‘I Was Israel’s Dupe’
Jul 22nd, 2006 at 6:27 pm by Susie
I’m always hesitant to link to anything even remotely critical of Israel, because it seems impossible to have a rational discussion about it. But this piece by Tom Hayden is so compelling, everyone should read it. (And hopefully have a rational discussion. But I’m not holding my breath.)
In 1982, Israel said the same thing about eliminating PLO sanctuaries in Lebanon. It was after that 1982 Israeli invasion that Hezbollah was born. I remember Israeli national security experts even taking credit for fostering Hamas and Islamic fundamentalism as safe, reclusive alternatives to Palestinian secular nationalism. I remember watching Israeli soldiers blow up Palestinian houses and carry out collective punishment because, they told me matter-of-factly, punishment is the only language that Arabs understand. Israelis are inflicting collective punishment on Lebanese civilians for the same reason today.
It is clear that apocalyptic forces, openly green-lighted by President Bush, are gambling on the impossible. They are trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in Iraq through escalation in Lebanon and beyond. This is yet another faith-based initiative.
If the American people do not see through the headlines; if the Democrats turn hawkish; if the international community fails to intervene immediately, the peace movement may be sidelined to a prophetic and marginal role for the moment. But we can say the following for now:
Militarism and occupation cannot extinguish the force of Islamic nationalism. Billions in American tax dollars are funding the Israeli troops and bombs.
There needs to be an exit strategy. The absence of any such exit plan is the weakest element of the U.S.-Israeli campaign. Just as the White House says it plans to deploy 50,000 troops on permanent bases in an occupied Iraq, so the Israelis speak of permanently eliminating their enemies, from Gaza to Tehran. The result will be further occupation, resistance and deeper quagmire.
The immediate conflict should not become a pretext for continuing the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. American soldiers should not be stuck waist-deep in a sectarian quagmire. Congressional insistence on denying funds for permanent military bases is a vital first step. Otherwise we will witness a tacit alliance between Israel and the U.S. to dominate the Middle East militarily.
Most important, Americans must not be timid in speaking up, as I was 25 years ago. Silence is consent to occupation.
It’s a weird and ugly situation. Even the most hawkish Israelis I know think that going back into Gaza was a mistake (since all it does is make Abbas look impotent, and even the hawks realize that the Palestinian Authority has to become a legitimate government to get a handle on terrorism), but the Lebanon invasion is trickier. At a certain point, you have to almost credit the Israelis for taking this long to respond. Hezbollah is up there illegally– the UN passed a resolution to that effect a year ago. Hezbollah *are* the kind of Islamic loonies who we’re at war with, albeit Shiite rather than Sunni. And they’ve been chucking rockets and artillery over the border into populated areas for years. (And note that they’re totally indiscriminate and dangerous to everyone– those two kids who got killed by the rocket in Nazareth last week were Arabs.) Everyone points out that they did a prisoner exchange a couple of years ago, but in that instance, they knew the kidnapped Israeli businessman was alive– here, they have no idea whether the soldiers are or not.
The response in Lebanon may well be disproportionate, but it’s really interesting that none of the other Middle Eastern states other than Syria and Iran have objected to the invasion. (And a lot of the disproportionate casualties have to do with the fact that Hezbollah is notorious for launching rockets from residential neighborhoods, to reduce the chance of a retaliatory airstrike, and give them propaganda if such a strike kills civilians. This, in and of itself, is a gross violation of International Law.)
What this situation points out, more than anything else in my mind, is that the international community has not learned how to deal with non-state military actors. Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Tamils, ETA etc. are a major problem in the world, and in most cases, they’re not directly a proxy for any government. The UN has proven itself completely incapable of dealing with these kinds of situations over the years, and we’ve lost all credibility after the way we’ve botched Afghanistan.
The war is obviously awful, and the casualties and atrocities on both sides are horrendous. But I haven’t seen any reasonable alternative proposed, by the left or the right. Pacifism is a very noble ideal, but it’s not going to happen in this particular situation unless some very concrete steps are taken, from both sides, to reduce the likelihood that one of these lunatic groups is going to melt the whole process down with a planned atrocity.