A Peek into a Mind

An intersting post from Allison.

“It’s a report from the world of Hizbullah in the Guardian. — and paints a chilling picture of a truly scary organization. I read it and think: these are the guys Israel is supposed to fight with “restraint” and “proportion?” WE’RE the violent war-crazed ones? Our soldiers who are regular young men who want to get their fighting over with so they can go back to university and start hi-tech companies and lead normal lives, versus these indoctrinated martyr wannabes? Hello?!”

She also brings highlights. Go read it.

Also noteworthy is the sad post of Doha from The Lebanese Bloggers – An Exodus of Dreams.

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Update:Seems the article had made some lebanese very angry over Hezbollah, as well. This is but one example.

Before anything else, I must state this clearly: I was very sad myself for the lost of lives in Kfar Kanaa yesterday. In fact, I’m sad for all the innocent lives lost in Lebanon. Our fight is not with all the people in Lebanon, but only with Hezbollah and their supporters. There is no “but” or “whatever” or anything. The lost of lives on both sides is not right and should be avoided.
I’ve seen myself the pictures of the kids taken out of the building yesterday and as a medic myself I can tell you I was very sad and very touched.

But such an incident was unavoidable. Be it Qanaa or any other place. When civilians are caught in a battle zone, they get hurt. Innocent or not. The Hezbollah is using civilians as human shields through out this war everywhere and this thing was expected to happen. They WANTED it to happen. Hey, don’t take it from me, I’m an Israeli after all, right? Take it from the UN – Jan Egeland, UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, clearly blamed Hezbollah for blending with the civilians on purpose:

“When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children,” Jan Egeland, UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, was quoted as saying in a report on Washington Jewish Week online.

“I heard they were making statements that they were proud of losing fewer armed men than civilians. It’s hard to see how they could be proud of such a situation.”

Now on the Kfar Qanaa case – Kfar Qanaa was used by Hezbollah to fire hundreds of rockets on Israeli cities. Mind you they target civilians on purpose, while Israel’s army target Hizb. targets. Israel had warned civilians several times to leave the village, either by radio and air-dropped pamphlets. Almost everybody really left. The Hizb. terrorists were seen firing few katushas from near that building and then running to hide inside that same building.

Given the Israeli proof of Hizb. terrorists using that building, among other buildings in the village, as a shelter for firing rockets on our cities, and given the assumption that almost all civilians had already left the village, there were no second thoughts before marking that building as a target. The tragic truth was that hizb. terrorists were using a building populated with civilians, mostly kids, as a shelter.

But that’s the regular type of action for the Hezbollah. They took families to sit in their camps. They use civilian houses all over south of Lebanon to store weapons and as missile shooting sites. Then they run away and those civilians are left to deal with the bombing of our Air Force. Some of the civilians allow it because they have a gun pointed at their head. Many also do that out of support of hizbollah.

And let me be clear on another thing – Hezbollah target our civilians on purpose. It is only luck and the presence of shelters that prevented such a tragedy on the Israeli side as well.

Hezbollah had fired more then 1500 missiles on Israeli cities so far. Most of the people from the north of Israel are now refugees in the center and south of the country. The people left in shelters (and because Israel was attacked so many times by Arab armies over the years, we have shelters in every building) are mostly poor people that could not afford or have no means to leave their homes.

So with all due respect, and the sadness I feel for the innocent civilians in Lebanon – and I do! – I do not think this incident should have ANY effect on the Israeli fight. If anything, it should make Hizb. a more hated group.

That would have happen in a sane, truth loving, world.

Now for the real world.

Nasralla is currently jumping with joy on this incident in Kfar Qanaa. This will help him look even more like he cares about Lebanon. It will make all the angry citizens in Lebanon support him.

Who remembers that it was Hezbollah that started this war? That they had attacked Israeli cities (like Metula) with rockets while kidnapping 2 soldiers and killing 4 others? That they did this unprovoked, while Lebanon was the last thing on Israel’s mind? While it was 6 years already that Israel had retreated to an international border set by the UN ?

Who remember that the actual order to carry out this attack actually came from Iran, on the purpose of destructing world attention from the answers they were suppose to give regarding their nuclear program?

No one.

Lebanon civilians and Israeli civilians are becoming refugees, are killed and wounded. And all that cause Iran got a military arm sitting in Lebanon, with a $300 million budget a year from Iran and Syria, and takes 2 countries hostages. Lebanon and Israel. Lebanon couldn’t fight as their army is weak and they are terrified from another civil war, it was left to us, Israelis, to fight for ourselves and for them.

When civilians stay in a battle zone – by their will, or forced to do so – they suffer. Both on our side and Lebanon’s. That’s why War is hell.

And about the Lebanese Prime Minister seniora whining like a little girl now, well – You had your chance. You couldn’t control your country. The attacks on Israel over the past 6 years were all done from inside the Sovereign country of Lebanon. If forces inside Germany would have attacked France, and the German government not only do nothing, but have these forces seats in the government, well, you wouldn’t be able to blame France for attacking all of Germany.

Same game here.

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P.S. – Want to stop the war? It’s still the same way.

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Update:
The Australian newspaper Herald Sun managed to smuggle out of Lebanon some exclusive pictures showing Hezbollah terrorists dressed as civilians (even though they have a uniform) and hide inside urban areas with missiles and cannons. Check it out.

Also check out this video that shows how a Hezbollah fired rockets on Israeli cities from kfar Qana, and later on drove the launcher truck inside a civilian house to hide.

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Seems I’m no the only one going against Hezbollah abusing civilians – even Lebanese are:
Ouwet: Hezbollah Launched Missiles from QANA !!, active debate on the issue at Rampurple.

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A group of Christians-Lebanese, identifies with the March-14 movement (that threw Syria out of Lebanon after it had assassinated PM Hariri) had published even a harder statement then Israel on the Qana incident, accusing Hezbollah in brining these kids to the building on purpose. (It is in french. If you do not read French well, try google translation)

I don’t know how much this theory can be trusted, though. Either way I don’t think it matters, as for most Lebanese and Israelis, it was an Israeli missile that brought down the building, regardless of that true or why the kids were there.

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Interesting. Seems some US and UK based bloggers checked the timedate stamp on the AP pictures taken from the Qana incedent. Apperantly, some of them were taked hours after the kids were really evacuated. check the report here.

15:05 Three-story building collapses in Haifa from direct rocket hit. People still trapped.
Video available here
More rockets falling now on Tzfat, Haifa and Nazarath.

Israel Air Force says none of it’s airplanes were hit.

• In the morning a Syrian Missile fired by the Hezbollah hits a train facility in Haifa. 8 people killed and 23 wounded. This brings the amount of people hit in Haifa so far to 46. As I write this an alarm is being sound in the city.
• Dukatch, a very good friend of mine, is planning to come to Ashkelon for a while, with his wife and baby girl.
• 14:40, Naharia is being shelled.
• Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, Iran’s spiritual (and real) leader, encouraged Hezbollah’s rocket attacks and called them, “an attack on the Zionist tumor spreading in the region.” Khomeini added that “the Zionists see Lebanon as meat in their teeth, however recent days and the strong actions of Hezbollah have showed them differently.”
• I’m currently in Ashkelon and there are considerable amount of booms coming from Gaza. Probably our forces are firing to empty spaces again to scre the Quassam launchers. I hope no Qassams are going to land here. Chopers flying over my parents’ house heading back from Gaza.
• Channel 2 reports IDF dropped pamphlets over southern villages and town in Lebanon that we know have missiles storages. The pamphlets called the civilians to leave the place before Air Force attacks. However, Hezbollah forces in these settlements ordered the civilians NOT to leave, in order to be a human shield for the ammunition. It is reported that in some villages people are leaving and in others, like Bint Jbel, people are staying. I’m also told that most of the residents in these places are actually families and relatives of Hezbollah members and strong supporters of the organization.This is an all time low. Now they are being used as human shields not for the terrorists themselves but for their ammunition as well. May got have mercy on their souls.
• 14:59 Lebanon: Israel demands via Italy that Hezbollah return soldiers and will pull back (Reuters)
• Lebanon: Italy relayed Israeli ceasefire conditions -
  Lebanon’s government says Italy has relayed Israeli conditions to stop the offensive: the release of captured Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah’s withdrawal from near the Israeli border. (AP) This just highlights what I wrote here: How to stop the war in Lebanon

Gotta go. Will update more in the evening.

Imshin wrote:
“I’m tired of hearing that the government of Lebanon is too weak to handle the Hezbollah. I’m tired of hearing that we must not hold them responsible because that would endanger their regime.

The thing is, it is not the Lebanese government that reigns in Lebanon, is it? It’s the Hezbollah.”

In the comments to this post I found 2 interesting commnets:

skipsailing:

How does this work?

The Lebanese attack a neighboring country and then demand that the neighboring country resolve the internal issues that lead to the attack?

Let’s make sure we’re getting this right: the lebanese want the israelis to eliminate hezbullah for them? That’s what this sounds like to me.

The more I study this more enraged I become. Where is the flower of ARab manhood in all of this?

It is quite clear that the arabs lack the courage it takes to expunge the psychopaths that have highjacked their religion. But rather than summon this courage, you blame everyone but yourselves.

What, exactly, do you think we in America have been doing for the last five years? We’ve been studying this situation carefully and we’ve clearly reached some conclusions. And conclusion number one is that the arab muslim culture is dangerous to our civilization.

There is no point in mincing words now. Just look at the Syrian ambassador to the US, demanding that America play it’s traditional role. To this guy America’s traditional role is “dupe for the whiley arabs.”

As they say in Mexico, NO mas. 9/11 changed all that. We got hip to your bullshit and we’re not buying it anymore.

We have a 135,000 battle hardened troops sitting in Iraq. We’ve learned how to fight and win in your region. The syrian ambassador may be so stupid that he cannot see the change in the landscape, but we in American aren’t.

Arab duplicity won’t work this time. Woe is me balogna isn’t selling. you attacked your neighbor, you’ve done nothing to confront the psychotics within your faith, you should have no expectations of Sympathy from the civilized world.

If you lack the balls to take on the evil doers among you then you’re gonna die.

Welcome to a war YOU should have fought and didn’t.

Davidi:

If the end of this war will only mark a return to how things were a day before the war, than nothing was achieved by either side but loss of lifes.

It is important to use this opportunity (YES! Thats what any crisis is – An opportunity) to make a DIFFERENCE in the way thongs are. If, in the end of this, Hizbullah is allawed to continue to attack Israel, than nothing has changed and all this will happen again. And again. And again…

For all this to CHANGE, Hizbullah MUST be disarmed – or be left alon on the battlefield, with no civillians to hide behind.

These are the options left to the lebanese people: disarm Hizbullah, or leave your country to them. Anything else means we will see a re-run of all of this, again and again and again.

Yes, I agree Israel’s attacks make it harder for the Lebanese Government (such as it is) to act, but I don’t think anyone in the Israeli Government seriously considers the possibility of the Lebanese Army actualy trying to disarm Hizbullah; I think Ulmert, Peretz and Halutz are trying to force Syria into orderring Hizbullah to back down.

This will take a long time, as Assad has no real concern for how many lebanese get killed. And this is where Lebanese civillians can make a difference, by making their voice heard and calling Hizbullah to stop. If the Lebanese overnment realise they have popular support, they MIGHT do something sooner.

Ulmert followed the path marked by Sharon and evacuated the Israeli settlments in Gaza. Everyone said it cannot be done, but he did it. It is time for the Lebanese People to be as currageous, and disarm Hizbullah for Lebanon’s sake.

Israel Attacks – the Strategic View (Cherif Zein)
Bombing the wrong target. Israel should sent its message directly to Iran/Syria (Vox’s Den)
Go to hell Nassralla (Vox’s Den)

It’s not only the posts, it’s also the comments. Check out Lebanese Bloggers.

I have read a lot of Lebanese blogs by now. Most of them go against Nasralla and Hizballa. Some of them also go against Israel. Almost all of them are calling for the cease of violence and attacks.

Well ,here is the basic Israeli stand, which I also support.

Some facts:

• Israel was attacked without provocation by Hizballa, killing 3 soldiers and kidnapping another 2.
• The attack comes after years that Israel already retreated to a UN specified international border recognized by the world.
• UN resolution declaring the border also clearly says it is Lebanon’s responsibility, as a country, to disarm Hizballa and have Lebanon’s army deploy on the border with Israel, instead of Hizballa.
• Lebanon’s government was warned endless times in the past few years that they should apply the UN resolution, disband Hizballa and have Lebanese army posted at the border.
• Lebanon is a sovereign country.

Israel declared 2 goals for this battle campaign:

1. Retrieve kidnapped soldiers
2. Forcing the UN resolution compliance. Which means having Hizballa disarmed and disbanded and have Lebanon’s army on our border.

Both of those targets are fully supported by Israeli citizens and are totally justified, not only by us but by Lebanese and the rest of the world.

The criticizm on Israel comes for it’s “over reacting”. It is an “over reacting” if our goal was only to get the kidnapped soldiers back. It is way below “over reacting” if we’re aiming at the second goal.

I do understand that the government of Lebanon is weak and currently to fight Hizballa. But frankly – it shouldn’t be of any interest to me. That’s an internal Lebanese issue. All I know is that a Lebanese force – and Hizballa is not only controlling the south, it also have seats in the Lebanese government – had attacked Israel. And for that reason, the Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets, and not only Hizballa ones – is totally in place.

I do agree damage to civilians should be minimized. But the Israeli army do not target Lebanese civilians (although civilians do get hurt in the attacks). It does attack Hizballa controlled areas (south suburbs of Beirut) and places where it knows Hizballa ammo is held (including private homes, which is new for IDF – but reasonable. If you choose to have weapons in your house you become a legitimate target).

However, Hizballa is firing missiles on Israel targeting civilians on purpose. We have over 200 missiles hitting cities in Israel, killing people and wounding hundreds, and that’s only in the last 48 hours.

And let me remind you again – All this cause of an unprovoked attack by the hizballa on Israel, when we no longer in Lebanon according to the international borders.

With all due respect – If you want to blame the destruction in Lebanon on someone, you finger should be pointed directly at the Hizballa and Lebanon (and also Syria and Iran, but that’s another matter).

Ho, and about those claims I read in blogs that Lebanon isn’t strong enough to control Hizballa? Well, a year and a half ago, no one thought Lebanon was strong enough to throw Syria out. But the Lebanese public did just that. And it should do it again.

So, to sum this up, there is a very clear way to stop the current battles in Lebanon:
Return our soldiers, and fulfill the UN resolution of disarming and disbanding the Hizballa, having Lebanese army control the south and the borders. As simple as that.

That’s what Raja’s sister had said yesterday. Raja is a one of the bloggers posting on Lebanese Bloggers.

Raja is also posting on going updates from Beirut which is interesting to read.

Other interesting blogs:
Free Michel Kilo Now has an interesting post entitled Narsrallah why don’t you negotiate in hell?

Mustafa from BeirutSpring had some very hard words on Hizbullah – and then offered to give them full support while Lebanon is still under attack

Winds Of Change also has a post reviewing arab bloggers comments. You can also check recent updates of lebanese blogs and news on OpenLebanon.