LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay
31/2010
Bible Of
the Day
The Good News
According to Matthew 16/17-22
16:17 Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 16:18 I also tell
you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates
of Hades will not prevail against it. 16:19 I will give to you the keys of the
Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in
heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”
16:20 Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was
Jesus the Christ. 16:21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that
he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests,
and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. 16:22 Peter took him
aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will
never be done to you.”
Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Nasrallah, again/Jerusalem Post/May
30/10
South Lebanon Will Be Liberated from
Hezb'allah/By: Charbel Barakat/American Thinker/May
30/10
My SLA /By
Therese Abou-Mrad/Haaretz/May 30/10
My Word: Out but not over/By LIAT
COLLINS/ Jerusalem Post/May
30/10
Letter to Australian PM Calls
Attention to Violence Against Assyrians in Iraq/(AINA)/May
30/10
Are We Ready for War?/By: Hazem
al-Amin/Now Lebanon/May 28,10
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 30/10
Sfeir Condemns Dahr al-Ain
Incidents Calling it an "Unforgivable Major Sin"
/Naharnet
U.S. Sen. Corker from Center House:
I'm Not Aware of Any Danger against Lebanon
/Naharnet
Moawwad: Franjieh Can't Emphasize
Marada's Influence in the North through Intimidation
/Naharnet
Franjieh: The Atmosphere that
Geagea is Creating is What's Affecting the Current Christian Scene
/Naharnet
Baroud: Bazoun Polls Postponed,
Dahr al-Ain Incident Not Related to Elections
/Naharnet
Suleiman to Visit Syria in Upcoming
Days ahead of Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council Meeting
/Naharnet
Fears of the Mossad Taking
Advantage of Dahr al-Ain Incident, Creating Christian Migration in North
/Naharnet
Netanyahu: Scud Missiles Remained
in Damascus and Hizbullah is Managing them from its Bases in Syria
/Naharnet
LAF arrests three individuals in
Mezyara/Now Lebanon
War of words between Keyrouz and
Franjieh/Now
Lebanon
Bassil: Batroun wants to effect
change through municipal voting/Now
Lebanon
Marada and Independence Movement
supporters clash in Zgharta/Now
Lebanon
Karami says consensus with Hariri
led to smooth Tripoli elections/Now
Lebanon
Western intelligence agency repeatedly ordered
satellite photos of secret/Ha'aretz/May
30/10
Netanyahu: Hezbollah operating Scuds from Syria/Ynetnews
'Hizbullah has Syrian
missile base/Jerusalem
Post
Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran/Times
On Line
Leaked UN Report Reveals Nork Nuclear Exports/Export
Law Blog (blog)
Sfeir Condemns Dahr al-Ain Incidents Calling it an "Unforgivable Major Sin"
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir condemned on Sunday the Dahr al-Ain
incident describing it as an "unforgivable major sin."He added during his Sunday
sermon that it is unfortunate that differences between citizens would lead them
to killing each other. Beirut, 30 May 10, 10:32
Netanyahu: Scud Missiles Remained in Damascus and Hizbullah is Managing them
from its Bases in Syria
Naharnet/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed media reports that
Hizbullah has bases in Syria, saying: "The Scud missiles remained in Syria and
Hizbullah is managing them from there."The Israeli official made his statements
Saturday during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in
Italy. Netanyahu added that Syria provided Hizbullah with the Scuds, according
to reports by the Israeli newspapers Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth. Beirut, 30
May 10, 09:28
U.S. Sen. Corker from Center House: I'm Not Aware of Any Danger against Lebanon
Naharnet/Premier Saad Hariri held talks Saturday at the Center House with
visiting U.S. Republican Senator Robert Corker, in attendance of Hariri's Chief
of Staff Nader Hariri and advisor Hani Hammoud. After the meeting, Corker said:
"Obviously the U.S. considers Lebanon a very important friend, and I am here to
spend a little time understanding more fully Lebanon and some of the issues
surrounding the area. I am on my way to Syria after this, and then I am going to
Greece." "I look forward to coming back to the region and certainly want to
build on the relationship that we now have," Corker added. Asked whether he
thinks there is any danger of an attack against Lebanon, Corker answered: "I am
not aware of any danger in that regard." Earlier Saturday, Corker held talks
with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace where they discussed the
U.S.-Lebanese bilateral ties and the regional situations.
Beirut, 29 May 10, 21:40
Moawwad: Franjieh Can't Emphasize Marada's Influence in the North through
Intimidation
Independence Movement leader Michel Moawwad said Saturday that Marada Movement
leader MP Suleiman Franjieh's reaction to the Dahr al-Ain incident "was not
expected and he can't emphasize Marada's influence in the North through
intimidation.""If Franjieh wants to win the elections in two or three villages,
we will withdraw our candidates for the sake of preserving security," Moawwad
said at a news conference. "Nobody wants to re-enter a state of permanent
tension because we are all the inhabitants of these villages, and political
differences should not cross the red lines, most importantly stability. "We ask
the State to shoulder its responsibility in preserving the security of the polls
and protecting the voters' freedom, and the State must prevent the cars with
tinted windows from roaming the villages for intimidation."Moawwad called on
Franjieh to boost communication with his rivals, adding that disputes must be
solved "in a democratic and peaceful fashion." Naharnet/"I hope to play a role
in reconciling between Franjieh and (Lebanese Forces leader Samir) Geagea
because I'm the son of Zghorta before being the ally of anyone," Moawwad added.
Earlier Saturday, Franjieh accused Geagea of being a "criminal" and said the
state should be responsible for everyone's security because it was not his job
to stop clashes between rivals. The MP was commenting on the murder of two
brothers from Marada in Dahr al-Ain in the northern Koura province which raised
fears among locals that the incident would have security repercussions given
that their killer was an LF member. At a press conference to comment on the
incident, Franjieh vowed that the municipal elections in the north on Sunday
won't be cancelled as a result of the tension. Beirut, 29 May 10, 20:54
Franjieh: The Atmosphere that Geagea is Creating is What's Affecting the Current
Christian Scene
Naharnet/The head of the Marada Party MP Suleiman Franjieh criticized on Sunday
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea saying that the atmosphere that he is
creating is affecting the current Christian scene in Lebanon. He said after
casting his vote in Zgharta: "Everything in this election is politicized. The
municipal elections are more politicized than the parliamentary ones." He
stressed that the electoral battle he is waging has developmental aims, noting:
"We will cooperate with the loser for the town's interest." Commenting on LF
member MP Elie Keyrouz's statements that Franjieh encourages violence, the MP
said: "Keyrouz has been taught at the hands of my cousin Samir Franjieh, and he
knows how to interpret matters" and twist them to suit him. Beirut, 30 May 10,
13:38
Baroud: Bazoun Polls Postponed, Dahr al-Ain Incident Not Related to Elections
Naharnet/Interior Minister Ziad Baroud described on Sunday the Dahr al-Ain
incident as "unfortunate", stressing, "It is not related, directly or
indirectly, to the municipal elections."
He told Voice of Lebanon radio that the repercussions of the incident were
discussed by those concerned and that the necessary security procedures were
taken to "very firmly" keep the situation under control. He added however that
the procedures should not make it seem that the North has been turned into a
military barracks, but they should be viewed as "a place where the state has
taken the suitable measures." The minister stated: "It is unacceptable that any
security incident be taken lightly." He also revealed that the polls in Bazoun
have been postponed because all of the candidates withdrew from the race. Baroud
added that the municipal and mayoral elections in the North have been launched
without any delay.
"The citizens of the North and Akkar have the ability to compete
democratically," saying that even though there have been some tensions, they
should not lead to security violations.
He continued: "The political powers are eager that the polls take place without
incident." Beirut, 30 May 10, 08:03
Suleiman to Visit Syria in Upcoming Days ahead of Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council
Meeting
Naharnet/Informed Syrian sources revealed Sunday that President Michel Suleiman
is expected to visit Syria in the upcoming days ahead of a meeting for the
Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council scheduled for June. The sources told the UAE's
al-Khaleej newspaper that the visit is part of the two countries' ongoing
consultation and cooperation efforts "in light of the joint challenges and
threats that the region is witnessing after Israel's allegations that Syria is
providing Hizbullah with Scud missiles." They also said that the Syrian side has
completed some suggestions and modifications to agreements between Lebanon and
Syria, adding: "Preparations are underway to hold a meeting for the Higher
Lebanese-Syrian Council headed by the prime ministers of the two countries in
the first half of June." Beirut, 30 May 10, 12:54
Fears of the Mossad Taking Advantage of Dahr al-Ain Incident, Creating Christian
Migration in North
Naharnet/A former security official voiced fears on Sunday that several
intelligence agencies, especially the Israeli Mossad, could take advantage of
the Dahr al-Ain incident to create instability in the North. He told the daily
Ad Diyar that security unrest may spark Christian migration from the North,
which would lead to sectarian divisions and the fragmentation of Lebanon. The
Dahr al-Ain incident opens the way for acts vengeance especially since the
Christian scene is still living with the repercussions of the unrest that took
place in the North since the beginning of the Lebanese civil war, the unnamed
security official stated. He added that foreign intelligence could spark
instability through, for example, firing at a Lebanese Forces celebration and
killing a number of the participants and then turn attention towards the Marada
Party in an attempt to implicate them in the crime. Beirut, 30 May 10, 12:01
Are We Ready for War?
Hazem al-Amin, May 28, 2010
Now Lebanon
Alright then, let us agree that Israel is holding its military drills out of
fear and panic, that several claims underlie these maneuvers, that Israel’s
defeat in 2006 was a new stage in the course of wars between us, and that it
involved its citizens in the north in those drills by training them on how to
avoid missiles and evacuate targeted areas because it feels the genuine threat,
which its citizens would face if war breaks out.
But what about us? How are we preparing for a potential war? What about the
South’s inhabitants? Is anyone thinking about them the way our enemy is thinking
about its own citizens?
The answer is, roundly, no! Israel has built a whole network of shelters in the
north, whereas there is not one shelter in South Lebanon. Israel citizens are
undergoing rescue and evacuation training, whereas no one here cares for how
much such skills are needed. Israel public institutions and various sectors are
taking part in the debate on armament, military industries and their share of
the budget, whereas we are banned from touching on this aspect of the potential
war equation in our country.
We are forbidden to think about anything that relates to war, except to glorify
it. Even the side of war pertaining to demands is overlooked. The forces that
got the South’s slice of the Lebanese cake and are marketing the victory forgot
to include in their demands and commitments the matter of strengthening the
South’s inhabitants to confront war possibilities, even in the civil sense of
the word.
Everything that relates to the war is taboo, including the decision to wage war,
armament and the strengthening of Lebanon’s inhabitants. It seems that this is
rooted in the equation of one Israeli national killed for every 12 Lebanese
victims, which is the equation that resulted in a victory as we are being told.
It may be useful to start evaluating the possibilities of a new war from this
vantage point. In other words, regardless of any political considerations, we
have to ask whether Hezbollah’s alleged preparations for war have taken into
account the need to curb the number of Lebanese victims, considering that the
party definitely strives for increasing the number of Israeli ones. Indeed,
victory is not only about the number of enemy victims in the first place, but
also about comparing it to how many people are killed on your side.
Therefore, it is necessary to abide by modesty when evaluating the result of the
2006 July War. Saying that Israel failed to achieve the objective it set for
itself in this war would have spared us the burden of declaring a “victory” that
exempted us from preparing for the next war, for we accepted the fact that the
12-1 equation is convenient for us in future wars.
The low toll in Israel compared to our own in the latest war, as in all our
previous wars, is due to many reasons. Some of them are due – of course – to the
fact that the war decision springs from actual orientations in public opinion
institutions, where war preparations encompass all sectors and where there is a
high probability for accountability. This includes the reasons why there are no
shelters in a certain village or settlement and why a certain military unit
failed to move forward, not to mention the evaluation of the whole operation.
And all of this is inexistent on the Lebanese side of the front.
**This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW
Arabic site on Friday May 28, 2010.
Israel
stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
By: Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv/Times on line
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7140282.ece
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are
to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles
developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in
Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the
Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence
of at least one of the vessels. The flotilla’s commander, identified only as
“Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force.
We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.” Each of the
submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a
nuclear cruise missile.
The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft
below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped
with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal. The deployment
is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land
Mossad agents. “We’re a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we
can stay for a long time in one place,” said a flotilla officer. The submarines
could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. “The
1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,”
said a navy officer. Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian
admiral said: “Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will
receive a forceful response from us.” Israel’s urgent need to deter the
Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the
defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified
satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to
Hezbollah in Lebanon. Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the
danger to Obama in Washington this week. Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and defence
centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There
are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he
said.
My SLA
By Therese Abou-Mrad
02:37 30.05.10
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/my-sla-1.292961
I am not prepared to accuse the State of Israel for everything
that has not been successful in my life, but it bothers me, as an
Israeli-Lebanese youngster, to hear stories in the media that present only the
painful angle and ignore the successes.
By Therese Abou-Mrad
My name is Therese Abou-Mrad. I am a student of Political Science and Public
Policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I live in Kiryat Shmona and my
mother tongue is Arabic. I have been in the State of Israel now for ten years;
on the day that marks the withdrawal from Lebanon, it is possible to
congratulate me, or to note my bad luck, because my father was a member of the
South Lebanon Army.
About two weeks ago, I saw a report on Channel Two about the withdrawal from
Lebanon. Those 12 minutes were packed with emotion. There is no doubt that the
members of the SLA have suffered a great deal since May 2000, but I admit that
the repeated descriptions about the feelings of bitterness are getting on my
nerves.
My father was the former spokesman of the SLA, the governor and commander of a
sector in south Lebanon. I grew up in a home that imbued me with the values of
loving my homeland and defending my home, those values according to which my
father acted in the South Lebanon Army. At the age of 10, I was torn away from
my home, from the family and way of life I had known. I had to go to a new
country and build a new life in a new society.
I chose to be a regular Israeli citizen. I finished my studies at the Danziger
high school in Kiryat Shmona in the year following the Second Lebanon War. In
its wake, I decided to do national service in my town. After making a
contribution to the country, I went on to study political science at the Hebrew
University as part of the program for outstanding students "Atidim - cadets for
the public service."
Today, when I am already 21 years old, I refuse to say to the State of Israel:
"you owe me something," or "you owe my father something." I have a great deal of
criticism about the way in which the withdrawal was carried out by the Israel
Defense Forces and the attitude toward the SLA members; there was a betrayal.
But at the end of the day, I believe with all my heart that a person is
responsible for his future. I chose to overcome the crisis I experienced at such
a young age and to continue to grow after that. I have not given up my Lebanese
identity for even one moment; I believe fully in the justice of the way my
father chose and the decisions he made; but at the same time, I am not prepared
to accuse the State of Israel for everything that has not been successful in my
life.
During my first years here, I suffered from racism, because children can be very
cruel. But when I explained to my friends in junior high why I spoke Arabic,
they understood. There is no doubt that the first generation suffered as a
result of the withdrawal and its implications, and that they suffered because of
the cultural change; and the second generation, those my age, suffered the
difficulties of becoming acclimatized and from post trauma.
Nevertheless, it bothers me, as an Israeli-Lebanese youngster, to hear stories
in the media that present only the painful angle and ignore the successes. It
bothers me to see such melodramatic and one-sided reports that try to play on
the viewers' emotions so as to win a little more rating.
There is no doubt that it is important to relate that even today the SLA members
do not live happily and peacefully. I grew up without a family since, except for
my parents and brothers, everyone remained in Marjayoun. But it is also
important to present the success stories of those who adapted to their new life.
Moreover, my father and his colleagues fought for their aims, in order to defend
their homes; it annoys me to hear former SLA members, as well as Israelis, claim
that the SLA was set up in order to defend Israel. The SLA is my father's past,
my past, and what made me what I am today.
Rating is important, but when it replaces the presentation of all the aspects,
it is like a sharp knife that cuts twice - first it hurts me and my past and
then it cuts into the guilt feelings of the Israeli public. That is a shame.
Nasrallah,
again
By JERUSALEM POST EDITORIAL
05/30/2010
Last week’s drill made plain to the Israeli public what is at stake. The
government needs to do more to communicate the dangers internationally. During
most of last week, Israel was uniquely preoccupied with large civil defense
drills. These exercises encapsulate our existential predicament. No other
society faces the dangers that Israel does and none, therefore, needs to make
the effort that we must to perfect defensive preparations. The fact that
assorted rescue teams had to rehearse responses to nonconventional attacks
attests loudly to the nature of our enemies and their menace.
If a shred of a doubt lingered about the necessity of practicing skills to
contend with whatever is unleashed upon us, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah
drove home the point. He sought to portray Israel’s defensive drills as the
sinister camouflaging of offensive maneuvers, and simultaneously surpassed the
excesses of his previous bellicose tirades.
He began the latest harangue by serving notice on Israel that its entire
territory is now vulnerable to rocket attack (thereby admitting that he and the
Lebanese government have utterly contravened the terms of Security Council
Resolution 1701 via massive arms running).
Next, Nasrallah threatened to attack Israel’s main international airport. Soon
thereafter he screamed that all Israel’s sea ports were in his gun sights and
that not a single vessel would be safe if conflict erupted.
Nasrallah has never been a master of understatement, but in recent months the
frequency, intensity and arrogance of his outbursts has escalated. His invective
quotient has appreciably amplified since Hizbullah was co-opted into the
Lebanese governing coalition under Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
WITH ITS formal accession to the establishment, Hizbullah can no longer be
dismissed as a rogue militia. Hariri, whose father, Rafik, was assassinated by
Syrian cohorts in 2005, has, sadly, now become Syria’s obsequious lackey.
Tolerating Hizbullah is part of the package that accords him Damascus’s
“protection.”
Israel has repeatedly stressed that it holds Beirut responsible for Hizbullah
aggression, warning that Lebanon won’t escape punishment should Nasrallah again
attack Israel. In their heart of hearts, Lebanon’s masses know that he again
risks putting them in harm’s way. To deflect domestic criticism, Nasrallah
speaks of retaliation against Israeli air and sea ports.
Under the watchful eye of the Syrians, Hariri unsurprisingly prefers to sidestep
all that. In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times last week (reprinted in
Thursday’s Jerusalem Post), he managed to ignore the rearming of Hizbullah by
both Syria and Iran. He feigned innocence, or made excuses, by arguing that
“desperate people will do desperate things.”
Essentially, Hariri is now condoning the actions of the Teheran/Damascus axis,
while diverting attention from the fact that he has ushered one of the world’s
most treacherous terrorist organizations into the heart of Lebanon’s governance,
effectively becoming Hizbullah’s puppet.
Hariri was forced to go to Bashar Assad, cap in hand, pleading to turn over “a
new page.”
The founder of Lebanon’s erstwhile anti-Syrian front – launched with much
fanfare on March 14, 2005 – now embraces the very despots he accused of
murdering his father. He has of late been pleading Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s case as
well.
Hariri’s capitulation underscores more than personal vicissitudes. It marks the
effective end of the March 14 Alliance and with it of the tattered remains of
Lebanese independence. Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005, yet its
stranglehold on its neighbor has only tightened, with Hizbullah actively
abetting Syrian hegemony.
While the international community clamors for the establishment of a Palestinian
state, it acquiesces with quiet equanimity in the destruction of another Arab
state’s sovereignty. The world too readily overlooks this, just as it
systematically disregards the frightening and explosive arsenal it has allowed
Hizbullah to amass despite UN blandishments and big-power guarantees.
There is mind-boggling global silence about the fact that Israelis are forced to
practice life-saving drills while threats on their lives are jeeringly broadcast
from Lebanon. This is a tinderbox waiting to detonate.
In the event of renewed conflict, Israel would doubtless once more find itself
cynically censured. Whether anyone overseas wants to give Israel a hearing on
not, our government must do its utmost to at least alert the international
community –diplomatic, media and legal – about what is shaping up here.
Nasrallah’s rhetoric only underlines the urgency.
Last week’s drill made plain to the Israeli public what is at stake. The
government needs to do more to communicate the dangers internationally.
My Word: Out but not over
By LIAT COLLINS
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=176852
05/30/2010 05:35
Israel left Lebanon 10 years ago, but can the Lebanese experience truly be
removed from the Israeli psyche?
When Israeli forces crossed into southern Lebanon on June 5, 1982, in what was
optimistically called Operation Peace for Galilee, I was a newly demobilized
21-year-old. In the army, I had matured. During the Lebanese campaign, I aged.
My brother and nearly all my male friends were serving either in the regular
army or the reserves. Not all of them made it out alive. The son of one
neighbor, Zachary Baumel, has yet to make it out at all.
Baumel, along with Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, has been missing since the
Battle of Sultan Yakoub in the first week of the war; IAF navigator Ron Arad has
been missing since 1986.
More than 1,200 soldiers were killed between June 5, 1982, and May 31, 1985, the
partial withdrawal to the security zone.
When Peace for Galilee started, I was in London, staying at the same residence
as an Israeli bodyguard of ambassador Shlomo Argov. When the guard was informed
of the assassination attempt on Argov, I realized war was on its way.
The fateful bullets obviously signaled the start of a major campaign. We would
respond with an attack on the terrorist forces in south Lebanon; they would
throw even more Katyushas at northern Israel and we would react by sending in
ground forces. Like most Israelis, I couldn’t have guessed just how serious the
situation would be.
I did, however, get a glimpse of the new direction of world opinion.
I was working in a temporary job which I was given by a Christian Lebanese
immigrant to England. During my interview he asked me when Israel was going to
“come over and save us.”
“Shhh, that’s next week,” I quipped.
The day after the tanks rolled in, I got the job, which became more temporary
than planned.
Shortly before I left, a colleague told me: “You’ve got to feel sorry for poor
Arafat, being forced into a bunker.”
I didn’t feel sorry for him. I pitied the residents of the North who had spent
the best part of the previous year in shelters and under threat of terrorist
infiltration.
LEBANON HAS been called Israel’s Vietnam. Israelis still refer to “habotz
halevanoni” (the Lebanese mud). It was the war in which everyone knew how it
would start – and roughly when – but no one knew how it would end. And arguably,
10 years and another war later, it is not yet over.
Israel left the south Lebanon security zone in a hasty overnight operation on
May 24, 2000.
When it became clear that all the IDF soldiers were safely back on the Israeli
side of the border, the country collectively let out a sigh of relief – those
who had opposed the unilateral withdrawal and those who had been in favor of it
– because among the many things that had changed during the 18 years in which
Israeli forces controlled the southern strip, perhaps the most significant is
the change in attitude toward military losses.
After the withdrawal, Hizbullah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah likened Israel to a
spider’s web, saying it would be too scared to hit its enemies.
Ehud Barak, architect of the pullback and defense minister both a decade ago and
now, threatened that Israel would strike hard at anyone who attempted to hurt
the country. But he didn’t follow through: not when more soldiers were abducted
and killed and not when more missiles fell. Instead, Nasrallah, living in
hideouts – but don’t pity him – has managed with Syrian and Iranian backing to
turn Hizbullah into a heavily armed fighting force right on the Israeli border.
It’s also a significant presence in the Lebanese parliament.
Hizbullah did not even exist when the IDF went into Lebanon in June 1982.
Thousands of South Lebanese Army soldiers and their families scrambled to cross
the border into Israel before the IDF closed the gates 10 years ago – not a
positive lesson to future would-be allies.
Nasrallah was not the only one to interpret the unilateral pullback as a sign of
weakness. It was in this atmosphere that the Palestinians launched the second
intifada in September 2000.
A second unilateral withdrawal, the one from Gaza in 2005 drawn up by former
hawk Ariel Sharon, proved that when Israel pulls out its troops, missiles and
rockets do not stop, but increase.
Not only can the Kassams be traced, figuratively if not literally, to Lebanon.
The reluctance to engage Hamas in Gaza was a remnant of the First and Second
Lebanon wars, with their high casualty rates. National consensus was also a
victim of Lebanon.
Our family album contains the front page of Yediot Aharonot from June 7, ’82,
showing a grainy photo of the first tanks crossing Lebanon’s Litani River – my
brother was able to recognize his tank rather than his face. Above it, the
headline boasts: “Beaufort Fort in IDF hands.” There is no mention of how many
men had been killed: six, including the unit commander. No hint of controversy
over why the operation had taken place. Later, the failure by defense minister
Sharon and prime minister Menachem Begin to even inquire about the casualties
during a tour of the fort would come to symbolize the lack of leadership during
the entire war.
THOSE WERE different days. Many families did not yet own a home phone; most
soldiers did not own cameras, and it took time to develop pictures.
News – even bad news – did not travel fast. There was heavy censorship – both
self-censorship on the part of editors and military censorship – in an age when
few alternative news sources existed. It took a while for the lack of strategic
planning to become evident to all.
But the numbers of dead kept growing. This, together with the Christian
Phalangist-perpetrated Sabra and Shatilla massacre in September ’82 –
strengthened the nascent Peace Now movement, which held vigils outside Begin’s
residence with a body count chart. I used to switch on the radio every morning
thinking, “I wonder if anyone I know has been killed.”
As Hizbullah perfected roadside bomb attacks, the IDF began flying soldiers into
southern Lebanon.
Strangely, it was not the death toll in Lebanon which became the driving force
behind the withdrawal. In February 1997, 73 soldiers were killed in the worst
military accident in Israeli history when two helicopters collided on their way
to Lebanon. The Helicopter Disaster, as it is known, gave birth to the Four
Mothers movement. The eponymous leaders created not only a successful grassroots
struggle but characterized the switch from focusing on civil safety to military
casualties.
The quartet, whose sons were serving in the army at the time, have been busy
lately with renewed media interest due to the 10th anniversary of the pullout.
They remain convinced that the withdrawal was overall beneficial.
But if we should have learned anything from the Lebanon experience it is that
withdrawing for emotional or political reasons without ensuring adequate
alternative security arrangements does not solve the conflict.
Lebanon will not be over until residents of the North, “and beyond, beyond
Haifa,” in Nasrallah’s words, are safe. It will not be over until tourists on
both sides of the fence can enjoy the incredible scenery in peace.
And Lebanon will not be over until all Israel’s missing soldiers are back home.
**The writer is editor of The International Jerusalem Post.
liat@jpost.com
South
Lebanon Will Be Liberated from Hezb'allah
By Charbel Barakat/American Thinker
May 30, 2010
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/south_lebanon_will_be_liberate.html
Last Sunday was the tenth anniversary of Israel's
withdrawal from what was used to be known as the "security zone." That day,
following the instructions of then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack, all
Israeli units operating north of the borders inside Lebanese territories were
pulled back inside Israeli territories. According to Barack, it was in
implementation of the UNSCR 425, issued in 1978 after an Israeli incursion into
Lebanon in response to PLO attacks across the borders then. So in the year 2000,
23 years after it entered the country to fight its enemies, Israel's government
decided to pull its troops back from Lebanon abruptly. Barack at the time said
he was complying with U.N. resolutions and that he expected that no threat will
come from Lebanon anymore. That was the Israeli version of the Labor Government
then.
But as IDF forces were pulling back, Iranian-backed Hezb'allah militias were
entering every single village and town evacuated by the Israelis. According to
Hassan Nasrallah, the commander of Hezb'allah, Israel withdrew because of the
strikes by the so-called "resistance," which in fact was the Iranian-backed
militia. The Hezb'allah story is that southern Lebanon was occupied by the
Israelis, who had a proxy militia known as South Lebanon Army. And that
Hezb'allah struggled to liberate the land from its Zionist occupiers.
However, there is a third version. It rejects the first two, and it claims it
represents the struggle of the people of southern Lebanon, who struggled against
Terror and were removed from their ancestral lands -- because of Ehud Barack's
policies on the one hand and the abandonment of the West of Lebanon last
resisting free people against the hordes of Hezb'allah and their Iranian and
Syrian backers on the other. Unfortunately, the third story has no tellers these
days. Barack has Israel's media at his service so that he can boast about his
betrayal of southern Lebanon and his own Israeli people, and Nasrallah has his
Iranian-funded media to claim his victories against the populations who resisted
him in southern Lebanon.
A decade after the betrayal of the people of south Lebanon, the truth is going
to be blanched. It will take time for the witnesses of that drama to share the
facts with the world opinion, but it will happen no matter what.
The population of the so-called "security zone" are Lebanese citizens who had
suffered at the hands of Palestinian terror groups since the 1970s and at the
hands of Hezb'allah since the 1980s. They are the sons and daughters of the land
for centuries. The forces of the PLO then and the Iranian Revolutionary guards
are foreign occupation. Israel entered Lebanon twice, first in 1978 and again in
1982, to strike back against Terror forces shelling its territories from inside
Lebanon's territories. The Lebanese citizens living in the border towns wanted
the Lebanese Army only -- not the Israelis, and certainly the Terror forces. But
Lebanon's government had collapsed in 1975, and as of 1990, it was controlled by
Syria. The populations of the south had no choice, not one, except to accept aid
and support from Israel's occupation forces. To be clear, between the Terrorists
and barbarians, who were slaughtering civilians and aiming at establishing a
jihadi regime, and the forces of the state of Israel, an ally to the United
States and at Peace with Egypt and Jordan, the choice was made against
Hezb'allah and the Syrian-Iranian axis.
The South Lebanon Army under control by Israel was far better than ending up in
the detention camps of the Iranian Pasdaran or in the torture centers of
Hezb'allah and Syria. Hence, a large segment of the population of south Lebanon
-- Christian, Druse, Shia, and Sunnis -- adhered to the SLA and stood by
Israel's forces as a common front against the Terrorists. Israel's successive
governments stood in solidarity with the people of south Lebanon. A brotherhood
between the IDF and the SLA was the cornerstone of the common defense against
Hezb'allah and Syria.
South Lebanon's civil society would have preferred to be under the direct
protection of the UNIFIL, a U.N. force dispatched to protect the peace and the
local population as of 1978. But UNIFIL's bureaucrats refused to take the
southern Lebanese under their auspices, leaving them to strive for themselves.
The SLA and the local populations did the right thing to defend themselves, and
they did so under international law, which grants them the right to fight for
survival, hoping that when the Israelis wanted to leave, they would allow them
to defend themselves and seek U.N. protection.
In 2000, then-Israeli Prime Minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barack betrayed
an Israeli tradition of solidarity with the SLA and an Israeli natural
friendship with the southern Lebanese. He ordered not only the abrupt withdrawal
of IDF from the security zone, but also a dismantlement of the SLA. All the
southern Lebanese population wanted as villagers living on their ancestral lands
was to defend it until they are free or die trying. Barack took away their most
sacred right: the right to resist. He ordered his forces to shut off the borders
as south Lebanon's border populations were disarmed and about to be overwhelmed
by the jihadi barbarians. We know that a majority of the Israeli people was
frustrated by that move, and we know that many in the IDF resented Barack's stab
in the back of the only population in the Middle East that actually stood by the
Jewish people of Israel.
The southern Lebanese were forced to march during the night in a dishonorable
exodus into Israel. In one night, Barack and his political allies in government
and abroad killed the last free enclave in Lebanon. In one night, he invited
Hezb'allah to the international borders. In one night, he terminated the only
fighting force that was shedding blood shoulder to shoulder with the IDF in
defending that part of the Middle East against the jihadi Terrorists. He took
out the only friendship that could have told the world that Israel itself should
not be betrayed or abandoned because it has not betrayed its own allies.
Unfortunately, Barack's reckless stab in the back of Israel's only allies in the
Middle East opened the path for the jihadist forces to surround Israel further
from the north and from the south. Few months later, the Aqsa intifada was
shattering the myth of invincibility in Israel, and from there on, Israel is
alone in a region filled with hatred. Barack took away the southern Lebanese's
own ability to testify that Israel was doing good in the region -- it was
protecting its small and weak neighbors in southern Lebanon.
Today, when Israel's image is assaulted by the lethal propaganda machine of the
Iranian petrodollars worldwide and in the United States, and anti-Semitism is
running high in Western capitals, the only underdogs who would have testified to
the world that Israel was defending Christians, Druse, Shia, and Sunni in that
free enclave of Lebanon -- these underdogs uprooted from their homes and lands
because of the arrogance of a few politicians who thought they had it figured
out -- cannot testify to save the honor of their former allies. Blame former
Prime Minister Barack and his elitist friends in Israel and the United States
for that.
That had to be said, and it will be repeated as long as needed until some
courageous leaders in Israel and the United States apologize to the population
of southern Lebanon for what was done to them. History is unique in the ways it
sends its messages. Three months after abandoning the people of south Lebanon in
May 2000, Israel was hit by a jihadi war that has not stopped since, neither
across the Lebanese borders nor across the frontiers of Gaza. And one year after
that, America was hit by the beast of terror on 9/11. Abandoning the small
villages of southern Lebanon to the jihadists didn't appease them. To the
contrary, it emboldened them. We hope the free world learned the lesson.
However, we do know that the majority of Israelis does not believe in Barack's
pragmatic miscalculations, and they do want a friendship with their neighbors
from the north. Naturally, it would have been better to have an SLA fending off
the Iranian waves of assault than having the enemy roaming on the borders. Now
they have to deal with Hassan Nasrallah's forty thousand missiles to the north,
Assad's chemical forces, Hamas terror from the south, and Ahmadinejad's
forthcoming nukes. Had Israel not dismantled the southern Lebanese resistance
against terror, Hezb'allah would have been opposed by a stubborn indigenous
force locally to reckon with. Let's see if Israel's basic instincts will correct
the mistakes of its own leaders.
Meanwhile, we the people of southern Lebanon haven't lost hope. We continue to
struggle politically around the world for the liberation of Lebanon. We are now
part of a vast diaspora that stands firmly with the United States and the
international community (including Europe, Russia, and the Arab moderates) in a
campaign to defeat the terror forces. Our commitment to freeing Lebanon persists
from generation to generation. We are still committed not only to peace with
Israel, but also to a friendship with the Jewish people in the Holy Land.
Despite the betrayal by some of its politicians, Israel has a full right to
exist in the region, and all nations have the right to freedom and democracy. We
hope that the democratic forces among Arabs and other nations of the Middle East
will soon rise against dictatorship and fascism, and that we will return to our
occupied land and live in peace.
May 23, 2000 was a hard benchmark in our history, but it is certainly not the
end of it. We will return, and we will live all in peace.
**Ret. Col. Charbel Barakat is a historian and a former civil society leader in
south Lebanon. He is now a counterterrorism expert in Canada
4 Comments on "South Lebanon Will Be Liberated from Hezb'allah"
http://comments.americanthinker.com/read/42323/606944.html
Join the Discussion 4 Comments | Post Comment
Posted by: Terry - Eilat, Israel May 30, 01:20 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many people here in Israel still remember Ehud Barak's disgraceful betrayal of
the SLA, it is most often the first thing mentioned in any discussion of Ehud
Barak. But, what can you expect from Leftists besides betrayal? Ehud Barak is a
serial bungler, a man who has made a career of mistakes & strategic blunders, an
hypocrite, an opportunist, a self-important, over-stuffed creep of no principles
save self-interest, unscrupulous & treacherous. It is a tribute to our
dysfunctional political system that such a man remains in any gov't. position.
Barak's blunder will cost us many lives in the near future.
Posted by: AdinaF,Israel May 30, 01:47 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest military blunder in modern Israel was Barak's COWARDLY flight from
Lebanon in the early 1980's. While Israel was forced to enter Lebanon due to
continual cross border terror attacks, Barak, in his infinite leftist wisdom,
decided that the IDF could no longer hold their ground, as mothers were whining
that their sons were in harm's way, and he had other political plans to execute,
so they were his handy excuse to flee.
To wit, 'four mothers' were allowed to hysterically change Israeli security
policy, but only because Barak (our current Defense Minister) is a leftist at
heart. He fled with his troops like a thief in the night, leaving Lebanon OPEN
for Hizbullah to emerge, and abandoned the Christian Arab militia fighting
alongside the IDF.Treachery and more treachery.....There is no doubt that Barak
understood the politics of what he was doing. By leaving the Christians alone to
fight their Muslim tormentors, Barak knew that many would die, and the result
was the battle at Sabra and Shatilla, a battle which blew back onto Israel,
pushing out the right wing leadership, ushering in the era of Labor's
hallucinatory rule.
While entering Lebanon was a life saving mission, leaving it became a cynical
game of political opportunism. In any case, Hizbullah was not smashed in 2006
due to Israel's leadership's prostrations to Washington dictates (ushering in
the signing of a toothless, dangerous Resolution),and as a consequence became
ever MORE lethal.This go around our leaders will not make the same mistake.This
is because Hizbullah is now an existential threat(thanks to peace fantasists)and
our leaders understand better what BHO's plans are for us. The mother of all
battles is upon us, as Iran's proxies gather, poised to strike.The IDF will
unleash their fury like none other.Guranteed.
Posted by: jane May 30, 03:32 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Clinton sent his political operatives, including James Carville, over to
Israel to assist Barack in defeating Netenyahu in 1999.
General Barakat asks whether the west has learned its lesson from the
consequences of the southern Lebanon withdrawal by Israel. Uh, I don't think so.
You mean, the west, led by the current "leader of the free world" chosen by the
American people in their wisdom? The west that does absolutely nothing while
Iran develops nukes, that is trying to force Israel to surrender even more
territory to its enemies? I would say the "west" has not only not learned its
lesson, it's forgetting every lesson it ever learned since the second world war.
Not even everyone in Israel has learned the lesson, apparently. According to
Caroline Glick, prominent Israeli media fawn over Barack to this day and
recently celebrated the ten year anniversary of this fiasco. Israel has a very
screwed up form of proportional representation which results in dysfunctional
governments like the current one with Barack as defense minister. What's
America's excuse?
Posted by: AdinaF,Israel May 30, 05:18 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry, I didn't mean the early 1980's in the above post, I meant 2000. I was
referring to Israel's entering Lebanon in the early 80's.
Letter to Australian PM Calls
Attention to Violence Against Assyrians in Iraq
GMT 5-30-2010
Assyrian International News Agency
Canberra (AINA) -- On May 31 ten Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac)
groups from Melbourne, Australia, representing political, cultural and charity
organizations, wrote to the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP,
the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Stephen Smith MP and other
notable leaders, expressing their concern at the treatment of Iraq's Assyrian
Christians and urging further action to stem the barrage of persecution suffered
by them since the fall of the Baath'ist regime in Iraq. The recent targeting of
Assyrian Christian university students near Mosul has reinforced the
deteriorating situation in Iraq and its particularly adverse effects on the
Assyrian Christian minority.
The text of the letter follows:
31 May 2010
The Hon K. M. Rudd MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Prime Minister,
We the undersigned representatives of Victoria's Assyrian Chaldean Syriac
community write to express our deep concern at the ongoing persecution of the
Assyrian Chaldean Syriac people of Iraq.
On the 2nd of May, only a few weeks ago, reports of a double bus bombing were
received from Iraq detailing the targeting of Christian students traveling to
the University of Mosul to attend classes by as yet unidentified assailants.
Four buses were traveling from the predominantly Christian district of Qaraqosh,
in the town of Hamdaniya to Mosul (which is 390km north of Baghdad). Qaraqosh is
located in the Nineveh Plain, the heart of the Assyrian ancestral homeland.
Reports emerging from Iraq since the bombings indicate that to date 4 people
were killed and 188 injured (most of them seriously) during the targeted
attacks. Injuries sustained by 24 of the students were so dire that they have
been sent to Turkey for immediate treatment.
Regrettably, these attacks are only the latest in what has widely been termed
the extermination of Iraq's indigenous Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Christians. In a
recent report entitled Incipient Genocide: The Ethnic Cleansing of the Assyrians
of Iraq, the Assyrian International News Agency reports that commencing in June
2006 almost 70 churches have been bombed in Iraq. Since the invasion of Iraq in
2003 there have been, on very conservative estimates, nearly 400 documented
murders of Christians. Similarly, priests and deacons have also been murdered.
Amongst these murdered clergymen was prominent Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho who
was kidnapped on February 29 2008 in Mosul and whose dead body was found on
March 13 2008. Persecution of Iraq's indigenous Christian population has
included rapes, medieval style beheadings, crucifixions and attacks upon
Christian homes. Thousands of Christians have been forced to either convert to
Islam or be killed. Since 2003 there has been a mass exodus of Assyrian Chaldean
Syriac Christians from Iraq, who prior to the invasion numbered some 1.5 million
people. While this number equates to a mere 3 or 4% of Iraq's population, the
United Nations has shockingly reported that Christians from Iraq comprise 40% of
its refugees. These refugees, as a result of heinous persecution, are now living
in abject poverty as refugees in Syria, Jordan and Turkey awaiting resettlement
in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Religious persecution of Iraq's Christians and other minorities has been so
intense that the United Sates Commission on International Freedom has
recommended that Iraq be included in the 'Countries of Particular Concern' list
under the United States International Religious Freedom Act. While reports of
the persecution of Iraq's Assyrian Chaldean Syriac people since 2003 have been
widespread, and condemnation by churches and international human rights
organisations have been scathing, as yet no concrete action has been taken by
either the Government of Iraq or world bodies such as the United Nations to
protect Iraq's Christians from persecution. Sadly, the perpetrators of much of
the persecution since 2003 have not been brought to justice.
In the interim, the following measures are vital to bring justice to and assist
the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac people:
The establishment of an international commission examining the repeated crimes
against the aforementioned people in Iraq.
The establishment by the Iraqi Government of a university in the Nineveh Plains
in order to alleviate the intense risk faced by Christian tertiary students
travelling long distances to advance their scholarly education.
The establishment of an international fund to support infrastructure and social
programs for the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac people in the areas where they account
for large segments of the population, i.e. the Nineveh Plains.
The ongoing ethnic cleaning of Iraq's ancient Assyrian Chaldean Syriac community
is a startling reality. The laxity of the Iraqi Government, world bodies and
other governments to take substantial action on this matter is highly
disturbing. If immediate action is not forthcoming the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac
people, the indigenous people of Iraq, will be obliterated from a region in
which they have lived continuously for almost 7000 years.
We reiterate our ongoing call for immediate action on this matter and thank you
for what we are sure will be your understanding and support.
Photographs of student bus bombing can be viewed here. Should you require any
further information please do not hesitate to contact Jacob Haweil on 0425 757
618. Alternatively, correspondence can be forwarded to P.O. Box 420, Niddrie VIC
3042 or to aaalf@live.com.
Yours Sincerely,
Deacon Sam Nissan Bet-Tajee, Popular Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Council
Khoshaba Hozaya, Assyrian Democratic Movement
Majid Rafoo, Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Council of Australia
Sarhad Hozaya, Assyrian Aid Society
Jacob Haweil, Australian Assyrian Arts and Literature Foundation
John Haddad, Beth-Nahrin Cultural Club
Edwina Dinkha, Australian Mesopotamian Women's Association
Bushra Francis, Chaldean Culture Society
Elias Matti Mansour, International Committee for the Rights of Indigenous
Mesopotamians
Manahel Hurmez, Chaldean/Assyrian Iraqi Women's Group
CC: Hon. Stephan Smith MP (Foreign Minister), Members of the House of
Representatives, Members of the Senate, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
(Canberra), Kurdish Regional Government, Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch and the National Council of Churches in Australia.
Copyright (C) 2010, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved.
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