Previous Political Postings

I Wanted to be Wrong

Against all odds, the ceasefire in Lebanon is basically holding- so far, anyway. So far my prediction has not come true! How sweet it can be to be wrong.Both sides are claiming victory, which reminds me of a quote from a Terry Pratchett book (to paraphrase: “Both sides claimed victory, but as usual, the actual score was “Ravens 10 000, Humans 0”) Anyway, it seems the Israeli public is not buying the idea that Israel won. True, it initially allowed itself to be whipped into a frenzy of gung-ho militarism, but certain realities are now sinking in. The mighty IDF cannot defeat a guerilla army in the hills of southern Lebanon, nor can it isolate Hezbollah within Lebanon through collective punishment administered from the air. Hezbollah seems to be more entrenched than ever within Lebanon. The last international force that tried to do Israel’s dirty work in Lebanon retreated with its tail between its legs after the bombing of the Marine barracks in 1983.Only a few months ago, Amir Peretz represented the hope of a rejuvenated Labour Party as a leftist force in Israeli politics. After having unwisely accepted the post of Defense Minister and conducted this disastrous war, that war may now finish his political career. I hear that the calls for his resignation grow louder by the day. And the shine has also come off of the Prime Minister, Olmert, triumphant in the elections of a few months ago, now embattled under attacks from both left and right.Meanwhile Iran and Syria are crowing. It is the misfortune of the Lebanese to be in the caught in the middle of this insane power struggle.



Flamboozling, and the Alleged Non-Relationship Between Mortality and Morality

(Words from British reporter Robert Fisk- excerpts from “Tea and rockets: café society, Beirut-style”, The Independent, Aug. 13. 2006)“A long radio interview with an Israeli professor who says "the number of people killed [in this war] doesn't reflect morality". Well, at more than a thousand Lebanese civilians dead against a few dozen Israelis, it can't reflect morality because, if it did, that would suggest Israel was committing war crimes.”

The Israeli professor's statement is yet another example of the mentalist-essentialist theory of morality in action. This moral theory is divorced from the world of fact: it says, "Never mind the facts- morality is in the ego- how we define ourselves as moral beings by what we proclaim/believe to be true about ourselves. We define ourselves as people who don’t target civilians. A thousand civilians die under our bombs? Sheer coincidence, for by definition, we do not target civilians."But seriously, possibly the only real difference on the subject between Israel and Hezbollah- apart from the fact that Israel’s sheer power has enabled it to kill about 30 civilians to Hezbollah’s one- is that while Hezbollah makes no apologies about going after civilians, period, Israelis make no apologies about going after civilians because they are able to delude themselves into thinking that what is most obvious about what they are doing is simply not their responsibility. Does Israel’s comforting self-image elevate it over Hezbollah’s brutal honesty, or honest brutality? No more than Hezbollah’s honest brutality elevates it over Israel’s delusional brutality.

Fisk continues: “But Hizbollah will also have their day of reckoning. Who gave them the right to bring this cruelty down upon the head of every Lebanese? Who gave the Shias permission to go to war for Lebanon? There will be questions in Israel too. How come the Israel Defence Forces, famous in legend and song, could not defend the people of Israel, despite slaughtering so many Lebanese civilians? "NOTE: In another article, Fisk states that: “The US saw this war as an opportunity to humble Hizbollah's Iranian and Syrian sponsors but already it seems as if the tables have been turned. The Israeli military appears to be efficient at destroying bridges, power stations, gas stations and apartment blocks - but signally inefficient in crushing the "terrorist" army they swore to liquidate.”- Robert Fisk: “As the 6am ceasefire takes effect... the real war begins” (The Independent, Aug. 14, 2006 )

Flamboozling

“Cody has invented a great new word: to "flamboozle". It's what politicians do to their people when they go to war. Ehud Olmert has been flamboozling the Israelis and Sayed Hassan Nasrallah has been flamboozling Lebanon's Shias. We may have a ceasefire at the weekend. So the end of the flamboozling may be nigh.” Sadly, I doubt it, but here’s hoping anyway. We might as well have hope, or we are lost.



Friday, August 11, 2006: "You Have Been Duly Warned" : First Come the Fliers, then the Bombs

Robert Fisk reports on the document Israel air-dropped on Beirut yesterday: "Yesterday's air-dropped Israeli document ordered Shia Muslims in Beirut's Hay al-Selloum, Bourj al-Barajneh and Shiyah districts to abandon their homes "immediately". In other words, the Israeli army wishes to "cleanse" every civilian out of the 12 square miles between Beirut airport and the old Christian civil war frontline at Galerie Semaan.This malicious document ends with a sinister threat - which breaks all the relevant rules of the Geneva Conventions - that "each expansion of Hizbollah terrorist operations will lead to a harsh and powerful response and its painful response will not be confined to Hassan's gang of criminals" (i.e. Hizbollah).So what does "not be confined to" mean? That it is the civilians who will pay the price - this time in Beirut - as they have in the Israeli air force massacres of southern Lebanon over the past three weeks?Well, stand by for more Hizbollah atrocities and more Israeli atrocities."(from "Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine" The Independent, August 11, 2006)

Oh dear. No doubt this last statement is yet another example of pernicious "moral equivilence" (a staple of the 'anti-Israel left")- because, by defintition, the actions of a terrorist group must always be far worse than those of a legitmate state. Thus, if Hizbollah commits atrocities, Israel does not. Right? Those who don't accept this reasoning place Israel on the same level as Hizbollah (morally equivilant) and thus deny it legitamcy as a state, thus agreeing to the destruction of Israel, which is furthermore to be anti-Semitic. Got all that? See how cunningly people disguise their anti-Semitism in the guise of concern for human beings!

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006




An interesting perspective (from George Monbiot, a self-acknowledged "peacenik") on the current war in Lebanon, which suggests that Israel's assault had been planned for some time and that it was simply waiting for the right moment to strike.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1839244,00.html

Incidentally, Robert Fisk (who makes clear his disdain for both Israel and Hezbollah in his reporting from Lebanon) reported that it seemed that Hezbollah had also been planning for this, and that is why it's got such an arsenal of rockets now.

Both sides were prepared, cynically prepared. The only ones who weren't prepared were the Lebanese (apart from Hezbollah), and they're the ones bearing the brunt of this. Both sides claim to act in self-defence. Both are in fact guilty of aggression. It is merely due to the tremendous power imbalance that Israel has done far damage than Hezbollah. That power imbalance is a reality that must be taken into account. Does Israel face a serious threat to its existence? If Israel was having done unto it what it now does unto others, I could take that idea seriously.




Aug. 7, 2006: The Time for Peace is Now

I went to a demonstration for peace in Lebanon yesterday (to clarify: the peace is to be in Lebanon- and Israel- but the demo was in Montreal, starting from Parc Lafontaine). It was much larger than the last one I was at- tens of thousands of people were there. It was great weather for a demo- blue skies & sunshine.

I had mixed feelings about some of the chants, especially since there were supporters of Hezbollah in the crowd who had their own chants equating Hezbollah with resistance. This is interesting. Hezbollah is unable to do anything about Israeli bombing, so their “resistance” appears to consist mainly in retaliatory rocket attacks on northern Israel. (Or are the Israeli bombings in “retaliation” for the Hezbollah rocket attacks? A pretty pointless argument, don’t you think?) Yes, there's nothing like retailiating for ensuring your security- "even if we can't prevent death from coming down on you from above, we'll make damn sure people on the other side of the fence pay for your lives with their lives."

Seen in that light, Hezbollah is indeed “resisting” the Israeli onslaught, but let’s not forget that they also provoked it. On the other hand, I was taught as a child that being provoked doesn’t excuse very much. Perhaps it’s this that biases me against Israel’s “the best defense is a strong offensive” brand of “self-defense”. That, and the facts on the ground, and in the ground, underground (six feet under). There’s also the fact that if I were to respond to provocations as Israel is doing, I’d be locked up for my “measured responses”, as a danger to society. But then, the term “diplomatic immunity” can mean many things, can’t it?


Actually, what’s happening is quite simple when you think about it. Israel’s foreign policy is based on the idea that its interests require that it be feared throughout the region. Hamas and Hezbollah made brazen attacks upon Israel, and this required a devastating response, otherwise Israel might no longer be feared. Are we supposed to believe that in Lebanon Hezbollah has been lurking on all the highways, in the power plants, hospitals, factories and communications stations, using bridges as launching pads for missile attacks, and that when people flee their villages on the orders of the Israeli army there must be terrorists hiding among them? No. Israel has been making an example out of Lebanon. It doesn't need to launch air attacks that specifically aim to cause civilan casulties- all it has to do is massively bombard populated areas with a reckless disregard for human life and of course it will spread terror and death among civilians. That'll learn 'em. Now it continues its onslaught on Lebanon in order to not lose face, just as Nixon prolonged the Vietnam War for years so that the U.S. would not appear to be a “helpless giant” in the face of communists. On the other side, as long as Hezbollah can go on being widely seen as heroic resisters of Israeli aggression, there'll be little incentive for it to stop its own outrages.

In the face of this, what should we do? Well for starters, we shouldn't support it, and we should try to help the belligerants find a way out of their madness. So thank you, Stephen Harper, for bringing me out into the streets yesterday. You thought it better to join in the madness yourself, in your own way. I'll resist it as best I can, in my own way.

Peace- Paix- Pax- Paz- Shalom