Israel has no right, even under attack . . .
August 7, 2006 I received an email from an overseas friend last week - decrying the horrific terror that Israel is raining down on Lebanese civilians with reckless abandon and the blessing of the US. Having just lost my father, I feel especially tuned to the feeling of loss that so many in Lebanon (and Israel and Afghanistan and Iraq and Congo and so many other violent places in the world) are suffering with now. This letter is reprinted, unedited and with permission:
I'm angry again. They say that you should never write a letter when you're angry, but too bad. I can't vent in any "letters to the editor" sections and I don't have a blog, so I'll leave it to you to carry the torch.
I consider myself a friend of Israel. I believe that it has a right to exist and to defend itself. I cringe every time a suicide bomber kills innocent civilians in Israeli cities, or when blindly aimed rockets land in populated areas. Think of the terror.
Even so --and, yes, I dare to say even with all the moral credibility behind Israel due to the Holocaust,-- Israel has absolutely no right to to go on a civilian killing spree to answer the current attacks against their population. Even many Israeli's --under attack-- are saying the same thing. Bush nicely suggests that Israel give a "measured response" and they have instead been killing a fly with a sledge hammer ... and too bad for any "collateral" damage. Those are KIDS, damn it! Screw the concept of "acceptable losses"! Hizbollah (correct spelling) MUST stop their attacks, yes. But Israel MUST find a way of dealing with this problem which doesn't KILL KIDS EACH TIME THEY ATTACK (Funny, no one has mentioned this about Palestine, by the way. Guess we're used to it. Maybe Israel was counting on this apathy for their Lebanon operation too?). I'm very much afraid that today's horrible massacre will only motivate more crazy Hizbollah members to take revenge in an equally horrible way. And round and round we go.
Israel's president Olmert wants "just 10 more days" to "put things in order". Jeez. I'm getting shivvers from memories of VietNam catch-phrases.. Anybody else reading this (who is old enough to remember) know what I mean? Bet you a nickel that "ten days" will drag out to ten months, if Bush doesn't use his wild card as Israel's billion-a-year big brother.
Time to mount up, peeples. Don't let this go on for ten more days. Our inaction is just as immoral as the massacre. Get the word out, please, today. INUNDATE Congress and White House with emails, of course. But PLEASE, spread the word actively and try to get at least a couple of friends to act too... and ask them to do the same. Then you can feel like you've really done something this year.
To the friend I have reading this whose parents were in the death camps, I repeat: I am a friend of Israel, and you know that very well. But I also repeat: Israel has absolutely NO right to massacre all the innocents and kids among Hizbollah. If you want to email me about it seperately, I'll be glad to discuss it with you, but I warn you, I won't put up with anymore hypocrisy (the Israeli Army is going to investigate itself), santimonious "how dare you's" , cynicism ("they bombed themselves" or "yes,
Israel bombed those women and kids, but they were actually victims of Hizbollah") or "me, me, me" selfishness. When Israel can start crying foul when OTHER genocides occur (complete silence during Cambodia, Rwanda, et al), they'll make up for the some of the credibilty they've lost in these unreasonable attacks. Time to cut the shit.To my other friends, your comments are equally welcome.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher N.
Well said. And sadly, the killing only continues. The grieving only swells. The defense companies get richer. And the USA has agreed to a 'rush' sale of bombs for Israel.
Hug your children. Kiss your spouse or partner and tell them that you love them. Try once each day to take a peaceful approach when you might be tempted to curse someone (even if silently; thoughts matter). It's time for any step we can take to increase the love in the world.
Politics
Reader Comments (13)
As to the children, why were they there to begin with? They had been repeatedly warned to leave. Where were the men? Why only women and children in the building? The obvious answer? They were family members of the fighters or were being held there as "protection". As sad as it is, this is how these thugs operate. Your choice is to continue to take a beating from the rockets or go after them. Joe and friends, these folks are after you and yours. When will you stand up and recognize that that is their ultimate goal. They don't want to live in peaceful coexistance with you, they want you and yours seriously dead!
Killing innocent people is wrong. It is wrong when terrorists like al Qaeda kill people. It is wrong when terrorists like Hizbullah kill people. It is wrong when the US invades Iraq and uses white phosphorus weapons. And it is wrong for Israel to obliterate Lebanon and kill so many innocents.
It is absolutely evil for Israel to just kill and kill and kill. Thankfully, there are many in Israel who decry this abhorrent behavior. Just as many in Lebanon are against Hizbullah, and more and more in the USA are disgusted with the actions of the Bush administration starting an unnecessary war.
Now, stating that the people who did not evacuate basically deserve what they get is the same type of incredibly ignorant statement that some directed towards those in New Orleans who lacked the means to leave when Katrina was coming. You and I have the means to go elsewhere if we were warned of impending doom to our town. We have cars and resources to expend to evacuate. Just as many in Lebanon did do. But what about the people who do not have that ability? Even if there were the offer of free bus transportation, that is not even an option, since the Israeli military doesn't blink or think twice about destroying ambulances, vans, or anything else that is larger than a personal car.
Unfortunately, too many like you, Bush, Hillary, Lieberman, and many others have no respect for the lives that are being squashed. Blind allegiance to Israel no matter what. Just as the Bush administration expects blind acceptance of whatever actions the US chooses to impose on others.
Hizzbullah has a long and disgusting history of kidnap, torture, murder, and all manner of terrorism. They have wisely provided many social services (similar to the approach of bin Laden) and that must gain some support. But Hizbullah is hardly the 'party of god'.
Still, in Lebanon, as in Israel and the USA and every corner of the globe, there remain people who recognize that killing is killing, and that killing is wrong.
I never said they deserved what they got. I made an observation that there were other reasons for them to be there. Again, the choices are stark. Go after those that are harming you or continue to allow it to happen. Those are the choices here.
Love is a great message. Peace is what most of us desire. I said most, unfortunately not all. It's pretty presumptious of you to know how I feel, personally, about the deaths. I am saddened by those deaths as I'm sure you are.What still puzzles me about your side of the arguement, is the lack of any concrete solutions for these problems. Here's what I can gather from your post:
Solutions to the world terrorist crisis:1) get rid of Bush and everybody associated with him2) get rid of all Republicans in the Senate and the House3) remove all the troops from Iraq immediately4) stop supporting Israel
Is that about it?
So:
You guys run everything. What now?
Do you care that Iran will soon have nuc capability and delivery systems?If so, how would you deal with this?If not, are you prepared to face the consequences of not caring? Like Islamofasism running the entire Middle East? Live and let live? What if they cut off oil supplies? Don't worry about it, buy a hybrid?
Oh, and while your thinking about the first one, consider all of the lives that will be lost because these guys will kill anybody that disagree with them. Let's see that's the entire Jewish (and likely Arab) population of Israel. All of the brave folks that stood up for democracy in Iraq. Let's not forget all of the Christians in any of the Middle East countries. Stretching the imagination? You just have to look at the behavor of the Taliban in Afganistan to see that future.
The typical solution from your side: compassion, accomodation, appeasement. Neville Chamberlin would be proud of you, Joe!
Mad
It is NOT acceptable to just blindly kill hundreds (and now over 1,000) Lebanese because there are *some* terrorists there.
Hey, there were apparently terrorists in the UK that were plotting to use liquid explosives to blow up planes. Is it time for Blair to order bombing raids on London? Remember, they only arrested 24 possible terrorists so far. We know there are more. The US and UK do not exactly have a 100% success rate of only imprisoning the guilty ....although some of your comments in the past make it clear that you have no problem seeing prisoners tortured.
You are simply advocating throwing gasoline on a fire. No, I do not have the answer. And neither do you.
Where in the world have you been? Hezbollah has been build their warfighting ability, storing arms, building bunkers for 6 years with the apparent complicity of the Lebanese government or at least a blind eye.
Israel is doing their best to avoid civilan casualties while at the same time trying to get these guys to stop lobbing rockets over the border, deep into Israel. They are not doing anything blindly. They are not intentionally targeting civilians unlike their adversaries.
But the bottom line is you don't have the answers, and yes I do. You go after these guys until they are gone or quit. You isolate them, deny them terrain, a safe place to hid, find out where their money is and stop the flow and take them out. You put pressure on the Saudis and others to reign in the Wahabis. You put pressure on the mainstream Muslims to help eradicate this cancer. This is a war Joe. Your side just hasn't figured that out yet.
Mad
As for pressure on the Saudis ...Hey, how's that going, anyway? Do you really think there's ANY serious effort there? We want their oil, so we're not going to mess up our supply. We as a nation do not look at what's right from a moral standpoint. As a nation we look at what's 'right' from a standpoint of keeping our standard of living high and keeping wars at away from our shores and off of our tv screens.
Has Israel EVER done anything wrong in your eyes? Has Bush? You blindly lock-step to whatever Bush and Israel want to do. Or am I mistaken? I hope so, but NOTHING you have ever said or written has indicated that there is a SINGLE thing with which you disagree when it comes to the Bush administration ...and now Israel.
Or is this just that you are afraid that if you divulge some error in Bush activities, that it somehow that indicates weakness?
I really don't know. But you do seem to have lost the critical thought that I once thought you posessed. You have become, as far as I can tell, just another neocon spouting the same hateful lines.
You talk about losing critical thinking. I'm not running around spouting countless unverified and debunked conspiracy theories. Your position is that all evil in the world is directly or indirectly connected to the Bush crime family. Sheesh!
As far as hate is concerned, I have not made a single personal attack against you or others in this forum. You've come damn close several times.
All lives are important in my eyes. I would not knowingly harm anyone intentionally, unless (this is where we depart company I guess) I am attacked. Then I will defend myself, family, friends, and countrymen (including you, Joe). Because those lives are important too. If those who attacked me were in amongst innocents (although this isn't really accurate, since they do know who is amongst them) I would try my best to avoid hurting them, but I would still go after them. To allow my attackers to continue their efforts would be suicide.
Oh and as far as "torture". You bet I would if it meant that our country would be safer as a result. Let's qualify what I mean by torture as has been exercised by our country. Loud music, sleep depravation, wearing panties on the head, etc. Yep, would do it in a heartbeat. Torture as exercised by everyone we have fought: methodical rape, pulling of nails, flaying of skin, electric shock, beatings with rubber hoses. No!
As for Lisa, I should have responded I suppose so here's my response. It was an accident...not intentional...didn't mean to do it... see link: http://www.adl.org/Israel/uss.asp and yeh, I know it's from the ADL so don't bother.
There are plenty of things I don't agree with President Bush on, including:1) immigration policy2) lack of fiscal restraint
That goes for the Israeli government:1) Giving up the Gaza and parts of the West Bank
As we all know, no good deed goes unpunished. They will have to take it back eventually to protect themselves. There is no evidence that handing over the territory has made a bit of difference in the Palestinian plight or peace.
Watch the video and hear it from the people who were there.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7267134620652018859
First off, I'd like to preceed this comment by saying that I am *not* in love with either political parties. I'd be more than happy to vote for a liberal or republican I thought had the brains and the balls to do the right thing for our species (not necessarily our country).
#1- Terrorism has become the modern version of "gurrella fighting" during the American revolution. It has overturned conventional associaltons with "War" and creates a situation where those "in power" and doing things "status-quo" are at a disadvantge (Majorly). Analogies include:--Gurrella tactics during Amer. Revolution--Blitzkreig tactics during WWII--Longbow destruction of Heavy Horse
I dont know what the answer to Terrorism is, but I think that the modern powers are "behind the curve" on what to do.
#2 (This comment is brutal) I'd like to respond to your question "how many innocent deaths is enough?"
My answer is --> as many as it takes. Period. but as few as we can (of course). It is a balancing act of unflinchingly doing what it takes.
Before you recoil in horror at this comment, please consider the people killed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Consider the countless innocent people killed all over europe by mass bombings, shellings, and "collateral damage" done by allied troops.
These are things we dont often think of, but nevertheless they happened. Democracy, Freedom, and general homo-sapien fairness has clearly won in one major incident in recent world history. WWII. During that time, the allied troops unflinchingly did whatever it took to crush and eradicate the evil facing them.
They accomplished that task.Completely.They killed civilians along the way.Both directly and by infrastructure devastation.As a case-in-point, the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki was probably the single most massive killing of innocent lives during WWII at any one moment.
We did that.
and the world is a better place for it.
Im not arguing we commit genocide.
Im not saying I totally agree with what Israel did.
I *am* saying, however, that the only way.. that in the past.. in situations like .. for example.. the Cuban Missle Crisis.. and WWII .. what has worked is the will and determination to unflinchingly complete the mission and make sure Totalitarian individuals understand that there are *serious* consequences to their actions.
I'd love for there to be a way out of situations like the one in the middle east that doesnt include innocent loss of life.
Unfortunately, IMHO, we're all mostly to blame due to our addiction to oil financing states that are, almost, totally uncivilized.
Unfortunately, These groups are playing on our weakness of finding "non-combatant" death abhorrent.
Unfortunately, every civilian we kill brings the possibility of recruiting another martyr for their cause.
And, unfortunately, the only thing that seems to work, from Israel's point of view, is a disproportunate response.
Do you really think if we threatened to NUKE Damascus, Teheran, and Pyung Yang tomorrow.. if these countries didn't stop.. and they really *really* thought that we were serious.. do you *Really* think they wouldnt stop?
I mean.. honestly.
Dont get me wrong, im not, necessarily, suggesting this as a foreign policy.
But during WWI, we were only attacked once. Our country wasnt, directly, threatened. We came to the aid of our friends and neighbors.
I say civilian casualties are no reason to stop going after the enemy. As long as you eradicate it.
So now I ask you.. what will it take for a Hiroshima state of mind to be "acceptable"?
another 9/11?another Pearl Harbor?WMD attack on US soil?Never?
LOL
So now I ask you.. what will it take for a Hiroshima state of mind to be "acceptable"?
WOW Unbelievable! I wonder if you would feel the same about that Hiroshima bomb if it were dropped on your house. There are plenty of people in the world who call us terrorists for attacking a country (Iraq) that did nothing to us. I can only hope you’re under the age of 16 with a statement like that because if you’re an adult something went wrong with your reasoning skills along the way.
"What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.This we know: the earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the earth.All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it.Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."-Chief Seattle (1786-1866)
So now I ask you.. what will it take for a Hiroshima state of mind to be "acceptable"?
WOW Unbelievable! I wonder if you would feel the same about that Hiroshima bomb if it were dropped on your house. There are plenty of people in the world who call us terrorists for attacking a country (Iraq) that did nothing to us. I can only hope you’re under the age of 16 with a statement like that because if you’re an adult something went wrong with your reasoning skills along the way.
"What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.This we know: the earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the earth.All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it.Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."-Chief Seattle (1786-1866)