[News] Losing its Morals and Marbles: Israel's Fight for Lebanon

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5588.shtml

<http://electronicintifada.net/v2//lebanon/>ELECTRONIC LEBANON


Losing its Morals and Marbles: Israel's Fight for Lebanon
Remi Kanazi, Electronic Lebanon, 19 August 2006

[]

Palestinians march with Lebanese flags in a Gaza City rally, August 
16, 2006. (<http://www.maanimages.com>MaanImages/Wesam Saleh)

If Hezbollah were a military, given Western standards, it would 
certainly be the most moral in the world. During Israel's five week 
offensive, Hezbollah killed 118 Israeli soldiers and 41 Israeli 
civilians (18 of which were Israeli Palestinians). Hezbollah killed 
three Israeli soldiers for every one Israeli civilian. In contrast, 
Israeli forces killed more than 1000 Lebanese civilians during the 
onslaught (more bodies are expected to be discovered during the 
current period of "calm"). Robert Fisk, based in Lebanon, reported, 
"They are digging them [Lebanese bodies] up by the hour." Israeli 
forces killed 25 Lebanese civilians for every Israeli civilian killed 
by Hezbollah.

Israel claims it killed three to four hundred Hezbollah fighters 
during the 33 day war. Hezbollah argues the number is much lower, but 
since the world maintains that Hezbollah is a "terrorist 
organization," Hezbollah's figure is swiftly rejected. Supposing 
Israel's numbers are accurate, the state still killed roughly three 
Lebanese civilians for every one Hezbollah fighter.

Although the issue of proportionality was discussed in the US media, 
the issue of disproportionate coverage of the conflict was not. The 
American population's strong reaction to the media's coverage of the 
loss of civilian life in Lebanon--albeit its extremely minimal 
coverage--enhanced pressure for the eventual cease-fire. The Bush 
administration's "green light" quickly turned red when it realized 
widespread regional chaos may bring harsh repercussions during an 
election season. One can only assume citizen pressure for a US 
pullout of Iraq would have been stronger if the US media properly 
reported the conflict and shown even a handful of the endless images 
of immense suffering the Iraqis are enduring due to US occupation.

Israel estimates that more than 4,000 Katushya rockets were fired 
across its borders during the five weeks of fighting--this was 
extensively reported throughout the US media. It brings one back to 
Wolf Blitzer's opening news segments on the crisis in the Middle 
East: "Hezbollah rockets hit deeper into Israel and closer to Tel 
Aviv." Similarly, it takes me back to images of a disheveled Tucker 
Carlson reporting the hard news in front of Israeli tanks firing 
"retaliatory" artillery shells on the civilian population of Lebanon. 
Yet, 4,000 Katushya rockets pale in comparison to the amount of force 
used by Israel, which one cannot put an exact figure on because the 
US media has yet to offer up the information (apparently the media 
didn't want to complicate us with too many statistics). The Lebanese 
government, however, did state that Israeli air and ground forces 
destroyed approximately 30,000 buildings throughout Lebanon--300 
high-rise buildings in southern Beirut alone.

Israel must have lost its copy of the Geneva Conventions for Dummies 
because Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly states, 
"No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not 
personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures 
of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited Reprisals against 
protected persons and their property are prohibited." Regarding the 
Geneva Conventions, Hezbollah is not a signatory; the same cannot be 
said for the state of Israel. This is not to excuse attacks on a 
civilian population by any force, including resistance forces, but 
only to put into context the "morality" of Western nations compared 
with adversaries they consider to be "terrorist groups."

An Amoral History

Israel has a long history of using extreme force against civilian 
populations. During "Operation Peace for Galilee," Israel slaughtered 
nearly 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians in Lebanon. Since 
the start of the second Intifada, Israeli forces killed more than 
4,000 Palestinians, most of which were civilians. According to Tanya 
Reinhart in Israel/Palestine: How To End the War of 1948, "More than 
seven thousand Palestinians were reported injured in the first five 
weeks of the uprising, many in the head, legs, or knees by carefully 
aimed [Israeli] shots, and, increasingly, live [Israeli] ammunition." 
Since the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israeli forces 
have killed 188 Palestinians in Gaza, 44 of which were children. 
Israel used the capture of Shalit as a pretext to wage war on Gaza. 
Palestinian groups assert that the capture of Shalit was a response 
to the abduction of Dr. Osama Muantar and his brother, Mustafa.

Since the start of "Operation Summer Rain" in late June, Israel has 
pounded Gaza with thousands of artillery shells and air strikes. The 
United Nations humanitarian agencies working in Gaza reported that 
the Israeli military has "fired on average 200-250 artillery shells 
per day into the Gaza Strip and conducted at least 220 aerial 
bombings." The violence used against the civilian population and 
infrastructure is increasing, rather than abating, causing billions 
of dollars in damage. Several UN agencies and human rights groups 
warn that a disaster of catastrophic proportions is imminent if the 
status quo--the complete closure of Gaza and the population's 
inaccessibility to medicines, food and supplies--is not changed. The 
United Nations humanitarian agencies stated, "We are concerned that 
with international attention focusing on Lebanon, the tragedy in Gaza 
is being forgotten."

An Amoral Partnership

Israel's main ally, private ATM machine, and arms supplier, America, 
has been similarly brutal in its attempted conquests. Since the start 
of the US invasion in Iraq, an estimated 150,000 Iraqi civilians have 
perished. There is no official number of resistance and foreign 
fighters killed during this period, but if one were to use November 
2004 as a measuring stick--a month in which approximately 1000 
fighters were killed--more than 40,000 insurgents would be killed to 
date. In November 2004, American forces "battled" for 
Fallujah--apparently using phosphorus bombs that burn to the bone in 
the process--and considered this the period in which the largest 
Iraqi fighter death toll amassed. Given these numbers, nearly four 
Iraqi civilians have died for every one fighter; for the sake of the 
population, I dare not consider this "mission accomplished."

What Happens Next?

The intense and indiscriminate force used by Israel should spark not 
only condemnation and swift action by the international community, 
but fear. Dan Halutz, once the star pupil of old comatose Sharon, is 
already packing his suitcase for civilian duty. Ehud Olmert and Amir 
Peretz, however, are not going down without a fight. After the fall 
of Labor, and the subsequent rise and fall of Likud, Olmert and 
Peretz were positioned to be the new wave of Israeli 
politics--whether the Israeli public liked it or not. When the 
invasion began, morale was predictably strong, but with war comes 
politics, and in this case, war brought defeat.

Olmert and Peretz need a victory fast. Fighting till the bitter end 
before the cease-fire was implemented didn't accomplish this goal, 
and rather than fading into the dark dungeons of Israeli politics, 
they will have no other choice but to up the ante on the second phase 
of war. The reason for the fight? The existential threat to the state 
of Israel is more imminent than ever before--Olmert is even putting 
his West Bank convergence plan on the back burner. Furthermore, 
Hezbollah has been not disarmed, but rather galvanized by Israel's 
embarrassment, and Hezbollah must be defeated. The course of this 
line of thinking will take Israel no further in Lebanon than it has 
taken America in Iraq. One only need to point Olmert and Peretz to 
the people chanting and waving signs at the massive demonstrations 
taking place throughout the US, Europe and the Arab world: "No 
justice, no peace!" These words have resonance today in Lebanon, the 
occupied Palestinian territories, and throughout the Arab world. 
Unfortunately for Israel and its America ally, who hoped for a 
different type of "new Middle East," these words are being put into action.


Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political website 
<http://www.PoeticInjustice.net>www.PoeticInjustice.net He lives in 
New York City as a Palestinian American freelance writer, poet and 
performer and can reached via email at 
<mailto:remroum at gmail.com>remroum at gmail.com.


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