Reluctant Admissions
If there are violent clashes anywhere in the world somehow Zionists must be involved. At the very least Jews must have started things going. And most certainly if things go awry within the Middle East, Israel is held responsible. Might be that this is a tacit, albeit begrudging acknowledgement that Israel represents the only truly responsible state in the neighbourhood, as its only Democracy among a sea of theocracies, kingdoms and autocracies.Even the even-handed, neutral, unbiased agencies of the United Nations somehow always end up accusing Israel of starting whatever goes wrong in that unsettled and highly combustible neighbourhood. This, even while onlookers can see with their very eyes that Israel happens to be the aggressed-upon, nor the aggressor. Inconvenient details readily overlooked, seen through the lens of a world body heavily weighted against defence of Israel.
Israel has long expressed the view that ISAF - the UN mission in place on the border between Israel and Lebanon whose mission it is to defuse volatile situations before they escalate, who are supposed to ensure that Hezbollah does not smuggle weapons to enrich its already substantial hoard along the border - turns a blind eye to all infractions by Hezbollah. Which group holds ISAF in contempt as a negligible intervenor in any event.
But Israel, eager and willing to conduct itself to the letter of the law, informed ISAF that it planned to remove a tree on its own side of the frontier between the two disputing states. Lebanon, however, explained the ISAF under-secretary, takes issue with the "Blue Line", contending that it is their territory, not Israel's, regardless of UN-mandated lines.
The UN offered to cut down the offending tree, but Israel insisted that it would do that itself, with its work crew, on its territory. After the passage of five hours during which time the UN continued to negotiate with Lebanon, Israel simply proceeded to remove the tree on its side of the border. Which brought a warning shot from Lebanon. A warning shot by a sharp-shooter who successfully murdered an Israeli officer.
A retaliatory strike by Israel hit and killed three Lebanese soldiers and a Hezbollah-affiliated journalist. A journalist? At that obscure spot? Was it assumed there was a story to be had? That what ensued was in fact a deliberate and aforethought ambush? And when a ceasefire had been agreed upon to allow the Lebanese to take away their wounded, Israel complied.
Whereupon Lebanese troops fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli tank. At which juncture Israeli helicopter gunships were called in and artillery fire, with a battle that continued for an hour. This was a "heinous attack" by Israel, according to Syria. And the United Nations peacekeepers urged "maximum restraint".
Yet in the face of the proceedings, their initiation and prolongation, even while the UN verified the time-lined events as they occurred, the UN spokesman, Alain LeRoy simply could not resist casting aspersions on the Israeli side.
"We asked for more time to ensure that both parties would agree, to ensure there would not be incidents. Maybe we would have expected a bit more hours. Israel wanted to go on with cutting of the tree because they considered they had the right."Well, how dare they! Of course the Lebanese troops considered they had the right to pick off an Israeli officer. Just to demonstrate who has the 'right'.
Labels: Israel, Middle East, Political Realities, United Nations
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, August 04, 2010
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