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This piece was lying around and reading the BooMan – Hurria debate reminded me to pick it up and finish it as a diary. Yes BooMan, the actions of war by Israel in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza are meant as terrorism and should be called as such. The Israelis, through their arrogance and under the US umbrella of impunity, have publicized their actions on many occasions.
Two years later, in the beginning of October 2008, the Commanding Officer of the IDF’s Northern Command, Maj. General Gadi Eisenkot, gave an interview to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, in which he unveiled what he called the “Dahiya Doctrine “:
“What happened in the Dahiye Quarter of Beirut in 2006, will happen in every village from which shots are fired on Israel. We will use disproportionate force against it and we will cause immense damage and destruction. From our point of view these are not civilian villages but military bases.
This is not a recommendation, this is the plan, and it has already been authorized.”
“In the Second Lebanon War we used a great deal of bombs. How else were 120,000 houses destroyed?”
Most devastated was the Dahiye quarter in Beirut, a large Shiite neighbourhood which served as headquarters for the Hezbollah. According to many reports Dahiye was largely destroyed during the war.
“With an outbreak of hostilities, the IDF will need to act immediately, decisively, and with force that is disproportionate to the enemy’s actions and the threat it poses. Such a response aims at inflicting damage and meting out punishment to an extent that will demand long and expensive reconstruction processes. The strike must be carried out as quickly as possible, and must prioritize damaging assets over seeking out each and every launcher. Punishment must be aimed at decision makers and the power elite… attacks should both aim at Hezbollah’s military capabilities and should target economic interests and the centers of civilian power that support the organization.”
In a subsequent paragraph Siboni makes it clear that:
“This approach is applicable to the Gaza Strip as well. There, the IDF will be required to strike hard at Hamas and to refrain from the cat and mouse games of searching for Qassam rocket launchers. The IDF should not be expected to stop the rocket and missile fire against the Israeli home front through attacks on the launchers themselves, but by means of imposing a ceasefire on the enemy.”
FM Tzipi Livni interview to Channel 10: “IDF demonstrated real hooliganism”
Perhaps the Israeli intentions were best summed up by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who was responsible for the decisions taken during Operation Cast Lead, along with Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. On January 19, 2009, the day after the ceasefire came into effect, in an interview to Channel 10 Livni stated:
“Israel demonstrated real hooliganism during the course of the recent operation, which I demanded.”
Arab League chief warns Israeli war on Lebanon still possible
This report, from one of the Middle East’s most prestigious newspapers, the Beirut Daily Star, shows the immense change that is occurring in relations between Lebanon and Israel, especially after the 2006 invasion of southern Lebanon and Beirut, which killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly families and children, some of whom were injured by US made cluster bombs after the fact.
Threats exchanged between Hezbollah and Netanyahu are not being taken lightly. And recently, Lebanese military have been firing at Israeli airplanes that invade its sovereign space. Life is not like before, when Lebanon just accepted Israel’s military domination, and there are even some suggestions that Hezbollah, now part of the Lebanese government, is acting as Lebanon’s primary defense barrier in the south.
Looks as if the Lebanese have had it with Israel’s invasions of its country, and all the destruction it has wrought on the Lebanese people and economy. Conceivably, Iran’s pugnaciousness has given other Middle East countries the backbone to stand up to US backed Israeli aggression. The balance of power is apparently changing in the Middle East, IMO. Guess we will see.
“…Lebanese military have been firing at Israeli airplanes that invade its sovereign space.“
It’s about time the Lebanese military showed some testicular fortitude.
Come on now some dodgy Christian general making tea for the invading Israelis as the troops sit in barracks and get smart bombed by the Israelis. Long way to go to get the Lebanese military moving. Only thing that stops Israal overruning the whole country and the only thing that keeps Lebanon afloat is Hezbollah who have twice fought Israel and twice won.
Israeli military types are fully aware of this and know at some point they have to go into Lebanon again and come up with a different result as their martial invincibility has been shattered. Maybe bombingh Iran will give them some pretext to strike Hezbollah although why the result will be reversed is not at all clear. Still next time the Israeli tanks charge over the border the Lebanese army will stay as sitting ducks in their barracks and a quisling general or two will make tea for the invaders while the Lebanese people will once again be left to resist.
“some dodgy Christian general making tea for the invading Israelis as the troops sit in barracks and get smart bombed by the Israelis.“
That is exactly what I as referring to – Lebanese generals serving tea to the invading forces while Lebanese civilians are being slaughtered by the hundreds.
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(NY Times) – Mr. Netanyahu laid out a $100 million government plan to rehabilitate what he called “archeological and Zionist heritage sites” at a special cabinet meeting held in northern Israel at the scene of a 1920 battle, Tel Hai, between Arabs and early Zionist settlers.
He said he intended to include the Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque, the Hebron shrine venerated by Jews, Muslims and Christians as the burial place of Abraham, on the list of some 150 sites. In 1994, a Jewish settler, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire on Palestinian Muslim worshipers inside the shrine, killing 29.
Mr. Netanyahu said he also planned to include Rachel’s Tomb, a shrine just inside the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
“People must be familiar with their homeland and its cultural and historical vistas,” Mr. Netanyahu told the cabinet. “This is what we will instill in this and coming generations, to the glory — if I may say — of the Jewish people,” he said.
Mr. Netanyahu had come under pressure from Israeli rightists to include the two shrines. He said on Sunday that the list of sites submitted to the cabinet was neither final nor closed.
UN coordinator slams PM’s heritage plan
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."