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Excellent reading for the day - from Norman Birnbaum of the Nation Magazine. The Nation has been pummeled lately by the Angry Arab blog (some of the best coverage on this Lebanon War can be found there) for not being radical enough on the pro-Arab and anti-Israel scale, but let us note that many of the editors and writers are Jewish, and most are at least Soft Zionists.
It is not a perfect world. Nevertheless, this piece, Is Israel Good For the Jews? is superb and highly critical of Israel while lacking in anti-Semitism. He alludes to what has been obvious to me for some time now. As Xymphora has pointed out, Israel and the US now form the leading edge of one of the most dangerous rightwing movements in our world today.
An out-of-control Israeli state in the grips of a mad neoconservative "double-down" philosophy, allied with unreconstructed reactionary US imperialists and fanatical end-times Christians, is not a state than any liberal, not to be mention any liberal Jew, should feel comfortable supporting. He makes the very daring suggestion that US Jews ought to slowly "disengage" from the Israeli settler-colonial madman rogue state.
More articles like this!
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Zionist History Lesson of the Day:
The New Historians of Israel, who have done us a favor by pointing out how Israel was born in sin, are nevertheless advancing a dangerous argument.
Benny Morris, drifting to the Right as Zionism mandates (Face it, there is a certain deep disconnect with the notion of a "Zionist Left"), says in his fairly dishonest attack on the Walt-Mearshimer paper on the Israeli Lobby in The New Republic, And Now For Some Facts, says that the only reason the Zionists took up arms in the 1930's and 1940's was because of Arab intransigence.
In saying so, Morris elides the settler-colonial nature of the Zionist movement, present from the very start. This is the line that the original Zionist settlers just wanted to "immigrate" to Israel to live in peace with the Arabs in Palestine.
Ralph Shoenmann's great The Hidden History of Zionism makes it clear that from the very start, the intent was to disperse, dispossess and replace the Arabs of Palestine. The Arabs figured this out early on. Here is a quote from the King-Crane Commission of the US in 1919, when the Arabs were already up in arms about the Zionist project:
Indeed, the King-Crane commission from the US, led by King and Crane, two US congressman, reported that over 90% of the residents of Syria and Palestine were indeed violently against the Zionist program, but this was noted yet set aside nonetheless.You see? Even at that early date, the Arabs were furious about the Zionist project. The British should have stopped it right there. Instead, looking at the oncoming headlights careening towards them on the wrong side of the road, the Commission said to go ahead and drive right into the oncoming vehicle. The next year, there were violent Arab riots in Palestine and a number of settlers were killed.
A few years after that, the first Jewish guerrilla groups took up arms. The die was set and the war was on. It has continued without much letup, year and year out, ever since. 86 years. I figure that this recent mad neoconservative gamble we are witnessing is to seize the moment and end the Israeli-Arab War once and for all, or at least set the Arabs back a bit. It will fail, mark my words.
Abraham Foxman, head of the disgusting Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an Israel-firster who combines domestic liberalism with far-right neoconservatism, is a prototype of the curious, dissonant state of US Jewry. The ADL was formed after a an accused Jewish rapist and murderer, Leo Frank, was lynched out of a Georgia jail in 1915.In this telling picture, Foxman's hand looks like a claw. I do not think that Mr. Foxman is a good or decent person, despite his supposed anti-racist bonafides.
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100 Israelis have been killed so far in this Lebanon War, 61 soldiers, 38 civilians in Israel and 1 civilian in the Diaspora. Another 6 Israelis have been killed during the same period in Gaza, Sderot (a town in Israel near Gaza) and the West Bank.
It is interesting that the "terrorists" are killing 1.5 soldiers for every civilian killed, while the Israeli "non-terrorists" have killed about 5 civilians for every armed fighter. It is also interesting that the Hezbollah "terrorists" have killed 36 civilians, while the Israeli "non-terrorists" have killed around 880 civilians.
Faced with bizarre figures like that, we may as well just toss out categories like "terrorists" altogether for the time being in this war. The pro-Israeli crowd argues that Hezbollah is trying to kill Israeli civilians. Well, they are doing a comparatively inept job of it.
Whereas, the IDF is supposedly not deliberately targeting civilians (but see my post here for more on that). Well, in life and in war, "trying" doesn't really count. Results count. And by imperialism's definition of terrorism, it is Israel who is the terrorist in this conflict and Hezbollah who is fighting a relatively cleaner war.
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4 IDF soldiers were killed and 20 more were wounded.
10 Israeli civilians were wounded.
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Another 57-69 Lebanese civilians were reportedly killed today (the figures vary). A reported massacre with 40 dead in Houla has been reduced to 1 killed. 925 Lebanese have been killed so far, and another 75 are missing.
Of those, I believe that around 200 are Hezbollah fighters, messengers and truck drivers, and 29 more are Lebanese military. That leaves about 770 dead civilians.
The IDF said they killed 44 Hezbollah fighters today.
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Hezbollah fired an infernal 160-rocket barrage on Israel today, with 70 of them landing in Kiryat Shemona (referred to by locals cynically as "Kiryat Katyusha"). 10 Israelis were wounded in the barrage.
The casualty figures for these barrages are dropping dramatically because 70-80% of the Jewish population of many northern towns have fled and many of those remaining are heading to bomb shelters when they hear the sirens.
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The IDF bombed the town of Qasmiyeh, killing 7 civilians. This town could to be located on a map. Another 6 or 7 civilians were killed in bombardments of 6 other villages. Air raids across the Bekaa Valley killed 1 civilian. Another air raid hit Masnaa, a town on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
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Israeli air strikes have now succeeded in isolating the city of Tyre. Israel is apparently getting ready for the outrageous move of attacking, conquering and occupying Tyre. Tyre is a large coastal city that is still full of civilians. Local medical crews are preparing for what they view as the inevitable Israeli invasion.
Occupying Tyre would be quite a handful. In addition to the usual Hezbollah forces, there are many Palestinians in local refugee camps who have vowed to fight any Israeli attempt to take the city. I also feel that the Lebanese military will not stand idly by if Israel attempts to conquer Tyre. It will be interesting to see how such an audacious Israeli operation plays out.
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For the first time, the IDF attacked Al-Shiyah, a district of Beirut on the edge of where Beirut meets its southern suburbs. Many Christians live here and many Shia refugees have fled here into what they thought was safety in the open arms of the Christians who reside there. 15 civilians were killed in that attack and many more were wounded.
These attacks on Christian districts, as well as attacks on Sunni districts, in my opinion, are apparently a result of Israel's efforts to install a civil war in Lebanon. Now that 87% of Lebanese are supporting Hezbollah, imperialism and Zionism need to instill some rifts to break up that kind of patriotic solidarity.
Although I find it difficult to believe that human beings could actually conspire to start vicious civil wars in other countries (perhaps because I retain shreds of decency), apparently elites do this sort of thing all the time.
Hence, it is time to seriously consider the notion that Israel (and the US) are trying to start a civil war in Lebanon, as Jonathan Cook argues here, in The Deadly US-Israeli Shell Game at the UN. Cook, reporting out of Nazareth during this conflict, is an essential source about this war and I recommend any of his articles.
The Cook piece above also expertly takes apart the latest UN proposal to supposedly end the conflict. An analysis of that UN proposal goes beyond the scope of this post, and I direct you to the article. It ought to be enough, though, to note that Israel had a hand in writing this "US-French" UN resolution from the start. The resolution may as well have a sticker on it called "Made in Israel".
Some may be shocked at the French role in alliance with US imperialism and Zionism in Lebanon. Those folks need to look at history. History shows us that Lebanon was a French colony and that France still considers it more or less as such. For all their blather about opposing US imperialism's war in Iraq, it is sadly an accurate analysis that France remains a belligerent, violent imperialist state.
Recent French actions in Haiti (conspiring to overthrow President Aristide and instill a murderous regime that has killed 3,000 innocent Haitians) and in Lebanon (being one of the main parties behind the UN Resolution 1559 that set the stage for this war) along with recent French shenanigans in former colonies in Africa, suggest that France is still an imperialist country, mostly regarding its former colonies.
Apparently, psychologically, France has not given up its colonies or its colonial mindset, despite the 25,000 dead Frenchmen in Algeria in the Algerian Civil War. Lesson? Imperialism and colonialism die hard! The only cure for colonialism, of either the lingering, nostalgic variety or the active, in-your-face kind, remains the same as always, lots of dead and wounded colonists and colonial troops.
Those upset by such violent reactions are advised to kick the colonial addiction.
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Fighting was also reported at Shama, east of Al Bayada and behind enemy lines and at Taybeh, just inside the border.
Israel is still stuck in many of the same border villages after 3 weeks of fighting. This is the worst performance for the Israeli military in any of its major wars so far. It is wrong to call it a defeat, but surely they have not achieved any of their stated objectives. Furthermore, Hezbollah has fought more successfully against Israel (in some ways) than any Arab army.
8:58 PM: Hezbollah launched a Misrad-1 Iranian unmanned drone over Israel but it was shot down over the ocean off the coast of Haifa. There are conflicting reports about whether or not it was carrying any explosives on it when it was shot down. This marks a significant escalation.
Night: There was heavy fighting in the village of Dibel. Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF armored vehicle, destroying it, while killing 1 IDF soldier and wounding 5 more.
6:55 PM: A Qassam missile was fired from Gaza into the Negev, but landed in an open area and did not cause any damage or casualties. Qassams are much inferior to the Katyushas that Hezbollah is using.
6:18 PM: A rocket scored a direct hit on a school in Kiryat Shemona. The school was in flames. There were no casualties.
5:51 PM: 4 Katyushas landed in Accra. There are no casualties or damage.
5:15 PM: A Katyusha slammed into a home in the Kiryat Shemona area , wounding a number of Israelis.
4:58 PM: A Katyusha landed in an open area near Kiryat Shemona. No casualties or damage.
4:06 PM: IDF forces apprehended a Palestinian guerrilla in the village of Azzoun, east of Qalqilya. He was wanted in a number of attacks.
3:30 PM: 30 Israeli commandos landed via helicopter on a hilltop in Ras al-Biyada, south of Tyre, behind enemy lines. When last heard from, they were engaged in ferocious fighting with Hezbollah forces with no word on casualties.
3 PM: Fires are burning out of control near Tiberias.
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3 PM: Regarding the 57-69 Lebanese civilians killed so far today: There were originally said are said to be 40 Lebanese civilians - shepherds and their families hiding in a home - who were killed during the ferocious bombing and shelling of Houla earlier in the morning.
Most were said to be buried under rubble. The "non-terrorist" IDF is said to be attacking everything that moves in the area. The previous day they attacked a donkey that strolled into town. Later reports indicated that only one person was killed.
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2:40 PM: Heavy fighting is continuing in Bint Jbeil, where the IDF took casualties in the morning. 2 IDF soldiers were killed and 2 more were wounded when a Hezbollah ATGM hit a Merkava tank and destroyed it. Another IDF soldier was wounded in the fighting, which lasted for several hours throughout the afternoon.
An amazing photo that shows a Merkava-2 tank, (Merkavas come in Merkava-2, Merkava-3 and Merkava-4 iterations) in flames, possibly after being destroyed by a Hezbollah attack. The photo was found on the Internet with no date or explanation. We don't know if Hezbollah killed this tank - it may have been killed by Palestinians.2:30 PM: Lebanese sources report that the latest mad Israeli raids, in response to the killing of 3 whole Israeli citizens, killed many civilians (the final figure is between 57-69 killed). Once again, we see the Israeli Super Bully mindset in action, in this case the supposedly Judaic 20-1 theory (you kill one of ours, we kill 20 of yours). Why do they hate us, anyone?
2 PM: Israeli ultra-racist, fascist legislator Effie Eitam, a former IDF general, threatened to "dismantle Lebanon" unless Lebanon dismantled Hezbollah. Such charming people, these Judeo-fascists. Regarding dismantling Lebanon, what have they been doing so far?
1:30 PM: IDF and Shin Bet forces killed a senior Islamic Jihad guerrilla in Silat Al-Hartia, near Jenin.
1 PM: Another rocket barrage landed in Kiryat Shemona. A building was hit and 3 Israelis were wounded.
1 PM: Israel apparently tried to kill Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh with some sort of a poison in an envelope. 7 Palestinians were hospitalized, with 1 in serious condition, after they opened an envelope addressed to Haniyeh.
12:30 PM: Turkey canceled a major arms deal with Israel and is now refusing to allow US planes to land in Turkey on the way to delivering weapons to Israel. Both of these moves are to protest Israel's wars in Lebanon and Palestine. Looks like Israel's only Muslim friend is not such a close friend after all.
12:15 PM: 5 more Katyushas hit Tiberias. There were no casualties.
12 noon: 7 more rockets rained down on northern Israel, hitting Kiryat Shemona, Tiberias, and the Golan Heights. 1 Israeli was wounded in Kiryat Shemona.
11:30 AM: 1 IDF soldier was killed and 7 more were wounded as fierce fighting continued in Bint Jbeil. The IDF said they killed 14 Hezbollah fighters in the fighting here. The wounded were evacuated under withering fire. I thought this town was "pacified"?
11:30 AM: 2 rockets hit Nahariyah. One hit a building and 1 Israeli was wounded.
11 AM: An Israeli Arab from the village of Musmus, near Wadi Ara, attacked a security guard in Afula with a knife. He was apprehended and the security guard was not injured. Looks like some of the Arab Israelis are starting to join their Palestinian and Lebanese brethren in this war against Israel.
11 AM: 16 rockets rained down on the Galilee, 12 on Kiryat Shemona and 4 more on Safad. A Katyusha rocket scored a direct hit on a building in Safad, wounding 1 Israeli.
8:40 AM: The IDF conducted 4 air raids on the Bekaa Valley, 5 more on the southern Lebanon town of Nabiteyeh, and 8 attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs.
8:15 AM: Palestinian guerrillas opened fire on an IDF patrol near Nablus but there were no casualties.
8 AM: IDF forces said that they killed 30 Hezbollah fighters in battles in southern Lebanon.
Early AM: Hezbollah attacked IDF forces attempting to move into the border towns of Aita Al Shaab, Debel and Rub Thalatheen in the early AM. Fierce fighting is ongoing at the border village of Aita Al Shaab. Debel is about 1 1/2 miles northeast of Aita Al Shaab and 3 miles northeast of the border at Shetula. Rub Thalatheen cannot be located.
Early: Israeli settler-colonist Jews fired on Arab natives in a drive by shooting near Habla, close to Qalqilya, killing 1 Arab and wounding 1 more.
7 AM: IDF forces arrested another Hamas MP in Ramallah for no legitimate reason at all. Hamas MP's do not have anything to do with the Hamas military wing in any way. Israel is now holding 1/3 of the Hamas government as some sort of sick bargaining chips for the POW's that Hamas is holding.
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5:35 AM: Hezbollah said that they attacked a house where IDF troops were hiding on the outskirts of Houla, a town on border 1 1/2 miles west of the Israeli town of Manara, killing 4 IDF troops, including an officer. Israeli media is reporting an ambush of an IDF unit in this town and heavy fighting resulting from that attack. They are reporting 5 wounded in this fighting.
The usual way that Hezbollah is attacking these homes the IDF is holed up in is to fire an anti-tank missile at the home (see my review of Hezbollah's antitank missile arsenal here). The missile has a dual warhead. It is so potent that it blasts right through the walls of the home. After the missile is inside the structure, a second warhead detonates. The effect is much like artillery.
Due to this tactic, IDF troops are not spending much time in any one home and end up moving around a lot.
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Israel is threatening to hit "Lebanese infrastructure and government symbols" in response to a Hezbollah rocket barrage that killed a whopping 3 Israelis. This is yet another example of the Israelis' much vaunted 10-1 or 100-1 mindset (as reiterated proudly by Revisionist Zionist Ruven Koret of Israelinsider).
This mindset goes along the lines of "you kill 1 of ours and we kill 10 or 100 of yours". At the same time, extreme victimology and vulnerability are typically voiced ("They are trying to exterminate us!"). I suppose what is going on here is the classic victim and vulnerable-paranoid mindset of the bully we have all met in life, from the 8th grade playground to the corporate office.
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