Regret, Remembrance, Rebuild

So we've all probably heard of Iran's President offering the US an invite to a live televised debate to discuss matters of national security. Will this offer be accepted? Probably not. Does it matter? Probably not. The only thing worse than having Iran launch a missile and having Israel use there destructive war planes for a "Tehran re-allignment", is Israel launching a pre-emptive strike with their own nukes. They will be heralded for being brave and going against the world's opinion taking a chance to save themselves. The bottom line is, Israel doesn't need saving, it needs to be educated, and the regime replaced.

Kofi Annan blasted Israel recently about hammering Lebanon in the last days before the truce took affect. They hit Beirut and Baalbeck with mortar rounds which have yet to explode and are waiting for the returning Lebanese. Israel has failed to provide information on their whereabouts. But are they chastised for it? It seems a country like Iran can have sanctions imposed on it for potentially making nuclear weapons, but a country like Israel who uses it weapons on civilians, is given carte blanche. It really does matter what the name of the terrorist state is. Just look at Iraq, the country had no weapons but was blown to bits. So I'm glad Iran's got at least some firepower, but has held off using it and even offered a grounds for peaceful debate. Did the US offer Iraq this option? A country who never killed a single US citizens? What these Middle Eastern countries have to do now is reform the Arab League and give priority to countries that aren't eating at the tables of the US. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, these are the countries we should watch out for, they've sold out too many times, and have bought other Arabs/Muslims, even in their own countries, to a state of depression. Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq should lead this coalition. Right now they should put aside their Shia-Sunni rivalry, which has been successfully exploited by every power hungry foreign country. This is a difference we have to work out within our own communities, not for a lunatic mediator from the West to contort, and dictate terms to us.

Israeli blood is more valuable than the blood of Lebanese or Palestinians

I've recently had the opportunity to view some televised interviews with Mr. George Galloway, British MP for Bethnal Green and Bow on Sky News, a Murdoch owned FOXNews-like channel in the UK. Galloway is criticised by many, but viewed as a hero by more, for his fiery leftist comments against the British and US governments for their War on Terrorism. His interviews on Sky News re-iterate his position that Hizballah is not a terrorist organization and are only brandished as one by the US and Israeli backed media, whom have tried to spread this mentality to their viewers. I had never heard of this man before, and I don't think many people here have. It is worthwile to hear him speak, as he his very articulate in his answering of any question and keeps his comments very secular, so has to avoid being drawn into a Muslim versus Jew conflict, a stance that these interviewers have made countless failed attempts to bring out in him. His interviews can be viewed on YouTube.

Galloway does make an impressive point with his rebuke on the Hizballah not being a terrorist organization. The interviewer moves on to say that Iran has backed the party and has provided rockets that can target all of Israel, not just the north or Tel Aviv. Galloway responds with a rebuke that America has supplied laser guided missiles to Israel that can target not just Lebanon or Palestine, but every country in the middle east. Nuclear missiles, he adds later. It seems that because Galloway is so well grounded and in his element with a solid response for every twisted question that the interviewer posed, it became difficult for her to make him out to be a crazed lunatic as she so often tried to do with her undying love for the Israeli's and her complete disregard for the dying Palestinians. It was definitely a loss for SkyNews here, this was not the interview they wanted. There was no discussion here as the interviewer always moved on with a new question rather than addressing any of the concerns brought up by Galloway.

Moving on to the latest in the UN troops to take over the south of Lebanon - there has been very little progress in making this a reality. The UN countries are still finding it difficult to get countries to provide soldiers for this mission. Germany isn't giving any, France is very uneasy and Italy is not stupid. Italy's foreign minister Massimo D'Alema stated that the deployment of a couple thousand Italian troops to the region depends on Israel respecting the truce (something it has already failed to do so, I might add, as it has already attacked Lebanon again in recent days with a raid that many news outlets have failed to cover). I must give credit to the Italians, it looks like they know of how Israel regards UN Resolution (a suggestion rather than a rule of law) and are keeping their troops out of any undue hardships. So salute to you Italia.

And now with Olmert saying that the Israelis will stay put in Lebanon until an international peace keeping force is deployed, we can see that Israel will not be leaving that country anytime soon, although you shouldn't have expected anything different. Israel knew that no country would want to commit itself and face the wrath of Olmert or any possible reprisal from Muslims in their respective countries. That's why the winning hand is always in the Knesset and everyone else's hand is either fold now or lose more later, something the occupied territories have been dealing with for decades.

Colourblind

The UN released another draft of a resolution that it hopes will be adhered to. I’ve reposted some of their points from Al-Jazeera’s English Language website.

1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;

Now let’s read that last little bit again. Cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations. This is an important point the last US and France draft missed out on.

4. Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line (separating Israel and Lebanon);

This is where Israel will start having a problem understanding. The Israeli Army is and has been colourblind since its initial conception. They don’t know what a blue line is. They didn’t know what the green line in Palestine meant. Show them a rainbow and they’ll have to sit down for a minute to catch their breath.

6. Calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced persons and, under the authority of the government of Lebanon, reopening airports and harbors, consistent with paragraphs 14 and 15, and calls on it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the reconstruction and development of Lebanon;

What this should read is something along the lines of barring the US from bullying other countries and foreign banks from stopping the transfer of money to the Lebanese people, like they previously had done in Palestine. Also, Stephen Harper should be banned from performing any sort of action remotely resembling that of the US. Actually, what should happen is that an interim government should be brought in to the Canadian Parliament to deal with this crisis and Harper should stay out of this. He has angered too many Canadians already with his Pro-Israeli/Zionist dream in a cheap attempt to make himself known on the international platform. The current prime minister with his complete lack of knowledge or disregard for it, has made Canada into a target for retribution by the people he has started targeting. Now he just ups his security precautions in airports and border crossings. What he should be doing is taking an active step to understanding why this conflict continues to rage on.

Another point the resolution made:

Provision to the United Nations of all remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel's possession;

Like this will ever happen. The IOF has placed so many landmines that they themselves are having trouble staying away from them. Strange that Harper has never mentioned this before. I would think that if Lebanon was in Israel’s position, Harper would be adamantly demanding the whereabouts of mines, munitions caches, cell phone numbers of all Hezballah, and what they had to eat the previous night.

Government spokesman Avi Pazner said in a recent address, “this operation is aimed at preventing Hezbollah from firing rockets into northern Israel and is not limited in time," he said.

Not limited in time? They will not stop until Lebanon has been completely flattened. Then the Harper government is going to have a problem. Remember that little group of people in the areas of central Montreal and its suburbs, where do they come from again Harper? That little Beirut is bigger than you think. The conservatives will lose any seat they hold in that area and with the Lebanese and separatists backing each other, there’s going to be hell to pay for. This will follow in the footsteps of the FLQ October Crises and if Harper thinks the War Measures Act is going to help him, he’s in for a rude awakening. Trudeau had class, Harpers an ass. That’s not libel, he’s already ruined his reputation with his undying support of the Israeli War Machine.

And here’s the most saddening point. Apart from the Lebanese and the Palestinians who are being looked upon as terrorists/militants and what have you, another group who are going to suffer are the Israeli people. A people who have spent years trying to get away from the claim that being a Jew makes them inferior to everyone else. But with the Israeli army being above the law and their constant breaches of UN Resolutions, this is a one way street. The Jewish peoples in Israel have a voice, but it is not through the Israeli Army, or Olmert, or even Stephen Harper. It comes from the countless Jewish based initiatives and groups that advocate for Palestinian rights, for peace with its neighbors. The Jewish groups that advocate against Israel. These are the ones that suffered during the Holocaust, not those secular Jews in the government. These are the ones that aren’t given camera time, that hold demonstrations that aren’t broadcasted, the ones that have a conscience and know that the Israeli Army’s trek into other countries is just a land grab, and will only make more enemies for Israel. These are the voices that we should be standing behind.

Canadian Reaction

I’ve read some posts on CBC’s Viewpoint forum and some of the reactions by Canadians is surprising. There are numerous people who are praising Steven Harper for sticking to his principles and not listening to the polls like the Liberals did in the previous government. To me this comes off as a vain attempt to glorify Harper by comparing him to another party that fell out of favour with the people. We are not looking now at what is right, but who is less wrong and then rewarding Harper for not being like the Liberals. This is not the sole way to judge a government, by the actions of the previous one. You have to judge them also by their current actions. One that I can’t get by is the publication ban that still lays shroud around the 17 terror suspects that have been held. We still don’t know why they’re being detained or any other details about the arrests. This contrasted with Harper saying that he wanted a more transparent government.

I’ve selected two of the post that I feel should be looked at.

The first follows here:
Harper’s comments and his corresponding actions in the Middle East are totally distorted. He shows he has no interest in peace and his actions only emphasize his pro-Israeli/pro-American stance. Israel continues its revengeful attitude by taking a hundred eyes for each one lost. This insanity only creates more generations of hatred and those that inflict their punitive measures cannot fathom its folly. Targeting innocent civilians in Lebanon is not collateral damage; it is murder and those who support this insanity are war criminals. Once the battle stops, healing these belligerent ways will take at least another 50 years of intense effort by peacemakers. Rather than build on Yitzak Rabin’s peace initiatives of 20 years ago, the hawks in both Israel and the U.S. now dominate. Israelis, more than any other ethnic group in history, should know what it is like to be ostracized. They should examine their own history and show some compassion for their fellow human beings.

This one comes off as a little angry, but fiery views are what grows abundant in these times. And this person’s views are shared by many people that I’ve spoken with in the last week, some of them very educated about the issue, some of them unaware of who Rabin actually was.

And the pro-Israeli viewpoint:
Thank you Mr. Harper for standing with those Israelis under threat for simply being Jewish. I know that Mr. Harper will lose a lot of votes among the immigrant populations in the cities of Montreal and Toronto where support for Hezbollah is very high. But Hezbollah supports the genocide of the Jewish people. It's disgusting that Canadians in these polls are supporting genocide against the Jewish people. I wonder if it's anti-Americanism at work in these polls or anti-Semitism at work. I guess it doesn't matter because its shameful either way.

This second post caught my eye for suggesting the idea that Canadians were supporting genocide against the Jewish people. Has this gentleman gone completely bonkers? Let’s see, rockets (numerous rockets) fired into the north of Israel compared to the complete ground invasion, air raids and inclusion of more than 80, 000 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. No Hizballah are in Israel. If we look at only the civilian casualties, Lebanese far outnumber the Israeli so pro-Israeli-war-machine supporters should stay away from quoting numbers. Yes there is genocide but this person got who it was directed to completely wrong. I’m ashamed that this came from a Canadian, since we have unlimited access to sources both national and international and should be able to make far more educated statements.

Qana

I'm having trouble posting words now. The blatant disregard for life. The two-faced Israeli government. Words are hard to come by. I found this site with pictures of the Qana attack in Lebanon. Please be advised, these pictures are disturbing and please do not view if you think it may cause you any sort of health issues. The Israeli government has lost all heart now. This is the real story.

No Title; Just News

Israel continues its destructive drive into Lebanon this week. And as the global community stands back and does nothing, America, the IOF, Britain and all its pawn countries rev the assault into high gear, all the while telling the rest of the world that they're seeking a humanitarian solution. And we’re supposed to buy it, even with the shipment of US laser guided missiles to Tel Aviv, to make Israel an even more ruthless killing machine. They declared a ceasefire (whatever this means to the Israeli army) after the killing of several children in Lebanon. This was a vain attempt to show that their military has a heart, despite how black it may appear. This showed the world that the army only desires peace, but will do whatever it has to do to get it, even complete and utter genocide of the Lebanese, Palestinians and Iraqis, lest we forget. They will stop and let the world see this pause, but continue massive ground and air raids in the Gaza strip and the Westbank killing hundreds of children in their wake. What happened to the humanity? One country at a time it seems. Apparently Israel, the jewel of the world, the brains of every outfit, has trouble multi-tasking.

Condoleeza Rice paid a visit to President Abbas last week which was attended by Palestinians, humanitarian groups, and international journalists. They were all eager to participate in the question and answer period where Rice would explain why America was taking the steps it was. And then the period was scrapped, much to the dismay, and I use that term lightly, of every person in attendance. The problem with Abbas is that he needs to make his role in this matter more bold, more solid, and not shake hands with a smile that even he has trouble keeping on his face. This is why Palestine is being controlled, manipulated and destroyed. You don’t shake hands with the Devil, just for formalities. The situation is dire, let’s not let it go to the dogs.

And back here what’s going on? Last week and interview with Nahlah Ayed and the Prime Minister of Lebanon was cut short, actually cut off, when the President started saying that the international community has done very little so far for the Lebanese and are allowing them to die by taking a painstakingly slow response. I commend Nahlah for doing this interview; I am ashamed of the CBC for docking it. There is a responsibility the CBC owes the viewer and that’s the reporting of the news in its fullest, not selectively. The constant attempts at making this seem like a balanced war is what’s going to get the Lebanese killed. This is not a conventional war; it is not one where there are comparable casualties on both sides. Lebanese casualties and Palestinian, together or separate, grossly outnumber Israeli ones. This is what the viewer needs to be aware of and what the CBC has failed to do.