<br> Ayah,<br><br>The Palestinians and Hezbollah have been articulating this truth (and many others) to the world on our behalf, and we don't need some acknowledgment from the other side to legitimize it. <br><br>It is precisely a pending debate over identity and loyalty in the area<br>that is sure to keep us in the sideways.<br><br>One characteristic of somebody from the East/Orient is to think and feel as if he is part of space and time which extend from minus to plus infinity. In other words, that the past is as important as the future via the present, which is perhaps why all religions were born in the East.<br>So enough ticking on somebody else's clock!<br><br>Please spare us the opinion of the nominal few "on the other side" who are opposing the present "war", especially on the basis of morality (what a distractor!), as their opinion is purely "ink on paper" and a perfect illustration of what "inconsequential" means.<br>
--Randa<br><br><b><i>ayah@media.mit.edu</i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> While we spend our time, arguing with each other about inconsequential details, thousands of years into our past, some on the other side are defending our present, articulating what we should be saying to the world.<br><br>-ayah<br><br>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742257.html<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Morality is not on our side<br><br>By Ze'ev Maoz, Haaretz<br><br>There's practically a holy consensus right now that the war in the <br>North is a just war and that morality is on our side. The bitter truth <br>must be said: this holy consensus is based on short-range selective <br>memory, an introverted worldview, and double standards.<br><br>This war is not a just war. Israel is using excessive force without <br>distinguishing between
civilian population and enemy, whose sole <br>purpose is extortion. That is not to say that morality and justice are <br>on Hezbollah's side. Most certainly not. But the fact that Hezbollah <br>"started it" when it kidnapped soldiers from across an international <br>border does not even begin to tilt the scales of justice toward our <br>side.<br><br>Let's start with a few facts. We invaded a sovereign state, and <br>occupied its capital in 1982. In the process of this occupation, we <br>dropped several tons of bombs from the air, ground and sea, while <br>wounding and killing thousands of civilians. Approximately 14,000 <br>civilians were killed between June and September of 1982, according to <br>a conservative estimate. The majority of these civilians had nothing <br>to do with the PLO, which provided the official pretext for the war.<br><br><br><br> Advertisement<br><br>In Operations Accountability and Grapes of Wrath, we caused the mass <br>flight of about
500,000 refugees from southern Lebanon on each <br>occasion. There are no exact data on the number of casualties in these <br>operations, but one can recall that in Operation Grapes of Wrath, we <br>bombed a shelter in the village of Kafr Kana which killed 103 <br>civilians. The bombing may have been accidental, but that did not make <br>the operation any more moral.<br><br>On July 28, 1989, we kidnapped Sheikh Obeid, and on May 12, 1994, we <br>kidnapped Mustafa Dirani, who had captured Ron Arad. Israel held these <br>two people and another 20-odd Lebanese detainees without trial, as <br>"negotiating chips." That which is permissible to us is, of course, <br>forbidden to Hezbollah.<br><br>Hezbollah crossed a border that is recognized by the international <br>community. That is true. What we are forgetting is that ever since our <br>withdrawal from Lebanon, the Israel Air Force has conducted <br>photo-surveillance sorties on a daily basis in Lebanese airspace.
<br>While these flights caused no casualties, border violations are border <br>violations. Here too, morality is not on our side.<br><br>So much for the history of morality. Now, let's consider current <br>affairs. What exactly is the difference between launching Katyushas <br>into civilian population centers in Israel and the Israel Air Force <br>bombing population centers in south Beirut, Tyre, Sidon and Tripoli? <br>The IDF has fired thousands of shells into south Lebanon villages, <br>alleging that Hezbollah men are concealed among the civilian <br>population. Approximately 25 Israeli civilians have been killed as a <br>result of Katyusha missiles to date. The number of dead in Lebanon, <br>the vast majority comprised of civilians who have nothing to do with <br>Hezbollah, is more than 300.<br><br>Worse yet, bombing infrastructure targets such as power stations, <br>bridges and other civil facilities turns the entire Lebanese civilian <br>population into a
victim and hostage, even if we are not physically <br>harming civilians. The use of bombings to achieve a diplomatic goal - <br>namely, coercing the Lebanese government into implementing UN Security <br>Council Resolution 1559 - is an attempt at political blackmail, and no <br>less than the kidnapping of IDF soldiers by Hezbollah is the aim of <br>bringing about a prisoner exchange.<br><br>There is a propaganda aspect to this war, and it involves a <br>competition as to who is more miserable. Each side tries to persuade <br>the world that it is more miserable. As in every propaganda campaign, <br>the use of information is selective, distorted and self-righteous. If <br>we want to base our information (or shall we call it propaganda?) <br>policy on the assumption that the international environment is going <br>to buy the dubious merchandise that we are selling, be it out of <br>ignorance or hypocrisy, then fine. But in terms of our own national <br>soul
searching, we owe ourselves to confront the bitter truth - maybe <br>we will win this conflict on the military field, maybe we will make <br>some diplomatic gains, but on the moral plane, we have no advantage, <br>and we have no special status.<br><br>The writer is a professor of political science at Tel Aviv university.<br><br></blockquote><br><p> 
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