LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
August 1/2006
Latest New from the Daily Star for August 1/06
Olmert vows to press on with punishing offensive
Mubarak blasts UN 'impotence,' 'foot-dragging'
Bush reiterates opposition to immediate cessation of
fighting
Douste-Blazy touts efforts to secure truce
Homeless and alone after devastating Israeli strike
Shortages of fuel and funds threaten relief effort
Religious figures seek end to hostilities
Rescue teams recover dozens more bodies
Berri warns of worse to come, Rizk blames UN Security
Council, and LF orders members to help displaced
Calls for cease-fire reach fever pitch
Air strike targets road to Damascus
Survivors flee as Israel suspends air strikes in
South
Gone are the days of Lebanon conducting politics as
usual
Being realistic about an
Israeli victory against Hizbullah-By
Barry Rubin
Latest New from Miscellaneous sources for July
31/06
Bush: Iran, Syria must stop supporting terror-Jerusalem
Post
25 more bodies dug up in south Lebanon-Ynetnews
Rice to seek 'lasting settlement' at UN-Chicago
Sun-Times
UN Security Council Gives Iran 1 Month to Stop Enrichment Work-Bloomberg
Israel sees Lebanon truce only after force deploys-Reuters
Lebanon's problem is not just Shaba Farms-Jerusalem Post
Lebanon rejects Rice's statement-Jerusalem Post
Israeli air force carries out strikes in south Lebanon-Independent
Villagers flee south Lebanon-Mail & Guardian Online
Opportunity on Syria's doorstep-Ha'aretz
Iran Is Bush's Target in Lebanon-Los Angeles Times
Syria Seeks Cease-Fire Before Talks-Los Angeles Times
Annan urges Lebanon action 'now'-BBC News
EU divisions harden on Lebanon options-International Herald Tribune
Top Shiite cleric demands Lebanon ceasefire-NDTV.com
Talks with Syria, yes - but not now-Ha'aretz
U.S.: Israel OKs 48-hour air activity halt-AP
Bomb scars Rice mission to halt fighting-AP
THE BATTLE FOR LEBANON-New Yorker
The Lebanese Crisis and Iran s Nuclear Program-Global Politician
Violence not the answer to create lasting Mideast peace, pope says-Catholic
Online
Card. Sfeir: Lebanon in agony while world looks on-AsiaNews.it
UN Security Council Gives
Iran 1 Month to Stop Enrichment Work
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution
by a 14-1 vote that gives Iran until Aug. 31 to accept a multinational
incentives package aimed at suspending its nuclear program, or face the threat
of economic sanctions.
Qatar voted against the resolution. The measure is ``a message to Iran that
we're open to negotiations,'' U.K. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said. ``We want
Iran to respond positively to our package, but the package is quite clear about
what it offers and what it requires.''
``We hope very much this will concentrate minds in Tehran, and out of it we will
have a response we would all like to see,'' the British envoy said.
If Iran refuses the UN demand, the Security Council could move to discussions
under Article 41 of the UN Charter, which provides for unspecified economic
penalties. The U.S.-backed package of incentives drafted by the European Union,
which includes the lifting of some U.S. sanctions as well as access to
light-water nuclear reactors, was formally presented to Iran on June 6 by the
Security Council's five permanent members -- the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and
China -- plus Germany. Iran would also receive airplane parts and World Trade
Organization membership under the proposal.
Iran, holder of the world's second-largest reserves of oil and natural gas, says
the enriched uranium is needed for a power plant, as allowed under the
Non-Proliferation Treaty. The International Atomic Energy Agency on March 8
referred Iran to the Security Council after three years of agency inspections
failed to declare Iran's atomic work peaceful. In November 2003, the UN agency
criticized Iran for concealing parts of its nuclear program for 18 years.
The Security Council passed a non-binding resolution for Iran to suspend
enrichment by an April 28 deadline, which Iran failed to meet.
Olmert vows to press on with punishing offensive
Compiled by Daily Star staff -Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Israel announced a 48-hour suspension of air strikes in South Lebanon, but air
strikes, ground fights and shelling of Southern villages along the Kfar
Kila-Adaysseh axis continued on Monday. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said no cease-fire would be forthcoming.
This came as Hizbullah's Al-Manar television claimed the resistance had hit an
Israeli warship off the coast of Tyre with missiles Monday. But the Israeli
military denied the claim. Al-Manar said the strike on the warship off the coast
of the Southern city of Tyre was part of its retaliation for an Israeli strike
in Qana on Sunday that killed at least 56 civilians. "This is the beginning of
our vengeance for the children of Qana," it said.
The Israeli Army said that "despite all reports in the Arab media," none of its
ships were hit and all ships were accounted for.
Along the border, Israeli forces said they made a new incursion across the
frontier into Southern Lebanon in the Aita al-Shaab area on Monday, while
Hizbullah said its fighters were engaging the advancing force in fierce
fighting. The Shiite group announced the death of seven of its fighters, as well
as the destruction of five Israeli tanks, two bulldozers and an armored jeep in
fights with Israeli troops.
Israeli planes dropped two bombs on Lebanon to support ground troops battling
Hizbullah near the border and artillery shells hit two Southern frontier
villages, Ramiyeh and Aita al-Shaab, according to the UN peacekeeping force in
Lebanon.
Israel also said it carried out an air strike in support of a ground operation
near the southeastern Lebanese border village of Taibeh.
"Our aircraft are operating in the area to support ground troops," an army
spokesman told AFP, despite promises of a cease-fire to allow investigations
into the Qana massacre. The spokesman denied the air strikes violated the
suspension agreement, saying they hit "only uninhabited zones in order to
prevent attacks against ground troops." "The Taibeh air raid does not contradict
that announcement as we never said we would suspend all strikes completely. We
said that we could continue to protect our civilians and our soldiers," he said.
Israeli naval fire north of Tyre killed one Lebanese soldier and wounded three
others. The strike hit a military position close to Qassimiyeh Bridge on the
main coastal highway. In Jerusalem, an Israeli Army spokeswoman said it
suspected that a Hizbullah member involved in attacks against Israel was inside
the base. Earlier Monday, pickup trucks and cars loaded with people streamed
north as thousands of civilians trapped in South Lebanon's war zone for
three weeks took advantage of the brief lull to escape.
On the Israeli side, for the first time since the start of the fighting in
Lebanon, no rockets were fired at northern Israel on Monday, with security
sources citing Israel's temporary halt to air strikes as the cause.
The Israeli military said "only two mortar shells were fired in the direction of
[the northern town of] Kiryat Shmona, causing no injuries, but there were no
Katyusha rockets today." Addressing a gathering of mayors in Tel Aviv, Olmert
vowed Monday that there would be no imminent cease-fire in Israel's offensive
against Hizbullah in Lebanon, saying that the war would continue until the
militant group ceased posing a threat to the Jewish state.
"The fighting is continuing," Olmert said. "There is no cease-fire and there
will be no cease-fire in the coming days." "We will end it when the threat over
our heads is removed ... and when we can live in security," he said. Meanwhile,
Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters on Monday that Hizbullah rocket
attacks on Israel will cease when the Jewish state calls off its assault on
Lebanon and pulls out its troops. "The war will end when Israel stops its
aggression comprehensively and totally and pulls out from the points [its ground
forces] entered in South Lebanon," Fadlallah said."If the aim of Israel's
decision to suspend air raids is to absorb the international outrage over the
Qana massacre and then proceed with ground bombardment, that means Israel has
not stopped its aggression," Fadlallah said. "Firing rockets at northern Israel
is a response to the targeting of Lebanese civilians and infrastructure. When
the aggression stops, the rocketing of Israel will stop." - Agencies
Bush reiterates opposition to immediate cessation of
fighting
Compiled by Daily Star staff -Tuesday, August 01, 2006
US President George W. Bush on Monday resisted calls for an immediate cease-fire
between Israel and Hizbullah, saying instead that the UN Security Council would
work this week for a "sustainable" peace. "I assured the people here that we
will work toward a plan at the UN Security Council that addresses the root
causes of the problem," Bush said during a trip to Florida. "We want a
long-lasting peace, one that is sustainable," he said.
But he stopped short of calling for an immediate cease-fire, opting instead for
a UN resolution calling for Hizbullah to lay down its arms and an international
force to help the Lebanese Army keep the peace.
His comments came after Israel cut short a 48-hour halt in the air strikes and
launched new ones near the Southern village of Taibeh. The army said the strikes
were meant to protect ground forces operating in the area and were not targeting
anyone or anything specific.
The suspension was brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday
during her meetings with Israeli officials in Jerusalem. On her way back to
Washington on Monday, Rice told reporters she would seek a cease-fire agreement
as well as a long-term settlement in the conflict this week through a UN
Security Council resolution. "I am going to push very hard to have the UN
Security Council resolution this week, I think it is time," Rice told reporters
on her plane. "It's time, everybody has said urgent, some people have said
immediate, I would hope we are now going to do the work to end the fighting,"
she said. "As I head back to Washington, I take with me an emerging consensus on
what is necessary for both an urgent cease-fire and a lasting settlement," Rice
said. "I am convinced we can achieve both this week," said Rice, who laid out
broad principles of a proposed deal, but did not discuss the exact measures that
would be adopted to put it in place. She also did not address the issue of the
return of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah on July 12, or of those
detainees the group wants released from Israeli jails.
Rice welcomed Israel's adoption of a 48-hour suspension of air strikes and hoped
a parallel 24-hour period allowing people to leave the area could be extended.
But after Rice departed, hopes the two-day halt in bombing would become a
longer-term cease-fire dimmed when Israel's defense minister, Amir Peretz, told
Parliament that Israel would "expand and strengthen" its attack on Lebanon.
"It's forbidden to agree to an immediate cease-fire," Peretz said.
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said the decision to suspend strikes for 48
hours did not mean the war was about to end. "To stop the war at this stage
would mean a victory for Hizbullah and for international terrorism, manipulated
by Iran and Syria," Ramon said. "Therefore this war is not about to end, not
today and not tomorrow," he said. Rice was expected to travel to New York later
in the week to push her peace plan at the UN, but faced the prospect of a new
debate with France, which has its own draft resolution.
The French draft "calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities¾ - a key
difference with the Washington plan, which foresees elements of a permanent
peace fusing together to create conditions for an ultimate cease-fire.
Rice said that in talks with Israeli and Lebanese officials in her peace mission
over the past eight days, she had found consensus on key issues.
Among them was the need for Lebanon to be able to expand its authority over the
whole of the country - a goal that would require the deployment of the
international force, she said. Rice also said she found broad agreement that
there should be an arms embargo enforced against weapons delivery to anyone
other than the Lebanese Army or the international force. "No foreign forces will
be allowed unless specifically authorized by the government of Lebanon and
Lebanon should, assisted as appropriate by the international community, disarm
armed groups," she said
in Jerusalem. Under the proposed agreement Lebanon would agree to respect the
UN-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel, and the Lebanese armed
forces should deploy to the border. The European Union said Monday it is
confident the Security Council will be able to reach a decision on a cease-fire
in Southern Lebanon this week.
- Agencies, additional reporting by Nada Bakri
Card. Sfeir: Lebanon in agony while world looks on
by Youssef Hourani -After the massacre in Qana, the Maronite patriarch called
once again for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors. The UN headquarters in
Beirut was attacked. Today, at 5pm, all the parishes in Lebanon will ring their
church bells to protest against the massacre.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – The Maronite Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir, has denounced and
condemned this morning’s massacre by Israeli bombers against the city of Qana
near Tyre, which claimed more than 50 civilian lives, including 27 children.
During Mass held today at the summer seat of the patriarchate in Dimane (north
Lebanon), Patriarch Sfeir said: “This morning the bad news reached me about the
murder by Israel of 50 defenceless civilians in the village of Qana, a village
that has already tasted the bitterness of death and hatred in the not distant
past, again at the hand of Israeli forces. Once again I make my appeal, launched
on Friday together with all the Maronite bishops, for an immediate ceasefire.
Lebanon is no longer able to endure, our people is in agony while the world
looks on. The crime of Qana must be condemned by all.”
The patriarch also reiterated his request to “open humanitarian corridors and to
respect the life of each and every person, which is a gift from God”.
The massacre of Qana came a few hours before the scheduled arrival in Lebanon of
the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. After the massacre in Qana, Rice
cancelled her visit to Lebanon, choosing to remain in Jerusalem. Meanwhile,
tension in Beirut is on the rise: this morning, a thick crowd of people attacked
the UN headquarters there with stones and iron rods. Some people also managed to
get into the building, breaking windows and shouting anti-USA slogans, calling
for the expulsion of the ambassador, Jeffrey Feltman. In the morning, the
Maronite patriarchal vicar of Sarba diocese, Mgr Guy-
Paul Noujaim, denounced the new massacre of Qana, calling on all the parishes to
ring their church bells at 5pm today as a sign of protest against the massacre
and of solidarity towards residents of the devastated village.
Religious figures seek end
to hostilities
Daily Star staff-Tuesday, August 01, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon's top religious figures called on the international community to
end its silence over the Israeli hostilities in the country. Vice president of
the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan called Monday for an
international investigation into the Qana massacre.
During an emergency meeting of the council Monday, Qabalan called for an
immediate end of Israeli hostilities against Lebanon and urged all the Lebanese
to unite and support the resistance. Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani
met Monday with Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Rida Shibani, who condemned the Qana
massacre and the "international silence over the continuous Israeli
hostilities."Earlier in the day, the Higher Islamic Religious Council held an
urgent meeting, headed by Qabbani and in the presence of Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora and former premiers. A statement issued afterward strongly denounced the
massacre and hailed the resistance. The council also expressed its support to
the position taken by the Lebanese government regarding the immediate
implementation of a cease-fire. Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein
Fadlallah addressed an open letter to the participants to the Organization of
the Islamic Conference, which will hold an urgent meeting in Istanbul Tuesday
for philanthropic and humanitarian institutions to discuss the means to collect
donations for the Lebanese and Palestinian people
Fadlallah asked all Arab leaders to "wake up and seek the Arab interests by
facing the US-Israeli plans," adding: "The Arab leaders should be up to their
responsibilities or submit their resignation and terminate this organization."
Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir reiterated his call for a "comprehensive and
radical solution to the current situation."
The prelate met Monday with Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, who condemned the
massacre and emphasized the need for unity and solidarity among the Lebanese.
The Lebanese Orthodox League called upon the states of the world to adopt a
clear and united stand to compel "those who hold a solution to the problem" to
endorse an immediate, sustainable and unconditional cease-fire, which would
allow the sick and wounded to get help and medicine and the displaced to return
to their homes, it said. The Catholic Information Center said the international
community's silence over the massacre and UN's failure to reach a decision for a
cease-fire are a "mark of disgrace." The Maronite League said Monday "the
condemnations of the massacre are not enough; the international community should
wake up and work for an immediate end of the Israeli hostilities against the
country." - The Daily Star
Bush to Iran, Syria: Stop terror support
By MIAMI
Iran must end its financial support and supply of weapons to terrorist groups
like Hizbullah. Syria must end its support for terror and respect the
sovereignty of Lebanon," US President George W. Bush said in a speech at the
Port of Miami on Monday.
Bush insisted that any Mideast cease-fire be dependant on a wider agreement and
said he would look to the United Nations to act to establish "a long-lasting
peace, one that is sustainable." Bush spelled out a series of what he called
"clear objectives" to accompany the halt in the fighting between the IDF and
Hizbullah. Other conditions for a cease-fire included that a multi-national
force be sent quickly to southern Lebanon, that Lebanon's government be
"empowered to exercise sole authority over its territory," and that two Israeli
soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah be returned.
"As we work with friends and allies, it's important to remember this crisis
began with Hezbollah's unprovoked attacks against Israel. Israel is exercising
its right to defend itself," Bush said, resisting mounting international
pressure for an immediate cease-fire. "We mourn the loss of innocent life, both
in Lebanon and Israel," Bush said. Bush planned to meet later Monday in
Washington with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was returning from the
Middle East after cutting her diplomatic mission there short.
Rice to seek 'lasting settlement' at U.N.
July 31, 2006-BY KATHERINE SHRADER ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHANNON, Ireland-- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Israel's
attack on a Lebanese village complicated her diplomatic push in the Middle East,
acknowledging that there is "a lot of work to do" to bring about a lasting
cease-fire.
"You have to get all the work done, you have to get it done urgently," Rice told
reporters as she flew home after eight days of meetings in four countries and
prepared to shift her focus to the U.N. in New York, where she'll work with the
international community on resolutions to prod Israel and Lebanon to a
cease-fire. Rice had hoped to come home with concrete progress, but her trip
yielded only a small, conditional break in fighting when Israel agreed to stop
for 48 hours its aerial bombardment of south Lebanon. But the suspension didn't
cover ground forces or ground-based weapons; on Monday Israel launched
airstrikes near the village of Taibe it said were meant to protect ground forces
operating in the area.
Rice has been trying to find a consensus to end the 20 days of fighting between
Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. She said the U.N. resolution that she will
call for will include a cease-fire, political components to address issues that
have repeatedly sparked fighting between the two countries and the authorization
of an international force to help secure Lebanon.
Rice did not provide significant details on how the U.N. resolution she will
seek would address the difficult political problems between the two states.
Lebanon and Israel have disputed their border and other issues for decades.
Rice had to scrap scheduled meetings with Lebanese leaders in Beirut on the
final full day of her trip after Israel attacked the Lebanese village of Qana,
killing more than 55 people while they slept. Searing images of children's
bodies being pulled from rubble were replayed on international television.
"Did it make the situation more difficult? Of course," Rice said en route to the
refueling stop in Shannon. "But there is an implication that somehow this was
planned to make the diplomacy more difficult, and that simply wasn't the
case.... The tragic incident happened in the midst of military operations."
A State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the
sensitive diplomatic discussions, said Rice called Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad
Saniora before leaving Monday to discuss her plans to announce a framework for a
U.N. resolution. She also plans to dispatch her ambassador to Beirut to brief
the prime minister in detail on the elements.
Her diplomatic task is now complicated by growing resentment for U.S-Israeli
policy. She said the U.S. will work to achieve a U.N. resolution on three
fronts: the precise language of the U.N. resolution, working with Lebanon and
Israel on the emotion-filled details of tough political questions and an
agreement that leaves no ambiguity in the international force's role and
operations. "There's a lot of work to do," Rice said.
In addition to the U.S. draft currently in the works, U.N. security council
members are also reviewing a French-sponsored draft resolution, calling for an
immediate halt to fighting and seeking a wide new buffer zone in south Lebanon
monitored by international forces and the Lebanese army.
Rice declined to compare the two approaches. "There are many common elements,"
she said.
Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have been locked in violence for 20 days,
causing over 750 casualties who were mostly Lebanese civilians.
The trip exposed quite publicly strains between the U.S. and numerous allies
over the Bush administration's closeness with Israel. Unlike nearly all world
leaders and the Pope, President Bush has not called for an immediate cease fire
in the disproportionate battle between Lebanon-based Hezbollah and the
militarily superior Israel. Rice had repeatedly said the fighting need to end
quickly. Asked whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told her privately that Israel
needed 10 to 14 more days to achieve its goals in crippling Hezbollah, Rice
declined to comment on their discussion, but said not to assume "everything
about what the prime minister did and did not say to me has some benefit of
being true."
Rice disputed suggestions that this was one of her most difficult trips as
secretary of State, but acknowledged she might not be as self-reflective as
people think. "I have a particularly strong sense of commitment to Lebanon
itself. These are wonderful people, it's a beautiful place, and it's had such
trouble and such misery for such a long time," she said. "It is hard to see what
Lebanon is going through. It is hard to see what the Israeli citizens are going
through. It's been way too long in the Middle East."
Contributing: AP writer Hope Yen.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Air strike targets road to Damascus
By Rym Ghazal and Mosbah Al-Ali
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
BEIRUT/ BAALBEK: Israeli warplanes struck the main Beirut-Damascus highway
border crossing at Masnaa for the third time on Monday, wounding four customs
employees and a civilian, security sources said. A customs post on the Lebanese
side of the border with Syria was bombed midday in an attack that destroyed a
civilian vehicle. The main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria was also
pounded Saturday. Massive craters from Israel's air strikes have effectively
closed the road. But some travelers were seen abandoning their vehicles at the
border Sunday, carrying their luggage and walking on foot across the border into
Syria, where they hopped into taxis and continued their journey. The sole
remaining highway to Syria is via Tripoli and into Tartous in Syria. Unpaved
roads into Syria exist from the Hermil, Qaa and Baalbek area, but as the main
roads into Baalbek and across the Bekaa Valley have also been targeted by
Israeli warplanes, the drive can be arduous at best. Residents of Beirut's
heavily bombarded southern suburbs and other targeted towns near Baalbek
ventured back into their homes on Monday, taking advantage of a 48-hour halt to
Israeli air strikes to try to salvage their belongings. "Clothes, photos,
furniture, it doesn't matter. I am searching for anything that might have
survived," said one Baalbek resident as he dug through the rubble that was once
his home. At least 200 homes in Baalbek were destroyed in Israeli air strikes
over the past 20 days.
Hassan Shamas and his wife carried folders and a computer from their damaged
medical clinic, as farmers inspected their now-withered crops.
The scene in Baalbek echoed that of many other villages and towns across
Lebanon. Thousands of residents spent Monday packing their bags and creeping out
of their evacuated homes, as others rummaged through the rubble of their lives,
while Hizbullah members kept a close eye out for any Israeli warplanes. "This is
our chance to escape before they start bombing us again," said one evacuee in
Baalbek as he hopped into a car overfilled with luggage and exhausted family
members.
Being realistic about an Israeli victory against Hizbullah
Commentary byy Barry Rubin
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
A key aspect of winning any war is to define the goals. This is especially true
of the current fighting in Gaza and Lebanon. By trying to do too much - or
believing that one can achieve more than is possible - the result can be failure
and certainly will be disappointment.
In this case, the mistake was to think that Israel could destroy Hizbullah or
eliminate it as a political and military entity. To have claimed otherwise
played into the hands of Hizbullah, Syria, and Iran, which wanted to define
Hizbullah's survival as their victory.
Defining victory as merely survival is a pattern often typical of Arab (and
Iranian) politics and it is simultaneously disastrous and sensible. It is
disastrous because it courts defeat by encouraging Arab parties to attack
superior forces: the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Saddam Hussein's challenge
against the United States and his attack on Iran, Yasser Arafat's fighting an
endless battle in which he was always defeated, and so on. The Arab side is left
with tremendous losses in casualties and material, as is once again happening
with Lebanon and the Palestinians.
But what is to a large extent a defeat in practical and military terms also can
be considered a political victory. The Arabs never "lose" because they never
surrender. Thus they do not formally give up anything. The leaders that brought
on failure and the groups that did not triumph become heroes for being able to
claim that they courageously fought the enemy without being crushed. The
important points for them are that they gained revenge by inflicting damage,
showed that they were real men, did not buckle under, and survived.
Such a pattern is a formula for endless conflict and endless defeat. Yet defeats
do not force new attitudes, policies, or leaders. The pragmatic "lesson" remains
unlearned because those who take this view perceive a different lesson.
That is why the kind of tactics that work well in conflicts elsewhere in the
world do not function in the Middle East. The rules of the game are supposed to
be like this: The side that loses recognizes that it is weaker and makes a deal
involving concessions to avoid another costly conflict. The stronger side then
gains deterrence, because recognition of its power stops the other side from
going to war in the first place. Wanting to avoid war, all sides solve disputes
by compromise, end the conflict forever, and move onto other things.
Instead, Hizbullah and Hamas thrive on fighting as an end in itself. Moreover,
Hizbullah and its friends present themselves as absolute victors no matter what
happens. And millions of Arabs and Muslims, given regime and media propaganda,
believe them.
The underlying cause of conflict is not that Hizbullah or Hamas have grievances
against Israel so much as that they view it as a state deserving elimination.
Formal cease-fires or political solutions are inconceivable. At the same time,
the conflict gives them money, power, and glory. Any losses or suffering that
occurs as a result - except perhaps to the leaders personally - are a matter of
indifference.
For its part, Israel will win an objective military and political victory but is
not able to destroy Hizbullah for several reasons. First, Hizbullah has the
support of most Lebanese Shiites, who make up roughly 35-40 percent of the
population. The Shiites back Hizbullah because it appeals to their communal
pride, represents their interests domestically, and stirs their religious
passions. The current fighting will not erode that support, which regards
resistance to Israel as a victory in itself.
Second, Iran and Syria will keep backing Hizbullah because doing so gives them
prestige, influence in Lebanon, and a way to hit Israel, all without cost. Their
backing includes not only arms, but also financial subsidies that enable
Hizbullah to buy popular support.
Finally, a lot of Hizbullah's resources and forces are outside Israel's range.
Thus, only strong action by Lebanese groups could destroy Hizbullah. But they
won't act because they fear civil war and in some cases use Hizbullah to promote
their own goals or ambitions. Naturally, most other Lebanese are unhappy that
Hizbullah's action has inflicted great destruction on their country, and look
with anxiety at the prospect of Hizbullah's emerging from the conflict stronger.
There are, though, two realizable goals that Israel can achieve. The first is to
keep Hizbullah away from its northern border. Ideally, Lebanon's army and
government would enter the area and run it as part of their country.
Alternatively, another international force may be able to accomplish more than
its predecessor. But even if international institutions or Lebanon do nothing,
Israel will attack any Hizbullah forces trying to get close enough to cross the
border or fire rockets at Israeli civilians. The second attainable goal is to
impose such a high price on Hizbullah as to be an effective deterrence in
practice. Hizbullah will keep insisting publicly that it yearns for another
confrontation, shout defiance, and claim victory. At the same time, though, it
will confine its threats mainly to the verbal level. More than this cannot - and
should not - be expected.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA)
Center,
Interdisciplinary University, and editor of The Middle East Review of
International Affairs.
THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate
(www.project-syndicate.org).
Lebanon's problem is not just Shaba Farms
By SHLOMO AVINERI
Talkbacks for this article: 8
The emergence of the Shaba Farms as a possible item in an agreement authorizing
a multinational force for South Lebanon raises a number of issues of which not
all the participants in the current negotiations may be aware. They go deep into
the question of the very existence of Lebanon as a sovereign state.
What are the issues?
In the 1923 Anglo-French Demarcation Agreement, which set the borders between
the British and French mandates in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, the area was
included in Syria. The maps of the 1949 Israeli-Syrian Armistice Agreements
similarly designated the area as Syrian.
In the 1967 Six Day War, the farms were occupied by the IDF as part of its
conquest of the Golan Heights. Lebanon was not involved in that war, and Israel
did not engage in any fighting against it.
At that time, no one - neither Syria nor Lebanon - claimed that the area was
Lebanese.
IN THE negotiations leading to the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in
2000, Lebanon for the first time raised its claim to the farms, but based on all
previous historical documents and maps, the UN sided with the Israeli version,
i.e. that this was Syrian territory and subject to future Israeli-Syrian
negotiations. The Lebanese claim was used by Hizbullah to continue its
resistance to "Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory."
Nobody, however, believes that even if the farms were handed over to Lebanon,
Hizbullah would stop its armed activities which are, after all, aimed at the
destruction of the "Zionist entity in occupied Palestine."
SO FAR this seems straightforward - until Syria enters the picture.
At the time of the 2000 Israeli withdrawal the UN asked Syria about its position
on the issue. Damascus was in a quandary: On the one hand, this was obviously
Syrian territory; on the other, if Syria conceded that the farms belong to
Lebanon, there might be a chance of getting one more sliver of Arab territory
out of Israeli hands.
Syria thus responded that whatever its former claims to the Shaba Farms, it now
agreed to cede them to Lebanon.
But when the UN asked Damascus for a formal document stating that the area had
indeed been legally transferred to Lebanon, Syria balked - and it has still not
supplied such a document.
WHY? AT the root of the issue is the simple fact that up to this very day Syria
has not accepted the legitimacy of the existence of a separate, sovereign
Lebanese state. Lebanon was carved out by the French imperial powers in the
1920s as an attempt to create a pro-Western, Christian entity in the Levant -
hence France's continuous solicitude for Lebanon, including its recent support
for UN decisions calling on Syria to evacuate Lebanon.
This Syrian non-recognition of Lebanon as an independent state has consequences.
There are no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries; there is no
Syrian ambassador in Beirut, no Lebanese ambassador in Damascus; and during the
Syrian occupation of Lebanon in the 1980s, Syria's representative in Lebanon was
the director of Syrian military intelligence (Ghazi Canaan, who eventually
committed suicide in murky circumstances). In Syrian textbooks Lebanon appears
as part of "Greater Syria."
The Syrian refusal to supply a document confirming the ceding of the Shaba Farms
to Lebanon is not a mere formality: Were Syria to issue such a document -
clearly stating that the farms are part of Lebanon and not of Syria - this would
mean Syria recognizes Lebanon as a separate, independent, sovereign state.Syria
has never accepted this, and has never made such a statement. DIPLOMATS who are
now concerned with a cessation of violence in South Lebanon and northern Israel
should be aware of this conundrum, which is no mere formality. If the Shaba
Farms appears in any form as part of the deal, this should be accompanied by an
unequivocal statement from Syria recognizing that the area belongs to the
Republic of Lebanon. It is my guess that the chances of such a statement are
minimal. Without it, the international legitimacy of the agreement - and its
subsequent implementation - may be extremely problematic. The author is
professor of political science at the Hebrew University.
Hezbollah's calculating use of Lebanese civilians cause of Qana tragedy,
says B'nai Brith Canada as it mourns all loss of life
TORONTO, July 30, 2006 - B'nai Brith Canada mourns the loss of life in the
current Middle East war on both sides of the border, including the tragic events
of today in Qana, which it characterizes as “the fruits of Hezbollah's
self-professed agenda of drawing the region into chaos and violence”.
B'nai Brith Executive Vice President Frank Dimant commented: “We mourn all loss
of life unlike the terror group Hezbollah, which relishes it. Its practice of
operating out of vulnerable civil areas using mobile missile launchers - and
then running away - is specifically designed to provoke return fire against
Lebanese civilians. In this way it can callously maximize the civilian death
toll in order to simultaneously wage a propaganda war against Israel. We fully
understand that Hezbollah only has murderous intentions towards civilians in
Israel but find it hard to understand why it has such a blatant disregard for
those it claims to be protecting.
“We call on nations worldwide to recognize the intrinsic inhumanity of this
terror group and increase their resolve to ensure that any proposed ceasefire
will have as its mandate the disarming and neutralization of Hezbollah. The
resolve would certainly be there if any similar terrorist organization were to
launch an all-out war against these countries with the express intention of
destroying them.
“We also hope that Hezbollah’s viciousness and call for global jihad against the
Jewish State will not translate into the type of deadly act that we have already
witnessed in Seattle. Amidst fears that the group's sleeper cells abroad may be
planning revenge attacks, we reiterate our community security alert of last
week, which called for increased vigilance at Jewish houses of worship, schools
and community buildings."
-30-
B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the Jewish community’s
foremost human rights organization
Lebanese American Leadership Conference 07-28-06-Media Release
eaderconf.gif (0.04 MB), pic1.JPG (0.10 MB), pic3.JPG (0.03 MB),
pic2.JPG (0.04 MB),
MediaRelease-LebaneseAmericanLeadershipConferenceontheCapitol-July28,2006.doc
(0.28 MB),
MediaRelease-LebaneseAmericanLeadershipConferenceontheCapitol-July28,2006.pdf
(0.15 MB)
Media Release - Lebanese American Organizations’ Leaders Discussed in Washington
DC Current Situation in Lebanon.
Leaders from Lebanese American organizations, in support of Lebanon in its
current crisis, met for a conference at the United States Capitol in Washington
DC on July 28, 2006 to discuss among themselves and with US officials the ways
to address the roots and causes of the current crisis in Lebanon to devise and
suggest long lasting solutions to set up a plan of action to help end the
dangerous Lebanese situation.
Congressman Darrel Issa deplored the violence and raised concerns about the
humanitarian crisis. He furthermore insisted on respecting the authority of the
Lebanese government as the sole representative of the free will of the Lebanese
people. Representative Issa had visited the White House earlier that morning
with a group of other Congressmen from Lebanese origin. The group asked for a
cessation of hostilities coupled with a long stabilization plan for Lebanon.
They received assurances that the President is concerned about the civilian and
the humanitarian losses while at the same time being committed to a lasting
solution for Lebanon. Congressman Charles Boustany sympathized with the Lebanese
for their losses and supported his colleague Mr. Issa for his stand. Dr Boustany
pledged total support to Lebanon in its current crisis and reassured all present
of his commitment to work with his colleagues for finding a lasting solution for
Lebanon and relieve the suffering of its people. Senator John Sununu sent his
assistant Mr Martin Bayr in a show of support for the leadership conference.
Ambassador John Bolton US Ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to the
Conference with Deputy Ambassador Ms Sarah Tinsley Demarest, reiterating that he
will not rest until he sees Lebanon sovereign and fully independent from all
foreign interferences; the immediate task facing the US Mission and the UN
Security Council being the formation of a multinational force to deploy in
Southern Lebanon and to separate the protagonists.
The Director of Public Diplomacy at USAID Mr. Walid Maalouf presented the
conference with a report of the aid package sent to Lebanon along with future
commitments from his agency to assist the Lebanese people.
At the end of the conference Dr. Joseph Gebeily, President of the Lebanese
Information Center and the American Lebanese Coalition, read the resolution to
the media on behalf of the organizations present.
RESOLUTION
The Organizations participating in this conference agree on:
Calling on all internal and external parties involved in the conflict, directly
or indirectly, to fully respect the sovereignty of Lebanon and abide by the
rules of International law.
Demanding an immediate and complete cease-fire to allow the Lebanese Government
and the international community’s efforts to solve the problems emanating from
the latest conflagrations and their consequences, in a permanent manner. Such
cease-fire is to be followed immediately by a concrete, comprehensive, and
speedy process to restore Lebanese sovereignty and defend it against any foreign
interference.
Opposing Hezbollah's deplorable actions in engaging Israel in war activities
while serving the agendas of Syria and Iran, and its continued determination to
ignore Lebanon’s need to have legitimate armed forces, namely the Lebanese Army,
and thus abide by the Taef Agreement and relevant UN resolutions.
Denouncing the Israeli aggression over Lebanon, and any deliberate targeting of
civilians, infrastructure, relief activities, Lebanese Army barracks, and United
Nations posts.
Deploring the civilian losses and mass displacement of civilians.
Expressing gratitude for the United States of America and all other friends of
Lebanon for the support they have provided and continue to provide, to the
Lebanese government and the Lebanese people.
Continuing the campaign in the United States aimed at helping alleviate the
suffering of the Lebanese people, and calling for a rapid recovery operation
aided by the international community.
Asserting that the Lebanese Government is the exclusive legitimate party to
negotiate on behalf of Lebanon, and to exclusively hold the decision of war and
peace. Supporting the Lebanese Government’s efforts to extend its authority over
the totality of the Lebanese territory, to control the Lebanese borders, and to
disarm all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias according to the Taef Agreement
and UNSCR 1559.
Calling for the establishment of an enabled multinational force under the
auspices of the United Nations to work alongside the Lebanese Army in deploying
along, and securing Lebanon's borders with Syria and Israel. Furthermore,
calling on the United Nations to assist Lebanon in the drawing and finalization
of its international borders, and finding a permanent solution to the issue of
the Shebaa Farms.
Stressing the need for a quick resolution concerning all Lebanese detainees in
Syria and Israel.
Stressing the need to revert to the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Lebanon and
Israel.
Reminding the international community that Lebanon has been victimized by all
parties involved in this conflict directly or indirectly.
Participating Organizations
American Lebanese Alliance – member of the American Lebanese Coalition
Assembly for Lebanon – member of the American Lebanese Coalition
Lebanese Information Center – member of the American Lebanese Coalition
National Alliance of Lebanese Americans
March 14th Alliance in the US
World Lebanese Cultural Union
American Lebanon Coalition for a Sovereign Lebanon
American Lebanese Coordination Council – member of the American Lebanese
Coalition
Lebanese For Lebanon Foundation
American Lebanese Christian Club of Cleveland
For Media and Public Relations Contact:
Dr. Joseph Gebeily
President,
Lebanese Information Center
American Lebanese Coalition
Tel: (240) 498-1895
Email: jgebeily@licus.org
Joseph Hage
President,
American Lebanese Coordination Council
Vice President - Media & Public Relations
American Lebanese Coalition
Tel: (305) 370-2255
Email: josephhage@alcc-research.com