Many times in the past the Israeli peace movement criticised Israeli military operations. Not this time. This time the battle is not over Israeli expansion and colonisation. There is no Lebanese territory occupied by Israel. There are no territorial claims from either side.
Last Wednesday, Hizbullah launched a vicious, unprovoked attack into Israeli territory. This was actually also an attack on the authority and integrity of the elected Lebanese government, as Hizbullah, by attacking Israel, also hijacked the prerogative of the Lebanese government to control its own territory and to make decisions on war and peace.
The Israeli Peace movement objects to the occupation and colonisation of the West Bank. It objected to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 because this invasion was aimed at distracting world attention from the Palestinian problem.
This time, Israel is not invading Lebanon. It is defending itself from a daily harassment and bombardment of dozens of our towns and villages by attempting to smash Hizbullah wherever it lurks.
The Israeli Peace Movement should support Israel’s attempt at self-defence, pure and simple, as long as this operation targets mostly Hizbullah and spares, as much as possible, the lives of Lebanese civilians (not always an easy task, as Hizbullah missile-launchers are too often using Lebanese civilians as human sandbags).
Hizbullah’s missiles are supplied by Iran and Syria, both sworn enemies of all peace initiatives in the Middle East.
There can be no moral equation between Hizbullah and Israel. Hizbullah is targeting Israeli civilians wherever they are, while Israel is targeting mostly Hizbullah.
The dark shadows of Iran, Syria and fanatic Islam are hovering over the smoking towns and villages on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border. These shadows are at the same time suppressing Lebanese civil society, which had just recently liberated itself, through a heroic struggle, from a long-lasting Syrian colonisation.
The real battle raging these days is not at all between Beirut and Haifa but between a coalition of peace-seeking nations — Israel and Lebanon and Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia on the one hand — and fanatic Islam, fuelled by Iran and Syria, on the other.
If, as we all hope, Israeli hawks and doves alike, Hizbullah is going to be defeated soon — both Israel and Lebanon will be the winners.
Moreover: a defeat of a militant Islamist terror organisation may dramatically enhance the chances for peace in the region. — Â