I confess to not being entirely informed about what’s happening re: Israel/Lebanon at the moment. The short version seems to be, faced with some provocation (exactly what this was – the missile strike? the kidnapping? – is unclear to me), Israel has gone full-bore on the offensive, and Beirut is under fire.
It’s hard to see this flareup of violence as anything other than a continuation of an international relations strategy begun after the election of Hamas. Back in late January I was optimistic about what that election would mean for the region. I didn’t expect then that the democratically elected government of Palestine would be so thoroughly disenfranchised and vilified by the international community; all of my hopes for a moderate future for Hamas fall apart if the rest of the international community condemns them out of hand.
Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza was a development of the response to Hamas, and this massive response on Lebanon is a further development. In six short months, there has been a shift in the way things are done such that violence and warfare is back on the table in a way it hasn’t been in years.
I can’t see a way for this to get better any time soon. It’s clear from what media coverage I’ve seen that Israel’s actions are being tacitly condoned even by liberal voices. Expect more belligerence from Israel’s big guns in response to more provocation from furious Arab groups.
I only hope the Iran nuclear situation stays bubbling under for a while. This recontextualising of middle-east relations is, I suspect, also about Israel being positioned by the US to where it can launch bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear capacity with relative impunity (and the US gets to keep its hands fairly clean). If this is ever realised, then there really will be hell to pay.
EDIT: Having done a bit more reading about what’s happened, I’m now aware of the huge inadequacy of my short version, above. Oh well. The rest still fits, though.
9 thoughts on “Some Middle East Thoughts”
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My take so far is thus. Israel is being a dick. The militant factions of Hamas and Hezbollah are also being dicks, but not as big dicks as Israel. They are being dicks by giving Israel excuses to be a bigger dick. Without apportioning blame or taking sides what do they think is going to happen if they start throwing rockets around? It’s not rocket science (pun intended). It’s stupid.
Er, Samm. You state that you’re not apportioning blame, but actually you kinda are. It’s a tad disengenious to lay responsibility at the feet of the weaker party. Makes more sense to question why a state as heavily armed as Israel ‘reacts’ in the way it does to the ‘threat’ of Hamas and Hezbollah.
With their actions Israel is willfully showing that it places more value in the lives of its own people than in the value of its counterpart.
As the stronger party this is cowardice. How can you expect other nations to respect your sovereignty if you don’t respect theirs?
They are painting themselves into a scenario of a war that goes on for hundreds of years. The sympathy card has long worn out and it is going to be hard to muster compassion when the pendulums of economic and military power swing the other way.
Middle East bad. I don’t even really know where to begin with this. I’ve recently been reading up on various events in the 20th century, hoping to broaden my understanding of why the world is like it is. And, man, the Middle East, it’s bad. I can’t see any easy solution. I can’t see a way to resolve these conflicts. And so the killing will continue.
I agree, it does seem the media is giving tacit approval to Israels actions. To be fair, I believe Lebanon may be harbouring Hezbollah, or rather Hezbollah has significant sway in Lebannon. But once again it seems Israel is reacting with excessive force.
It’s just all bad.
Man, re-reading my post I realise it makes little sense. Sorry, but I don’t feel blog comments are a good place to have extensive political debates. My stuff about Hezbollah doesn’t read well, doesn’t reflect the complexity of the relationship with Lebanon, and isn’t really a correct summary of the situation. Please feel free to ignore that bit of my ramble.
JB – right there with you.
The situation is insanely complex. Lebanon is a particular mess, because to talk with any authority about it you need to understand its complex relationships with Syria, Israel, the US and Iran, and how its internal politics work, and how Hizbollah fits in. I feel like I’m only barely starting to get the outline.
I think any sane person would agree with you, that it’s just all bad. What a goddamn mess.
As D3vo said, “the sympathy card has long worn out.”
I’d actually go a step further: I’d think a large number of the worlds thinking population now, either conciously or subconciously, thinks of Israel as “evil.” A state that kills civilians without remorse or regret, on the slightest provocation.
And the sad thing is: most Israelis, most Jews, are not evil. They are good, honest, sweet, caring humans; like us all.
Do the people of Israel truely understand what the policies of their government, *their* policies are doing? Doing to their international reputation. Doing to the people they’re bombing? Doing to themselves and the psyches of their children?
…Or is that what we’re seeing today? The inevitable result of a nation born in war, raised and nutured through paranoia, bathed in inter-generational blood?
It doesn’t help that any criticism of Israel on the world stage is immediately followed by accusations of anti-Semetism, and some still try to play the Holocaust as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Anti-Semetism exists and plenty of it but it’s not the only form of prejudice here. Likewise, the Holocaust needs to loom large but it shouldn’t block our view of other oppressions and atrocities.
This is why I tend not to comment on political stuff.
To clarify my earlier comment I don’t see any ‘good’ guys or ‘bad’ guys in the current situation who deserve my support or sympathy. My point was that the consequences (regardless of justification)of Hezbollahs retaliation/offensive/justified reprisal weren’t exactly unforseeable, and the civilians are suffering for it, as usual. What is happening right now serves no purpose for either side. Anything else I say I fear is just going to dig a bigger hole so I’ll leave it at that.