Another Lebanese Voice

There have been some strange omissions from most major media coverage of Israel's war against the Hizbullah in Lebanon. Most of Lebanon has not been touched --or only barely-- by Israeli military actions against the Hizbullah. East Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and the north of Lebanon have not been touched except for certain military installations and infrastructure that could serve military purposes, such as radar, border crossings to Syria, airfields, Hizbullah bases, etc., plus passing transports of military equipment for Hizbullah. The media have not shown how these areas have been untouched or barely so. Nevertheless, we have seen various TV journalists blathering about destruction in the Lebanese south, real indeed, while in the background buildings in downtown Beirut are obviously untouched and traffic moves unimpeded. We are told that Israel is "attacking Lebanon," as if Israel were attacking the whole country, which is not true. By the way, when I write "media," I refer specifically to BBC, CNN, Sky, and Fox. BBC and Sky are the worst, as one would expect, since they are British --and UK government inspired.

Further, the Lebanese voices heard on the media are usually those of admirers or supporters of Hizbullah, one exception being Walid Jumblatt, the political leader of the Druze community, who was very outspokenly critical of Hizbullah. Yet, although overlooked by the media, many Lebanese see Israel's war against Hizbullah as an opportunity for Lebanon to regain control of itself, since Hizbullah serves as an instrument for Syrian and Iranian control of Lebanon, the most important such instrument since the Syrian army withdrew from Lebanon in 2005.

One of these other Lebanese voices is Louis-Noel Harfouche, who seems to be a French instructor in a New England educational institution. His blog, Eccelibano, presents views critical of the Arab nationalist illusions that he believes have harmed the Arabs in general and Lebanon in particular. Here is his forthright statement on the need to uproot Hizbullah, which he refers to in a very bitter modification of its name combined with Arabic terms of contempt.

Israel Must Not Be Sidetracked by Cana!

To rephrase Fouad Ajami’s famous adage: the sky won’t fall in Araby on account of Israel’s response to Zibballah’s premeditation and instigation of this—second—calamity at Cana! Lebanon’s Shiites should know that the nets that entrap and coop their community up are of their own hands’ weaving; that the beasts that suppress and silence them are of their own making. Lebanon’s Shiites, who in the past 30 years seem to have mastered precious little save superstitions, conspiracy theories, and the art of sycophancy, submissiveness, passivity, and adulation before tyrants and thugs like Nasrallah and his mercenaries, must rise against their true oppressors—not against Israelis seeking just retribution. There is no catastrophe in Cana, which necessitates a respite in Israel’s determination to do away with the Zibballah beast once and for all. The catastrophe dwells in that the Shiites themselves choose to remain silent and resigned to wounds meted out by their own; impugning others for their own home-grown afflictions and self-inflicted pains.

Instead of being alarmed at a bump in the road like Cana, Israel should stay focused, steadfast, assertive, and unyielding in its campaign against Zibballah, its culture of terror and intimidation, its depravity, and its sleazy tactics of hit-and-run in the shadow of civilian neighborhoods, hospitals, and places of worship. Zibballah, its infrastructure, its fronts, its patrons, its advocates, its protectors, its sycophants, and the whole obsolete “theological,” “intellectual,” and psychological edifice—in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East—that made its existence possible, should be taken down, once and for all.

There is no conceivable “diplomatic solution” before the decapitation of Zibballah is complete. No cease-fires, no lulls, no wavering, and no settlements before Lebanon is rid of those vermin who have been sucking the lifeblood of the nation and holding it hostage for upwards of 25 years. Lebanon seems to have acquiesced in the reality that Israel has to, once more, clean house for us. Even Lebanon’s Shiites are are eager for deliverance from the malady of backwardness and Islamism, even as Zibballah’s terror continues to hijack their freewill and steal their tongues. Zibballah and the “Lebanon” who condones and supports them must be granted no waver until the monster is decapitated and its children tamed. Pragmatism is a sign of weakness in the theology of those Islamist louts. Israel should never lose sight of that!

Dr Harfouche's statement speaks for itself. He points out that there is no "diplomatic solution" before getting rid of the Hizbullah leadership. This contrasts with the simpleminded European Union position, led by France and Britain, which is simply a cover for hypocrisy and a disguised expression of their traditional Judeophobia.
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Comments on International Law and Its Application to the Kana Deaths
Despite international criticisms of Israel for violations of "international humanitarian law," the Geneva Convention IV provides that 1) the presence of "protected persons" [non-combatants] does not foreclose military action against a location containing military targets; 2) private property can be destroyed when there is a military necessity for doing so. See articles 28 and 53 of Geneva Convention IV [also quoted in my previous post]. Does any serious person deny that Hizbullah shot at Israel from civilian locations?
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Coming: Jews in Jerusalem under Muslim Rule, etc.