I've Heard That Song Before

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Following its stunning military victory against Israel in the recent war in Lebanon, Hezbollah seems determined to either replace or bring down the pro-American Lebanese government.

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Kankaz Center - 11/02/06

A powerful Hezbollah?

Experts say that the magnitude of the defeat is considerable and the Israelis on the other hand appear to have lost at every level --strategic, operational and tactical. Air raids proved their failure, as well as attempts to blockade Lebanon and thus cut off Hezbollah's resupply. Israel’s caches proved ample. Also the ground offensive in South Lebanon failed. Israel has paid heavily in casualties for that and couldn’t hold what it has taken; Hezbollah pushed it out, as it did once before.
Following the outbreak of the Lebanese civil in 1975, Sadr set up a militia adjunct to the HSCC, called the Lebanese Resistance Detachments, known as Amal. Three years later Sadr “disappeared.” In 1982, Israel occupied the Lebanese territories and Amal split.

This was the beginning of the formation of Hezbollah, or Party of God, aimed at resisting the occupiers.

As Hezbollah started launching its attacks against the Israeli army stationed in southern Lebanon, Tehran, Hezbollah's main ally since then, increased its military aid, with Syria acting as the conduit. Through its Martyrs Foundation, Iran provided Hezbollah with funds to improve health, education and other public services for needy Shias.

Today, with Hezbollah much powerful than before the recent war as experts and political analysts assert, the Shia group and Christian political party led by General Michel Aoun seek reshuffling the Lebanese government in a way that would grant both groups more positions, and gives Hezbollah veto power over any legislation, other wise, as they threatened, Aoun’s party and Hezbollah would boycott the government or try to bring it down through strikes and street demonstrations if they don't get more posts.

Hezbollah threatened Tuesday to organise street protests to force early elections in Lebanon if its demands for a "national unity" Cabinet that would give the Islamic group veto power over key decisions, are not met. Hezbollah seems assured that its threat will further exacerbate an already tense political situation in Lebanon, where the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has refused the group’s previous calls to step down and allow the formation of a new Cabinet.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said during an interview on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV:

Our concept of the national unity government is that all the basic forces in Lebanon be in it ... actual and serious participation, not an aesthetic participation.

The Shia movement has been providing vital help in rebuilding southern Lebanon villages and poor suburbs where the Shias are concentrated. It also maintains that Lebanon's Shia population has grown faster than others, warranting a greater share of power than Shia got under the 1990 deal, according to an editorial on Boston.

Hezbollah has two ministers in the Lebanese government and more than a tenth of the seats in parliament. But Washington and the Lebanese government fear giving Hezbollah the veto power would paralyze the government, while giving the Syrians more influence over Lebanon. Also extending Hezbollah’s influence would mean that the United States will find itself forced to cut ties with the Lebanese government, since it boycotts all Hezbollah officials. A scenario similar to a great extent to Hamas’ in Palestine.

"On a domestic level, after the war, Hezbollah became stronger and stronger," said sociologist Ali Fayyad, director of a Hezbollah think tank that produces many of the party's policy papers. Fayyad had been quoted previously as saying that Hezbollah's victory in the recent war has made it almost impossible to continue supporting international calls to disarming it -- something the Lebanese government and its foreign backers, including the United States and France, had been pushing for.

Lebanese government officials share the same view. Aoun, a Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister during the period between 22 September 1988 and 13 October 1990, joined Hezbollah’s leader in an unusual political union in February, and now both rail against government corruption and nepotism.

Until last year, Aoun was supporting calls to disarm Hezbollah. But now he has accorded broader legitimacy to the Shia movement by giving it a cross-sectarian base, in exchange for Shias’ support for next years’ presidential bid.

Aoun believes the government "bankrupted the country, and runs it like a mafia," he said in a recent interview:
"They are puppets. They cannot resist popular pressure and strikes, because they aren't supported by the people."

If Hezbollah’s demands are met, this would significantly raise the movement’s standing in the Cabinet, where the group and its Shia ally, Amal, have five ministers. Also a veto power and influence in decision-making would bolster their standing in the parliament, where the group and its allies hold less than half the seats, while anti-Syrian majority hold 70 seats.

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Related Post: 08/20/06

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Aljazeera - 08/19/06
by Christian Henderson

At first sight, the peaceful scene at a west Beirut fishing harbour seems far removed from the conflict that has raged in Lebanon for the past five weeks.

Small boats line the side of the rocky quay, fishermen relax drinking coffee, stray cats lounge in the hot sun.

But take a step closer to the water and you realise that something is very wrong. A thick coat of oily sludge covers the sea’s surface and there is a noxious smell caused by the fumes that make your eyes water.

The sludge is just a small part of the largest oil spill ever seen in the Mediterranean. The spill was caused by Israeli air strikes on the fuel tanks at Jiyeh power station south of Beirut in the first week of the war.

As Lebanon takes stock of the damage that has been inflicted on the country, there is increasing evidence that the conflict will leave greater long-term legacies in addition to the huge loss of life and material damage.

Toxic spray

Environmentalists say they are concerned by the possible use of depleted uranium, air pollution caused by fires and the destruction of houses and factories as well as the long term effects of war on rural communities’ interaction with their environment.

The most serious issue is the oil spill. According to the UN, the spill has created a toxic spray containing class 1 carcinogens that will affect the long-term health of as many as three million people who live on Lebanon’s coast.

The conflict has delayed the clean-up operation meaning the oil has already started to degrade, making the consequences much worse.

Wael Hmaidan, a coordinator with the Lebanese environmental NGO Green Line told Aljazeera:

All these impurities and chemicals will go into the marine life. They are going to go into to the food chain and they are going to build up for years and years.

Contamination

The spill has already reached Turkey and Cyprus and according to environmentalists will have a huge impact on the biodiversity of the eastern Mediterranean. Beaches that are used as nesting grounds for the endangered green turtle and spawning waters of the blue fin tuna will be affected by the spill.

The oil spill is the most visible aspect of the environmental problems caused by the war but environmentalists warn of other unseen dangers that threaten the health of Lebanon’s people and nature.

For five weeks the Israeli air force flew around 9000 missions destroying 10500 houses and 900 private sector buildings. Many of Lebanon’s largest factories were hit resulting in large fires.

The fuel depots at Beirut airport (which were hit at the beginning of the conflict) and the bombing of the Jiyeh power station, ignited fires that burned for three weeks sending plumes of smoke that could be seen from 60 kilometres away.

For several days many parts of Lebanon were covered by thick clouds of smoke, a rare sight in the middle of summer and this smoke is filled with chemicals that can cause cancer, hormonal problems and respiratory difficulties, experts say.

Zeina al-Hajj, a Greenpeace campaigner, said:

The combinations of toxic fumes that [have been] spreading for the past five weeks are great sources of contamination that people have inhaled and are already in their bodies so that for me is another environmental disaster.

These are chemicals that are bio-accumulative and persistent so when you inhale them they stay in your body and they do cause cancer.

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The Independent - 08/14/06
by Robert Fisk
The real war in Lebanon begins today.

The world may believe -- and Israel may believe -- that the UN ceasefire due to come into effect at 6am today will mark the beginning of the end of the latest dirty war in Lebanon after up to 1,000 Lebanese civilians and more than 30 Israeli civilians have been killed.

But the reality is quite different and will suffer no such self-delusion: the Israeli army, reeling under the Hizbollah's onslaught of the past 24 hours, is now facing the harshest guerrilla war in its history. And it is a war they may well lose.

In all, at least 39 -- possibly 43 -- Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past day as Hizbollah guerrillas, still launching missiles into Israel itself, have fought back against Israel's massive land invasion into Lebanon.

Israeli military authorities talked of "cleaning" and "mopping up" operations by their soldiers south of the Litani river but, to the Lebanese, it seems as if it is the Hizbollah that have been doing the "mopping up". By last night, the Israelis had not even been able to reach the dead crew of a [Israeli] helicopter -- shot down on Saturday night -- which crashed into a Lebanese valley.
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Hizbollah's laser-guided missiles -- Iranian-made, just as most Israeli arms are US-made -- appear to have caused havoc among Israeli troops on Saturday, and their downing of an Israeli helicopter was without precedent in their long war against Israel
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An Israeli was killed by Hizballoh's continued Katyusha fire across the border. The guerrilla army -- "terrorists" to the Israelis and Americans but increasingly heroes across the Muslim world -- have many dead to avenge, although their leadership seems less interested in exacting an eye for an eye and far more eager to strike at Israel's army.

At this fatal juncture in Middle East history -- and no one should underestimate this moment's importance in the region -- the Israeli army appears as impotent to protect its country as the Hizbollah clearly is to protect Lebanon.

But if the ceasefire collapses, as seems certain, neither the Israelis nor the Americans appear to have any plans to escape the consequences. The US saw this war as an opportunity to humble Hizbollah's Iranian and Syrian sponsors but already it seems as if the tables have been turned.

The Israeli military appears to be efficient at destroying bridges, power stations, gas stations and apartment blocks - but signally inefficient in crushing the "terrorist" army they swore to liquidate.

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Israel has asked (ordered) the U.S. government (ZOG) to send cluster bombs to use in its month long war in Lebanon. Cluster bombs explode over a wide area, thus providing maximum killing power. More than 800 people have been killed in Lebanon. A substantial percentage, if not most, of the fatalities have been civilians including many children and elderly people. Countless others have been wounded and maimed. -- The Zionists' lust for blood has yet to be sated.

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NY Times - 08/11/06
by David S. Cloud

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Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, two U.S. officials said.

The request for M-26 artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is likely to be approved shortly, along with other arms, a senior official said.

But some State Department officials have sought to delay the approval because of concerns over the likelihood of civilian casualties, and the diplomatic repercussions. The rockets, while they would be very effective against hidden missile launchers, officials say, are fired by the dozen and could be expected to cause civilian casualties if used against targets in populated areas.

Israel is asking for the rockets now because it has been unable to suppress Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket attacks in the month-old conflict by using bombs dropped from aircraft and other types of artillery, the officials said. The Katyusha rockets have killed dozens of civilians in Israel.

The United States had approved the sale of M-26’s to Israel some time ago, but the weapons had not yet been delivered when the crisis in Lebanon erupted. If [when] the shipment is approved, Israel may be told that it must be especially careful about firing the rockets into populated areas, the senior official said.
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In the case of cluster munitions, including the Multiple Launch Rocket System, which fires the M-26, the Israeli military only fires into open terrain where rocket launchers or other military targets are found, to avoid killing civilians, an Israeli official said. [Yeah, sure!]
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Last month, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said its researchers had uncovered evidence that Israel had fired cluster munitions on July 19 at the Lebanese village of Bilda, which the group said had killed one civilian and wounded at least 12 others, including 7 children.

The group said it had interviewed survivors of the attack, who described incoming artillery shells dispensing hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village.

Human Rights Watch also released photographs, taken recently by its researchers in northern Israel, of what it said were American-supplied artillery shells that had markings showing they carried cluster munitions.

Mr. Siegel, the Israeli Embassy spokesman, denied that cluster munitions had been used on the village.



Alright, enough is enough! -- I'm curious to know if any of you believe the dear Israeli spokesman is telling the truth. Come on, now. Don't be bashful. Let's see a show of hands! . . . Somebody? . . . Anybody? . . . -

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National Prayer Network
by Rev. Ted Pike

Rabbinic Council In Israel Says Bombed Children In Lebanon Not Innocent

Yesha Rabbinical Council is the recognized authority on Jewish religious questions in Gaza and the West Bank. This week it decreed that at least 56 Lebanese citizens of Kfar Qanna, including at least 34 children, targeted by an Israeli air strike, were not “innocent.”

The Yesha Rabbinical Counsel announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar Qanna that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such thing as ‘innocence’ among the enemy.” ¹

The council’s edict reflects existing Israeli military/religious law. The chaplain for the IDF forces says, “In war, when our forces storm the enemies, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakah to kill even good civilians, that is, civilians that are ostensibly good.” ²

Such official standards come from binding Jewish law, or Halakah, contained in the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud is the highest religious and ethical authority for the state of Israel and religious Jews. The Talmudic ‘proof text’ for Yesha’s decision came from treatise Abodah-Zarah 26b, where Rabbi Simeon Ben Yohai says:

The best among the gentiles deserves to be killed. The best of snakes ought to have its head crushed.

Is the author of such bloodthirsty racism denounced in our time? Hardly. Rabbi Ben Yohai is one of the earliest and therefore most respected of Talmudic rabbis. He is so beloved by Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel that every year at his birth place, in Meron, tens of thousands gather for days in the festival of Lag Ba Omar to sing and dance in honor of his memory. The prestigious Encyclopedia Judaica, in its article on him, describes Ben Yohai as one of the giants of Judaism for all time.

Ben Yohai’s bloodlust against Gentiles is enshrined in the State of Israel itself, a nation whose apartheid laws caused the United Nations to term Zionism “a form of racism and racial discrimination” in 1976. They were putting it mildly.

But Zionism isn’t the root cause; it’s one black fruit of the poisoned root of the religion founded and guided by the ancient Pharisees, those whom Christ so bitterly rebuked. "Rabbinic" Judaism is not the Hebrew monotheism established by God through Moses. Rather, it is what that pure religion became after its leaders rejected and crucified Christ.

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1 ynetnews.com 7/30/06
2 Booklet published by the Chaplain of the Israeli army Central Region Command quoted
by Dr. Israel Shahak in his book Jewish History, Jewish Religion, page 76

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Related Posts ---- 04/26/05 ---- 05/05/05 ---- 05/07/05

EI - 07/23/06
by Ali Abunimah

Israel wants us to believe that its wholesale destruction of Lebanon and killing to date of nearly 400 civilians is about the capture of two of its soldiers by Hizbullah.

This focus on the "latest incident" is designed to obscure what truly lies at the heart of this ongoing conflict: Israel's violent takeover of Palestine.

Palestinians, expelled from their country in 1948, had continued their struggle against Israel from Lebanon. In 1982, Israel invaded that country in an attempt to destroy the Palestine Liberation Organisation, killing tens of thousands of civilians. On that occasion, Israel's official pretext was a failed assassination attempt against its London ambassador.

Rather than ending resistance, Israel laid the seeds for what we see today.

The mostly Shia villagers in southern Lebanon who bore the brunt of Israel's 1982 invasion are the core constituency of Hizbullah, founded in 1983 to resist Israel's occupation.

The fighting in Lebanon, and to the south in Gaza, are directly related to Israel's origins, and the regional violence will only spiral until there is a just solution to the Palestine question.
Israel was established in 1948 as an explicitly ''Jewish state'' in a country whose overwhelming majority population at the time was not Jewish and had no desire to live under such a government. Such a project could only generate enormous resistance.

Because of this, Israel has never gained legitimacy among the people who paid the price for its creation.

Lacking such legitimacy, Israel exists only by the constant exercise of brute force - first to expel the majority of Palestinians, to prevent the return of refugees and, after 1967, to settle as many of its Jewish citizens as it could in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Zionist leaders hoped that the transformation of Palestine from a multicultural, multireligious society into one ruled exclusively by and for Jews would have been completed by now, with the Palestinians merely a distant memory. Instead, Israel created a catastrophe.
Today because of their determination not to be driven from what remains of their land, and due to their higher birth rate, Palestinians are once again becoming the majority population. Their struggle draws support across the Arab world, including from groups like Hizbullah.

For the first time since the 1948 expulsions accompanying Israel's foundation, Jews no longer form the absolute majority in the territory they control.

Israeli and Palestinian official statistics count 5.3 million Jews living in Israel-Palestine and 5.6 million non-Jews (this does not include millions more Palestinian refugees outside the country).

Israeli leaders understand what this means.

Prime minister Ehud Olmert said in 2003: "We are approaching the point where more and more Palestinians will say 'There is no place for two states between the [River] Jordan and the [Mediterranean] sea. All we want is the right to vote'. The day they get it, we [Israeli Jews] will lose everything."

Olmert added: "I shudder to think that liberal Jewish organisations that shouldered the burden of struggle against apartheid in South Africa will lead the struggle against us."
The internationally-endorsed solution for the dilemma is a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967 so that Palestinians can establish a state in these areas, which amount to just 22 per cent of their original homeland.

Unfortunately, Israel used the years of the peace process, not to begin to end its occupation, but to entrench it - doubling the number of settlers in the West Bank. While it pulled 8,000 settlers out of Gaza last year, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres explained on the BBC in August:' 'We are disengaging from Gaza because of demography."

Israel hoped that, distracted by the pulling out of a few settlers, the world would not notice its continued military control of Gaza, as well as its annexation wall and the massive expansion of Jews-only colonies throughout the West Bank.
Israel's full-scale assault on Lebanon and its round-the-clock bombardment of Gaza have nothing to do with the recent attacks on its army.

The indiscriminate killing of civilians can only be understood as an attempt to put fear back into the Arabs, in a desperate effort to maintain Israel as a Jewish-dominated garrison state surrounded by concrete walls.

But groups like Hizbullah and Hamas, which emerged as a direct response to the brutality of decades of Israeli occupation, and an absence of principled international intervention, represent a generation no longer cowed by Israel's US-supplied missiles and jets.

FW de Klerk, the last president of apartheid-era South Africa, calculated when he took office that the white government could retain power for many years, but only at the cost of inflicting enormous casualties.

Both he and Nelson Mandela concluded that nothing could be gained from further bloodshed and that the time had come to negotiate the peaceful end of apartheid.

Looking back on the apartheid regime's long history of violence, de Klerk wrote in his memoirs: "There is no evidence that the assassination of opponents had the slightest effect on the final outcome of the struggle, other than causing further personal suffering and bitterness."

It is only by ending their claims of superior rights and power that Israeli Jews, like white South Africans, will gain the legitimacy and acceptance from people in Lebanon, Palestine and across the Middle East that cannot be won with violence.

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Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada , and author of the forthcoming
book: One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.

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