Global Protests at Indiscriminate Israeli Bombings of Lebanon

[rodeodance]

http://www.juancole.com/

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Global Protests at Indiscriminate Israeli Bombings of Lebanon

The Associated Press puts the Israeli offensive against Lebanon on Friday succinctly:

' Israel again bombarded Lebanon's airport and main roads in the most intensive offensive against the country in 24 years. For the first time, it struck the crowded Shiite neighborhood of south Beirut around Hezbollah's headquarters, toppling overpasses and sheering facades off apartment buildings. Concrete from balconies smashed into parked cars, and car alarms set off by the blasts blared for hours. The toll in three days of clashes rose to 73 killed in Lebanon and at least 12 Israelis, as international alarm grew over the fighting, and oil prices rose to above $78 a barrel. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency session on the violence, and Lebanon accused Israel of launching "a widespread barbaric aggression." In addition to the fighting in Lebanon, Israel pressed ahead with its Gaza Strip offensive against Hamas, striking the Palestinian economy ministry offices early today.

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1. "you can't finish off a mass movement among 1.35 million people"

http://www.juancole.com/

<snip>
The Israeli attacks may well inflict long-term damage on the limping Lebanese economy.

Israeli spokesmen are saying that they want to finish off Hizbullah. But you can't finish off a mass movement among 1.35 million people. Besides, there wouldn't be any Hizbullah if Israel had not invaded Lebanon in 1982 and occupied the south for 18 years. Israel's grabby occupation radicalized and helped mobilize the Lebanese Shiites. They aren't going to become less radical and less mobilized as a result of the current hamfisted Israeli assault.

On Friday, thousands of protesters rallied in Cairo, Amman, Gaza City, and Baghdad, as well as throughout Turkey, to protest massive Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. There was also a demonstration in Dearborn, Michigan. There are 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, now in severe danger from Israeli bombings. Most of the demonstrations in the Middle East not only condemned Israel but also the United States.

Americans have to understand that when Israel goes wild and bombs a civilian airport and civilian neighborhoods in Beirut, a lot of the world's Catholics (Lebanon is partially a Catholic country) and its 1.4 billion Muslims blame the United States for it. Israel is given billions every year by the United States, including sophisticated weaponry that is now being trained on the slums of south Beirut. It should also be remembered that Bin Laden said, at least, that he started thinking about hitting New York when he saw that 1982 Israeli destruction of the skyscrapers or "towers" of Lebanon. How many future Bin Ladens are watching with horror and rage and feelings of revenge as Israel drops bombs on civilian tenement buildings? When will this blow back on Americans? (I mean blow back in other ways than an already painful further spike in petroleum prices).

[pberq]

2. Italian PM And The Pope Condemn Israeli Incursion

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004221532

Italian PM And The Pope Condemn Israeli Incursion In Lebanon

July 14, 2006 11:10 p.m. EST
Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer

Rome, Italy (AHN) - Two powerful Italian leaders are speaking out against the Israeli operation in Lebanon to recover two kidnapped soldiers from the hands of Hezbollah guerrillas.

. . .Prodi tells Italian news agency, ANSA, "the use of force has gone beyond what anyone predicted.We deplore this escalation and the serious damage to Lebanon's infrastructure and the civilian victims that these raids have caused."

. . .Meanwhile, the Vatican has called the operation an "attack on a sovereign and free nation."
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano explains that the Pope, currently on vacation, continues to follow the situation closely. Sodano tells the Vatican Radio, "The latest dramatic events risk degenerating into a conflict with international repercussions."

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3. Thank you, rodeodance, for starting this - kicking