When
Civilians Become Targets:
The Israeli Destruction Of
Lebanon and Gaza
By Remi Kanazi
16 July, 2006
Countercurrents.org
In
the last two weeks, Israel has sent a chilling message to the Palestinian
and Lebanese people: civilians and infrastructure are legitimate targets
in their war of aggression. The Geneva Conventions have been fragrantly
violated and humanitarian law has been thrown into the garbage can.
The Israeli government would have us believe that the killing of civilians
is the "necessary consequence" of holding one Israeli prisoner
in Gaza and two Israeli prisoners in Lebanon.
On July 12, Israel killed
22 Palestinians in Gaza, including nine civilians from one family. An
economic, political and physical siege has been placed on the Palestinian
people. In the past two weeks, the Israeli bombardment has killed eighty
Palestinians, knocked out power and water for the majority of Gaza's
1.3 million inhabitants, and pummeled Gaza's infrastructure with thousands
of artillery shells. The international community has been silent on
the sidelines, while Israeli forces bombed Gaza back twenty years—as
it promises to do with Lebanon. While the premeditated assault on Gaza
continues, Israel still holds nearly 10,000 abducted Palestinians, including
many members of the Palestinian government.
This week, Hezbollah attacked
an Israeli military target, killing three soldiers. Four more soldiers
died after an Israeli tank ran over a mine in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah
now holds two Israeli prisoners that were caught in the attack. In response,
Israel bombed civilian infrastructure and Beirut's Rafik Al-Hariri International
Airport. July is Lebanon's busiest tourist month. Bombing all three
runways of Beirut's airport and its fuel tanks is a direct attack on
the economic welfare of Lebanese society. Already, thousands have fled
the country, but with the intense bombing of the airport and the main
highway leading out to Damascus, fleeing for safety has become impossible.
Reminiscent of the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli siege of Beirut
in 1982, the Lebanese population has rushed to supermarkets for food
and supplies in fear of a further escalation of Israeli aggression.
The military onslaught against
Lebanon has only intensified and expanded. The Israeli strikes have
devastated Lebanon's infrastructure, destroying most of country's bridges—including
bridges in the South that connect villages to their main roads. The
entrances and exits of many villages in the South have been destroyed
by Israeli forces—leaving civilians as prisoners in their villages.
The widespread incursion has left most of the country without electricity
and operating land lines. Many Lebanese have cell phones and rely on
them as a means of communication, but with cell phone antennas knocked
down in most parts of the country, cell phones are useless, further
strangulating the population's means to communicate. The majority of
inhabitants in Lebanon are without communication to the outside world.
By 3 am Eastern Time on July
14, my cousin in Beirut indicated that power had been down for nearly
an hour. Typing to me through instant messaging, (her electricity is
supplied through a generator) she explained that she "couldn't
sleep last night because of the [Israeli] planes." By the time
I contacted her the next morning she said, "It's horrible. It's
almost comical now. I feel like I'm in a dream. A bad dream." The
Israeli Air Force has been bombing the suburbs of Beirut throughout
the morning and afternoon of July 14. According to the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz, the Israeli Air Force has struck "a bridge in the southern
suburb of Beirut, and the fuel stores of the Jiyyeh power plant south
of the city early Friday, witnesses and security sources said."
In addition, there are many
foreign nationals stuck in the South without a route out, while the
expansive bombing is now putting all foreign nationals throughout the
country at risk. The Lebanese in the South can't flee up north towards
Beirut because the roads and bridges leading to Beirut have been bombed
by Israeli forces. During the civil war, many residents of the South
would flee up north during intense periods of fighting to stay out of
harms way—but because of the intensity of Israel's collective
punishment and killing, this measure has been impossible to pursue.
Israel continues to pound
areas in and around Beirut and is further blasting densely populated
Shia areas in the South and in the suburbs of Beirut. The Israeli Air
Forces has struck multiple army bases in Lebanon and has bombed Al Manar,
the Hezbollah run television station. Since the start of the offensive,
Israel has killed at least 60 Lebanese civilians, including ten members
of one family. It is yet unknown what humanitarian implications this
offensive will have. Without electricity in the second hottest month
of the year, it may have a serious effect on the population. The most
affected will be young children, the elderly, pregnant women and those
in need of medical care. Israel has warned that the military blockade
debilitating Lebanese society will continue. The operation is likely
to broaden, including more suburbs in Beirut and other heavily populated
areas. Nearly 1.2 million people live in Beirut, while another 2.1 million
people live in surrounding areas.
Placing Blame
Since the taking of the two
Israeli prisoners, Israel and America have pointed fingers at Syria
and Iran for supporting Hezbollah. Yet, it's disingenuous to suggest
that Syria and Iran are pulling the strings of Hezbollah. The actions
of Syria and Iran are similar to American financially supporting Israel—both
have interests in common, which justifies the financial support. It
is not surprising that Syria and Iran—who out of favor with the
Israel and the West—would be willing to fund movements that are
trying to free their countries from occupation or defend their countries
from Israel, the regional pariah state. It should be noted that Israel
has not attributed blame to the Lebanese government for logistically
helping Hezbollah, although, Israel still holds the Lebanese government
"responsible." Israel has been quick to take out its hostility
on the Lebanese government—which forced out a militarily stationed
Syria last year—and the civilian population of the state. The
Lebanese government is already calling for a cease-fire and has petitioned
to the United Nations to intervene. Israel and America know that the
Lebanese government doesn't have the power to disarm Hezbollah even
if it wanted to, aside from the fact that it would be unwilling to start
a civil war to appease Israel and America. Israel, mirroring the chilling
standard it set in Gaza, is setting the same precedent in Lebanon.
Shifting Positions
There is a stark difference
between the initial actions of Israel and the initial actions of Hezbollah
and the groups in Gaza—Hezbollah and the groups in Gaza attacked
military targets. Ironically, groups that much of the West regards as
terrorists entities, applied more conventional standards of warfare
in recent weeks than Israel has.
Since the start of its incursion
in Gaza, Israeli forces abducted many members of the Palestinian government
to put pressure on the Palestinian government to release Israeli Corporate
Shalit. This policy is not new for Israel. Ali Abuminah, co-founder
of ElectronicIntifada.net, pointed out on Berkley radio that "Israel
explicitly introduced the tactic of hostage taking for the purpose of
prisoners exchanges…in the early '90s." Today, Israel holds
many Lebanese prisoners and occupies the Shebaa Farms. Abuminah illustrates
Israel's hypocrisy in condemning Hezbollah's "disregard for the
sovereignty of Israel,"
"When did Israel every
respect the sovereignty of any of its neighbors. Israel occupies southwest
Syria. There are 30,000 Israeli settlers living in southwest Syria cultivating
wine and enjoying the Golan Heights and claiming God gave it to them.
Israel is establishing new settlements everyday throughout the Occupied
Territories. Israel has been violating the airspace and territorial
waters of Lebanon continuously and consistently ever since it was forced
to withdraw its forces and its collaborator army, the South Lebanon
army, in May 2000."
A Christian Palestinian,
who lived most of his life in Beirut before moving to the US, explained,
"They [Israel] do whatever they want. They are so militarily superior.
It's been like this since 1967. It's depressing. Once upon a time, when
Russia was a big power, we could get some support, but now Israel can
do whatever it wants and nobody gives a damn."
What Happens Next?
Those that stayed silent
during the atrocities inflicted upon Gaza have voiced a little more
concern in the assault on Lebanon. The European Union (EU) stated, "The
European Union is greatly concerned about the disproportionate use of
force by Israel in Lebanon in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel."
The EU continued, "The presidency deplores the loss of civilian
lives and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. The imposition
of an air and sea blockade on Lebanon cannot be justified." It
is also not in the interest of the US government or the international
community to see the collapse of the Lebanese government, as US President
George Bush noted on July 13. The international community can stomach
the slow ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, but they cannot
stomach a regional war in the Middle East. Furthermore, regional instability
has led crude oil to surge to 78 dollars a barrel—many analysts
see 100 dollars a barrel in the not so distant future if regional instability
continues. The outrage of US consumers may help Bush rethink the blank
check he has given Israel "to defend itself." While Condoleezza
Rice urged Israel to "exercise restraint," these hollow suggestions
haven't hindered Israel's use of brute force.
The US, pressed by the EU
and the UN, must force Israel to restrain itself and engage in negotiations
to deescalate the situation in Lebanon and Gaza. The destruction of
Lebanon and Gaza will not lead to the release of the Israeli prisoners.
Much like the residents of Gaza, the Shia dominated south of Lebanon,
which has seen widespread humanitarian support from Hezbollah, has become
stronger willed over time. Israel hoped its military incursions in Gaza
would break the back of Hamas, toppling the Hamas-led government in
Palestine: this has yet to be the case. Although the Palestinian population
is immensely suffering, it is not willing to concede to its occupier
this time. Unfortunately for Israeli forces, those in the Israeli north
and possibly in Haifa, the residents of the South are willing to fight
off its oppressive neighbor once again. It is up to the international
community to let the Lebanese population know how long they will have
to fight for.
Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political website www.PoeticInjustice.net
He lives in New York City as a Palestinian American freelance writer,
poet and performer and can reached via email at [email protected]