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Death in Lebanon
Sarah Meyer, INDEX RESEARCH
…The Guardian (10.08.06) casualty chart notes: Lebanon yesterday: Civilians killed: 8 (at least); To date: Civilians killed: 1,005; Israel yesterday: Civilians killed: 0; To date: Civilians killed: 35: The bodies of those still lying underneath the rubble are not included. Perhaps the Fox News Team should be sent to help dig them out, despite the Israeli restrictions on any form of movement. Let’s have a reality check, folks? I would like everyone to see the p! hotographs, with their captions, that have been sent to me by Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25681
UN Resolution fails to acknowledge that Israel has launched a War against Lebanon
Transcript of Resolution 1701: “the word “War” is not mentioned.
Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was drafted by France and the US in close consultation with the Israeli government. a) The resolution is in blatant violation of the UN charter and international law. It fails to acknoweldge that Israel has launched an all out war on Lebanon in violation of international law. It desc! ribes the bombing and destruction of an entire country as as a “conflict between Hizbollah and Israel”. The word “war” does not appear in the the text of the Resolution. b) Referring to the two abducted Israeli soldiers, the Resolution states that Hizbollah was responsible for launching “the attack on Israel on 12 July”. It denies the fact, amply documented, that an all out war against Lebanon had been in the planning stages well before July 12. c) The historical causes of the war are denied. The abduction of the two Israeli soldiers on July 12, is presented as a just cause for Israeli retaliation…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25686
The UNSC 1701 Resolution: Why No Lebanese Should accept it
The Angry Arab News Service
The UNSC 1701 Resolution: Why No Lebanese Should accept it. So here is the text of the draft UNSC resolution. “Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hizbollah’s attack on Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced per! sons.” This paragraph clearly lays the blame on Hizbullah for the Israeli war of aggression. And notice that Hizbullah’s capture of the Israeli soldiers is sneakily blamed for “the hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides.” Both sides is always brought up when Israeli record of murder and terrorism is being covered by an international agency under US pressures, in order to absolve Israel…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25683
Collective punishment against Lebanese civilians
The Angry Arab News Service
36 collective massacres occurred against the Lebanese civilians since the onset of the Israeli assault (from July 12-August 11). Israel violated all conventions related to the prohibition of collective punishment whereas it perpetrated voluntarily crimes against civilians and their properties, namely Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting collective punishment and Article 48 forbidding military actions against civi! lian populations and infrastructure. These collective massacres are as follows…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25700
Lebanon ‘peace deal’.
Lenin’s Tomb
…Since Israel hasn’t been able to win, and given a potential domestic crisis for Olmert as a result, it has accepted a resolution that doesn’t give it everything it wants, but is so vague that it cannot hinder the assault either. Israeli troops have been ordered to advance to the Litani. That being the case, there is no way they will evacuate quickly without being driven out: one does not try to advance 30 kilometres into another country only to beat a hasty retreat. What is m! ore, the Israelis continue to attack the civilian infrastructure, destroying the power facilities in the port city of Sidon. Among Israel’s other attacks was a calculated attack on a convoy of thirty cars fleeing Marjayoun, which killed at least six people and wounded thirty…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25684
Fascist Christian Militia With History of War Crimes Consulting With Fascist Israeli Occupation Army Also Guilty Of War Crimes
Palestinian Pundit
Israel has called on the services of the Christian militia it once sponsored in Lebanon to help its current fight against Hizbollah, the militia’s former leader has disclosed. Gen Anton Lahad assumed control of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in 1984 – two years after it was implicated in the massacre of up to several thousand Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and! Shatila. Now he says that Israel is tapping into his expertise in secret meetings…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25676
War now, peace later: Israel’s doves line up behind war – Part one
Jean Shaoul, WSWS
One of the most significant features of Israel’s wars of aggression in Gaza and Lebanon is the unanimity between the so-called “hawks” and movements that in the past were considered “doves.” Peace Now has remained largely silent over Israel’s massive assault on Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza, ongoing since June. In the case of Lebanon, from the moment full-scale hostilities began in July following Hezbollah’s capture of two I! sraeli soldiers, Peace Now declared its support for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Olmert government. It issued a statement on its web site explaining that its members had gone to Kibbutz Gonen in northern Israel to proclaim that Israel had the right to respond to the capture of the Israeli soldiers and that Peace Now supported Israel’s right to defend its borders. Peace Now has echoed the government’s propaganda that Israel faces provocations by Hamas and Hezbollah, accepting the official Israeli and American definition of both organisations as terrorist groups…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25692
We are all Hezbollah!
Sabbah’s blog
… I wrote this poem a few days ago..my friend in Lebanon passed on Friday. He was helping women and children escape from Tyre. His legs were blown off and he was left in this position for many hours. He later died on the way to assistance when the Hezbollah soldiers found him. He was not a soldier. Just a boy studying photography, he likes flowers and had a small little bird, and loved peanut butter. sorry if i sound mad right now…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25691
The Wailing Wall Martyr Brigade: Jewnetic Engineering
Gilad Atzmon, peacepalestine
As the Israeli Army buries its dead in what seems to be a war that the Jewish State can never win, we happen to learn from a high official within the Pentagon that Israel is about to make use of what seems to be its ultimate devastating weapon. We also have discovered that the recent French-American diplomatic push for a UN Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire is there to postpone the deployment of this new weapon, preventing Israel from dragging the world into a new horrifying phase of warfare, with results whose outcome cannot be predicted…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25697
Video
Lebanon Shocking Documentary “Fog of War”
WWW.TURNTOISLAM.COM
Best Lebanon War Documentary. Lebanese Doctors and Civillians Speak Out against the Terrorism they are facing from Israel. Chemical Weapons, Cluster Bombs, Massacres Shocking Documentary About the War in Lebanon and the tradgedy in Qana. Lebanese testimonials to the war there, please share this video! Doctors Speak Out Against War Crimes…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25660
Israel Wants the Litani River Water and Farmlands
Dr. Sam Hamod
The fact that Israel is trying to destroy all of Lebanon, not just Hezbollah, is clear by their bombing of Christian villages and other infrastructure that has nothing to do with Hezbollah. What Israel really wants is control of Lebanon by a puppet government, but also covets the Litani River and the lands it irrigates—very good cropland that is the heart of the Bekka Valley, which is the heart of Lebanese agriculture. Israel also wants the electric! ity the dams and the Litani generate—so that they may use this for more of their “settlements” and, just like Hitler, they want this area but use different names for their taking of the land of others…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25670
Huge cost of US-Israel State Terrorism
Gideon Polya
…The continued civilian-targeting and infrastructure bombing by racist, war criminal US-Israeli State Terrorists (USISTs; US planes, tanks, bombs and shells and Israeli military “just obeying orders”) is set to cause horrendous “annual avoidable deaths” of over 44,000 annually. The US is still blocking World demands for a ceasefire and USIST remains resolute in preventing Peace (or even “interim Peace”) with Equality, Justice and Reconciliation in the Middl! e East. The only sensible course for the Civilized World involves immediate International Boycotts and Sanctions (”free market choice” in all areas of human activity) against racist, war criminal US-Israeli State Terrorists (USISTs) and against all the countries, corporations and individuals supporting US and Israeli war crimes in the Middle East. Such Sanctions and Boycotts were ultimately successful against the similarly racist and violent Israel- and US-backed Apartheid regime in South Africa…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25673
Israeli strikes on Lebanese watersheds questioned
Kim Murphy
Israeli bombing has knocked out irrigation canals supplying Litani River water to more than 10,000 acres of farmland and 23 villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, raising accusations here that Israel is using its war on Hezbollah to lay claim to Lebanon’s prime watersheds. Heavy fighting and a series of targeted strikes on open water channels and underground water diversion pipes has effectively suspended much of Lebanon’s agricultural use o! f the Litani River along the coastal plain and in parts of the Bekaa Valley near Qaraon dam, according to water engineers who have surveyed the south…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25674
No dead Lebanese children on TV today
Craig Murray
…But let us do what none of the 24 hour news channels are doing; draw breath and count up to ten. What has actually happened so far? There have been, reportedly, 21 people arrested. There have been no terrorist attacks, no explosions. US sources are reported as saying that explosive devices have been found, but no news from the Police as yet. I am reminded of the Forest Gate arrests and the notorious “Chemical weapon vest” which was threatening London and requi! red 270 policemen and a four mile air exclusion zone to deal with. The media was shoving that out just as uncritically as it is shoving out this air attack, even though it made no sense. Anyone who knows anything about weapons knows that for a chemical weapon you want maximum dispersal – the last thing you are going to do is wrap it in fabric around a human body. And why the air exclusion zone? Were they going to throw the vest at a passing jet? The media never did ask any of those questions…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25662
Israel Prepares Wider Ground Offensive
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA Associated Press Writer
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided Friday to launch an expanded ground offensive in southern Lebanon after expressing dissatisfaction over an emerging cease-fire deal at the United Nations, government officials said. Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz made the decision after meeting for several hours. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes pounded south Beirut and border crossings to Syria, killing at least 14 people across Leb! anon as ground fighting picked up intensity in the south. It was not immediately clear whether Israel was trying to pressure the U.N. Security Council, which was close to a vote on a cease-fire resolution, or whether Israel is really determined to send troops deeper into Lebanon…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25661
The U.S. war against Lebanon
Eli Stephens, Left I on the News
Without comment: Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, two American officials said Thursday. The request for M-26 artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is likely to be approved shortly, along with other ! arms, a senior official said. (…) Cluster bombs, incidentally, are only illegal when used against civilians, not against military targets. And since Israel has declared that there are no civilians in southern Lebanon anymore, the problem is solved…
Read the full article: www.uruknet.info/?p=25654
Peace deal at UN is clouded by Israeli ambiguity
The Guardian
8/12/2006
Olmert appears to accept text hours after shocking security council by
insisting on going ahead with Lebanon offensive -- Israel's cabinet
will meet tomorrow to decide whether to accept the UN security
council's ceasefire resolution, but until then the government made
clear its troops would continue to advance into Lebanon. In an apparent
gambit to win time for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to make gains on
the battlefield, the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, signalled last night
that he would recommend acceptance of the peace plan, but would not act
on it until tommorrow's meeting. The delay seemed likely to cause anger
on the world stage, and trigger a Hizbullah response that would make
imposing a ceasefire even harder. But Israeli officials insisted that
the move was justified as Hizbullah rockets continued to fall...
IAF drone strikes refugee convoy; 7 reported dead, 36 wounded
Ha'aretz 8/12/2006
An Israeli Air Force drone fired missiles Friday night into a convoy of
refugees fleeing attacks in the southern town of Marjayoun, killing at
least seven people and wounding 36 others, an Associated Press
photographer traveling with the convoy said. The Israeli military said
it was investigating the incident. The convoy, consisting of more than
100 civilian vehicles and those carrying a detachment of 350 Lebanese
soldiers and police from the area around Marjayoun, was hit near
Chtaura on the west side of the Bekaa Valley. Later Friday, IAF
aircraft bombed two electricity transformers in south Lebanon, plunging
the port city of Tyre into darkness, security sources said. Two armored
UN peacekeeping vehicles had led the convoy out of Marjayoun on Friday
afternoon, but it was not known if they were still accompanying it when
the attack occurred.
Senior officers: Operation to continue as planned
YNet News 8/12/2006
Sources in Jerusalem say no contradiction between UN move, war in
field; note ceasefire will anyway wait for multinational force's
arrival. On Sunday, Olmert to recommend cabinet accept outline;
meanwhile, air strikes continue, IDF prefers for massive ground entry
-- While an agreement on a ceasefire in the Middle East was being
formed at the United Nations Security Council, senior Israel Defense
Forces officers said that the wide-scale operation – approved by Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz in accordance
with the cabinet decision – will be launched as planned. The goal:
Arriving at the Litani River, a move which according to the army's
estimates will take a week, and another four to six weeks to establish
the line and mop up the area.
UN Human Rights Council
Condemns Israel
Inter Press Service
8/11/2006
GENEVA, Aug 11 (IPS) - The United Nations Human Rights Council issued a
strongly worded condemnation of Israel Friday for violating human
rights and international humanitarian law in its military operations in
Lebanon. The highest U. N. human rights body, which held a special
session Friday to discuss the conflict in the Middle East, also decided
to send a high-level commission to the area to investigate "systematic
targeting and killing" of Lebanese civilians by Israel. The resolution
was approved by a vote of 27:11, with eight abstentions. The delegation
from Djibouti was absent during the voting. European Union members of
the Council, as well as Canada, Japan, Romania and the Ukraine voted
against the initiative. The new 47-member Council demanded that Israel
strictly comply with its obligations under international humanitarian
law...
Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast
New York Times
8/11/2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 — Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed
delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster
munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in
Lebanon, two American officials said Thursday. The request for M-26
artillery rockets, which are fired in barrages and carry hundreds of
grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area, is
likely to be approved shortly, along with other arms, a senior official
said. But some State Department officials have sought to delay the
approval because of concerns over the likelihood of civilian
casualties, and the diplomatic repercussions. The rockets, while they
would be very effective against hidden missile launchers, officials
say, are fired by the dozen...
Israelis hit heart of Beirut, warn of new suburbs to be
targeted
The Daily Star
8/11/2006
BEIRUT: Israel hit Beirut's historic lighthouse in the densely
populated western section of the capital Thursday - and warned
residents in three southern suburbs to get out immediately. The
lighthouse attack was the first to hit the heart of Beirut since
Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned a week ago that he
would fire rockets on Tel Aviv, if Israel hit the Lebanese capital. "If
you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping
entity. We will bomb Tel Aviv," Nasrallah said in a taped television
speech on August 3. The attack on Beirut damaged the top of the French
colonial-era lighthouse, which was no longer in use because buildings
have risen around it and blocked it from the sea.
As shelves go bare, Tyre residents go hungry
The Daily Star
8/11/2006
TYRE, Lebanon, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) - Waiting anxiously in his small
store in the south Lebanese city of Tyre, surrounded by empty shelves,
Mohammed Qassem prays for the safe return of his son who is out dodging
Israeli shells to try to buy more bread. "For a week now I have been
the only one who dared to open and people fell over each other to get
into my shop. Now I have nothing left -- no rice, no sugar, nothing," lamented the 69-year-old shopkeeper. "Yesterday I sent my son out with
a driver I paid 500 dollars to go fetch bread and other supplies from
Sidon," the main southern city 42 kilometers (26 miles) north up the
coast. "I pray to God that he returns safe and sound," he said. Cut off
from the rest of the country by the Israeli offensive, those
inhabitants of Tyre who have not fled north are now facing shortages of
food and essential items.
Rocket strikes 11-story building
Jerusalem Post
8/11/2006
120 rockets were fired at northern Israel on Friday. A katyusha rocket
directly hit an eleven story building in Kiryat Shmona Friday
afternoon. Rescue workers said that no major damage had been done to
the building and there was no danger that the building could collapse.
A number of rockets hit Kiryat Shmona earlier Friday, wounding one
woman who had been directly hit by shrapnel, while another person was
lightly wounded. At least three rockets hit Safed on Friday afternoon,
lightly wounding two residents who were taken to Ziv Hospital. Several
people in both locations were taken to hospital for shock. One home in
Haifa sustained a direct hit from several rockets on Friday morning.
Rescue forces were rushing to the scene.
Hezbollah fighters sink a further Israeli warship
Ma'an News 8/11/2006
Bethlehem – Hezbollah fighters have targeted an Israeli naval warship
opposite to shores of Tyre. Pictures of that warship have been
broadcast; appearing to confirm that at least one rocket has directly
hit it, causing it to sink with 12 crew members on board. The pictures
were transmitted on Al-Jazeera satellite news channel. [end]
UN votes for peace deal; Israeli cabinet to decide tomorrow
The Guardian
8/12/2006
The United Nations security council unanimously approved a resolution
calling for an end to the conflict in Lebanon late last night. Israel
announced it would respect the plan, but said it would not call off a
full-scale land invasion, launched yesterday, before tomorrow at the
earliest. Ending weeks of fraught negotiations between the US and
France, the resolution demanded a "full cessation of hostilities",
authorising the deployment of up to 15,000 UN peacekeepers in southern
Lebanon, to help Lebanese armed forces take control as Israeli troops
withdraw. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had called George Bush to
signal his agreement, and will ask his cabinet to approve the plan on
Sunday, foreign ministry spokesman Gideon Meir said. Until then, there
would be no halt to a major Israeli ground offensive launched
yesterday.
PM's Office: Lebanon offensive will continue
Ha'aretz 8/12/2006
Ehud Olmert's office said late Friday that the expanded incursion into
Lebanon would continue "for the time being," despite agreeing to a
cease-fire resolution drafted by the United Nations Security Council.
Israel will press ahead with its military offfensive in south Lebanon
until Israel's Cabinet approves an emerging Mideast cease-fire deal,
the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said early Saturday. "The logic would be that even in the framework of this successful
outcome, if you hand over to the Lebanese army a cleaner south Lebanon,
a south Lebanon where you have Hezbollah removed from the territory,
that makes their [the Lebanese] troubles a lot easier," Regev said.
Senior Israel Defense Forces officers said that the IDF is "continuing
forward at full power"...
Israel satisfied with changes made to cease-fire resolution
Ha'aretz 8/12/2006
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution that
calls for a halt to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Officials in the Prime Minister's Office as well as those close to
Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni expressed
satisfaction at the changes made to the draft UN Security Council
cease-fire resolution agreed upon by the U.S. and France, senior aides
to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Friday night. Olmert will recommend
to his ministers Sunday that the cabinet vote in favor of the
resolution. France and the United States reached a deal Friday on a
final draft resolution aimed at ending the month-long conflict between
Israel and Hezbollah, and announced the UN Security Council would vote
on the text later Friday.
Hariri 'cautiously optimistic' upon return to Beirut
The Daily Star
8/12/2006
BEIRUT: The head of Lebanon's largest parliamentary bloc said Friday he
was "cautiously optimistic" about an imminent solution of the
Lebanese-Israeli crisis. MP Saad Hariri arrived in Beirut Friday on
board a French helicopter from Cyprus. During the past month, Hariri
has traveled to Arab and European countries rallying support for
Lebanon and the implementation of an immediate cease-fire. Speaking at
the Grand Serail after meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the
Future bloc president said "brotherly and friendly countries are
deploying major efforts to reach a resolution" that would end the
one-month-old Israeli offensive against Lebanon. Hariri also said that
he has been in constant contact with Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah,
which he said was "taking stands in support of the government. "
Despite an international ban, Israeli Foreign Ministry claims
their use of cluster bombs not illegal
Palestine News
Network 8/11/2006
Without a real explanation, the Israeli Foreign Ministry declared that
it is not illegal for Israeli forces to use internationally banned
cluster bombs. After Israel declared war on Hezbollah on 12 July within
the context of years of struggle during Israel’s continued occupation
of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah then killing eight soldiers, Israeli
forces began using cluster bombs. Internationally recognized as illegal
and therefore banned, the Israeli air forces use them anyway. The
Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement Friday to explain why.
After being questioned on Israel’s use of prohibited weapons, the
Foreign Ministry wrote, “Concerning the use of cluster bombs by the IDF
are described as illegal, it should be noted that these methods of
combat are not prohibited under the International Charter on
Conventional Weapons, which Israel is a signatory. ”
Israeli Ambassador Lies
about use of Cluster Bombs; Israeli General admits they are being used
International Middle
East Media Center 8/12/2006
The day before the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement
indicating that there is nothing illegal about Israel's use of cluster
bombs, the Israeli Ambassador to Washington claimed that Israel had not
used cluster bombs in the conflict. When asked by Sam Husseini, of the
Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, "Are you using cluster
bombs in Lebanon? " Israeli ambassador Daniel Ayalon replied on Sunday: "No, we are not. We are not using anything which is not approved by the
UN Conventions and Charters. "But according to the New York Times,
Israeli General Gantz admitted to using cluster bombs during the
current conflict. “We try to minimize their use,” said General Gantz. “We only use them in designated areas that have been closed even by
Hezbollah itself. ”
Conservatives Slam Olmert, Blast Israeli War Strategy
By Ori Nir, Forward
8/11/2006
WASHINGTON — Staunchly pro-Israel conservatives with close ties to the
Bush administration say that Jerusalem is hindering America’s global
war on terror by failing to wage an all-out war to eliminate Hezbollah.
-- In interviews with the Forward and in recently published opinion
articles, conservatives slammed Israel’s reluctance to launch a
comprehensive ground-war against the Lebanese Shi’ite militia. Top
Israeli officials — particularly Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense
Minister Amir Peretz and the military’s chief of staff, Dan Halutz — have been subject to unusually harsh criticism from the pro-Israel
right, including prominent neoconservatives.
Hard-line Neo-Cons Assail
Israel for Timidity
By Jim Lobe, Inter
Press Service 8/11/2006
WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (IPS) - While much of the world has criticised
Israel for carrying out a "disproportionate" war against Hezbollah in
Lebanon, hard-line neo-conservatives have attacked the government of
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for timidity. As noted by diplomatic
correspondent Ori Nir in this week's edition of The Forward, the U.S. '
most important Jewish newspaper, the Israeli government and its
military's chief of staff, Gen. Dan Halutz, have been subjected to
unusually harsh criticism, including the charge that, by failing to
wage a more aggressive war, they were jeopardising Israel's long-term
strategic alliance with Washington.
Wobbling Olmert dismays politicians, army and public
The Guardian
8/12/2006
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, last night wobbled on a tightrope
between war and peace, jostled by domestic public opinion dismayed at
his strategic leadership in the conflict so far, and disappointed by
the proposed UN peace deal. In a few hours, Mr Olmert switched from
apparent acceptance of a UN ceasefire resolution to ordering a full
invasion in frustration at the resolution's shortcomings, and then to
signalling his possible acceptance, although it was unclear if there
were any broad changes in the document. The extraordinary manoeuvres
seemed likely to reinforce his reputation of wavering at a time of war,
on a day on when fresh polls suggested his performance as a war leader
had significanly damaged his standing.
Olmert bars Livni from attending UN Security Council sessions
Ha'aretz 8/11/2006
The cabinet began Thursday its marketing plan to the Security Council
to secure the end of the war and play up Israel's successes. Then the
obligatory crisis erupted: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert barred Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni from attending the United Nations Security Council
sessions. Livni has been planning the trip for several days. She
planned to address the council,speak to colleagues and meet the Jewish
community. But Olmert said "No. " His reasons were that Livni asked for
his approval too late, that there was no point going after the
resolution was drafted, and that Foreign Ministry professionals
objected. But that was just the cover. Olmert brought his lingering
animosity to Livni out into the open. A short time after the fighting
erupted, Olmert pushed Livni out of his close circle.
Israel again strikes at media installations
Reporters Without
Borders 8/11/2006
Reporters Without Borders today condemned Israel for new attacks on
Lebanese media installations, after troops fired yesterday at a
national TV relay station in Beirut, slightly injuring two people, and
shortly afterwards fired missiles at national TV installations at
Amshit (40 km north of the city) that had earlier been bombed on 26
July. - Previous story: 22. 07. 2006 Israeli air strikes destroy TV
antennae and kill an LBC technician -- Reporters Without Borders voiced
outrage today at the Israeli military’s decision to strike
telecommunication installations in Lebanon, thereby depriving millions
of Lebanese citizens of TV news and information, especially the
broadcasts of the commercial Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC).
An LBC technician was killed when installations in Satka, in East
Beirut, were attacked.
Lebanon/Israel: 1.8 million asked to write to Israeli
government
Palestine News
Network 8/11/2006
Amnesty International has launched an "Urgent Action" to its 1. 8
million members around the world calling on them to write to the
Israeli Minister of Defence, Amir Peretz, asking him to take urgent
steps to ensure safe passage for civilians in the south of Lebanon.
Israeli bombardment of roads, bridges, telecommunication transmitters,
electricity networks and fuel depots throughout southern Lebanon has
forced tens of thousand of civilians to flee their homes. But thousands
of others who were unable to leave are now trapped in the area. "The
plight of civilians in the south of Lebanon is at crisis point.
Evacuation of civilians who wish to leave must happen immediately, and
emergency supplies and aid needs to reach villages in Southern Lebanon
urgently"...
Ceasefire: No more war crimes
Amnesty
International 8/11/2006
Civilians have been targeted in Lebanon by the Israeli Defence Forces
and in northern Israel by Hizbullah leaving hundreds dead. After weeks
of fighting, bombs and rockets continue to fall indiscriminately on
women, children, ambulances, rescue workers and other innocent victims
of this escalating conflict. These deliberate attacks violate
international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes. Only an
immediate, full and effective ceasefire will protect civilians on both
sides, but calls for the warring parties to obey the laws of war and
protect civilians have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, governments that
could exert their influence to end the crisis have chosen instead to
prioritize their own political and military interests over innocent
lives of civilians.
Lebanon/Israel:
The United Nations Human Rights Council must make a positive
contribution to ending violations of human rights and humanitarian law
Amnesty
International 8/11/2006
Amnesty International has contributed the following written statement
to the second special session of the United Nations Human Rights
Council, which is scheduled to open in Geneva on Friday, 11 August
2006. -- "The Members of the Human Rights Council have a duty to
address the current human rights and humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and
Israel on the basis of the principles of impartiality, objectivity,
constructive dialogue and cooperation. Only by applying those
principles faithfully, can the Members enable the Council to contribute
to ending current violations of human rights and humanitarian law and
preventing future ones. The Council must deliver a clear message that
holds real promise of results, not adopt a resolution of no effect... "
Photos - Ceasefire Now: light a candle
Amnesty
International 8/11/2006
Light a candle every evening until there is ceasefire -- Calling for
CEASEFIRE NOW, Amnesty International held a global vigil on August 7.
-- "The human cost of this conflict is far too high. " - Irene Khan, AI
Secretary General -- From Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul to Madrid, Rome
and Paris, in more than 30 countries including Israel and Lebanon,
members and supporters showed their solidarity for the victims and
survivors on both sides. Gathering in Beirut, activists lit candles
spelling out "ceasefire" in Arabic. In Israel, protestors travelled to
Haifa to join the global vigil but had to turn back as missiles were
hitting the city. Around the world, activists lit candles, lay down on
the streets, marched with banners and joined their voices in protest to
call for a ceasefire now. Take a look at how the vigil took place in
Paris, Seoul, Santiago and more. -- Photos
VIDEO - London Ceasefire Vigil
Amnesty
International 8/11/2006
Amnesty International -. Ram format.
Civil society organisations launch a "campaign of resistance" in Lebanon
Ma'an News 8/11/2006
Ma'an -- Over two hundred non-governmental organisations are planning
to launch a "campaign of resistance" in Lebanon on Friday 12 August
2006, starting with a large-scale demonstration in Beirut to
demonstrate solidarity with the southern Lebanese. Ma'an received the
following press release: Lebanon: An Open Country for Civil Resistance
- Beirut August 7, 2006 -- On August 12, at 7 am, Lebanese from
throughout the country and international supporters who have come to
Lebanon to express solidarity will gather in Martyr's Square in Beirut
to form a civilian convoy to the south of Lebanon. Hundreds of Lebanese
and international civilians will express their solidarity with the
inhabitants of the heavily destroyedsouth who have been bravely
withstanding the assault of the Israeli military.
Lebanon: Relief and emergency aid 12 Jul – 6 Aug 2006
ReliefWeb/Norwegian
People's Aid 8/10/2006
Lebanon is presently facing a big humanitarian crisis. Around one
million are displaced and residing in governmental and private schools.
It is estimated that 80% of inhabitants in the south and the southern
suberb of Beirut are displaced. There are hundreds of families that are
still flowing into Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli (north) and Mound Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health is announcing that it is running out of
medical supplies and fuel for the generators. So, fuel and medical
supplies for hospitals are badly needed. Moreover, the Ministry of
Health is orienting NGOs to concentrate on hygienic and cleaning
material to prevent the spreading of contagious diseases. Cases of
scabies and diarrhea are reported among the displaced in the schools.
Poll: Israelis Less Convinced Than Ever of Defeating Hizbullah
An Nahar 8/11/2006
Israelis are less and less convinced their armed forces can defeat
Hizbullah and increasingly critical of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, two
opinion polls published Friday found. In a survey published by the
Haaretz daily, 73 percent of respondents said Israel could not claim to
have won the war against the Lebanese militant group if the fighting
stopped now. Only 48 percent of those polled said they were satisfied
with Olmert's performance since the start of the offensive a month ago,
while 40 percent said they were not and 12 percent did not voice an
opinion. According to another opinion poll carried by the top-selling
Yediot Aharonot daily, 45 percent of Israelis are dissatisfied with
their country's conduct of the war.
73 percent say government failed on home front
YNet News 8/11/2006
Dafah poll for Yedioth Ahronoth finds that only quarter of the public
believes government is properly looking after northern residents -- The
Israeli public backs the war in Lebanon, but is not satisfied with the
treatment of the home front: According to a Dahaf Institute poll
released Friday in Yedioth Ahronoth, the majority of the general public
feels that the leadership has failed in its treatment of the home
front, especially that of the northern residents. Some 73 percent said
the government's management of the issue was "not good," and only a
quarter said the government's treatment of the home front was "good. ".... The poll also found that 64 percent of the public believes that
the IDF should enter Lebanon until the Litani river with large forces.
Polls: Drop in support for Olmert
Jerusalem Post
8/11/2006
Israel's government is losing domestic support for its conduct of the
conflict against Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon, and doubt is growing
among Israelis that they are winning the war, according to polls
published Friday. The army's failure to end incessant attacks is likely
one reason for the drop in the government's popularity figures. A poll
in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper showed 37 percent of the 500 people
questioned believed Israel would cripple Hizbullah, compared with 40%
in a previous survey. 17% thought Israel would lose the war and
Hizbullah would return to south Lebanon, up from 13% previously, said
the poll conducted by the Dahaf organization. It had a margin of error
of 4. 5%.
At least six killed, 15
injured by Israeli missile fired at convoy of fleeing refugees in
Lebanon
International Middle
East Media Center 8/12/2006
A group of Lebanese civilians attempting to follow the Israeli
instructions to evacuate southern Lebanon had formed a convoy of 600
civilian vehicles, accompanied by 350 Lebanese soldiers and police. The
convoy was attempting to make its way north from the Christian city of
Marjayoun Friday night when an Israeli war plane dropped a missile on
the group. This is not the first time that Israeli forces have struck a
convoy heading north for safety - practically every convoy has taken
casualties -- leading many of the estimated 80,000 Lebanese civilians
remaining in southern Lebanon to decide they'd rather not risk it. An
Associated Press photographer, Lutfallah Daher, was with the convoy
when it was hit near the Bekaa Valley town of Chtaura, about 30 miles
north of the Litani River.
"Hot air pushed me off my chair. I was on the ground. I
thought I was dead'
The Guardian
8/12/2006
A third of those killed were children under 13 -- Thirteen-year-old
Hassan al-Rai lies on a bed in Beirut's Hayat hospital, his eyelids
heavy, dark red wounds covering his face and torso. "I was sitting with
my cousins and my brothers, we were listening to music, hanging out.
Then there was fire and smoke. I looked down and I saw blood all over
me. My brother and cousins were hurt; my brother had blood coming from
his head. I don't know what has happened to him. " Hassan doesn't yet
know that his brother is dead. He was killed on Monday night in an
Israeli missile strike on a residential building in the Shiyyah
district of southern Beirut. Yesterday morning rescue workers were
still searching for bodies among the rubble. The attack, which claimed
the lives of at least 61 people, has become the single greatest loss of
life since the conflict began.
Midday Roundup: Israel Renews Strikes on Southern Suburbs as
US Envoy Returns to Beirut
An Nahar 8/11/2006
Israel renewed its air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday as a
high-ranking U.S. envoy held talks with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora
for the second time in 48 hours on a possible compromise plan to end
the month-long hostilities in Lebanon. In the south, UNIFIL troops
awaited word on a safe passage to evacuate 350 members of a joint
Lebanese army and police force from the southwestern town of Marjayoun
as Hizbullah reported fierce battles with Israeli forces in the central
sector. Israeli warplanes pounded the southern suburbs at midday firing
three missiles within half an hour at the districts of Bir el Abed and
Hay Madi, LBCI television said. Loud explosions reverberated throughout
the capital as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs David Welch arrived unexpectedly to meet with Saniora...
Israeli warplanes plunge Tyre into darkness
YNet News 8/11/2006
Electricity transformers in southern Lebanon city hit; Israeli drone
rockets refugee convoy fleeing southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun,
killing and wounding as many as 15 people -- Israeli warplanes bombed
two electricity transformers in south Lebanon on Friday night, plunging
the port city of Tyre into darkness, security sources said. The attack
came as Israel said it was expanding its ground operation in southern
Lebanon. An Israeli drone fired missiles into a convoy of refugees
fleeing attacks in the southern town of Marjayoun, killing and wounding
as many as 15 people, witnesses and security officials said. The
convoy, consisting of more than 100 civilian vehicles and those
carrying a detachment of 350 Lebanese soldiers and police from the area
around Marjayoun, was hit near Chtaura on the west side of the Bekaa
Valley.
IDF: It'll take week to reach Litani
YNet News 8/11/2006
According to timetable IDF presented to cabinet, it would take troops
additional 4-6 weeks to defeat Hizbullah terrorists after reaching
Litani -- One month after the outbreak of the war in Lebanon, during
which the Israeli army has established a security zone along the border
and reached a depth of 12 kilometers into Lebanese territory, the IDF
got a 'green light' Friday night to continue north up to the Litani
River. The order was given against the backdrop of a fervor of
international diplomatic talks hoping to reach a ceasefire agreement as
soon as Friday night. The aim of the operation is to distance Hizbullah
terror cells, especially those responsible for rocket attacks on
Israeli, as far north as possible, thus widening the buffer zone along
the border. IDF officials assessed this week that the completion of
such a mission could take two months.
Morning Roundup: Israeli Warplanes Pound Beirut's Southern
Suburbs and Two Border Crossings, Killing 11
An Nahar 8/11/2006
Israeli jets pounded Beirut's southern suburbs and two border crossings
in north and east Lebanon early Friday, killing at least 11 people and
wounding 11 others as diplomats at the U. N. wrangled for an agreement
to end the hostilities. The casualties were near the Abboudiyeh border
crossing into Syria where Israeli jets struck twice at a busy bridge,
security officials said. At least 20 explosions also reverberated in
central Beirut as thick black smoke rose from the suburb of Dahieh, a
Hizbullah stronghold already devastated from previous Israeli
attacks.... Israeli fighter bombers shot missiles at the Haita bridge
leading to the Abboudiyeh crossing in the Akkar plain, near the border
with Syria, and returned for a second strike when residents had gone
onto the bridge to inspect the damage.
Khaibar-1 missile fired at Haifa
YNet News 8/11/2006
Hizbullah launches multiple rocket barrages at northern Israel:
Khaibar-1 missile fired at Haifa, 2 people injured by shrapnel in
Safed, Kiryat Shmona. Between 10 and 10:30, 16 rockets fall on Haifa
and Krayot: 2 people lightly injured by shrapnel, 12 suffer shock.
Rockets fall in Nahariya, damage caused. Sirens heard in Binyamina --
Day 31: Hizbullah fired a Khaibar-1 rocket at Haifa on Friday, police
confirmed. The explosion of the 302 mm rocket echoed as far south as
Hadera, residents said. A barrage of several long-range Katyusha
rockets landed in the city on Friday, with one of the rocket slamming
in the midst of the coastal highway, which was reopened in the
afternoon. In Kiryat Shmona, a man was moderately injured by shrapnel
from a rocket that hit a building Friday afternoon, paramedics said.
Nahariya, Akko targeted by rocket barrages
YNet News 8/11/2006
Residents of the western Galilee woke to sounds of air raid sirens, two
rockets land close to 7:00 in the morning -- An air raid siren was
heard shortly after 7:00 on Friday morning across the western Galilee,
and two rockets fired by Hizbullah landed in the Nahariya area and in
Akko. There were no injuries and damage was caused. In a deadly barrage
fired on Thursday afternoon in Israel , Maryam Asadi, 26, and her five
year old son, Fathi Ahmed Asadi, were killed when a rocket directly hit
their house in Dir el-Asad, near Carmiel. The woman's three year old
son, and his grandmother who was also in the home, were both severely
injured. Additionally, three people were lightly wounded and dozens
were treated for shock.
Sharon's Sons Reportedly Called up for Lebanon Offensive
An Nahar 8/11/2006
The two sons of Israel's comatose former prime minister Ariel Sharon
have been called up as reservists for the offensive in Lebanon, an
Israeli newspaper reported Friday. Omri, 42, and Gilad, 39, who have
been taking turns at their father's bedside after he suffered a massive
brain hemorrhage in January, must join their paratrooper intelligence
reserve units, according to the Maariv daily. Sharon, 78, who presided
over Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, left public life as one of
Israel's most popular premiers in early January. His successor Ehud
Olmert launched the Jewish state's ongoing offensive on Lebanon July 12
after Hizbullah seized two soldiers in a cross-border raid. (AFP).
[end]
Photos - CRIMINAL
DESTRUCTION
Al-Ahram Weekly
8/10/2006
Israeli air strikes have systematically targeted civilian
infrastructure in a campaign that amounts to illegal collective
punishment. Over 100 bridges have been destroyed in aerial bombing by
Israeli war planes in the last month, including the Airport Bridge in
the southern suburbs of Beirut (top left), the Damur Bridge in the
south (top right), the Fidar Bridge in Halat (bottom left) and a bridge
in Akkar in the north (bottom right). Because of the destruction,
critical supplies of humanitarian aid are not reaching displaced
civilians. A humanitarian disaster is gathering pace that could lead to
a greater loss of life than Israel's brutal military offensive.
Anti-war protest draws mainstream leftist groups
Ha'aretz 8/11/2006
Hundreds of people demonstrated against the continued fighting in
Lebanon yesterday, in a protest that for the first time included
mainstream leftist groups among its organizers. Until now, the only
anti-war demonstrations had been organized by the radical left.
However, both the Meretz party and the Peace Now organization helped to
organize yesterday's protest opposite the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin, whose party had hitherto supported the
war, said that Wednesday's cabinet decision to expand the ground
operation "was the straw that broke the camel's back. "Peace Now
chairman Yariv Oppenheimer agreed. "The cabinet's decision led us to
the conclusion that a different voice must be heard," he said.
Sami Walks Barefoot from Tyre to Shouf to Join his Family
An Nahar 8/11/2006
By the Mediterranean coast, through the winding mountain roads, Sami
Meslemane walked for dozens of kilometers barefoot to reach his
children and grandchildren left destitute after they fled southern
Lebanon. The tall, thin fisherman and grandfather with a tired face and
sharp eyes left the port city of Tyre on Sunday for the village of
Bekaata in the Shouf region in the centre of the country. His family
went to the relative safety of northern Lebanon three weeks ago to
escape the deadly Israeli attacks which have killed more than 1,000
civilians, including hundreds of children. Sami stayed behind, but the
bombs on the south increased and he decided finally to join them. "I
walked on foot most of the way between Tyre and Bekaata where my four
children and eight grandchildren were stuck... "
Elderly woman in South Lebanon throws out Israeli troop
The Daily Star
8/12/2006
SOUTH LEBANON: Mariam Hussein Hamade, a 75-year-old southerner from
Maroun al-Ras related with pride the resistance's "heroism" in
confronting the Israeli forces in Maroun al-Ras and her own role in
cooking for the militants. "I used to cook for Hizbullah militants and
provide them with food without being noticed by anyone," Hamade said. "There was a woman charged with carrying the food to a house, before
one of the militants takes it to his colleagues," she added. "With the
help of Hajjeh Fatmeh, I cooked for them chicken, eggs and Hommos. " "On the first Israeli attack on Maroun al-Ras, my cousin came to me
screaming: The Jews have arrested my dad," she said.
Drug Users Say No to Hezbollah, Call for Wartime Hashish
Boycott
Forward 8/11/2006
JERUSALEM — Young Israeli activists are fighting back against Hezbollah — with a boycott on smoking hash. -- Hashish, or oil resin from
marijuana plants, is one of the primary recreational drugs available in
Israel. It’s smoked in much the same way that marijuana is, and because
the marijuana available in Israel is generally of a low quality,
hashish is the preferred choice of most of the country’s pot smokers.
And it’s being smuggled in by Hezbollah. “A Persian-backed terrorist
organization is the primary supplier of hashish to the Israeli market
today,” activist and Jerusalem resident Dan Sieradski said on his blog,
OrthodoxAnarchist. com. “And this is why, with a heavy heart, I am
officially boycotting hashish, effective immediately. ”
Arab Canadians urge Lebanon action
AlJazeera 8/11/2006
Arab-Canadians are urging their government to condemn civilian
casualties in the Middle East and take a more proactive role in calling
for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Stephen Harper, Canada’s
Conservative prime minister, has been criticised both in parliament and
among some media commentators for defending Israeli action in Lebanon,
labelling it a "measured response". On August 6, thousands demonstrated
peacefully in Montreal, a city traditionally home to a large Arab and
particularly Lebanese community. Carrying Lebanese and Canadian flags,
they criticised the Conservatives’ foreign policy position on the
Lebanon crisis. In Windsor, Ontario, another city with a large Arab
population, hundreds of Lebanese-Canadians capped off weeks of peaceful
gatherings and protests in condemnation of Israeli action in Lebanon...
A state like no other
By Hassan Nafaa, Al-Ahram Weekly 8/10/2006
Hizbullah has given pride to the Arab world, as has Lebanese society as a whole
The Lebanese crisis is multi-faceted. Part of the crisis is related to the structure of the Lebanese society and state. Another part is related to bickering that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri. The assassination set off an acrimonious dynamic that culminated in the Israeli- US offensive on Lebanon, the aim of which was to liquidate Hizbullah.
Al-Hariri's assassination damaged the state and society of Lebanon in a manner reminiscent of many sad episodes in that country's history. Paradoxically, the recent Israeli-US aggression has united the Lebanese in a way that surprised many of us. Lebanon, once again, proved to be a paradox, a place where a fragile state coexists with a strong society. The Lebanese state is so fragile it seems about to disintegrate at anytime. And yet Lebanese society is so strong it manages to survive against all odds.
Countries that need to maintain a delicate sectarian balance are weak by definition. But Lebanese society remains vibrant and mature. Whenever the state fails to perform one of its tasks, civil society steps in to fill the void. The trouble is that the agendas of various civil society groups diverge from that of the state. Hizbullah couldn't have achieved prominence without acting on behalf of the state. And it couldn't have done so in the absence of a supporting societal environment, even from people who differ in their views. Hizbullah stepped in when the state proved incapable of fighting off Zionist designs in Lebanon.
Hizbullah is a typical Lebanese phenomenon. The party couldn't have grown and prospered except in an environment similar to Lebanon's. To this day, some analysts link the birth of Hizbullah with the Iranian revolution. I find their arguments tentative at best. Lebanon has been, and still is, an arena for power games among regional and non-regional forces. Why, I wonder, has Iran succeeded where others failed? Why has Hizbullah, of all Lebanese parties, focused on resisting Zionist designs in Lebanon.
Put an end to the aggression
By Fouad Siniora, The Guardian 8/12/2006
Britain and Europe must take a lead in halting Israel's wanton destruction of my country
For a month now, as the international community has vacillated, Israel has besieged and ravaged Lebanon, creating a humanitarian and environmental disaster and shattering our infrastructure and economy. In the name of the Lebanese people, I again demand an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops. The international community has an obligation, under the UN charter, to defend Lebanon's sovereignty and protect our people under humanitarian law. Given the historic ties with our region, Lebanese look to Europe and Britain to take a lead through the UN in putting an end to this aggression.
Israel says this war is against Hizbullah, not Lebanon. But the Israeli terror is inflicted on all Lebanese. The indiscriminate murder of more than 1,100 Lebanese civilians (a third of them children), the massacres and "cleansing" of villages and the wanton destruction of our infrastructure are nothing short of criminal. One quarter of our population has been displaced. On behalf of all Lebanese, I demand an international inquiry into Israel's actions in Lebanon, and insist on reparations.
I have proposed a comprehensive seven-point peace plan, rooted in international law, which takes into account the interests of all parties to this conflict. It was adopted by the Lebanese council of ministers, which of course includes Hizbullah, and is supported by a broad national consensus.
Awakening the Resistance
By Jennifer Loewenstein, Palestine Chronicle 8/11/2006
Are we really surprised by the vast, Hizbullah-led resistance? By the linkage it makes with people across the boundaries of national insult, defeat and humiliation?
Thousands of Lebanese, Palestinians and others made a kind of pilgrimage to Fatima’s gate in the summer of 2000 to celebrate the end of Israel’s 22 -year occupation of south Lebanon. ‘Fatima’s gate’ denoted a stretch of land on the Lebanon-Israel border newly controlled by Hizbullah after it pursued the retreating Israeli forces back into Israel. Yellow Hizbullah flags flew everywhere. The atmosphere was festive and light. People set up souvenir stands selling Hizbullah memorabilia – flags, key-rings, postcards, pens – to commemorate the historic event. Families strolled up and back along the road pa! rallel to the border, pointing out the Israeli towns in the distance. Friends strode along together talking politics and stopping to stare at the last wreckages of the event, the burned out jeeps and cars, the bullet holes and shrapnel wounds in the facades of the walls and buildings left behind by the retreating Israelis. Parents and children alike gazed at these remains; some took pictures posed next to them. Others passed by more solemnly, wary of disturbing the near-sanctity of these symbols of struggle and of the years of adversity they recalled.
Across a stretch of land demarcated by barbed wire and signposts stood a lone Israeli watch-tower. From Fatima’s gate one could just make out the shapes of helmeted soldiers within, behind a small rectangular window of bullet-proofed glass: the hapless targets of rocks hurled continually across the border by all who could manage to throw them and the cheering on-lookers applauding each lob.
The summer of 2000 has taken on the transient quality of a landscape brightened by a break in the clouds for an all too brief interlude.
The Buck Stops Where? Who? Me?
By Uri Avnery, Palestine Chronicle 8/11/2006
The Chief-of-Staff has found the culprit: Udi Adam, the chief of the Northern Command. He has practically dismissed him in the middle of the battle.
Today,the war entered its fifth week. Hard to believe: our mighty army has now been fighting for 29 days against a "gang" and "terrorist organization", as the military commanders like to describe them, and the battle has still not been decided.
Yesterday, military sources in Israel announced that 400 of the 1200 Hizbullah "terrorists" have been killed. That's to say, a mere 1200 fighters have been standing against the tens of thousands of our soldiers, who are equipped with the most advanced weapons on earth, and hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens are still under rocket fire while our soldiers continue to be killed.
WHO? ME? Now everybody already admits that something basic has gone wrong in this war. The proof: the War of the Generals, that previously started only after the conclusion of a war, has now become public while the war is still going on.
The Chief-of-Staff, Dan Halutz, has found the culprit: Udi Adam, the chief of the Northern Command. He has practically dismissed him in the middle of the battle. That is the old ploy of the thief shouting "Stop thief!" After all, it is obvious that the person mainly to blame for the failures of the war is Halutz himself, with his foolish belief that Hizbullah could be defeated by aerial bombardment alone.
But it is not only at the top of the army that mutual accusations are flying around. The army command accuses the government, which is retaliating in kind.
Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office
By Ari Shavit, Ha'aretz 8/11/2006
Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and unconditional surrender to Hezbollah. That is his privilege. Olmert is a prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose rule journalists preserved. Now the journalists are saying run away. That's legitimate. Unwise, but legitimate.
However, one thing should be clear: If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day. Chutzpah has its limits. You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power. You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close, and then say - oops, I made a mistake. That was not the intention. Pass me a cigar, please.
There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions. He mistakenly gambled on air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to implement the army's original plan, much more daring and sophisticated than that which was implemented. And after arrogantly and hastily bursting into war, Olmert managed it hesitantly, unfocused and limp. He neglected the home front and abandoned the residents of the north. He also failed shamefully on the diplomatic front.
Israel must win
By David B. Rivkin Jr. and, Ha'aretz 8/12/2006
Should the IDF lose its aura of invincibility in American eyes, Israel's perceived value as an ally could decline sharply.
Israel has been cautious in Lebanon, fearing not only for the lives of its soldiers, but also that an overly aggressive military campaign will alienate world opinion and force its hand diplomatically at the UN. However, Israeli leaders ought to worry more about a different scenario, one in which American policymakers, analyzing the Israel Defense Forces' failure to defeat Hezbollah after 30 days effort, lose their faith in Israel's ability to "get the job done" on issues of shared strategic interest.
Should the IDF lose its aura of invincibility in American eyes, Israel's perceived value as an ally could decline sharply. This reassessment in Washington, when combined with a continuing and even heightened determination by Arab states and jihadists to destroy Israel, would be catastrophic for its security.
For decades, Israel has enjoyed an extremely close relationship with the United States. These ties have grown even stronger during George W. Bush's presidency. Israeli leaders should not, however, take American support for granted. There is, of course, a tremendous reservoir of good will and genuine affection for Israel among Americans; but sentiment and habit alone are not a sufficient basis for an enduring U.S.-Israel alliance. The hard truth is that Israel must appear to be, and be, a winner in order to remain a valuable strategic partner for the United States.
Preempting aggression
By Omayma Abdel-Latif, Al-Ahram Weekly 8/10/2006
Lebanon hopes that deploying its troops in the south will put the onus on Israel and the international community to offer an end to the month-long Israeli destruction
In its attempt to prevent Israel achieving a political victory through the UN-proposed plan for a ceasefire, the Lebanese government offered to send 15,000 troops to the south of the country to patrol the borders with Israel. The decision, which was approved by Hizbullah's two ministers in the Lebanese cabinet, has been viewed as a move to pre-empt any efforts aimed at passing the French-United States draft resolution which Lebanon rejected earlier in the week.
"Sending the army to the south is a clear message to the international community that the Lebanese government is ready to deploy its troops over all Lebanese soil," Elias Al-Murr, Lebanese defense minister told reporters on Monday. Al-Murr, however, did not elaborate on how this step will be implemented, in light of the situation in the south where Hizbullah fighters are waging some of the fiercest battles against Israeli troops and have managed to deprive Israel -- one month after its aggression -- from making any substantial territorial gains.
Al-Murr, nonetheless, did emphasise the fact that the troops were to take over once Israeli troops withdrew behind the 'blue line'. The proposed plan also assigns the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) an important role to play, side by side with the Lebanese army. The decision has been regarded as a qualitative shift in the Lebanese internal political dynamics. For the past six years, since the liberation of south Lebanon from Israeli occupation, demands for deploying the Lebanese army have been made both from local and international forces but were faced with stiff resistance from Hizbullah. It was among the key points that were included in Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora's much hyped seven-point plan, which he presented to the Rome conference as part of the effort to reach a final settlement to the Lebanese- Israeli conflict.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
By Azmi Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly 8/10/2006
It is symptomatic of Western racism that Israel and its sympathisers are blind to what it is ordinary Arabs find admirable in Hizbullah
Journalist: How will the deaths of Israeli soldiers today affect your plans?
Israeli Army Spokesman: You saw that massacre of 12 Israelis .. it will ...
Journalist: Massacre you said? But those were soldiers and this is war.
Spokesman: No, it was a massacre because the people who fired the missiles weren't targeting soldiers. They were targeting Israeli civilians but killed the soldiers by accident.
Journalist: But you also committed massacres in Qana and elsewhere.
Spokesman: No, there was no massacre in Qana. Hizbullah fighters were the targets of the bombardment but civilians were hit by accident.
This nightmarish gibberish, which would make any journalist quit his job, a spectator smash his TV screen and a dialogue participant abandon his faith in dialogue, is not from Alice in Wonderland. It is an excerpt taken verbatim from an interview on an Arab satellite station with a young spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces.
Now, when Israeli soldiers die it's a massacre, whereas the wiping out of entire families in the course of the aerial bombardment of their homes and villages doesn't rate the term. That's not a massacre but an "accident" or, in the euphemistic jargon of the science of the war against terrorism, collateral damage.
Descent Into Moral Barbarism By Norman Finkelstein
As Israel’s military bravely fires away shells and missiles to lay waste the fragile human and physical infrastructure of Lebanon, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, waging battle on a second front to legitimize Israel’s criminal aggression, bravely fires away op-eds from his foxhole at Martha’s Vineyard to lay waste the fragile infrastructure of international law.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14523.htm
19 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Lebanon Saturday:
The military also said that a five member crew of a downed helicopter was missing.
tinyurl.com/oynf4
Hezbollah shoots down Israeli helicopter:
Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Saturday.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749479.html
Israel to withdraw in week or two:
The government is expected on Sunday morning to approve Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop the fighting in southern Lebanon, but the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces soldiers from Lebanon will only begin in about a week or two,
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290269,00.html
U.S. assures Israel it will not be forced to withdraw from Shaba :
An agreement reached between Israel and the United States on the disputed Shaba Farms area, located on Israel’s border with Lebanon, enabled a breakthrough in reaching a cease-fire resolution at the United Nations on Friday.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749566.html
Israel kills another 20 civilians despite U.N. resolution By Tom Perry
The Israeli army pushed deeper into Lebanon and air strikes killed up to 20 people on Saturday, despite a U.N. Security Council demand for a “full cessation of hostilities” in the month-old war with Hizbollah guerrillas.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14511.htm
Israel’s attack on convoy kills 7 a ‘mistake’:
At least seven people were killed and 36 wounded when an unmanned Israeli aircraft fired on the convoy of more than 500 vehicles.
tinyurl.com/rm585
7 Israeli occupation troops killed, 11 seriously hurt in Lebanon:
Seven soldiers killed, 84 injured in series of incidents in southern Lebanon; wounded evacuated to hospitals in northern Israel.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290185,00.html#n
Israeli Troops Reach the Litani River :
The units were part of a massive force that flooded into Lebanon, trying to seize as much territory as possible before a U.N. cease-fire comes into effect. The objective was to control southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, about 18 miles from the Israeli border, before handing over the area to the Lebanese army and U.N. troops.
tinyurl.com/r7zql
Rockets land near Haifa, Maalot:
More than 50 rockets landed in northern communities Saturday. Six people were lightly injured by shrapnel. The last barrages hit the Akko area at around 7 p.m., causing several people to suffer from shock.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290055,00.html
Israel’s, Lebanon attacks will continue :
Ehud Olmert’s office said late Friday that the expanded incursion into Lebanon would continue “for the time being,” despite agreeing to a cease-fire resolution drafted by the United Nations Security Council.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749566.html
Israel, Hezbollah issue caveats on deal :
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said on Saturday “We must not make a mistake, not in the resistance, the government or the people, and believe that the war has ended. The war has not ended. There have been continued strikes and continued casualties,” he added.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14514.htm
Security Council OKs Mideast Peace Deal:
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday that calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and authorizes the deployment of 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.
tinyurl.com/m8ek3
Text of draft UN resolution on Lebanon war:
Following is the text of the operative provisions of a draft resolution circulated to members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14510.htm
U.S.: Should Deny Israeli Request for Cluster Munitions :
HRW: Civilians in Lebanon have already died from Israel’s use of similar weapons, which blanket a wide area with deadly submunitions.
tinyurl.com/mnyyk
Hard-line Neo-Cons Assail Israel for Timidity:
While much of the world has criticised Israel for carrying out a “disproportionate” war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, hard-line neo-conservatives have attacked the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for timidity.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34322
Learning From Its Mistakes By Charles Glass
In the interval between its founding in 1982 and the victory of 2000, Hizbullah had become – as well as an armed force – a sophisticated and successful political party. It jettisoned its early rhetoric about making Lebanon an Islamic republic, and spoke of Christians, Muslims and Druze living in harmony. When it put up candidates for parliament, some of those on its electoral list were Christians. It won 14 seats.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14504.htm
This is what terror looks like
A Must Watch Lebanon War Documentary.
Lebanese Doctors and Civilian’s Speak Out against the Terrorism they are facing from Israel. Shocking Documentary About the War in Lebanon and the tragedy in Qana.
Warning
This video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience
Click here to view
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14502.htm
6 Killed as Israel attacks convoy fleeing south Lebanon:
Israeli aircraft fired rockets at a convoy of hundreds of cars carrying people fleeing south Lebanon on Friday, killing at least six people and wounding 30, witnesses and rescue workers said.
tinyurl.com/zqpp5
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 14 across Lebanon :
Israeli airstrikes pounded south Beirut and border crossings to Syria, killing at least 14 people across Lebanon as ground fighting picked up intensity in the south.
www.freenewmexican.com/news/47747.html
At least 7 killed as Israel Bombs Beirut:
Israeli soldier killed and another seriously injured by an anti-tank missile fired in the village of Labona in south Lebanon, it was released for publication Friday.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289598,00.html
Hezbollah: At Least 4 Israeli Soldiers Dead In 2 Battles :
Hezbollah Friday said its fighters killed four Israeli soldiers in Qantara, and said it killed or wounded about 15 Israeli soldiers trying to advance toward the border village of Aita al-Shaab.
tinyurl.com/eskdo
Two Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon:
Two Israel soldiers were killed Thursday, one day after 15 IDF troops were killed, as Israel and Hezbollah fighters were involved in bitter battles near the village of Marjayoun and neighboring Khiam and Kila.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=748556
1 Dead in Israeli Attack on Refugees :
An Israeli drone fired at a convoy fleeing attacks in southern Lebanon, killing at least one refugee and wounding others, witnesses and hospital officials said.
www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/08/11/ap2944428.html
Hezbollah: Guerrillas destroy Israeli gunboat :
Hezbollah TV reported Friday that guerrillas destroyed an Israeli gunboat with a crew of 12 off the coast of Tyre.
www.suntimes.com/output/news/gunboat11.html
Israel satisfied with changes made to cease-fire resolution :
Olmert will thus recommend to his ministers Sunday that the cabinet vote in favor of the resolution.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749488.html
The search for an exit :
The Olmert government has to be given a chance to climb down without looking too much like a loser and allowing Israeli forces to stay in Lebanon for a while may, at least in Israel’s estimation, meet that requirement.
www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1841985,00.html
Israel rejects Russia’s humanitarian truce plan: –
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman rejected on Friday a Russian proposal for a 72-hour humanitarian truce in the month-old war between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas.
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11357651.htm
Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast :
Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, which it could use to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, two American officials said Thursday.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14499.htm
Parts and bits.
My baby is nothing but parts and bits
tinyurl.com/je28o
Lebanon – In pictures:
Looking into the face of war –
Warning – Images show the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14503.htm
Israeli strikes on Lebanese watersheds questioned:
Raising accusations here that Israel is using its war on Hezbollah to lay claim to Lebanon’s prime watersheds.
tinyurl.com/zj8h5
Lebanon Oil Spill May Rival Exxon Valdez of 1989 :
Lebanon’s oil spill, caused by Israeli bombardment of oil storage units at a power plant, may rival the leakage from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989 if left untreated, the United Nations Environment Program said.
tinyurl.com/jqqsq
Beirut rejects deployment of additional UN troops:
Negotiators believed they had achieved a breakthrough, then the deal came apart when Beirut rejected deployment of extra UN troops
www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1713200.htm
Olmert’s popularity plunges in Israel – poll:
The survey in the Haaretz newspaper found only 48 percent of Israelis were satisfied with Olmert’s performance compared with popularity ratings of more than 75 percent in polls taken in the early stages of fighting against the Lebanese group.
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11918874.htm
Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister’s office :
Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and unconditional surrender to Hezbollah. That is his privilege. Olmert is a prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose rule journalists preserved. Now the journalists are saying run away.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749484.html
Ghayth Armanazi: Israel has already lost this war :
From now on it will be difficult – and lonely – to be a moderate voice in the Middle East
comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article1218400.ece
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