Kidnapped
In Israel
Or Captured In Lebanon?
By Joshua Frank
25 July, 2006
Countercurrents.org
As
Lebanon continues to be pounded by Israeli bombs and munitions, the
justification for Israel's invasion is treading on very thin ice. It
has become general knowledge that it was Hezbollah guerillas that first
kidnapped two IDF soldiers inside Israel on July 12, prompting an immediate
and violent response from the Israeli government, which insists it is
acting in the interest of national defense. Israeli forces have gone
on to kill over 370 innocent Lebanese civilians (compared to 34 killed
on Israel's side) while displacing hundreds of thousands more.
But numerous reports from
international and independent media, as well as the Associated Press,
raise questions about Israel's official version of the events that sparked
the conflict two weeks ago.
The original story, as most media tell it, goes something like this:
Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol station, killing six and
taking two soldiers hostage. The incident happened on the Lebanese/Israel
border in Israeli territory. The alternate version, as explained by
several news outlets, tells a bit of a different tale: These sources
contend that Israel sent a commando force into southern Lebanon and
was subsequently attacked by Hezbollah near the village of Aitaa al-Chaab,
well inside Lebanon's southern territory. It was at this point that
an Israel tank was struck by Hezbollah fighters, which resulted in the
capture of two Israeli soldiers and the death of six.
As the AFP
reported, "According to the Lebanese police force, the two Israeli
soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aitaa al-Chaab,
near to the border with Israel, where an Israeli unit had penetrated
in middle of morning." And the French news site www.VoltaireNet.org
reiterated the same account on June 18, "In a deliberated
way, [Israel] sent a commando in the Lebanese back-country to Aitaa
al-Chaab. It was attacked by Hezbollah, taking two prisoners."
The Associated
Press departed from the official version as well. "The
militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes
Wednesday across the border in southern Lebanon, prompting a swift reaction
from Israel, which sent ground forces into its neighbor to look for
them," reported Joseph Panossian for AP on July 12. "The forces
were trying to keep the soldiers' captors from moving them deeper into
Lebanon, Israeli government officials said on condition of anonymity."
And the Hindustan
Times on July 12 conveyed a similar account:
"The Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah movement announced on Wednesday
that its guerrillas have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
'Implementing our promise to free Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, our
strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon,'
a statement by Hezbollah said. 'The two soldiers have already been moved
to a safe place,' it added. The Lebanese police said that the two soldiers
were captured as they 'infiltrated' into the town of Aitaa al-Chaab
inside the Lebanese border."
Whether factual or not, these
alternative accounts should at the very least raise serious questions
as to Israel's motives and rationale for bombarding Lebanon.
MSNBC online first reported
that Hezbollah had captured Israeli soldiers "inside" Lebanon,
only to change their story hours later after the Israeli government
gave an official statement to the contrary.
A report from The
National Council of Arab Americans, based in Lebanon, also
raised suspicion that Israel's official story did not hold water and
noted that Israel had yet to recover the tank that was demolished during
the initial attack in question.
"The Israelis so far
have not been able to enter Aitaa al-Chaab to recover the tank that
was exploded by Hezbollah and the bodies of the soldiers that were killed
in the original operation (this is a main indication that the operation
did take place on Lebanese soil, not that in my opinion it would ever
be an illegitimate operation, but still the media has been saying that
it was inside 'Israel' thus an aggression first started by Hezbollah)."
Before independent observers
could organize an investigation of the incident, Israel had already
mounted a grisly offensive against Lebanese infrastructure and civilians,
bombing Beirut's international airport, along with numerous highways
and communication portals. Israel didn't need the truth of the matter
to play out before it invaded Lebanon. As with the United States' illegitimate
invasion of Iraq, Israel just needed the proper media cover to wage
a war with no genuine moral impetus.
Joshua Frank
is the author of Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush
and edits http://www.BrickBurner.org