Breaking News: Another temporary patch
As if there hasn't been enough temporary fixes to conflicts in the Middle East, here comes another imperfect, and very pro-Israeli UNSC resolution:
And all this activity in Lebannon, is masking the other big Israeli incursions, this time in Gaza, Palestine. I say it like that (Gaza, Palestine), because it seems as though Israel has been working these past 30 years to exhaust the Palestinians into abandoning their hopes for statehood, so Israel can get bigger territory. This is, of course, a personal impression. That said, it seems the only logical explanation for the policies that encouraged the implantation of kibbutz-colonies all over Palestinian territories. It made no other sense strategicaly, as they were putting some of their own population at obvious risk, in the middle of hostile, occupied land. However it did give them an excuse to invade and/or retaliate, every single time there was the smallest attack from the occupied Palestinians. All this gives me the impression that the dream of Eretz Israel dies hard really hard. I was thinking about this, and then I found this piece (granted, by pretty liberal people), and I really, really wonder...
Moreover, I find it rather interesting that when the Palestinians or the Lebanese militant groups attack civilians, everybody is offended, but when Tzahal kills civilians, everybody lets them get away with calling it collateral damage. Furthermore, when the groups finally leave the civilians alone, and kidnaps soldiers, all hell breaks loose. What are these people to do to get back their dignity, and at least some of their land? Because you know Israel is never going to give in peacefully...
In any case, Terror as a weapon, whether carried-out by an organised group, or a recognized state, is still Terrorism, and should be equally punished. Colonization, whether by the prejudiced Europeans in the past 500 years, or by the formerly-oppressed Jews in the past 50, is still colonization, and should be equally punished. Kidnapping of civilians (or anyone), whether by Arab militants, or by Israeli soldiers, is criminal, and should be equally punished. And if Israel says it does not kidnap innocent civilians, only people with blood on their hands, the Arabs can make the very same arguments about the Tzahal soldiers they have kidnapped, and it will be equally ridiculous.
UN calls on Israel, Hizbollah to stop fighting | World News | Reuters.co.uk:And it's not even like it is really making a difference on the field. The Lebanese government is hesitant to accept it, and Israel is almost ignoring it, as it organized further strikes this saturday, on Lebanese territory:
"UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council adopted unanimously on Friday a resolution calling for an end to fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah and authorising up to 15,000 new peacekeepers to enforce it.
The vote capped weeks of anguished negotiations on a plan to halt the war that began when Israel attacked Lebanon after the July 12 abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas in a cross-border raid. Hizbollah then rained rockets on northern Israel."
JERUSALEM -- Long columns of Israeli tanks, troops and armoured personnel carriers streamed over the Lebanese border early today as Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive, hoping to inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah before a proposed ceasefire deal comes into effect.I am sorry to repeat myself, but I must scream: DOUBLE-STANDARDS, DOUBLE-STANDARDS, DOUBLE-STANDARDS!!! I am not a defender of Hizbollah, because I do not believe in religious fundamentalism, in any form, and Islamic fundamentalist practices are something that I abhore. But I also see Tzahal and the other Shin Bet, Mossad and the Israeli government, as being every bit as fanatic, and every bit as responsible for the current situation. Israel is always portrayed in the media, as a democratic state (which it is), that is oh so liberal, and oh so benevolent (which could not be further from the truth). Everybody seems to forget that it is a state created on the premise that a piece of INHABITED land, was theirs by a God-given right. In this context, and considering that Israel has "chronical invasionitis", I cannot help but see that Hezbollah is, in this particular case, justified, or at the very least, IMHO, at par with Israel.
Israeli officials said the military would push forward with the expanded offensive, ordered yesterday by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, despite a UN Security Council resolution that calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The campaign will continue at least until tomorrow when Olmert will bring the resolution to his government for discussion, said Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, adding Olmert intends to urge the cabinet to approve it.
The resolution authorizes the deployment of 15,
And all this activity in Lebannon, is masking the other big Israeli incursions, this time in Gaza, Palestine. I say it like that (Gaza, Palestine), because it seems as though Israel has been working these past 30 years to exhaust the Palestinians into abandoning their hopes for statehood, so Israel can get bigger territory. This is, of course, a personal impression. That said, it seems the only logical explanation for the policies that encouraged the implantation of kibbutz-colonies all over Palestinian territories. It made no other sense strategicaly, as they were putting some of their own population at obvious risk, in the middle of hostile, occupied land. However it did give them an excuse to invade and/or retaliate, every single time there was the smallest attack from the occupied Palestinians. All this gives me the impression that the dream of Eretz Israel dies hard really hard. I was thinking about this, and then I found this piece (granted, by pretty liberal people), and I really, really wonder...
Moreover, I find it rather interesting that when the Palestinians or the Lebanese militant groups attack civilians, everybody is offended, but when Tzahal kills civilians, everybody lets them get away with calling it collateral damage. Furthermore, when the groups finally leave the civilians alone, and kidnaps soldiers, all hell breaks loose. What are these people to do to get back their dignity, and at least some of their land? Because you know Israel is never going to give in peacefully...
In any case, Terror as a weapon, whether carried-out by an organised group, or a recognized state, is still Terrorism, and should be equally punished. Colonization, whether by the prejudiced Europeans in the past 500 years, or by the formerly-oppressed Jews in the past 50, is still colonization, and should be equally punished. Kidnapping of civilians (or anyone), whether by Arab militants, or by Israeli soldiers, is criminal, and should be equally punished. And if Israel says it does not kidnap innocent civilians, only people with blood on their hands, the Arabs can make the very same arguments about the Tzahal soldiers they have kidnapped, and it will be equally ridiculous.
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posted by TheMalau at
4:02 AM
2 Comments:
What's in all fairness so double standard about the resolution? There is logic to it that Israel has to withdraw from Lebanon, that the Lebanese army should be controlling south Lebanon and not Syria and Iran (using Hezbollah as a proxy). The Lebanese will be supported by a UN force. What's wrong with that? It's a very balanced resolution.
By
Tal, at 2:01 AM
Do not get me wrong, I agree that the resolution is very balanced. But when Israel is in a tight spot, then the US flies to the rescue, and forces a resolution through the Security council, albeit a balanced one.
But when it is Israel that needs to be called to order, and reminded that there are such things as human rights, and that Arab lives are valuable too, then the US blocks resolution in the Security Council. And here, Lebanon is expected to implement this resolution immediately, while with the one resolution that asked Israel to leave South Lebanon, it took Israel almost 20 years (and pressure by Hezbollah) to execute it. Israel (and the US) are always allowed to pick and choose which resolution to implement, because they can bully their way through, being the military powers they are. The other countries (like Iran, Iraq, Land now Lebanon) are not given that option are they? At least not without sever sanctions.
That's what I meant by double standards.
By
TheMalau, at 3:12 AM
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