Crisis
Brings Rice, Not Peace
By Dahr Jamail
27 July, 2006
Inter
Press Service
BEIRUT, Jul 26 (IPS)
- U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has come and gone,
but the conflict in Lebanon continues. Most Lebanese believe she had
little to say for them through her talks with leaders of the region.
Rice held an unannounced
meeting in Beirut Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora,
with the stated goal of ending the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah
and Israel.
Rice is reported to have
told Siniora that there could be no ceasefire until Hezbollah released
two Israeli soldiers captured during an attack, and until Hezbollah
withdraws from the Israeli border.
Rice was also quoted as saying
that the captured soldiers must be released unconditionally, and Hezbollah
forces moved at least 20km back from the border.
Hezbollah has dismissed both
demands, and continues to demand release of thousands of Lebanese and
Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Siniora has repeatedly called
for ceasefire since the fighting began two weeks ago. He has said that
a prisoner swap and an end to Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms
in southern Lebanon would be a better political solution. Shebaa Farms
is a 30 sq km agricultural area of mostly abandoned farms on the slopes
of Mount Hermon at the junction of Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Following Rice's visit to
Beirut, the United States announced a 30 million dollar aid package
for Lebanon. Many here see this as crumbs of aid, and no compensation
for the position the United States is taking in support of Israel.
Tuesday afternoon and night,
Israeli jets continued to pound both southern Lebanon and the Dahaya
district of southern Beirut. Hezbollah continues to launch rockets into
northern Israel, killing and wounding civilians.
Fierce fighting continues
in the south between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters, as the
conflict enters its third week. There appears to be no end in sight
to the ongoing violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert told reporters after meeting Rice that Israel is determined to
continue its military operations in Lebanon. He said "severe measures"
would be taken against Hezbollah. "Israel is determined to continue
on in the fight against Hezbollah."
Rice appeared to support
this policy when she said that while a ceasefire was needed, it could
not come at any price. "It is time for a new Middle East,"
she told reporters.
Rice said that the terms
of UN resolution 1559 and the Taif Agreement, which ended the Lebanese
civil war in 1990, must be met. Both documents state that the Lebanese
government should exercise full control over its territory, and disarm
militias, including Hezbollah.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm,
and refuses to withdraw from the southern border to make way for an
international peacekeeping force. Several European Union countries have
offered to assist in a UN peacekeeping force on the border.
Near the end of her short
visit to Beirut, Rice told Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri that
"the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before
Jul. 12."
Berri, a Shia Muslim who
has worked with both Siniora and Hezbollah since the fighting erupted,
dismissed her proposals, and insisted that a ceasefire must precede
any talks regarding Hezbollah's presence in southern Lebanon.
The sticking point seems
to be what should come first. Most leaders in the Lebanese government
want a ceasefire first, and then exchanges of prisoners, to be followed
by discussions on other issues. On the other hand, Israel wants Hezbollah
-- which the Lebanese government has little if any control over -- to
leave the border area immediately and free the captured soldiers without
conditions.
Rice was not able to shake
either position through her visit. And on the streets of Beirut, people
had their own views about her and her efforts.
"The Prime Minister
should never have received her," said Samer Razzouk, a 23-year-old
information technology instructor. "Rice is only another face of
Israeli policy, and she has no interest in a peaceful settlement."
Several sizable demonstrations
against her visit were held around Beirut Monday.
But she did have her supporters.
"We think that although it is a difficult solution she proposes,
it is the best and final solution for the Lebanon problem," said
50-year-old Nassan Hanin who owns a stationery store in Beirut. "Hezbollah
must return the soldiers, and this will solve the problem."