What are the bloggers saying about the current crisis between Lebanon and Israel? Here is a sample. Although it is not all inclusive, it can give an idea.
Jamal in his own way supports Hizbullah's right to act and sees that they are a strong foe that PM Olmert has to deal with:
Hezbollah acted unilaterally and they will get some criticism for it in Lebanon, especially for endangering the precious tourist season. However, regionally they got millions of admirers for being the only group in the world to do something about the rape of Gaza. Sure, Nasrallah insists today was all about Lebanon and Lebanese POWs, but who is he kidding.
It wasn't and there is no shame in that.
Olmert disagrees with me and thinks he should kill, burn 5 month-old-baby-terrorists, kill some more, and then face the inevitable negotiations.At the end of the day Hezbollah proves they are strong, very strong actually, and Israel is not used to dealing with a strong foe.
Here too Jamal continues with what he sees should and will happen:
Olmert can choose to annihilate Hezbollah completely. That would involve a major regional war that I don't think Israel is ready for or that the world community would allow. So that leaves Olmert with the only the choice of when to stop the killing and start the negotiations. Do it today with 30 civillians dead already, or do it next week with 300 dead.
I'm afraid 300 might be the number closer to quenching his blood thirst.
This is what Lebanon.profile saw in Beirut today:
The Lebanese political establishment is in complete disarray. Political party leaders have no idea how to respond to this situation. Prime Minister Saniora is in triage mode. He's in constant communication with foreign leaders.
Life is going on as normal in Beirut, although a bit quieter than usual. I had a few meetings this morning, and am busy working, as usual. I plan on going to the gym later in the day, and then attending a party.
The power is on. The internet is working. The cellular lines are just fine. None of my calls are being dropped, domestically or internationally. Only one phone call I received from Syria was garbled by static.
I am sure the situation is similar anywhere north of Beirut: Metn, Kesrouwan, Coura, Tripoli, Bsherre, and Akkar.
The situation in Beirut's southern suburbs and Southern Lebanon is bad, but not atrocious. It doesn't come close to Israel's 1982 invasion in scale or lives lost. Electricity and phone lines are out, but friends from Saida and Nabatieh tell me their families are tense, but fine.
Moussa reporting on how he is struggling to find a safe place to put his family here.
Abu Kais posts on what he heard and vents his anger at Nasrallah and Israel here:
26 civilians have died so far in Lebanon, according to al-Jazeera. LBC is reporting that ten belonged to one family. My family told me over the telephone that they are completely cut off from Beirut. They live south of Beirut, and they could see the Israeli jets bomb the airport runway. More than 10 bridges have been reportedly destroyed. There are unconfirmed reports the tunnels that go through the airport were destroyed as well.
The Rafik Hariri International Airport is closed. Lebanon's only link to the world is now through… Syria. […]
YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED NASRALLAH.
NOW SHOW US WHAT YOU CAN DO.
SHOW US YOUR MIGHT.
USE THOSE ROCKETS.
LEBANON IS BEING DESTROYED AND ALL I CAN THINK OF IS YOUR FACE:DAMN YOU.
AS FOR THE ISRAELI COWARDS, GO FLEX YOUR MUSCLES IN DAMASCUS AND TEHRAN. COWARDS.
Anarchistian stayed up late and wrote this at 1 AM in the morning:
It’s 1 am here. I’ve been keeping my ears open for any sounds of jets, and checking Israeli media while writing this. The latest reports (from local media) say that the IAF targeted a bridge in the coastal town of Damour close to Beirut, which cut off phone lines in some areas. Many injuries have been reported in the various strikes, including a hit on an ambulance and the injury of a number of reporters from NewTV and Al-Manar TV (VIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION).
What is next, then? And where does this all end? And if these Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners are merely “security prisoners”, how come their incarceration is creating more insecurity? What are the implications? Should Israel turn the entire Middle East into one big prison and have “peace” its own way? Will that be real peace? Will Israelis go to bed with a clear, happy conscience, that they and their loved ones are safe, for many decades to come, while others’ children rot in prisons and camps, deprived of the most basic resources, water, food, health care. Will that put an end to this seemingly never-ending Israeli whining about how they are the weak, poor, oppressed, victimized, patient observers, David facing off Goliath? Or will there be more? More claims, more refugees (this time from refugee camps), to make way for Treppenwitzes? All this, and not once did I defend HezbAllah’s actions. Why should I? I don’t think it was justified, even if it was a smart, well-planned, effective strategy. If only the same could be said for our neighbours to the south.
Dove’s Eye View reflects:
For those of you concerned about the personal safety of my relatives, even the airport bombing is still not a direct hit. Remember, the Lebanese have taken this before. My mother's plane circled Beirut airport for an hour while Israel bombed Beirut in 1996. I am concerned for Lebanon. I am saddened at the news of the dawn raids (July 13) that killed 27 civilians, including twelve members of a family in a village in the far South. I am not yet concerned for my relatives. Let us be ugly and frank about ethnicity here: my village is Christian. The Israelis have had its coordinates for over a generation. They have never before bombed Christian Lebanese so I am not yet frightened. I am disgusted and bitter but I am not frightened for my own family. Yet.
I am sorry for the Lebanese families who grieve today. Don't ask me to say anything about anybody else right now, I am a flawed, selfish woman and my heart has only so much room this evening.
Finally, for now, a call for peace from Bob:
While shells are falling a few miles away from my home, I cannot but remember this afternoon, while I was driving back home from Beirut Hezbollah sympathizer where offering passerby cookies and candies!
While my ear rings from the sound of explosions I cannot but see the firecrackers Hezbollah sympathizer where launching this afternoon rejoicing in their “great victory”
And tomorrow when I will see the bridge linking my home town of Saida to Beirut, I will only say from the bottom of my heart: Enough! Enough wars, death and destruction! Curse you Hezbollah to hell and back! For all this destruction, for all this death! No it is not Israel fault! It is your own! Curse you!
We cannot continue on this path! People build and teach and try to live peacfully, while others think only of death, destruction and war… the time has come to stand and say one word: PEACE
I want peace with Israel! NOW! I do not care for your ideologies, or your lines drawn on maps! For your religions! For anything! PEACE NOW!
Mustapha reminds everybody of the uselessness of the measures that Israel is taking against Lebanon to free its soldiers:
The Israeli Navy is imposing a maritime blockade alongside the entire Lebanese shores. This will add to the de-facto air blockade that resulted from bombing the airport. Just to be clear, the blockade is NOT intended to prevent the smuggling of the two Israeli soldiers by sea. Had Hezbollah wanted to smuggle the soldiers outside of Lebanon, the easiest way would be to do it through the more-than-happy-to-help Syria.
The blockade has one clear purpose: To make life miserable for the Lebanese in order to exert pressure on Hezbollah.[…]
Will the plan work?No it won’t. Israel constantly underestimates the bonds common misery can create. They are using the wrong channels and are needlessly starving an entire nation and making it angrier.
Vox writes a post with a title that calls Israel to send its message directly to Iran/Syria instead of bombing Lebanon.
Lazarus send a letter to Nassrullah and to Olmert. In his letter to Olmert he says:
Dear Ehud,
Are you reading through some of Sharon's notes? I wonder if back home you are saluted for your bravery and courage. If you are looked at as the protector of Israel. If they even know what you are doing in Lebanon. I hope you die a gruesome death, in the same way those children were burnt today.
Turn around. Withdraw your planes. Sail your ships away. Go back to Israel.
What type of retaliation is this? We want exactly what Israeli's seem to claim: security and peace, yet you make it such that peace and security seem impossible to have with Israel as a neighbor. Is this procedure part of becoming a man - a rite of passage - back home for you? Killing Lebanese? Burning children alive? If so, then Sharon must be a great man. Peres must be great as well. As is Netanyahu.
And more from Anarchistian in this lengthy post on what is going on:
This new, very ugly, very dirty face of Israel will engulf the region in flames. I have been glued in front of my computer and the TV, watching scenes of raids. I must stop watching. It is quite depressing. Children massacred, entire residential buildings leveled. I captured some shots from TV with my digital camera, a man carrying a dead 10-month-old baby in a blanket, headless bodies, a dead little girl being show to the cameras, Qana all over again.
Finally (for now) Haitham warns that Israel's aggression will not go without a high price for the Israelis:
Hezbollah is not what Israel new six years ago. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah yesterday warned Israel of ‘big surprises’, and today he showed Israel some of these. Hezbollah now uses rockets that reached more than 30 km inside the northern of Israel and Hezbollah said that next target will be the City of Haifa. If this happens, this will be a disaster for Israelis.
Guys, this is not Gaza, and this is not the poor Palestinian resistance you are dealing with here. Hezbollah is well equipped and supported. So, if you think this game will end up soon, you are mistaken. Read back the history of resistance in Southern Lebanon and you will know what I’m talking about.
O’ Israel, play the music of your tanks, Lebanon will dance the Debke!
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Is it strange that the only time the Sunnis and Shiites, Hamas and Hizbullah, can work together is against Israel?
Nonetheless, facing a crisis resulting from its own impotence and especially its loss of deterrence, Israel still has hope. Here is a step by step plan for the coming week.
1) Bomb Hizbullah positions before the Qataris circle a security council petition condemning violence on both sides, specifically Israel. There isn’t much time until the condemnations, so speeed and efficiency is essential.
2) Bomb military targets in Gaza that are most centrally located. With condemnations coming anyway along with UN resolutions, take out the most dangerous terrorists, most of whom reside in civilian locations. These terrorists live in civilian areas in hopes that Israel will fear the international ramifications of collateral damages. Palestinian residents will demand the terrorists leave their areas out of fear for the safety of their families. Unless of course, the saying is true that the Arabs hate Jews more than they love their children.
3) Allign with the Lebanese army and drive Hizbullah to Syria. Europeans and Americans would promise massive aid to Lebanon in secret meetings. With terrorists concentrated in Syria, Assad would bow to military and diplomatic pressure, specifically from the United States and force Hamas leader Meshal to flee to Africa, specifically Algeria, where he will undoubtedly be killed by Mossad agents. No Arab country would dare take him in. But Iran is not Arab so Iran remains an option, especially considering the fact that Hizbullah may transfer the two kidnapped soldiers to the Iranians.
That is my take on the next week or so. Long term predictions may follow, but work awaits me.
I am currently at work and have written this as quickly as I possibly can, so if there are any errors, I apologize. I look forward to reading more of these boards when I return home from work.
I’m sitting here listening to the helicopters flying northward overhead, listening to the TV commentators explaining that the rocketing of Haifa this afternoon almost certainly means that Beirut will be attacked tonight, listening to my inner voice asking ‘who needs this’?
I’m not going to comment on the politics- that’s starting from the wrong end. I only want to say to those of you over the border in Lebanon that there are Israelis who worry about you tonight even as hizbullah target us.
Our airforce is destroying bridges: we wish to build person-to-person bridges that they cannot knock down.
I don’t want to refer to the politics, not because it’s not important, but because tonight, when you and us are being attacked on both sides of this border, it is also important to give a thought to the common humanity which should connect us.
I pray that those helicopters will leave you in peace tonight.
To Johnnie,
Out of all those listing on this page, the only one that made sense to me was yours… funny it should be the last article on the page (even blog software is against peace!).
I am Lebanese, and proud to be. I currently reside in North America but my whole family is in Lebanon (suburbs of Beirut). However, I lived war up until the age of 19, so I know exactly the feeling that you speak off. It is a shame that all that is said and discussed about this crisis in the media is “who’s right and who’s wrong” and “who started it and what’s the other going to do about it”.
Although I respect your disapproval of discussing politics, I must do the contrary. Not because I want to, simply because the only thing that can stop it is politics (although evil in nature, still the most recognized and powerful form of remedy). Therefore, I am saddened to tell you that you, your family and your friends, joined by my family and my friends in Lebanon will not have peace any time soon. Instead, I believe this to be the beginning of a very long and painful war era for the people of this specific region.
It is obvious that the pressures on the Lebanese government are their to sway them into saying our army will deal with Hizbollah… but hey, Oil gases will be favorable for some people!
Israel’s violent move is a reaction to the slap in the face inflicted on Sahal, the powerful and intouchable pride of Israel. As usual, like the US have taught them to do, their reaction is excessive, violent and blind. The fact that Hezbolah is dictating the rules is such a shock that Israel is now trying to recover its
pride with blood… This country was born in violence and injustice and that will haunt them for generations. Lebanon is trapped between their own dissensions and the geopolitic game of the region. Its weakness, both politically and military makes it a target for all the conflicts of the area. Would the lebanese finally unite?
I can not understand as a Westerner why in the name of religion, populations of countries in the mideast can not tollerate each other because of what they believe. To name a few - Sunni,Shite,Kurd,Arab or Jew. Guess if your neighbor doesn’t believe what you do - Kill them - that will settle it.
Why don’t all the different sects move to the same countries and segregate the whole mideast by religion then leave each other alone. The END!
D Carr:
Impossible. Firstly, the Jews will ALWAYS be attacked by Islam because Islam cannot accept loss of land that they once controlled and please keep in mind that there have ALWAYS been Jews in Israel. You can rename a country, but it has always been Israel. The arabs have no intention of ever making peace with Israel. The terrorist groups fighting against Israel is just a way to fight Israel indirectly rather than the countries fighting Israel directly. They sit behind the terrorists and encourage them. They SHOULD get rid of the terrorists, but they won’t. Finally, if some terrorist organization was sending rockets into a western country - do you really think that country would sit tight? No way. They would blow the hell out of the organizations. If the people want this to stop - then turn over the soldiers….THE END!
Seriously, who are you guys kidding? Hezbullah is mighty against Israel? Why, because they have ancient technology rockets that have been modified? Israel is exponentially superior in military and technology. Its support from the west comes not only with a pat on the back but military technology that can level Lebanon and all its citizens.
As a Lebanese, I am furious that Hezbullah made such an irresponsible action. It has jeapordized all of Lebanon, not just its “precious tourism” as a previous writer condescendingly wrote. The memories of suffering and death are still fresh and the wounds have not healed. Hezbullah has thrown away all respect and political progress they have made in Lebanon, especially after Israel’s withdrawal in 2000. Since then they have been praised as heroes. But the truth has not been more evident. They are not there for Lebanon. They are not there for the Lebanese as they have been claiming. They are their for the furtherment of their version of fundamentalist and violent Islam. I am disgusted by their actions.
An act of war should not be commited by a militia or political party. It is an act reserved only for the head of state, for the government. A party that represents a whole people, not just a part.
There is no excuse for not expecting Israel’s response. From 1980’s, we have learned that they are unrelentless beasts who will stop at nothing and whom the world will condone. They have shut down the country within 48 hours. I fear that the worst is yet to come.
As an outside observer, I feel proud of the people of Lebanon. It is they who have worked hard to rebuild there country. They are people that have again started living the dream of peace and prosperity, not just for themselves, but for there children. They are the happy faces the world has been astonished to witness. It is a shame there dreams have been hijacked by a group of fanatical idiologist who have fooled them into thinking they are on there side. It is too bad they live on a border with a harsh hard line state that will act violently and foolishly anytime they feel a little threatened. It is too bad they share a border with an Arab neigbor that is corrupt and really working against them. I hope this will find you safe and protected against the evil that men do. The world is on your side, the side of peace.
Reply to Turner:
It is true that some people - a very small proportion of the world’s population - have always considered the land “Israel” and it is also true that another group of people, who call themselves Palestinians, also have always considered the land home. Both are correct, and arguing one does not leave the other false. How to make peace between two groups who want the same land? Each arguing in favor of their own rights while denying the other’s? Each selecting their own favorite facts and ignoring inconvenient ones? Politics - the art of deciding difficult issues without violence - is exactly what is needed. No one will be entirely happy with compromise, but the violence happening now is the result of having one side entirely unhappy, with nothing much to lose, and the other side having so much outside financial support, that it can act with impunity, not having to pay the economic costs all by itself. (The situtation for Israel would not be possible without the enormous financial support given by the US government and individual US citizens. Without that, the economic costs of this heavily militarized state could not be supported, and eventually Israel would have to negotiate.)
What will happen when the US needs to pay up for its own wars, social security bills come due, world trade deficits need to be rebalanced, and even the blank check to Israel can no longer be paid?
I find it amazing that all of this could be averted by giving the two soldiers back to israel and see if the viloence continues then you would have a gripe. Ccncerning the idiots from hezballah (Party of god what a laugh) party of idiots is what they are. You have pulled the tigers tail, You had better throw him some meat and run like hell.
The situatin is highly pathetic in that area. We must condemn the inhuman act of Israel. Saving 2 lives by killing 200 is not justifiable in any case. May almighty give Israel a little sense of humanity.
Why USA; the caretaker of world’s freedom is not saying anything. If the same thing is done by Iran or Syria they will prepare to strike them.
“Jews will ALWAYS be attacked by Islam because Islam cannot accept loss of land that they once controlled and please keep in mind that there have ALWAYS been Jews in Israel”
I am a veiwer from India and frankly speaking the above comment by a freind lacks the basic understanding of history of Jews and Moslems in the region.
There have always been Jews is palestine(todays “Isreal”) and in the first half of this century they were hardly 18% of the entire population of palestine.
Creating a state called “Isreal” was never a problem for anybody but on palestinian land was.why afterall shall jews from all over the world of different racial and ethnic background come and occupy palestinian land which have always been a home to millions of ethnic palestinians.Isreal was created by means which we call genocide.Palestinians were massacred to make way for American jews,european jews and all caucasian jews from all over the world.
Today Isreal behaves as if it has all the right in the world to exist on palestinian land.The fact is that every Isreali villages had a Arab name and had a palestinian population.There werent barren land which is often claimed by the jewish leaders about the bloom in the desert in the media.
As far as the reaction from the world is concerned.Isreal is one of the largest arms dealer in the world with support from America it buys support through sales of arms and technique of torture,genocide,aparthied,extra judicial killing and propaganda.They specilise in the tricks of Occupation.
Please read good books by non zionist authors and you will get a grasp of the dilemma in the middle east.
It is the typical mentality of the jews that makes the problem worse,they hardly think about the other side THEY ARE MAKING THE WORLD BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE VICTIMS.stop this propaganda and do not use holocaust to further your evil homeland philosophy.
There will be peace but it will take effort from the jewish world and not from other parties to this conflict.
Isreal is an occupier and therefore it has to tone down its irrational biblical whims about boundaries.
Isrealis need to get control over their irrational and genocidal behavior.
Isreal has no right to hold palestinians or lebanese as prisoners but Palestinians and lebanese have all the right in the world to kill and capture occupation soldiers and it is laid down in every scripture and in every book ever written to protect human beings.
ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE EQUAL,A JEW IS IN NO WAY SUPERIOR TO PALESTINIAN AND VICEVERSA. 3 JEWS DO NOT make 100-300 NON JEWS.
Let me first say the violence should not be justified.
Having said that it seems to me that Hezbollah started this situation kidnapping two Israeli soldiers — I wonder when are the Arab leader going to learn and give their people things like education, culture, health and so on, rather than pain, war, etc.
I think Hezbollah is to blame.
PS: Not sure if this will be published as the moderator seems to have a bias and censors anything that is not pro-Arab
Even if you agree that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers is an act of war, even if you hold the Lebanese government responsible for not reigning in Hizbollah, it’s still wrong for Israel to bomb civilian targets and Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure. Kidnapping 2 soldiers does not give Israel license to flagrant violate the Geneva Convention.
Don’t let them fool you - ISRAEL STARTED IT
Ever since the bloody carnage in Lebanon started, the mainstream media has echoed Israel’s self-righteous indignation about how they’re merely defending themselves - “Israeli sovereignty was violated” when Hizbullah “kidnapped” their soldiers from “across the border.”
What they conveniently reverse is that Hizbullah confronted Israeli troops on the LEBANESE SIDE OF BORDER.
It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on LEBANON’S SIDE OF THE BORDER with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory. [AsiaTimes.com]
* * *
Ehud Olmert holds “Lebanon responsible for the fate of the missing soldiers,” who were captured near Aita al-Shaab on the LEBANESE SIDE OF THE BORDER, that is to say the soldiers violated the sovereignty of Lebanon, a COMMON OCCURRENCE. [Kurt Nimmo]
Even Israeli News reported it on the 12th, contemporaneously with the incident.
The Hizbullah said its operatives destroyed an Israeli tank attempting to cross the border into Lebanon.
Israeli ground troops entered southern Lebanon on Wednesday to search for two soldiers captured earlier in the day by Hezbollah. (AP)
(07.12.06, 12:55)
ISRAEL STARTED IT.
“If somebody wants to kill you and you use a deception to save your life, it’s not immoral.”
— former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres
Spread it far and wide.
http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/07/dont-let-them-fool-you-israel-started.html
AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO LIVED IN BEIRUT AND LOVES THE LEBANESE PEOPLE, I MUST SAY I AM (YET AGAIN) SO TOTALLY ASHAMED OF AND DISGUSTED BY BUSH’S RESPONSE TO THE ISRAELI MILITARY’S (THEY ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS, IMHO) TOTALLY DISPROPORTIONATE RETALIATION AGAINST INNOCENT CIVILIANS IN BEIRUT. MY PALESTINIAN-BORN MOTHER-IN-LAW , THE BEST WOMAN WHO HAS EVER WALKED THE FACE OF THE EARTH, TOLD ME YESTERDAY THAT SHE SAW THE DISMEMBERED BODIES OF CHILDREN THAT HAD BEEN ON A SCHOOL BUS. OOOH, AND THE ISRAELIS SO BOLDLY BRAG THAT THEIR MISSLES HAVE PINPOINT PRECISION, ETC. YEH–THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, NO LONGER TARGETING HEZBULLAH HEADQUARTERS, ETC. THEY ARE SIMPLY TRYING TO BRING THE COUNTRY TO HER KNEES, ONCE AGAIN. THE LEBANESE ARE GOOD, PEACE LOVING PEOPLE. THEY ARE TIRED OF FIGHTING AND JUST WANT TO BE LEFT IN PEACE. I WALKED AMONG ALL OF THE RESIDENTS OF DAHEE. THAT IS WHERE WE LIVED, WITH MY IN-LAWS. I LOVE THOSE PEOPLE AND I’M NOT ASHAMED TO TELL THE WORLD. I ALWAYS FELT AS THOUGH MY 3 DAUGHTERS AND I WERE SAFE AND WELCOME. ALTHOUGH I DO LOVE AMERICA, (THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO LIVE, REALLY), I ABHORE OUR GOVERNMENT’S A**-KISSING WITH ISRAEL AND THE MEDIA’S RELUCTANCE TO TELL BOTH SIDES OF THIS STORY. MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, 5 SISTERS-IN-LAW AND BROTHER-IN-LAW ARE TRYING THEIR BEST TO GET SOMEWHERE SAFE. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS~~NOTHING HAD BETTER HAPPEN TO THOSE WONDERFUL, SWEET PEOPLE. CAUSE THIS COUNTRY GIRL FROM KENTUCKY WILL TAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE. AND BUSH WILL HEAR ME OUT.
I am neither a Jew nor a Arab, but what is happening now in Lebanon is a totaly unfair towards the Lebanees. Yes Hezbollah has its own agenda, but remember when these soldiers were kidnapped. They were kidnapped after Israel started to DESTROY Palestinian infrastructure in order to free a hostage. Well YOU DO NOT FREE HOSTAGES BY BOMBING civillian targets, but you sure as hell make a lot of people mad.
We can go back and forth and say oh ISRAEL DID THIS BECAUSE ARABS DID THIS, and ARABS DID THIS TO RETALIATE FOR WHAT ISRAELIS DID TO THEM, this can go on and on.
But lets stop and think for a moment, what is the real cause of the problem? The problem is that Israel got a state on a land where arabs were alaways present (just like Jews were) and they (Arabs) were present on these lands in far greater numbers and for much longer then the jews.
So dont you think that Palestinians deserve a statehood as uch as Jews do (if not more)?
Blowing up yourself in a bus and killing civillians is a horrible thing to do, but do Jews or jew supporters ask themselves WHY do these people do this? Or do they try to think that dropping a bomb from a multi million dollar jet is less painful then a suicide bombing?
I think they know the answer to these questions.
AS long as Israel acts like it is the sole nation in the region that has a right to exist there will be more Hezbollah and HAMAS attacks.
Besides why doesnt Israel attack Iran and Syria? Oh thats right because it is smart enough to know that it can not take those two (the REAL backers of Hezbollah) down, so in a very computed and startegic way Israel is setting up his big bro (USA) to deal with the other two.
US will loose its sons and daughters and extreme amout of money to fight the Jews’ battles for them, and Israel will reap the benefits.
The american public is too brainwashed (who wouldnt be, if you heard same thing over and over for generations) by the jewish lobby and the media to question why is US fighting Israel’s war’s.
To the pro Jews and Jews on this blog who say that “WHY THEY DONT RETURN THE SOLDIERS SO WE CAN STOP THE ATTACKS” I can ask why dont you guys stop treating the palestinians like trash and stop invading their territory anytime you please.
The situation darkens in the Middle East. I believe that the situation was initially started with a rocket attack on an Israeli city. When an army patrol vehicle went to investigate it was ambushed and the soldiers killed or (2) kidnapped from the Israeli border. The response has been harsh and heavy handed. However there is necessity behind the harshness. Diplomatic answers to such a provocative action could only have led to the same situation further down the line with another kidnapping.
Despite this, war is an ugly thing no matter which side you stand on. Noone wants to see people destroyed and lives turned upside down. I would like to see assistance from the Israeli side to the Lebonese once the mission has been completed.
It is very easy to see this war from only one point of view - whichever it is you are standing on. It is so important to try and put yourself in the other people’s shoes and imagine how you would feel / want to do. I hope peace finds its way to a better place and time.
Hi,
As a Lebanese living in The Netherlands there are things I do and don’t understand.
I don’t understand how Israel attacks economical targets and starts it’s attack on Lebanon while making very little progress on defeating Hezbollah.
I don’t understand the Lebanese people who cry for help like a baby, while Hezbollah get’s their full support. (What goes around comes around, when you hit a strong person expect a big punch back)
I don’t understand the unwillingness to recognize Israel as a state and respect their inhabitants, as long as Israel doesn’t feel safe in the Middle East it shall feel the need to defend itself and behave as an extreme state.
I do understand Lebanese are sick of Israel’s attacks on the innocent civilians.
Arabs should face reality and stop their hatred against Jews (as Jews should respect the Arabs). And the thought of placing Israel somewhere else is totally unrealistic.
Stop the threats! Stop the war!
Give us peace, give us hope! Syria, Israel, Iran, get out of The Lebanon!
I AM THE AMERICAN MOTHER OF A LEBANESE-AMERICAN DAUGHTER, GRANDCHILDREN AND LEBANESE SON-IN-LAW WHO IS LIKE MY OWN SON. I HAVE MET MANY IN HIS FAMILY AND KNOW WHAT PEACELOVING AND WONDERFUL PEOPLE THEY ARE. I WORRY CONSTANTLY ABOUT THEIR WELFARE. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THESE PEOPLE I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FORGET ABOUT IT OR FORGIVE BUSH AND HIS COHORTS. I ONLY WISH THE PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN WORLD KNEW THE TRUE ACCOUNT OF EVENTS, PAST AND PRESENT, IN THE MIDDLE EAST. PERHAPS THEN, THEY WOULD SEE THINGS IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LIGHT.
MAY GOD PROTECT THESE INNOCENT AND GREAT PEOPLE.
PAT MAYES
Well its a battle for israel existence,battle betwin evil(hizballa) and good (israel).logic has no place when it comes to an organization that his main goal is to kill evry “infidel” on the face of earth.
maybe most of the lebanis citizens are not part of this,and we do care about the casualty in lebanis side.and we do fill sad(but not guilty) for it,but honestly, israel citizens are my primal worrys.
the lebanis goverment had a lot of time to get rid of hizbala,they could of ask for help to disarm them,but they dident,cos they dident want to.its their problem now.not mine.
To number 18 ! from an israeli
take a plane and travel to gazza
see what kind of people are we dealing with evry day.
tel me if you whant people like that in youre country.
then start showing youre opnion,when you wil have clue of what you are talking about.
have you ever wonderd why no arab country want to accept those “innocent critter’s” as refuges ?
Israel is a peaceful nation of farmers. They send their flowers to civilized nations around the world.
The Israelis are a peaceful people. Jews have always been a peaceful people.
The Israelis brought their farms and flowers to Gaza and then, last year left. They left the farms and flowers intact and untouched when they left for their Arab bothers and sisters.
The Arabs smashed the farms and burned the flowers. They built in their place missile launchers and armored carriers. We ask, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” -In Arab Gaza we answer, “gone to terrorists, every one”.
This is not the path of a peaceful people. The Arabs want to continue to behead, mutilate, and murder Israelis, Jews, and everyone else in the Middle East and, perhaps, the world.
From Nigeria to China, everyplace where Muslims share a border with non-Muslims we have war, beheadings, and terrorism. East Timor, the Hindu Kush, Iran/Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Ethiopis, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria. Open a map. A crescent of racism and terrorism. No longer the ‘fertile crescent’, now it is a larger “Terror Crescent”.
With a record like this, why are we blaming the non-Muslim? Islam has a problim with Facist Extremists who seem to be very popular and well-supported by the Muslim community as a whole.
Israel has been on the front lines of this battle for 100 years and longer. Muslim murder of Jews in Palestine/Israel is a thousand years old. The ‘Arab East Jeruselam’ or ‘the Old City of Jeruselam’ was Jewish until conquered by Jordan in 1948. The result? - Ethnic Cleansing of Jews from the area. The Arab city of Hebron - the Ethnic Cleansing took place in 1929. Arab Gaza? The ethnic cleansing of 1905. Murder and massacre.
The Israeli Jews fighting back against the facist Islamic racists. They are defending the rights and lives of non-Muslims in the Middle East. These include the pacifist Ba’hai and Christians as well as Jews.
Intersting article about the situation in the middle east.
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For those who don’t know, Dennis Miller is a comedian
who has a show called Dennis Miller Live on HBO.
He is not Jewish.
He recently said the following about the Modest situation:
“A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service
to all Americans who still don’t get it,
I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs,
which is all you really need.
Here we go:
The Palestinians want their own country.
There’s just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians.
It’s a made up word.
Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
Like “Wiccan,” “Palestinian” sounds ancient
but is really a modern invention
Before the Israelis won the land in the 1967 war,
Gaza was owned by Egypt, the West Bank was owned by Jordan,
and there were no “Palestinians.”
As soon as the Jews took over and started growing
oranges as big as basketballs,
what do you know, say hello to the “Palestinians,”
weeping for their deep bond with their lost “land” and “nation.”
So for the sake of honesty, let’s not use the word “Palestinian”
anymore to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy
at our deaths, until someone points out they’re being taped.
Instead, let’s call them what they are
:
“Other Arabs Who Can’t Accomplish Anything In Life
And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In
The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death.”
I know that’s a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN.
How about this, then: “Adjacent Jew-Haters.”
Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country.
Oops, just one more thing. No, they don’t.
They could’ve had their own country any time in the last thirty years,
especially two years ago at Camp David
but if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights
and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse,
you actually have to figure out some way to make a living.
That’s no fun. No, they want what all the other
Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel.
They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course –
that’s where the real fun is — but mostly they want Israel.
Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel - or “The Zionist Entity”
as their textbooks call it –
for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries
to divert the attention of their own people
away from the fact that they’re the blue-ribbon most illiterate,
poorest, and tribally backward on God’s Earth,
and if you’ve ever been around God’s Earth . . . you know
that’s really saying something.
It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic
about the great history and culture of the Muslim Midleast.
Unless I’m missing something, the Arabs haven’t given anything to the
world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that
one.
Chew this around & spit it out: 500 million Arabs; 5 million Jews.
Think of all the Arab countries as a football field,
and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it.
And now these same folks swear that, if Israel gives them
half of that pack of matches, everyone will be pals..
Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to
obliterate the tiny country and the constant din
of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea?
Oh, that? We were just kidding.
My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day:
Just reverse the Numbers.
Imagine 500 million Jews and 5 million Arabs.
I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it .
Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades
and dynamite to themselves? Of course not.
Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations
to drive a tiny Arab State into the sea? Nonsense.
Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible.
Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the Arabs baking their
bread with the blood of children? Disgusting.
No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace,
the worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death.
Mr. Bush, God bless him, is walking a tightrope. I understand that,
with vital operations in Iraq and others, it’s in our interest, as
Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as much as possible,
and, after all, that can’t be much harder than stabilizing a roomful of
super models who’ve just had their drugs taken away.
However, in any big-picture strategy, there’s always a danger
of losing moral weight. We’ve already lost some.
After September 11th, our president told us and the world he was going
to root out all terrorists and the countries that supported them.
Beautiful.
Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of
an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day),
start to do the same thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint.
If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day,
we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration
to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean
and east of the Jordan.
Please feel free to pass this along to your friends
Walk in peace! Be Happy! Have a wonderful life
the world weeps bitter tears as it sits back watching the destruction of one of the most beautiful countries in the world. so many old and wonderful things have been destroyed by the arrogance and overwhelming use of the war machine of israel. i cannot believe that GOD approves of this now or ever.
pat mayes
I agree with my other American sisters and brothers in completely condemning Israel. Israel has become engorged with U.S. cash and weapons and is now emulating Bushs’ cruel and dictatorial policies.
But Israel has now CHOSEN A TRUE PATH TO HELL by using United States made chemical weapons on the Lebonese. Several sources report phosphorous, gas and the horrendous ‘fuel bombs’, the equivalent of napalm. are now being used.
I am also ashmed by the weakness at the U.N. They have truly failed here. What happened to their “Quick Response Team”
its realy easy blaming israel.
but if we get to the bottom question.
who started that war ? hizbballa or israel ?
they have to understand that hurting israeli citizens and soldiers, are going to bring pain and misery.
i heard some people said that israel is using napalm and chemicals weapons.they dont , i wish they were using it.i hate the ethics of the israeli army.
i wish he was barbaric and ruthless like other armies.
but unfortunately it is not .cos we have a conscience(not me,but most of us israelis).
muslims understand one thing only.death.it is a proven method against ignorant pepople who has nothing beside wars in there pitiful life.
hizbbala is spineless organization thats hide behind
babys and woman,a real army would fight face to face.
not using the help of global opinion,and certainly not using the help of the people wich he describe as
“infidels” (most of the world)
i wish it wasent like this,i wish we could all get along.and smoke hash together,and just be freinds, but hey, if they want war they wil get one.im happy anyway.im even glad to see hizbblla geting humiliated again.and a another muslim country being crushed again by the all mighty idf.
thank you god i love you for making me a jew and
israeli,thank you !
how long will it takes for the arabs to understand that israel is going to exist for ever.
M. Quinnan: I find it hard to believe, in the face of the whole world’s opinion, that our so-called leader is asking for the concessions of Hezbollah and Lebanon in the current deal for a cease-fire. Surely, this will have to change?
Pat Mayes