(no subject)
May God bless the innocent Lebanese civilians, who are suffering the most in this slaughter
There is little pretense left in this conflict, it is quite clear what the Israelis want here. Nothing less than total capitulation will do, and obviously terrorism is a weapon that they're willing to use to this end. Apparently this village might be Cana, where Jesus worked his first miracle and officially started his ministry. This village, possibly one of the places where Jesus showed God's love, has seen more than its share of hatred and death. Ten years ago there was a similar scene, when the Israelis shelled a UN shelter and killed more than a hundred people who had fled there for refuge. Now we have at least fifty dead, mostly women and children, from two families that had gone there seeking refuge from the constant bombings.
In this bombing we see the hopelessness that faces the Lebanese in this conflict. The Israelis tell the Lebanese to flee their villages, but death awaits them on the roads anyway. There was a story about a week ago about a family that was fleeing in their car when the Israelis hit it with a missile, so it's obvious that fleeing is not the answer. If they stay in their villages then their houses are bombed, but if they flee then their cars are bombed or they end up trapped because the roads are full of craters. There is no equality of force here, nor is their the discrimination between combatant and civilian that could potentially make this even an approximation of a just war. Hezbollah fires a bunch of unreliable rockets into Israel, killing a couple of people if anybody at all, and the Israelis respond by launching American-made missiles into residential neighborhoods and villages and killing dozens. Even this would be enough for the war to be unjust, and yet they go even further by shelling rescue vehicles and United Nations observer stations that are there to ease the suffering of the civilian population. So far more than five hundred people have been killed in Lebanon, I don't have the numbers for Israel but I would guess that they're not even a fraction of this number. This obviously doesn't excuse the actions of Hezbollah, but Israel is supposed to be a peaceful, democratic nation and these aren't the actions of such a nation. Israel is carrying out a campaign of intimidation here, the goal of which is to bring Lebanon under its own influence. They never wanted a free and independent Lebanon, they just wanted Syria out so they could bend the country to their own will. Unfortunately for them, punishing civilians for the actions of a foreign militia will no more destroy the will of these people than it destroyed our will when Al Qaida carried out its attacks almost five years ago. This will strengthen Lebanese hatred for Israel, and will increase the power and support of Hezbollah. The Lebanese cannot trust their own government to stop the fighting, and they dare not go to the Israelis because they know how that will go, and so the only option that will be left for them is the one that nobody wants them to choose.
This situation makes me very sad. I am tired of crying over these things, there have been so many over the years. I guess all I can do is pray.
There is little pretense left in this conflict, it is quite clear what the Israelis want here. Nothing less than total capitulation will do, and obviously terrorism is a weapon that they're willing to use to this end. Apparently this village might be Cana, where Jesus worked his first miracle and officially started his ministry. This village, possibly one of the places where Jesus showed God's love, has seen more than its share of hatred and death. Ten years ago there was a similar scene, when the Israelis shelled a UN shelter and killed more than a hundred people who had fled there for refuge. Now we have at least fifty dead, mostly women and children, from two families that had gone there seeking refuge from the constant bombings.
In this bombing we see the hopelessness that faces the Lebanese in this conflict. The Israelis tell the Lebanese to flee their villages, but death awaits them on the roads anyway. There was a story about a week ago about a family that was fleeing in their car when the Israelis hit it with a missile, so it's obvious that fleeing is not the answer. If they stay in their villages then their houses are bombed, but if they flee then their cars are bombed or they end up trapped because the roads are full of craters. There is no equality of force here, nor is their the discrimination between combatant and civilian that could potentially make this even an approximation of a just war. Hezbollah fires a bunch of unreliable rockets into Israel, killing a couple of people if anybody at all, and the Israelis respond by launching American-made missiles into residential neighborhoods and villages and killing dozens. Even this would be enough for the war to be unjust, and yet they go even further by shelling rescue vehicles and United Nations observer stations that are there to ease the suffering of the civilian population. So far more than five hundred people have been killed in Lebanon, I don't have the numbers for Israel but I would guess that they're not even a fraction of this number. This obviously doesn't excuse the actions of Hezbollah, but Israel is supposed to be a peaceful, democratic nation and these aren't the actions of such a nation. Israel is carrying out a campaign of intimidation here, the goal of which is to bring Lebanon under its own influence. They never wanted a free and independent Lebanon, they just wanted Syria out so they could bend the country to their own will. Unfortunately for them, punishing civilians for the actions of a foreign militia will no more destroy the will of these people than it destroyed our will when Al Qaida carried out its attacks almost five years ago. This will strengthen Lebanese hatred for Israel, and will increase the power and support of Hezbollah. The Lebanese cannot trust their own government to stop the fighting, and they dare not go to the Israelis because they know how that will go, and so the only option that will be left for them is the one that nobody wants them to choose.
This situation makes me very sad. I am tired of crying over these things, there have been so many over the years. I guess all I can do is pray.