Pro-Israel And Pro-Lebanon

[Ian David]

Pro-Israel And Pro-Lebanon
Mitchell Plitnick
July 31, 2006

Mitchell Plitnick is director of Education and Policy for Jewish Voice for Peace and a regular columnist for Tikkun Magazine.

As Israel loses more soldiers in actions that increasingly resemble the catastrophic 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the question for Jews in Israel, America and the rest of the world becomes not just whether Israeli actions are morally justified, but whether or not they are strategically sound. The answer to both is no.

Sadly, the actions of the U.S. government have contributed to a destabilization of the region that can only harm Israel. It has vetoed two U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-fire and immediate negotiations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quoted as saying she did not see what purpose a cease-fire would serve. Such comments leave the impression that halting the deaths of innocents doesn't even factor into Rice's thinking.

This diplomatic failure by the U.S. has defined the Bush administration’s “strategy” in the region. The U.S. completely supported Israel’s actions in closing off the Gaza Strip’s land, sea and air access shortly after a democratically elected Hamas government took power at the beginning of 2006. This devastated an already crippled economy in Gaza and weakened a Hamas government that had held a shaky truce with Israel for more than a year and was moving toward negotiations on implicitly recognizing Israel along its 1967 borders.

Meanwhile, ongoing skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel over Israel’s continuing presence in the Sheba’a Farms region—which Israel claims is Syrian territory, while Lebanon claims it as its own—were simply ignored by the rest of the world. Instead of pushing for a solution to these problems, the Bush administration preferred to let them simmer. It boiled over when Palestinian groups and Hezbollah attacked Israeli army posts inside Israel, taking Israeli soldiers hostage.

More:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/31/proisrael_and_prolebanon.php

[Karenina]

1. Give PEACE a chance.

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