A main problem with this whole situation is the inclusion of 'labels'.
The "Israelis" are either 'stoic fighters desperately trying to defend themselves in a sea of vicious, evil enemies who only plot their destruction' or are 'vapid oppressors who are maniacally exerting disproportionate amounts of force so that they can gleefully prove to the rest of the region that they arent to be 'trifled' with."
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the any other Arab community that fights with Israel are "jew hating muslim fascists and 'zealots' who only believe in wiping out everyone who disagrees with their blind, unbridled evil ambitions" or they are "Valiant freedom fighters trying desperately to stand up to an oppressive war machine".

What these labels do is seek to justify on both sides the reasons for an escalation in violence. They seek to couple each side into either a group of 'good guys' or 'bad guys' with unfortunately anyone bearing the name Muslim or "arab" tends to unfairly be thrust into the latter group.
But as in all things, there are two sides to the story. Israel is a nation of beautiful people, culture, and peaceful citizens who have noble ideals and ultimately want to be left alone in peace. The same could be said of the Palestinians and the Syrians and others. It really depends on who you want to listen to, and whose plight you identify with.
The problem is, both sides feel that the only recourse they have is to take 'action' and use violence as a means to gain ground against the opposition. Israel by far has NOT been the bastion of diplomacy. You cannot honestly sit there and justifiably argue that they have tirelessly exhausted any and all avenues towards peaceful coexistance in the region. But neither can you give this credit to the 'resistance' groups, who feel that their actions arent really 'terrorism', but the desperate attempts at beating back a vicious oppressor who seeks to murder them all.
It's easy to slap a label like 'terrorist' on someone at one point, and 'revolutionary' on them as another. When my beloved America fought the british for our freedom, it was declared a valiant revolution, we fought for Democracy and freedom, and etc etc.. But when other states decided they wanted to seceed and be their OWN 'free and democratic peoples' (the South), a civil war burst out with the Confederacy ending up being labelled as slave-owning evil warmongers. Nevermind that up until nearly 40 years ago, African Americans, and other minorities were and to an extent still ARE treated as 'second class citizens' in our own country. Imagine if the Blacks in America, or the American Indians (who were robbed and killed for their land) decided to stage an uprising and a 'freedom fighting campaign' where they bombed and attacked U.S. cities. Would they be hailed as 'terrorists' or 'freedom fighters defending themselves to reclaim their '4000 year old birthright?'
What of the prisoners held in U.S. prisons that have been held as possibly being enemy combatants? WE have held and released countless 'innocents' for several years before letting them go back to their homes without so much as an apology. It's all in the interest of "defending america" isnt it? But is it right? Imagine if you were held captive by another nation who felt that you might be trying to undermine their 'peaceful way of life' as an 'enemy combatant', detained for several years, and then let go after they were satisfied that you posed no immediate threat or any danger? Would you not be angry? Would your family not be justified in being vindicative?
The world is NOT simply black and white, there are shades of gray, and until we begin to replace old-school 'Leaders' with people who are willing to SEE these multiple grays and embrace new ideals, we will be forever doomed to find ourselves embroiled in conflict over and over again, and the lives of hundreds of thousands will pave the way to hatred bigotry, and ultimately ruin for ALL.

I am ready for $10/gal for the sake of democracy.

"im ready for $5/gall"--are you crazy or something......no one in the US is ready for that, not even you....so dont be like its ok...our lives depend on oil, everyday i have to drive to work 100 miles to get there and another 100 to get back....thats almost $70 everyday spending on oil--if thats not alot of money to you....then your living an imaginary life...

" im ready for $5/gall" are u serouis? Last time i checked you are not the only person in this country, there are over 260 million ppl and many can not afford to buy $5/gallon. I dont know how far can we support Israel? What happens if these middleastern countires said no more oil for us as long as we blindly support Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself but this accessive use of force is not going to free hostages or help the situation

it is so sad how some people can be so ignorant.do some research before you attack people and religions, and you should not ever place lebanese people and hezballa in the same category. i am lebanese and muslim and proud of it. i would like nothing more than to have hezballa taken out. what they did was completely wrong and i hate them for what they have caused to happen in my country because of their stupidity. if the israelis know so much about where hezballa is, then why have so many innocent people died and hardly any of them. i also find it interesting how 12 people have died in israel while between 50-60 (maybe more now) have died in lebanon.
we don't want war, and we don't have the resources to take out hezballa. but whats happening now is not helping us either.

im whishing and waitng to see isreal jumps on syria or iran. that only the solution in m.east. im ready for $5/gall. you may not agree but there will never peace in the region with these states continuiing support those jihah. just once for all.
for those peacenisk, go over there to protest and talk, wish you all the luck
isreal is bad and i never like it, but others were so ugly. remember after 1967 war, there was peace for awhile.
peace alway at otherside of ... war

We Americans must supports on ally Israel in its fight against radical Islamist terrorism. Anyone who thinks this is some local fight between a gang and Israel has to get real. Israel does not occupy one bit of Lebanese land. In fact it left Lebabnon 6 years before another occupying power, Syria, left. I didn't see the bleeding hearts calling for an the ouster of Syria during that time. The real truth of the matter is that Israel's internationally and UN recognized border was breached by an armed militia of a group that is part of the coalition government in Lebanon. In that breach, 8 soldiers were murdered, and 2 were captured. They were quickly taken deep into Lebanon. It is a commandment in the Bible to free captives. Hizbollah has 13,000 rockets which Iran and Syria helped them get aimed at Israel. They frequently shoot off a few of these at Israel, so much so that the world media does not even bother to report it anymore. We would never allow US soldeirs to be killed and taken captive and have our border cities under rocket attack without taking action. Iran and Syria lurk behind this from funding to arming Hizbollah. We need to stand with Israel, our ally, not against them. The EU will always back the Arabs given the number of muslims in their country. The US will always back Israel because of our shared democratic heritage, and because Israel is right. This has nothing to do with the Palestinians, and everything to do with radical Islam.

It's OK to do what you think is best for your country Isreal. Just don't get deep in trouble and think we're going over there to clean up your mess.

First I would like to start by saying that I believe both users. MI and SAS are dillusional. Not every non-Jew hates Jewish people. Just because I do not condomn the mass killings of innocents doesn't make me anti-semitic. And to SAS, the Jews are not trying to take over the middle east (remember they gave Egypt back all taken land although the conquest was completly in accordance with all war rules). The fact is it's OK for a country to defend itself. But its not OK to crush a nation because of its destined inability to control a dangerous pack of militants for risk of civil restraint and war. The truth is the only way to solve a situation is to risk lives and selectivly target the "bad guys." The minute that you start attacking without care or remorse is the momment that you too become the "bad guy." It's not hard for anyone to side with someone who protects innocents. But when that group also takes innocent life the line between right and wrong (in any relgion) starts to get shady. Killing and capturing terroists suppreses terroism; killing and injuring innocent civilians only supports it. The more innocent people die, the more radical groups can say "look at them. They are killing you and we are killing them...who do you side with." In short it must be hard to remain neutral when those close to you are dying. When you have a rat in your house you put a trap down. You don't break out an Uzi and go crazy. It's OK to carry a big stick, but its not always OK to use it. The only way Israel and the west can truly beat terroism and guerrila militants is to kill terroist and guerrila militants. There's no way around it. But in that you MUST also always make clear to all parties that you are ONLY out to kill terroists and militants. When that ceases to happen the result can only be more hate, thus more terroists and militants.

I am isreali but i have to say that isreal is not doing the right thing here.....i am for peace...

shalom

MI You have a huge chip on your shoulder, not to mention you are totally diverting attention away from the fact that the Lebanese government and the Lebanese civilian population is not responsible for Hezbollah's actions. And even if they were, I refuse to accept that this massive attack on Lebanon was somehow warranted or proportional to what has happened to Israel. You speak of those soldiers as 'poor boys' who are probably 'being tortured', what about the Lebanese civilians who have been held in Israelie concentration camps for the last >>30<< years. Kept in pitch black cells the size of coffins, their eyes white with blindness and their limbs weak from lack of use and beatings. Excuse me if I don't fall to my knees weeping at the thought of 2 Israelie soldiers being captured while they were out on military duty.

Also: You criticize Hezballah for taking prisoners? What exactly do you expect them to do when it has been shown that politically negotiating the release of lebanese and palestinian prisoners held in Israelie facilities has been consistently met with absolute and utter rejection. Instead of bargaining, the Israelie government has seen fit to let loose the dogs of hell and cripple the Lebanese people once again, even going so far as to attempt to incite another civil war.

I abhor violence and seek, always, some sane path to peace; however, a real peace does not appear to be possible. I defend the USA's involvement in this conflict becuase Israel has shown itself to be (with some exceptions) a true friend and ally. It would appear that we need to look at the situation in personal terms. I believe that any one of us would defend ourselves against any attack from a neighbor who has refused our right to exist. That is and has been the state of affairs for the country of Israel since its inception. The nation of Israel was established long before the twentieth century and the Arab nations surrounding it have been consistent in their refusal to recognize Israel's legitimacy (with few exceptions). Americans are scared to death because of one attack on our sovereign soil but fail to recognize the fear that Israelis have lived with daily for half a century. No Israeli mother is ever assured that her children will return home from school, a husband from the market, a sister and her family from a vacation to the seashore. Several olive branches have been offered by Israel to various regimes in the Middle East and nearly all of those nations have slapped the hand of the Israelis who have extended these offers by consistently refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist. Come on! The Jewish nation exists and no other country has the right to refuse its legitimacy. Sometimes, when a surgeon opens up a person with cancer, s/he must remove some healthy tissue because it is so inextricably intertwined with the diseased tissue. That is the sad state of affairs in the Middle East. The innocent are punished, maimed, injured, killed along with the guilty. The innocent are used as shields by the guilty-the terrorists. We have lost our way, humans have, and I am unsure that we will ever be able to set things right.

Enough with "where was the outcry?" observations. I'm sure there was, somewhere, no matter which example you hold up. What you really mean is "I'm disappointed and noticed the world did not stop turning."

Israel's collective punishment of Lebanon is tantamount to an admission by the government of Israel that it views all Lebanese, indeed all Arabs, as terrorists. Israel does not want peace. In fact, the very notion of peace is anathema to the Israelis. That would mean justice and equality for the Arabs... i.e., real democarcy and de facto suicide of the Jewish state. If the Arabs were to produce a somebody like Martin Luther King, Jr., who would demand equal rights for Arabs, that would be far more dangerous to the Israelis than any rockets Hamas or Hizbollah could fire at their towns, and Israel knows it. This conflict is taking place far away from U.S. shores, but real people are dying, real families are being torn apart. I've already read some disparaging remarks about the religion of Islam on this page; some of the things that have been said, if they were said by Christians, you people must have missed the f-cking point, go back to Sunday school. I didn't agree with Hamas' or Hizbollah's actions. But Hamas was came to power through a democratic process, and the de facto head of state of Israel is an air-force general. Who's the democracy here? People speak of a burgeoning democracy in Lebanon, what about Israel. The true measure of a country's democracy is how it treats the least of its citizens. By those standards, Israel ranks far beneath many other countries. If the real culprit here is Syria or Iran, why doesn't Israel attack them? Why didn't the U.S. go after North Korea, they seem far more dangerous than Iraq. The Israelis know if they go after the big dogs, they'll get burned. So they content themselves by fighting against people too weak to defend themselves.

In response to anonymous message (Sent Jul 13, 2006 5:09:29 PM) to the present middle east crisis.
[quote]The United Nations set up Israel to lose in 1948. They gave them a narrow indefensible strip of land. They did not protect them when it was apparent that the Arab nations would attack. But Israel would not roll over and die; they fought and won while the UN looked the other way.[un quote] Israel came into very existence due to 1948 UN resolution. Critisizing this very act of UN is kind of strange thinking. Its like saying that the occupation of complete terroitory was not allowed in wholesome manner. Hmm!!

[quote]Just the other day 14 of 15 Security Council members think Israel should not defend itself from attack and wanted to condemn it. Only the United States veto stopped the motiuon from passing.[un quote] In a civilized world, 'veto' is total negation of democratic norms. Its strange that USA is contradicting itself. 'Veto' means, if you don't agree with me, I am going to make you agree through force. Is this the way the civilized nation resolve their differences? Then, in the same breath, the author is blaming UN for being impotent. Its these singular actions that have made UN impotent, not else.
[quote]
Shall a people’s 4000-year birth right to a region be declared null and void? Just because part of the inhabitants of a region created Islam after Judaism and others were already established does not give them the right to stamp out all other religions and declare their adherents infidels and worthy only of death. That thinking makes Islam itself a terrorist ideology. [un quote] Hmm!! using religions to massacre whole nation of inhabitants are not considered convincing arguments, at all. If the 'historic birth right' is consdered a legitimate argument, then one may wonder how would present day americans would justify their existance against the claims of red indians? This is same as legitimizing Saddam's attack on kawait because of its its pre WW-I geographical boundaries.
[quote]
But war and conquest is used for that very purpose. That's why Catholicism and Spanish is practiced and spoken in South America now instead of worshiping the Aztec and Inca Emperor’s and the old languages. That's why various Christian religions and English is practiced and spoken by the North American tribes instead of worship to the Indian nature spirits and the dozens of old native languages.[un quote]
Oh! I am really amazed to read such line of thinking. Is this a rationalistic script or a war mongering religious fanatasy in these lines justifying modern crusades? Author must reflect on himself as why is he trying to use a religous excuse for the extermination of other nations. Is this the way how 'west' projects itself among the civilized world?? I don't think so.
[quote]
The old and weak bow to the new and stronger ideology's. The old and the new are not always the bad and good or vice versa. The weak and strong are not always the bad and good either or vice versa. Power makes right, always has and always will.[un quote] Ah!, again the legs of civilised world has be crippled under the excuse of 'power makes right' thing. Are their no moral ethics to abide by or to judge by? I never imagined how such views can ever exist in this part of the world.
[quote]
The UN should continue to schedule power lunches at the best NY city restaurants and watch Israel struggle, watch Darfur struggle, watch everything and do nothing. That's what they are good at.[un quote]
Without nations UN is nothing. If 'veto' is the way, why blame UN for it?
[quote]
Let the wars begin. Lots of participants, some with veto powers to insure it, and many watchers we can't disappoint. Damn few peacemakers with the balls to do anything to stop it.[un quote] No, we must not let the war begin, at all. We are humans and we must learn through our history of evolution. We must resolve our differences through all means but not war. War is no solution. Let the justice prevail, may it go against the powerful. Supporting the aggressor is like moral bankkruptcy in our very existance. Let all people be treated equally.

Israel is doing the right and only thing you can do when dealing with fanatics and zealots...what kind of rights could they claim when their specialty is killing innocent people. Americans should learn the lesson from Israel or from Turkey when dealing with those crack nuts barking hate and terror from the pulpits...

A simple cheer for you MI in US!!!!!!!!
Very well said!

Most American citizens have but ONE problem: Innocence. Did you know what the YOUR govt is doing may not be good to all of YOUR people BUT is driving YOUR COUNTRY's ECONOMY? There are too many rich jewish merchants lobbying out there for US to turn a blind eye to Israel. Yet there are also too many rich arab merchants lobbying out there for US to care about the rest of the ARAB nations. Whatever it is, US can only talk, not fight. Of course you have to blame the whole conflict on the UN WWII post-war settlement where there are many who wish to eject Jews from their land and thus Israel is created. Better WAR in others backyard than our own. Lets just say this situation will last a long time thanks to the people who made the decisions during UN post WWII settlements. I just hope that when you are shooting somebody out there, you will also remember he also has a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a daugther, a son.

Whatever happened to the so-called "Road Map" that the Bush administration was espousing? What is extremely interesting in the pushing of the Project for a New American Century was the supposed outcome of an isolated Israel. Israel could be on the sidelines of Middle East actions while the US was promoting a democratic Iraq, stabilizing the region, and taking the emphasis off of anti-Israeli diplomacy! It seems to me that the whole "Road Map" prospect has been totally dashed, Iraq and the Project for a New American Century has been deduced to be a failure, and the development of Hamas, Hezbollah, and discordant Lebanon with Israel has developed to such a pitch that complete chaos is on the brink. The only country that has been apparently isolated form all of this is the US because diplomacy, ardent mediation,and an unbiassed positioning has been totally expunged. Good going, W.!

It's about time Israel shrugged us off, as if we are they're moral compass. Who do we American's think we are? Israel has taken on the middle east before, and won. You want the problems over there to end? Then let Israel go, let them take care of business. It may sound cruel but it's true. If all of you peace loving humanitarians wish to keep trying to make two rattlesnakes live together, go right ahead, see where it gets you. People like you are why this is still going on. I don't like it either, but might truly does make right. There's no way around it. If you want to think that we are evolved beings with no need for aggressiveness that's fine, but be prepared to die.

There is no end to the anti-semitism, it seems. A suicide bomber kills women and babies in strollers, and there is no outcry like this one. Why???? Because those were Jewish women and babies. Two soldiers are likely being tortured right now, and the world cries about runways and the death of tourism in a country that uses tourist dollars to support terrorism, and keeps referring to those poor boys as "just" two soldiers. Why? Because they are Jewish soldiers.

A tiny country the size of NJ is attacked constantly and consistently by it's neighbors, for the sole reason that it's neighbors don't want to live near Jews, and people the world over blame the attacked country for even existing.

A writer in these posts even blamed Israel for winning the war "against 22 countries" in six days!!!! They were attacked!!! But because they're Jewish, they are blamed for winning.

At the same time, Muslims create war everywhere on the globe, and they are lauded as following a religion of peace. Even Muslims who identify themselves as "moderate" follow up their agreement that it's wrong to kidnap soldiers within Israel's borders, with much stronger worded condemnations of Israel when she fights back.

Israel/Jewish people are blamed regardless of what the truth ever is...to the point where people in the USA now blame our support of Israel on American Jews. Others say "stop giving Israel money," but never talk about the cessation of monies to other countries we support. Is the money we give to "Palestine" supported by Palestinian Americans?"

People in these posts even blamed the two kidnapped soldiers for being kidnapped!!!!! One person accused them of being spies in Lebanon while another accused them of "sleeping on the job." So when you blame the victim for being "lazy" and thereby getting kidnapped, what are you if not an anti-semite? Only Jews could be indicted for allowing themselves to get kidnapped!!!!

Americans who call for the USA to stop supporting Israel say that all of our problems with Muslims will then end - did the Muslims blow up those religious statues in the desert because of support of Israel? No. Are the Muslims of Pakistan attacking India because of India's support of Israel? No. Did the Muslims attack that Beslan school cite Russia's support of Israel as the reason? No. Have any of you ever read the Koran, which supports the height of peace and manners and civilized behavior ONLY for Muslims while calling for the death of EVERYONE ELSE? Probably not - but that's okay for you - because you are not concerned with facts - you too want Jews wiped from the face of the earth, and will use any fake argument to support it.

I am Jewish. I have never hurt anyone in my life. It's quite possible that I descend/share blood with the very first followers of Jesus. I am not rich. I do not have political influence either in the USA or in the rest of the world. I do not want war, killing, poverty, or any other of the tradegies of the world. I am not fanatically religious, I fully support individual rights, and all I want is to be able to live and to raise my children in peace, just like every other single human being on the whole of the Earth.

You tell me - what I have done to deserve your ire? All I have done is to be part of "the Jews." I am not an individual to you - I am just one of "the Jews." Katie, from Chicago, and Andrea, in NY: what exactly have I done to you to make you hate me so much? Nothing. All I had to do was to be born part of a group you've been taught to hate as if every single person in that group is guilty of some collective evil, regardless of when/where they were born, and how they really conduct their lives.

And let one person accuse anti-semites of anti-semitism, and it's blame-the-victim time again. "Oh those aggressive, hateful Jews, always accusing people who hate for them no good reason of hating them for no good reason."

There is no culture nor subculture without "bad guys." Not one. There are bad Whites, Blacks, Jews, Arabs, Christians, Muslims, Americans, Israelis, Lebanese, etc. etc. etc. That isn't the biggest problem the world has. The biggest problem the world has is hate.

You people who talk about "the Jews" have no reason to hate me. But you will and do anyway. And no matter what I say, do, think, feel, believe, or try will ever do anything to stop you.

THE VERY definition of the operation already poses a problem.
The chief of Israel's Southern Command, General Yoav Gallant, speaks of "war", and so do the media. Really? "War" is a defined situation regulated by international law. It takes place between enemies, who are obliged to observe basic rules. But the Israeli government asserts that it is facing not an enemy with rights, but "terrorists", "criminals" and "gangs". And those, of course, have no rights. In a war, there are "prisoners-of-war". That applies to Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was taken prisoner in a military action, as well as to the Palestinian fighters who are held by us. But our government defines Shalit as "kidnapped" and the Palestinian prisoners as criminals.
It seems that the Jewish brain is inventing new patents (as a popular Israeli song once said). After the Unilateral Disengagement and the Unilateral Peace, we have now a Unilateral War. A war in which one side (the stronger) enjoys all the rights of a belligerent party, while the other (weaker) side has no rights at all.

A WAR must have an aim. What is the aim of this war?
Like George Bush's invasion of Iraq, Ehud Olmert's invasion of Gaza has an aim that changes from day to day. It started as an operation to save Corporal Shalit. How does one free a soldier who has been taken prisoner by underground organizations, whose whereabouts are unknown? How does one free him by force without endangering his life? The army has a solution - the same solution it has for each and every problem: apply massive force. If only we conquer, pulverize, kill and destroy more and more, the moment will come when the Palestinian people will not be able to stand the suffering and will demand that the underground fighters release the captured soldier. Unconditionally.

This might be called the "Harris Principle". In World War II, the British Air-Marshal Arthur Harris ("Bomber Harris") promised to bring Germany to its knees by turning its cities into rubble. The Germans spoke of "terror attacks". In one of them, the city of Dresden, one of the biggest and most splendid in Germany, was razed to the ground. In the giant conflagration, between 35,000 and 100,000 civilians were burnt to death (it was impossible to count the victims after the firestorm). But quite contrary to Harris' promise, German morale did not collapse. Germany surrendered only after the last German house was taken by foot soldiers. The Palestinian population, too, is not collapsing, in spite of its dreadful situation. It demands, almost unanimously, that the captors not release the soldiers if there is no release of "Palestinian prisoners-of-war".

SO, INSTEAD of the release of the prisoner, a new war-aim was born: to put an end to the launching of the Qassams. That seems easy: one only has to occupy the areas from which the rockets can be launched towards Sderot or Ashkelon. But that is a Sisyphean task. The operation may well bring about a temporary reduction in launchings. But even the commanders of the operation concede that the launching will resume, and probably increase, the moment the army withdraws. Almost nobody wants the army to remain there for any length of time. The Israeli public has experienced enough not to allow itself to be sucked back into the "Gaza quagmire" again.

Minister of Housing Shitreet has a remedy: to return to Gaza "even a thousand times". Minister of Defense Peretz speaks about a "heavy price that will be exacted from the Palestinians" - a price so terrible that the Palestinians themselves will drive the Qassam teams out. That is the view of the Chief-of-Staff. Instead of "Bomber Harris", "Destroyer Halutz". Not by chance, both rose through the ranks of the Air Force. If the permanent stoppage of the Qassams is not practicable, what war-aim is left? Only one: to bring about the collapse of the Palestinian government. See: Harris Principle.

LIKE EVERY single event in the 120 years of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict, this one, too, is burned into the consciousness of the two peoples in very different ways. For most Israelis, this is another chapter in the long war against "Palestinian terrorism". Again our brave soldiers are obliged to face the vile Palestinian murderers, who aim to throw us into the sea. Again we fight because "there is no alternative". As Yitzhak Shamir once famously said: "The Arabs are the same Arabs and the sea is the same sea!"

For the other side, this is a heroic stand of their finest sons against an evil and vicious enemy. One of the strongest armies in the world, equipped with the most up-to-date weaponry, is deployed against a handful of untrained fighters with primitive arms. Fighter planes, helicopter gunships, heavy tanks, artillery, missile boats, armored bulldozers and night-vision sights - all against Kalashnikovs and RPGs (light anti-tank weapons). A Palestinian Massada.
The struggle between the Palestinian militias is giving way to a new unity against the common enemy. Already on the eve of the operation, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed with Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah to accept the "prisoners' paper", which de facto recognizes Israel within the Green Line border. Now, in the heat of battle, Fatah members clamor to join the Hamas fighters in the struggle against the invader, and the remnants of Abbas' influence are fading.
If the Israeli government carries out its public threats to kill the Palestinian Prime Minister and his ministers, Hamas will only emerge strengthened. The place of the martyrs will be filled by new leaders from among the fighters, and the Palestinians will close ranks behind them.

A boy killed during Israeli shelling
of Bail Lahya


IN ISRAEL, the opposite may happen: the operation may well hurt the government that started it. The cruel projector of the crisis throws a hard light on them - and this light is not at all complimentary. It seems that among them there is not even one person who is more than a grey politician.
Ehud Olmert is talking himself to political death. His unending blabbing is starting to irritate - the more so as it does not contain anything but the empty clichés of the 1950s: We shall not surrender to blackmail, Terrorism will not prevail, The enemy wants to annihilate us, The murderers will not be pardoned, We have a wonderful army, Our arm is long, etc. etc.
Amir Peretz is repeating the most blood-curdling slogans of the worst of his predecessors. There is nothing left of the leader that we voted for only yesterday, the one that was going to carry out a social revolution, change the national priorities, drastically cut the military budget, bring peace nearer. All that is left is a spokesman (and not the most brilliant one) for the chief-of-Staff. If my magazine, Haolam Hazeh, were still in circulation, it would certainly have included a cartoon this week showing a parrot perched on the shoulder of Dan Halutz.
Tsipi Livni, who attracted so many hopes, has just disappeared. She has no role in this drama. She has nothing to say, except the most banal platitudes. Like Olmert, she is exposed for what she is: a rightist politician who follows in the footsteps of a rightist father.
The real ruler of Israel is Dan Halutz, a fighter-pilot who views the world below through a bombsight. His only competitor is Security Service chief Yuval Diskin. The chiefs of the army and the Security Service decide among themselves the course of the State of Israel. Olmert is, at best, the referee.

A curiosity: the names do not testify to their owners' disposition. Ehud ("likable", in Hebrew) is losing his popularity. Peretz ("breaking out") is not breaking out of the old security policy. Livni ("white") is justifying black deeds. And Halutz ("pioneer") is certainly not leading the way to anything new. But the most curious name belongs to the commander of the operation, General Gallant. In European languages, "gallant" means both brave and chivalrous.

HOW WILL it all end?
I guess that in the end there will be no alternative but to bring about the release of the soldier by an exchange of prisoners. Our side will trumpet this as a great victory for the operation, because the Palestinians will have to be satisfied with a smaller number of released prisoners than they originally demanded. The Palestinians will boast that they have won a glorious victory, because Israel will release prisoners after all the highfaluting slogans starting with "Never…" (As has been said: Never say never.)

If we want it, the release of the soldier could be combined with a larger package: a mutual armistice, a stop to the launching of Qassams, in return for a complete withdrawal from the Gaza strip, the termination of the "targeted killings" and the release of the Hamas leaders recently arrested. A short armistice can lead to a long one and the start of a serious dialogue.
Is the Olmert government capable of this, after all the arrogant and swaggering boasts? Are they even interested in it, after committing themselves to "Unilateral Convergence" and the annexation of territories? Probably not. On the other hand, Israeli public opinion might learn a lesson from the results of the "unilateral disengagement" and this unilateral war. The Israeli peace movement must help to bring this about.

* An Israeli author and activist. He is the head of the Israeli peace movement, "Gush Shalom".

I belief Israel will stop attacking this afternoon, for Sabbath starts around 5:30pm and ends 6:00pm tomorrow... that is going to be a relief for Hezballah, at least for a few hours...

Too bad this is happening now. After more than 20 years of war, Lebanon is trying to stand again on its feet; the 1st step was getting the Syrian army out of Lebanon, which they just recently succeeded in doing so. The next step would have been to create a government powerful enough to disarm Hezbollah and the Palestinian refugees and expand its power over South of Lebanon. Now with Israel's offensive, I'm afraid the latest will never be realized; Israel has just gave Hezbollah an excuse for its existence, and that is that the Lebanese government is not capable of defending itself by itself and that Hezbollah is the only group that has defended Lebanon in the past and will be in the future. Israel's actions has deemed useless all the efforts by the Lebanese government to downsize Hezbollah's role in Lebanon's defense by downsizing Israel's threat to Lebanon, of which Israel's recent actions has proved them wrong. Too bad our president Bush is doing nothing to stop this war, and siding with Israel and defending its actions of destroying the Lebanese democracy, a democracy that he had so bragged about.

While early yesterday Mr. Windrem's blog response was referred to as "viral" may I submit please that it is now in the "pandemic" category...again, with no physical effects on the blogger I hope. Wow!