Who in the world would see a cup of tea as a sign of treason? Apparently Hezbollah does.
According to a report by CNN, the Israeli army entered a barracks in Marjeyoun which had a white flag flying outside of it. While inside the barracks they were served tea by members of the Lebanese army.
Hezbollah, being a terrorist organization, does not understand the way armies historically behave under a white surrender flag. It's not an act of treason to honor the white flag you are flying and show a little bit of courtesy. But in all fairness, Hezbollah was not the only upset party.
The Lebanese government cannot decide how to react. The interior ministry reportedly had the commander of the base arrested. However, the acting interior minister spoke up for the members of the barracks. The Lebanese government is in a sticky situation due to its own inability and/or refusal to squash Hezbollah. Welcome to the special "hell" for fence sitters.
Read the whole thing here. (Hat tip: Pajamas Media)
7 comments:
When you speak of the gov't and Hezbollah, you speak of them as if they are two distinct entities. Hezbollah actually is very much a part of the gov't.
Furthermore, I understand courtesy and the white flag and bla bla bla, but to serve tea to a murderous invasion is insulting to all Lebanese, which is good of you to say that it wasn't just Hezbollah who was angry.
I realize that Hezbollah is part of the government. Still, it is not the entire government and doses not have the support of every citizen of Lebanon, particularly, the Lebanese Christians.
Serving tea is not an insult to the people of Lebanon and calling the invasion murderous is a little one sided. If citizens’ of Canada fired rockets across the border into the US and the Canadian government refused to stop them, or could not stop them, the US military would act. They would be right to do so. And yes, I know a lot of civilians died when Israel invaded Lebanon. That tends to happen, especially when the enemy hides behind them.
I think you are letting your dislike of Israel cloud your judgment. The point of my post is that a terrorist organization does not understand the way opposing armies behave because they are a terrorist organization.
"I realize that Hezbollah is part of the government. Still, it is not the entire government and doses not have the support of every citizen of Lebanon, particularly, the Lebanese Christians."
Yes, this is true, but which party commands the support and loyalty of all of its country's citizens. Hizbullah, however, does have the support of the largest group in Lebanon, the Shias. They are not the majority as there is no majority in Lebanon, but the Shias are the largest group. Furthermore, Hizbollah also enjoys the support of some of the Sunnis and Christians.
"Serving tea is not an insult to the people of Lebanon and calling the invasion murderous is a little one sided. If citizens’ of Canada fired rockets across the border into the US and the Canadian government refused to stop them, or could not stop them, the US military would act. They would be right to do so. And yes, I know a lot of civilians died when Israel invaded Lebanon. That tends to happen, especially when the enemy hides behind them."
Talk about being one-sided. I didn't know that Fox News had a mouthpiece here. You are employing the logic of classic pro-Israeli American mainstream news sources.
This, I feel, is just another way of blaming the victims for the loss of innocent life, rather than those commencing the actual bombing.
"I think you are letting your dislike of Israel cloud your judgment. The point of my post is that a terrorist organization does not understand the way opposing armies behave because they are a terrorist organization."
Umm, I THINK you are letting your pro-Israel bias cloud your judgment.
For the record, while Hizbollah violated the blue line 100 times since Israel's withdrawal of Lebanon in 2000, Israel violated the blue line 11,000 times. Furthermore, although Hizbollah started this new stage in the conflict, it is part of a larger war that began w the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 78 and 82, of which its occupation ended in 2000 with many issues still outstanding, i.e. the 400,000 land mines in Lebanon left by Israel and Israel's reluctance to submit a map of its locations, the continued occupation of Lebanese territory, prisoners rotting in Israeli dungeons.
Also, please remember that this new conflict began when Hizbollah launched an attack on Israeli troops, killing 8 SOLDIERS, and capturing 2, only to have Israel attack all of Lebanon, killing scores of civilians, to which Hizbollah THEN RESPONDED WITH ITS MISSILE ATTACKS.
Hence, the slogan "Israel is a terrorist state" is not just a slogan.
I’m not a “mouth piece” of any one and calling me names does not make me wrong.
The fact that others share my view does not make me a mouth piece. I could call you a mouth piece for Hezbollah since you seem to want to apologize for them. I won’t do that because you have your own brain and free will and are responsible for you own views.
Furthermore, the fact that I am “pro-Israel” does not mean I blindly agree with everything that they do. I am not blaming the “victim.”
You have insisted that I am wrong in making a distinction between Hezbollah and the government of Lebanon since Hezbollah has the support of so many Lebanese. Ok. In that case the people of Lebanon are culpable in the actions of Hezbollah and thus they are not innocent civilians being killed by Israel, but terrorist enablers.
And yes, I realize that little children died. That’s very heart breaking. Unfortunately, it is the love that civilized people have for innocent life that makes them a target for terrorist. If decent people did not give a care about innocent life, the terrorist would have no reason to hide behind them or attach them because it would not terrify. That is not to say that we should not care, but simply that any nation that wishes to defeat terrorism must look past that moral and emotional blackmail.
By the way, the number of soldiers kidnapped or civilians killed, or times the “blue line” was crossed are not in and of themselves the point. Letting an enemy take even one of your men without action is a sign of WEAKNESS or INDIFFERENCE. Both of which will get you KILLED. Letting your enemy discourage you from attacking by hiding behind civilians will get you KILLED as well. And make no mistake, Hezbollah has stated that they want to destroy Israel, i.e. KILL THEM.
You and I can do this 24/7/356 and still not agree. I think Hezbollah is the bad guy. You think Irsael is.
Hi,
"You have insisted that I am wrong in making a
distinction between Hezbollah and the government of
Lebanon since Hezbollah has the support of so many
Lebanese."
No, I said that it not only enjoyed the support of
much of the population, but also that it is an
integral part of the gov't, from the seats it holds in
parliament, to its ministers in the executive cabinet.
"In that case the people of Lebanon are culpable in
the actions of Hezbollah and thus they are not
innocent civilians being killed by Israel , but
terrorist enablers."
You are now using Hamas logic: "We should kill all
Israelis bc they support the gov't."
"And yes, I realize that little children died. That’s
very heart breaking. Unfortunately, it is the love
that civilized people have for innocent life that
makes them a target for terrorist."
Again, you are using Hamas logic as Israeli and its
indiscriminate and unrelenting murder of the natives
is perceived as terrorism.
"If decent people did not give a care about innocent
life, the terrorist would have no reason to hide
behind them or attach them because it would not
terrify. That is not to say that we should not care,
but simply that any nation that wis hes to defeat
terrorism must look past that moral and emotional
blackmail."
Your argument is weak bc you are employing Fox News as
your source, whether you cite it or not.
It's funny, bc although Hizbollah has a presence in
teh south, Israel also targeted the north. Were they
hiding behind civilians there too?
You are either ignorant of the details of the
conflict, or your bias is blinding you.
Which is it?
Pouya
I apologize for misunderstanding your comments about Hezbollah/Lebanon relations. I realized that they are linked, but I make a distinction between the state and terrorist groups due to their nature and the fact that the government of Lebanon is supposed to be disarming Hezbollah.
If it seems to you that I am using Hamas logic I obviously need to clarify some things. One, I'm not saying all Lebanese should simply be killed because they support the government or Hezbollah. I'm saying that you are not an innocent civilian when you aid terrorist so if you die in the process you different from someone who is not adding a terrorist and is killed when the bombs go off. For those unfortunate children who are too young to understand any of this and still paid the price, I am grieved.
Two, you cannot compare a terrorist organization to a legitimate government. The primary purpose of government is defense. The primary purpose for terrorism is terror. Lebanon has an army for its national defense. It may contain many Hezbollah supporters, but it is still an army with uniforms. They are responsible for defending the people of Lebanon, not Hezbollah.
Apparently I am not making another point very well. My comment about the deaths of innocent children is about the compassion that good people have being used to undermine their protection. I'm not advocating, as Hamas does, that killing be done indiscriminately. That is wrong. Hamas makes no attempts to avoid civilian casualties. If I read you correctly, you are convinced that Israel makes no attempt to avoid civilian deaths. If this were so, the body count would be much higher and the destruction much worse given the military capacity that Israel has.
What I am suggesting is that all attempts should be made and then you do what you have to when civilian deaths cannot be avoided. If you let the horror of unavoidable civilian casualties stop you from defending yourself, your enemy has defeated you with out a battle.
I've noticed that a lot of people I know don't understand that civilian deaths are not always avoidable. War has always been that way. Don't believe me do some research. It is the targeting of civilians alone for no other reason that to kill and terrorize that makes you a terrorist. Israel hits things of strategic importance, like the house where rockets are kept, and roadways and airports which can aid in the movement of supplies.
By the way, I watch NBC not Fox News. I don't like Fox News. Frankly, I don't care if I sound like them or not. I think what I think. And yes I realize that Israel targeted Northern Lebanon as well. Like I said, I don't necessarly agree with everything they do. Israel insisted that the targets were of strategic importance. If they are making that up, then they attacked out of spite. I find that hard to believe, since it runs contrary to all there interest and the level of international scrutiny they are under. If they did attack out of spite then the Lebanese government via the ARMY has grounds to defend its citizens.
I know, you think that is my bias talking. But consider the way that Israeli citizens, including the 1+ million Arab ones, live in comparison to the way that citizens of other countries in the region live. Israel’s government is elected by it’s free and prosperous citizens. What nation is more likely to act without provocation? War uses up resources and kills off productive citizens. Israel has more reason to get along with its neighbors than to fight them. Do you really believe that the government of Israel is so hateful and evil that they would kill people in neighboring countries just because they can?
In fairness, Lebanon has made some progress towards democracy and in creating peaceful co-existence between the Christians and Muslims. They have a ways to go, but they have improved.
"Two, you cannot compare a terrorist organization to a legitimate government. The primary purpose of government is defense."
The entire framework of this statement operates under the premise that Israel is not a support of terrorism or conducts terrorist activity, which I claim as to be wholly false.
Americans are too preoccupied with pointing the fingure at Islamic gov'ts for supporting terrorism, while not taking a closer look at their own gov't. The U.S. has sponsored and conducted terrorism the world over.
Israel is the same.
And yes, in Lebanon, it was also "strategic" to target civilians. I don't think Israel is "evil" mainly bc I would never use such Star Wars language in my political discussion, but I do think that bc Hizbollah derives its power from the support it gets from the civilian populace, Israel tried to punish the civilian populace and get them to relinquish that support by targeting their infrastructure, apartment blocks, and much much more. This is, in part, the same logic behind Hamas attacks: "if you support the gov'ts occupation of our land, we will punish you."
"I know, you think that is my bias talking. But consider the way that Israeli citizens, including the 1+ million Arab ones, live in comparison to the way that citizens of other countries in the region live."
This has two problems. One, is that you are holding Israel to standards put forth by dictatorships in the region, and 2, you are generalizing. There part parts of the Arab world that are democratic and the standard of living is very high.
But it all boils down to this, you think that Israel is a gov't, and therefore cannot conduct terrorist activity solely bc terrorist activity is conducted by terrorists, which is, of course, hugely false.
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