December 5, 2006

Offering Video, Israel Answers Critics on War - New York Times

Offering Video, Israel Answers Critics on War - New York Times:

The Times correctly publishes the truth in this piece. Why does the world want to believe that Israel purposely targetd civilians while fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon early this year?

Many people want to make the argument with me that Israel is an aggressor because the land they occupy belongs to the Palestinians. The Palestinians may claim all the land in that region, but Israel has valid historical claims, too. And let's not forget that 'the world' decided in the middle of the last century to provide a permanent home for the Jews in Palestine.

Let's also not forget that laterIsrael was attcked twice and repulsed those attacks. They did the only rational thing at the time, kept some of the land (West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza) to provide a buffer against those that might desire to attack again, particularly as the technology changed and allowed less conventional warfare.

In the meantime, we have Israel, a nation that has grown and prospered since the 1940s compared to a a group of Palestinians who have remained mired in instability, poverty and hate under the terrorist Arafat and other terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and several more fanatics whose only proclaimed mission is the destruction of Israel. Conversely, Israel has never sought the destruction of the Palestinian people.

However, the political aguments fail to recognize the spiritual battle that underlies this sorry situation. Read your Bible.
"The report says that there were many such examples, (rockets and mortars hidden and fired from civilian areas) and that Hezbollah has been preparing for such an engagement for years, embedding its fighters and their weapons in the Shiite villages of southern Lebanon. When Hezbollah fired its rockets from those areas, Israel faced a choice of attacking, and possibly causing civilian casualties, or refraining from shooting because of the risk, the report said.

Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese Army general, said of the Israeli allegations, “Of course there are hidden invisible tunnels, bunkers of missile launchers, bunkers of explosive charges amongst civilians.”

He added: “You cannot separate the southern society from Hezbollah, because Hezbollah is the society and the society is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is holding this society together through its political, military and economic services. It is providing the welfare for the south.”

Asked whether Hezbollah should be seen as responsible for the deaths of Lebanese civilians in the war, he replied: “Of course Hezbollah is responsible. But these people are ready to sacrifice their lives for Hezbollah. If you tell them, ‘Your relative died,’ they will tell you ‘No, he was a martyr.’ The party’s military preparations from 2000 till 2006 took place in their areas. They were of course done with complete secrecy, but in accordance with the civilians.”"

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