israeli blood is more valuable than Arab blood. I questioned later whether people like her actually believe what they are saying, or if they know that they are extremely biased but cover that up by passionate, convincing speech? I sometimes believe that the former is the case, which is unfortunate. A complex like this in their minds is one of the chief causes of the hatred of the Israel.

Cluster bombs

It's been reported that a cluster bomb in Southern Lebanon has killed a Hezbollah militant, more than a year after the UN brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. I read with interest that 30 others, all civilians, have also been killed since the end of the war. Israel is known to have dropped 4 million cluster bombs in the waning days of the 33 day battle, knowing very well their potential killing power for a long time to come.

Now, I'm interested to know, does the explosion of these cluster bombs count as a violation to the agreement of a ceasefire? I can't see how that's unlike Hezbollah firing Katyushas into northern Israel, killing soliders and civilians. But no, that would be terrorism and the pretext for Israel to "retaliate and defend itself" with tonnes and tonnes more of explosives, wouldn't it?

And all the while the international community wants Hezbollah to "behave" and not re-strengthen its military capabilities. Laughable.

If you can't beat them, join them?

Throughout Lebanon's 33-day war with Israel in 2006, many in Lebanon scolded Hezbollah for "dragging" Lebanon into such a massive and bloody conflict. Those who did so generally took the view that Israel is a superpower that can inflict great damage, and taking any sort of offensive action against the Jewish state is pure folly because of the consequences. That really got me thinking......does that mean that the Lebanese, in this case Hezbollah, should cower in the face of injustice and tyranny rather than resist?

In the first week of the war when Israel increased its military offensive, many Lebanese wished for Hezbollah to return the Israeli soldiers and be done with the conflict. In other words, throw in the towel. They criticized Hezbollah for instigating an unnecessary war at a time when Lebanon's economy was on an upturn. I am interested to know what the reaction would have been had Israel succumbed to Hezbollah, negotiated from the start, and released the prisoners demanded by Nasrallah. Had the kidnapping of the soldiers lead to a peaceful exchange of prisoners, would there have been an uproar against Hezbollah? I don't think so. Why? Because Lebanon's economy and tourism would not have been affected and generally people would have got on with life as usual. So I think that it's not a matter of morals or justice, really. People want to live well, even if that means accepting gross injustice. And you know what, I totally understand that. Who doesn't want to live well? Who doesn't want a comfortable life and a beautiful house and a luxury car? I totally understand that and I respect it. But I must say that I respect more the people who stand up to injustice - Hezbollah. Even though Hezbollah had every moral right, in my opinion, to kidnap those soldiers, people turned against them because of the consequences, not the action. I think it's very important that people understand that.

Rather than fight in the name of justice, I think the anti-Hezbollah people in Lebanon have decided to cave in to a more powerful nation and appease its interests and the interests of its friends, starting with the US. That's what separates Hezbollah supporters and the pro-government Lebanese supporters. Hezbollah is willing to lose material wealth, even their own lives for the sake of what is right - others are not.

Hypocrisy

The Haaretz ran a story a couple days ago titled "UN Security Council to Hezbollah: Free IDF troops now, without conditions". I laughed at the absolute hypocrisy of this statement.

You know, if Israel was generally a law abiding, innocent state, then I think what the UN said would be fine. Yes, release the prisoners without conditions - I would agree with that. But how can the UN issue such a demand on Hezbollah only when at the same time Israel holds Lebanese prisoners (captured while resisting illegal Israeli occupation) and detains thousands of Palestinians without trial - including women and children? It is hypocrisy, pure and simple, and it's a disgrace to the integrity of the UN.

$30bn worth of arms - Israel wants peace?

The US has guaranteed $30bn worth of military aid to Israel over the next 10 years, a 25% increase to the previous $2.4bn a year. Yet, Israel claims that it wants peace.

As the Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem stated, anynone who wants to be a middle east peacemaker doesn't initiate an arms race in the region. In all its voilent years, Israel has learnt nothing. Instead of advanced weapons serving to protect the Israelis, the use of these weapons are feulling the swamp of hatred of Israel in the Arab world. It is a fact that Israel has used these weapons, and continues to do so, to murder civilians and demolish Palestinian homes in order to expand its illegal settlements and assassinate prominent Palestinian leaders who oppose its terrorist regime. The human rights historical record is extensive on this.

In the case of Lebanon, Israel needs to return the Lebanese prisoners it has in its dungeons, completely withdraw from Lebanon (the Shebba Farms area is still occupied even after Israel's "complete withdrawal" from Lebanon in 2000), and avoid voilating Lebanese air space. Only then will Israel find peace with Hezbollah. Until that happens, nothing will result in peace. We have to remember the old saying - no justice, no peace. The $30bn worth of arms will only make things worse.