What Difference Does It Make?

'Their bodies litter the road' says this BBC article about Lebanese civilians fleeing the Israeli offensive, although reading the non-mainstream news in blogs reveals predictable polarisation and denial. As of now, at least 130 Lebanese unarmed, non-military civilans have been killed by air attacks from Israeli F16 jets, as opposed to 12 civilian deaths from rockets in Haifa. I know that in conflict both sides are to blame - but the difference is proportion.

I found some shocking pictures od child casualties at http://kadmous.org a Lebanese blog.

"These are the pictures you will see, only, in Lebanese newspapers tomorrow. yes, too strong & maybe non-postable for ethical reasons, but what is going on in Lebanon has gone beyond any ethics in any worldwide dictionary. This is what the Israeli raids are doing to my country, to my people. This is what they will keep on doing, under the pretext of “self-defense”.

This war has nothing to do with kidnapped soldiers, or fighting Hezbollah. Neighbourhoods which have absolutely nothing to do with Hezbollah (like Jouneh which is a Maronite Christian area) have been bombed. If Israel wanted their servicemen back, they could negotiate as they have done previously. This military activity is in fact reducing the Israeli prisoners' chances of survival.

This is about weakening the infrastructure of the Lebanon so that the economy is screwed and the Lebanese people return to misery and poverty they have worked for a decade to escape. The Israelis have the same attitude towards the Lebanese people as they do towards their own Palestinian population - they are entirely dispensible in the pursuit of "national security".

It is like taxi driver Hussein Abrahim says:
"This is a war. Where is the respect for other countries? The problem is that Israel and America don't respect other countries sovereignty."



Update: I just heard from Jerusalem that the Israelis are using phosphor bombs in Lebanon. Phosphor bomb weapons, in themselves, can be described as chemical weapons proper, as the buring white phosphorous in them produce lethal thick clouds of highly toxic smog. This weapon was used to some extent on German cities and towns in WWII.

Lebanon Israel war