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Making War On A People

Comment by Larry Ross, September 3, 2006

Throughout the Israeli offensive against Lebanon, Israel has claimed this is in retaliation against Hezbollah for capturing 2 Israeli soldiers. Only Hezbollah they claim. In fact they attacked a well-known and marked UN observation post. This killed 4 UN staff even though the staff had been in regular contact with Israel forces warning that the Israeli bombs were getting closer to the base.
Israel did not stop, but continued bombing until they killed the UN officers. They then rubbed in the outrageous crime by attacking the rescue mission. This was a deliberate attack on the UN by Israel, which Israel then claimed was a mistake.

Although Israel kept claiming the war was against Hezbollah, they systematically attacked the infrastructure and people of Lebanon.

 In the words of Lois Griffith's speaking in Christchurch Square on Sept 2, 2006, Israel attacked:
"supermarkets, bridges and roads, well-marked Red Cross ambulances, etc. Nearly 1,000,000 people were made homeless and nearly 1,200 people killed - 1/3rd children" Were they all Hezbollah?

Lois goes on: "UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has reported that thousands of civilians were at risk in south Lebanon from unexploded cluster bombs dropped by Israeli forces in the last three days of the war. That is vicious and a war crime.
 
"People are returning to their homes to find unexploded ordinances in their living room, in their patios, on their rooftops, and in their cars. Parents are terrified because there is no safe place for children to play."
 
Lois emphasized "the environmental catastrophe caused by the July Israeli attack on a power station, blowing up the plant's five large fuel tanks. Since then around 15,000 tons of oil have leaked into the Mediterranean sea. Friends of the Earth has warned that the spill threatens to be the greatest environmental disaster ever in the Eastern Mediterranean."
 
Although Israel claimed they were targeting Hezbollah, in fact they were making war on Lebanese civilians, their homes and their infrastructure.
 
That is the unpleasant reality - and many Jews are saying the same thing.
 
All peace loving people want Israel to live in a secure state, obey UN resolutions to get out of the territories it has occupied in Lebanon and Palestine and be in a peaceful, productive relationship with it's neighbours. Israel is militarily invincible with it's arsenal of some 200-500 nuclear weapons. No nation would risk annihilation by attacking Israel. Israel will remain invincible into the foreseeable future. It could easily make such a peace if there was the will.
 
Although Israel would have to stop it's territorial expansion,  the multiple benefits to Israel and it's neighbours of this new peace strategy would be huge and far outweigh any benefits of war. So far it appears that the Zionist leaders of Israel, backed and encouraged by the Bush Administration, are determined to deny these benefits to both the Jewish people and the Arab neighbours. Let us hope they reconsider the benefits of a secure peace, before their war making expands and destroys the entire Middle East.
 
The following article gives an indication of Israel's real present policies.

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US media: Israel's 'shocking' use of cluster bombs not newsworthy

by David DeGraw, August 31, 2006

The UN recently reported that they have "identified 359 cluster bomb strike locations with as many as 100,000 unexploded bomblets" in southern Lebanon. Amazingly, 90% of the bombs were dropped in the final 72 hours of the war. They also report that it can take years to clean them up and innocent civilians are being killed and wounded by these munitions every day.

In the first video clip to the right, Jan England, head UN Humanitarian official, calls this finding "shocking and completely immoral" -- and that's putting it lightly. The use of cluster bombs is illegal, and in this case it is a war crime.

Yet, US television "news" outlets don't consider these findings newsworthy. Could you imagine the coverage this would get if Hezbollah had done this to Israel? There would be endless coverage, pundits would have a much easier time comparing Hezbollah to Nazi Germany, and the Bush administration would certainly consider this grounds for bombing Iran.

I ran several searches to see what TV coverage I could find on this. And? I only found two very brief mentions -- one quick piece from CNN Headline News and a ridiculous mention from a local FOX affiliate in Philadelphia. Check out the second, bottom video to the right. This is all the information that a select few in Philly received -- notice how the FOX newscaster even gave this news a "hmm" before transiting to the next BIG story.

Ok, enough of this, I have to go catch up on the latest JonBenet Ramsey twist.

David DeGraw is AlterNet's video blogger