The World and Its Relationship with Terrorists
Over here in Canada and the U.S., one has to make an effort to find accurate reporting on current events in the Middle East. Only now has CNN started to report Israeli casualties and suffering in the same way it was covering Lebanon. With major world leaders calling for restraint on the part of Israel, I'd like to take a minute to refresh your memory regarding this conflict courtesy of an article in today's Washington Post:
History of the Lebanese-Israeli Conflict
By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Monday, July 17, 2006; 12:48 PM
-- A brief history of the Lebanese-Israeli conflict:
Because Israel and Lebanon have never signed a peace accord, the countries remain officially in a state of war that has existed since 1948 when Lebanon joined other Arab nations against the newly formed Jewish state.
The two countries have been bound by an armistice signed in 1949, which regulates the presence of military forces in southern Lebanon.
With a large Christian minority in an overwhelmingly Muslim region, mercantile and Westernized, Lebanon was considered the least hostile Arab neighbor to Israel _ and the weakest. The rare skirmishes that occurred were mostly symbolic.
That began to change as Palestinian guerrillas became active. In 1968, Israeli commandos landed at Beirut airport and blew up 13 Lebanese airliners in retaliation for Arab militants firing on an Israeli airliner in Athens, Greece.
Under pressure from staunch anti-Israeli Arab regimes in 1969, Lebanon signed an agreement that effectively gave away a southern region for Palestinian guerrillas to use as a springboard to infiltrate Israel or launch cross-border attacks.
Notable among these were an April 1974 raid on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, when Palestinian gunmen killed 16 civilians, mostly women and children, and an attack the following month on a school in Maalot in which a militant group killed 20 teenagers. [Blogger Note: Please keep in mind that terrorist groups have routinely targeted civilians - frequently children - to escalate the situation. They are not fighting for freedom, they are fighting for the destruction of Israel]
Israel retaliated regularly as Palestinian guerrillas fired on northern Israel, and Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon in 1978. A U.N. peacekeeping force deployed and the Israelis pulled out after installing a local Lebanese militia in a border buffer zone, but the attacks continued.
Israel invaded again on a wider scale in 1982 to destroy Yasser Arafat's Palestinian guerrilla movement, which had established itself as a force within Lebanon during the country's civil war that began in 1975. The bulk of Palestinian guerrillas were evacuated from Lebanon, but a new Lebanese guerrilla force, Hezbollah, emerged with the aid of Iran and drawn from the Shiite Muslim community that inhabits southern and eastern Lebanon.
U.S.-sponsored negotiations produced a Lebanon-Israel agreement but that deal died as Lebanon collapsed in another round of civil war.
After a destructive and costly military campaign that lasted for three years, Israeli forces withdrew from most of Lebanon but retained a self-proclaimed "security zone" just north of its own border.
Fighting inside Lebanon would escalate periodically, including a 1993 Israeli bombing offensive and the 17-day "Grapes of Wrath" military campaign in 1996 that left about 150 Lebanese civilians dead. At that time, Israel was reacting against guerrilla attacks by Hezbollah against Israeli soldiers inside the occupied zone and against Katyusha rockets being fired by Hezbollah into Israel proper.
Israel left that zone in 2000, but warned that it would return if its security to the north was compromised.
Hezbollah trumpeted Israel's withdrawal as a great victory but claimed that Israel continued to occupy illegally a small, empty parcel near Syria called the Chebaa Farms.
Diplomats mostly see that claim as a convenient excuse to justify attacks against Israel. Nevertheless, the Israeli-Lebanese frontier had remained largely quiet for the past six years with occasional outbursts _ until a cross-border raid by Hezbollah July 12 resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others, sparking the current warfare.
If you pay attention to where the IAF has been bombing, you will notice that they are strategic targets. In nearly every instance, the Israelis fly over before the raid and drop leaflets on the target area stating the time and location of the next bombing. They then give any civilians time to evacuate - taking into account that roads will be clogged and people need time to get what they need together. What army in history has ever done this? How does Hezbollah respond? By launching missiles indiscriminately at Israeli towns and villages.
Israel is 100% in the right in the current situation. The world is being played by Hezbollah and its backers, Iran and Syria. They are not interested in peace. They are not interested in a two-state solution in regards to the Palestinians. They are only interested in the destruction of Israel and will stop at nothing until they have achieved their goal.
Imagine this hypothetical scenario: The nations of the world are able to come up with a huge amounts of cash. They use this cash to create government, hospitals, schools, top-notch universities and other infrastructure in the Palestinian territories. In addition, new industry is set up, providing jobs for thousands. Overnight, the Palestinian people experience prosperity. Many of them are thrilled and gladly go on with their lives. the world sits back and breathes a huge sigh of relief. Finally, there will be no more terrorism. The Palestinians are completely free of Israel.
Suddenly, rockets are launched into Israel. Soldiers are kidnapped. A suicide bomber detonates himself on a bus full of teenagers. What's going on? The world is shocked. Israel is not. Fatah, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Aksa, you name the group. They are all committed to destroying Israel. The fate of the Palestinian people is immaterial to them . They won't quit until every last Jew is gone. Israel knows this.
But let's get back to reality. Let us not forget that Hezbollah began this cycle of violence by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers from inside Israel. Why? I can only conclude that Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, want to escalate the situation and draw Israel into a war against the Arab nations at a time when the U.S., Israel's strongest ally, has it's hands full-to-overflowing in Iraq and can only offer limited assistance.
Where do we go from here? I have no idea. Israel is more than capable of defending itself and I pray they it continues to do so and does not bow to international pressure. May we see complete and lasting peace in our days.
posted by Sarah at 10:28
5 Comments:
awesome post! that perfectly sums up what i've been trying to explain to my husband - especially the media's coverage of it...just today i forwarded to him an article in the local chicago tribune that made me nausous...nothing like showing both point of views (not!)
Gee, thanks! Our rabbi gave a speech in shul on Shabbos urging us to educate people on the facts since the international media is doing a pitiful job.
The solution? I have one... and it won't be popular. It's clear that there is no way to win a guerilla war using conventional methods. It's also clear that the enemy is not one that can be negotiated with or appeased- they have no demands, except the destruction of Israel. (Well, they claim to have short-term demands, but whenever those demands are met there is new violence and yet more demands.) My solution?
Israel has nuclear weapons. It is time to use them. Drop small nukes on Lebanon and Syria, and Iran. Turn it into desert. Warn the rest of the Arab neighbors they can be next. Yes, innocent civilians will be killed. But there is no other way to wipe out the Arab threat. They WILL NOT STOP. The US has used nukes before-- the only nation to ever do so-- and regards Syria and Iran as theocratic dictatorships who sponsor terrorists.
Not a popular solution, but it will wipe out a large portion of the threat. Seal off Gaza and the West Bank with a Wall.
Not popular, yes. Effective? I bet.
The solution? I have one... and it won't be popular. It's clear that there is no way to win a guerilla war using conventional methods. It's also clear that the enemy is not one that can be negotiated with or appeased- they have no demands, except the destruction of Israel. (Well, they claim to have short-term demands, but whenever those demands are met there is new violence and yet more demands.) My solution?
Israel has nuclear weapons. It is time to use them. Drop small nukes on Lebanon and Syria, and Iran. Turn it into desert. Warn the rest of the Arab neighbors they can be next. Yes, innocent civilians will be killed. But there is no other way to wipe out the Arab threat. They WILL NOT STOP. The US has used nukes before-- the only nation to ever do so-- and regards Syria and Iran as theocratic dictatorships who sponsor terrorists.
Not a popular solution, but it will wipe out a large portion of the threat. Seal off Gaza and the West Bank with a Wall.
Not popular, yes. Effective? I bet.
NJG - My husband would agree with you and I know many others who would as well. I don't disagree - you're right, they won't EVER stop and complete destruction is the only way to get rid of the threat, but I would worry about the lasting global implications. Another group (the Russians? French?) would spring up in place of Syria, Iran, and Lebanon with just as much hatred of Israel.
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