By Gene Robbins

Two things make this trip different from our two-week stay in Syria two years ago – Emmy’s superb fluency in Arabic and getting out of Damascus for more than just day trips.

We spent 10/19 eating at courtyard restaurants in the Old City of Damascus with Syrian friends (families) of Emily. These courtyards are huge open-air areas originally designed so that women could be outdoors and yet not have to go out in public.

— Read the rest at the Rachel Corrie Foundation website

And if you buy that, he’s got some moon rocks to sell you.

CounterPunch published today an article I wrote on attempts to whitewash the massacre in Qana Lebanon.

If a regular old picture is worth a thousand words, how much does a digitally altered image fetch on the international market today? I ask because a lot of words have been spilled over one digitally altered photograph in particular.

I’ve spent a great deal of time as of late poring over a pair of images, both allegedly derived from a single click of the shutter by Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj on August 5. Both depict a Beirut skyline filled with black smoke after an Israeli bombardment. The one cited as the original unedited version shows a jet blue sky over white, sun-soaked buildings from which inky smoke plumes rise. In the obviously altered second photo, the sky is washed out and pale, the skyline is noticeable higher in the frame, the buildings are darker and have strangely sharpened edges, and the cloud plumes have been digitally cloned with no dramatic or even realistic effect. Smoke just doesn’t look like that.

Our neighbors to the south provided a brief interlude during the second afternoon meeting with an unusually intense bombardment of the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, shown live on the projection television screen at Thé Marbuta, an as-yet-unopened café in the former Pavillon cinema building now serving as the center of Samidoun, a coalition of Lebanese civilian volunteer organizations formed to deal with a fraction of the million refugees of the Lebanese nakba (catastrophe). We speculate that Israel was using the new gifts from its American uncle, bunker busters that shook the ground even several kilometers away. A good Geiger counter to measure inhaleable uranium dust should be able to determine whether we are right.

If so, it probably marks a desperate effort to assassinate Hassan Nasrullah, the Hezbollah leader, before the ceasefire supposedly goes into effect at seven o’clock tomorrow morning local time. If they succeed, there will obviously be no ceasefire, which is probably what they have in mind. If not, they will have to find another way to sabotage it, but probably not before it already begins. They are very resourceful.

One of the jobs of the committee that is meeting as I write this is to explore the possibility of going south after the ceasefire takes effect but before the international forces arrive. I think it’s an ideal time to confront the Israeli military directly with a civilian action aimed at being in the way, returning Lebanese civilians to the south, and bringing relief supplies to the population that never left. During that time, Israel will have committed itself to refrain from
military action, so it becomes possible to become a nonviolent pain in the butt, something in which the ISM specializes. We would have to be sure that we’re not in the way of armed resistance forces, because that would be dangerous, and we never place ourselves directly between parties engaged in combat. The decision rests with our Lebanese colleagues, but I’m crossing my fingers.

I can’t say that I’m optimistic about having a quiet night. I’m sure Israel will try to get in its last licks before the ceasefire is due to start. Still, it will be easier for me than for those who are more directly exposed.

Have to head back for the meeting. I try to sleep in between, but sometimes it’s easier to succumb during.

Here, in Lebanon, the first convoy of civilians was to depart on August 12 to the south, whose final destination, pending questions of security on the ground, was to reach Nabatiyeh. The mission of the convoy, as the mission of the campaign, is to mark a stand in solidarity and unity of all the people of Lebanon, to break the siege on the south, and to defy Israel’s policy of forced expulsions, terror and organized massacres of civilians.

We convened on Martyrs’ Square at 7:00 am on August 12th morning. More than 200 people were gathered, supported by more than 50 participants from 19 countries. Fifty cars, carrying more than 250 rations of food and medicines, with more than 15 representatives from the local and international media, proceeded on the path to the south.

The convoy could not reach its destination because it was forcibly stopped at a passageway, located between the site where the bridge and a gas station were shelled recently, in the coastal village of Na’meh by the Lebanese Internal Security, on orders from the Ministry of Interior.

Despite citing concern for our security, the checkpoint at Na’meh remained open for everyone else, including other convoys.

As members of civil society, while our government’s concern for our safety is appreciated, we disagree with our government’s missive. As members of the civil society organizing for civil resistance against the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, we specifically chose not to protest against the Lebanese government’s decision; our struggle is first and foremost against the Israeli war on our people and our country, and we stand for unity among all Lebanese, embodying plural political perspectives.

Nevertheless, we would like to clarify several points. (1) The Lebanese security forces did have notification of our intention to go to the south. Our convoy was widely publicized in the local and international press, and days before conversations were held with members of the Lebanese security forces. (2) We were organizing, and continue to be organizing, acts of
civilian resistance, and not acts of civilian suicide. We were aware of the risks of our action, and we were continuing to study the situation on the ground even during the trip. Our allegiance was not to a particular geographical destination, but to the solidarity with our people and the rejection of Israeli dictates. Furthermore, it is ultimately not a question of risk, but one of choice; Israel has the choice to target and bomb known civilian convoys or not. (3) August 12 marks the launching of this campaign of civil resistance. We will continue to resist aggression until a semblance of justice is achieved, and we will continue to build
for practical solidarity after the aggression ceases. (4) Our convoy was successful in gathering a significant number of committed, serious people to express solidarity with Lebanese and with Lebanon.

We are invigorated by the serious, grassroots amount of support that we have inspired. We will build on this support and work towards committed, long-term solidarity with our people in the south and throughout our beloved country.

Regarding the August 12th Planned Convoy to the South

CRIL public statement
Beirut, August 13 – Marking the passing of a month on Israel’s war unleashed on Lebanon, we, members of civil society that had mobilized from the first days to aid and support the victims of this aggression, launched this Campaign of Civil Resistance. In addition to marking the one-month anniversary of this latest Israeli war against Lebanon, and the anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, (passed August 12, 1949), on August 12, communities around the world protested against the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

Here, in Lebanon, the first convoy of civilians was to depart on August 12 to the south, whose final destination, pending questions of security on the ground, was to reach Nabatiyeh. The mission of the convoy, as the mission of the campaign, is to mark a stand in solidarity and unity of all the people of Lebanon, to break the siege on the south, and to defy Israel’s policy of forced expulsions, terror and organized massacres of civilians.

We convened on Martyrs’ Square at 7:00 am on August 12th morning. More than 200 people were gathered, supported by more than 50 participants from 19 countries. Fifty cars, carrying more than 250 rations of food and medicines, with more than 15 representatives from the local and international media, proceeded on the path to the south.

Police stop civilian convoy heading south

A civilian convoy of more than 150 people in 47 cars was turned back by local police when attempting to bring relief supplies from Beirut to Nabatiyeh, 80km south of the capital on Saturday.

Organisers and participants of the Campaign of Resistance returned to Beirut after being advised by police that it was unsafe to travel any further than the checkpoint at Neama, about 20 km south of Beirut.

“We are currently meeting and discussing our next move,” said campaign spokesperson Rasha Salti. “It is likely, though not definite, that it will be the organisation of another civilian convoy. Either way, we will be taking action very, very soon.”

Participants of the Campaign of Resistance arrived at Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut early on Saturday to launch a civilian movement expressing anger at Israel’s forced blockade of south Lebanon as well as at the overall destruction the country has witnessed over the past month.

The current conflict started after the armed wing of Lebanese political party Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July. In response, Israel launched a military offensive that has focused largely on the south of Lebanon, from where Hezbollah has since been firing rockets into Israel.

Israel’s bombs have so far destroyed 630 roads and 73 bridges, according to the Lebanese Higher Relief Council (HRC) – a government body set up specifically to manage relief efforts in this conflict. South Lebanon has become almost completely cut off from the rest of the country and, as such, is suffering shortages of a range of essential supplies, medicines and fuel.

Friends, I haven’t written much since arriving in Lebanon, and we’re afraid this will be short. It is now hours before our convoy to the south of Lebanon takes off. Our eight days here have been sad, frustrating, infuriating, and inspiring all at the same time. As many of you know, I came here as part of a small group, which included my husband, Adam, to explore the utility of establishing an international civilian presence in Lebanon to support the people of Lebanon in confronting Israeli aggression against their country. After a week of lots of debate, organizing, politicking and arguing, we held our final preparation meeting at a café called Taa Marbouta. This is a café that was due to open on July 20th, but because of the attack on Lebanon, the owners changed their plans and instead converted the café into a relief center. In the same building, which still has a brothel on the 4th floor, there are 5 other floors of Lebanese citizens from the south forced to flee by Israeli bombardment and destruction of their homes. Tonight, well over 100 people came to participate in the final preparations, receive instructions, and pick up the rations of food and medicine that we will carry to villagers in the south. While not much in terms of sustainable relief, this effort is meant as a political act to reject Israel’s efforts to impose its will and challenge the international community’s complicity in the suffering of the Lebanese people.

Every night we hear the bombing by F-16 fighter jets, unmanned aircraft and missiles fired from unseen Israeli ships off the coast as the bombs smash into Beirut and its suburbs. Last night Israeli rockets brought down 3 apartment buildings in the Shayyah suburb of Beirut. While these buildings were empty, because Israel had warned the residents to leave the day before, is this not terrorization? Israel seeks to absolve itself of responsibility for the death of innocent civilians by dropping leaflets on entire villages, towns and cities telling people to leave or die. Should we consider this humane? Many of the 900,000 Lebanese civilians forced to flee their homes in the south and southern Beirut don’t have homes to go back to now. Over 1,000 Lebanese civilians who did not or could not flee have been killed. Monday night the Shayyah neighborhood was hit without warning – one building took a direct hit causing an adjacent building to collapse. Over 20 dead bodies were pulled from the rubble. I think that I have become somewhat immune to devastation. Last week we were in Al-Dahiya suburb of Beirut – normally home to tens of thousands of mostly poor Lebanese. Many of these residents first moved to Beirut as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. As I walked through the rubble and looked down streets of destroyed buildings, I was reminded of the remnants of the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, also reduced to rubble by Israel back in 2002. For pictures of Al-Dahiya, see: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/aishabain/album?.dir=/8a5cre2&.src=ph&.tok=phYB7TFBkGAFSzjJ

While the situation here in Lebanon differs from our experience in Palestine – aerial bombardment of the country versus occupation soldiers brutalizing people on the ground – the aggression I’ve witnessed is the same, the destruction of lives and livelihood is the same, the war crimes committed are the same, and the impunity with which Israel carries this all out is the same.

A few hours ago we learned that the Israeli military hit a convoy leaving Marjayoun (in the south) under UN ‘protection’, killing three. It had received Israeli permission to move. The people here do not have any reason to believe that Israel will not hit a purely civilian convoy carrying relief. Indeed, UN workers have been killed by Israeli strikes, ambulances have been hit, and civilian homes have been targeted. But this initiative tomorrow represents the resolve of Lebanese civilians to reject Israel’s dictates and stand up for their country and their people. We are all going knowing full well that Israel might hit us. And yet, one thing that we agreed upon is even if we are hit and suffer casualties, this campaign continues. If the convoy can continue on the same day, it will, if it cannot, we will reorganize and advance again another day.

We reject, on principle, any kind of coordination with the Israeli military, but we’ve done as much as we can to make it known to Israel that this is a civilian convoy. On CNN this morning I reiterated our plans and asked, in the face of this civilian act of resistance, “what will Israel do?”

Tonight a journalist asked me, “aren’t you scared?” I answered honestly, “no.” I really don’t think about it. While this is a dangerous initiative, I believe that doing nothing is more dangerous. The United States, instead of backing an immediate ceasefire that could have saved hundreds of innocent lives, expedited a weapons transfer to Israel. For the past 4 weeks, the United Nations has been paralyzed; every day innocent civilians are being killed. When governments and international bodies fail to act, average civilians must. And so I am honored to be part of this convoy. I am heartened by the love and dedication of the dozens of civilians from all over the world who traveled to Lebanon answering our call to join the civilian resistance; I am strengthened by the tens of thousands that will be demonstrating all over the world tomorrow; and I am proud to have worked with amazing people that are the spirit of Lebanon that will not be defeated.

In solidarity & struggle for justice,

Huwaida & Adam

The blog Stop Destroying Lebanon has collection of images highlighting the destruction there. Warning: Graphic content. But if you can afford to keep funding this kind of carnage, then you should be able to afford looking at some of it. Take a gander and then consider not paying taxes anymore.

Also check out:

• Commentary by Michel Chossudovsky: Israeli crimes against humanity
• US taxpayer paid for ISRAEL atrocities
• PHOTO ESSAY: ISRAELI ATROCITIES IN LEBANON
• Israeli crimes against humanity: Gruesome images of charred and mutilated bodies following Israeli air strikes

I don’t know what else to say, how I can explain this any better. Israeli babies, Lebanese babies. Babies and war.”

— All Kinds of Writing

Also, here’s a blog by a woman living with her family in Israel near the Lebanon border. Well written and worth following for another perspective on things. — Link.

Israel has a long history with the word restraint. Whether it has much experience with the actual practice is of course a matter of great debate.”

It’s not often that we have much of a comparison to make when it comes to dark times for the people in Occupied Palestine. But these are truly darker than others. A dangerous level of escalation is being pursued by the Israeli government and our own elected officials are right there on the sidelines cheering them on like a bunch of pro-war, pom-pom wielding rah-rahs.

Both political parties are open that this is more about campaign contributions than doing what’s right.

But some U.S. officials worry that the political calculation is undermining efforts to find a peaceful solution to the latest conflict. “There is no danger for the candidates,” said Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), adding that those politicians “will get rewarded politically and financially for being out front in their support.”

— Washington Post

In spite of our efforts to get Representatives Brian Baird and Adam Smith to take a balanced approach and reject the so-called “Support for Israel Resolution,” both men chose to vote for it and ignore international laws and global calls for the United States to take a role in de-escalating the situation it has a part in creating. We need to contact Smith and Baird and tell them how disappointed we are. As a voter in Brian Baird’s district, I can’t see myself voting for that guy again no matter what else he espouses or who he runs against. He has been a duplicitous representative at best, acting one way in meetings, but voting another way when he’s back in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, I’d also encourage you to contact our Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, before they get a chance to endorse such a one-sided document. Aside from telling people about your displeasure at the passing of the “Support Israel Resolution,” Please ask them to take the following five actions. I urge you to either cut ‘n paste them in your own letters, use them as talking points in your phone calls or two ask for these in your own words. These are proactive measures that our elected officials can take to create a better situation on the ground in the Middle East.

Here they are:

1) In the strongest possible terms, insist that Israel immediately end its assault on Gaza and Lebanon and seek a negotiated, diplomatic solution to the current problems. Those negotiations should address the following:

• Safe return of Israeli soldiers as well as the release of all illegally held Palestinian political prisoners, especially minors (aprox. 1,000 of them).
• The immediate halt of the Israeli shelling of Gaza that has occurred consistently for the past months; and the immediate cessation of all rocket fire at Israeli towns.

2) Communicate to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and President Bush that an immediate ceasefire, diplomacy and negotiations, not support for continuing violence, must be the route to resolving current issues. Ask them to demand that Israel stop its disproportionate assaults on Gaza and Lebanon and to insist that all civilians (Israeli, Palestinian and Lebanese) are protected.

3) Take action in Congress to address the Israeli Governments violations of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act during the recent assaults. Furthermore, hold the Israeli Government accountable for these violations by cutting off financial and military aid as required by U.S. law.

4) We understand that the Gaza electrical generating plant destroyed by Israel was originally built by Enron, and later bought out by Morganti, a Connecticut company that insured the plant for $48 million through the U.S. taxpayer-funded Overseas Private Insurance Corporation, the U.S. government-sponsored “insurance agency of last resort.” We further understand that after Israel used U.S. taxpayer-funded F-16 bombers, Apache helicopters, and hellfire missiles to destroy the U.S.-built plant, Morganti notified OPIC that it wants $48 million in insurance money. Please investigate the facts of this situation and if they are true, call for the Israeli government to pay this $48 millionif necessary, out of the annual $3 billion in military aid to Israel. Please, also, investigate the implications to American taxpayers and to future U.S. projects in Gaza should OPIC end up footing this bill instead of the Israeli Government.

5) Finally, when you are back in the district, we request a meeting with you personally to discuss your responses to this letter, your positions on this issue, and how we might best help to keep you informed about it.

• You can reach Adam Smith, Brian Baird, Patty Murray and Maria Canwelll through Congress.org.
• Send Smith and Baird letters about their voting to promote violence in the middle east with their “support” of Israel by following this link.

Here are their official web pages as well:

Here is a desparate letter from Gaza.

Dear friends,Thank you for your letters, I’m sure there many Americans who feel, support and work to make justice in Palestine to help our People and the Israeli people live together in peace. But the damage in Palestine is enormous and if you may remember that it is now the fifth month that the employees [haven’t received] their salaries, you can imagine how is the situation looks like.

The issue is not the Palestinian rocket[s] which are very primitive and the arrest of the Israeli soldier. Before that we are living under occupation. Gaza was closed, every day we are attacked by Israeli occupation forces and [Palestinians are killed]. The family which [was] killed on the beach in Gaza [happened] before the arrest of Israeli soldier, the number of Palestinian civilians who are killed every day is increasing, and Israel and the US government don’t want any reaction or even complaint about that. Israel was continuing to build settlements and confiscate Palestinian lands before the rockets and it [has] never stopped doing that and the world keep silent. We have to pay the price of recovering of the crimes of the holocaust, so no one can criticise Israel.

The problem didn’t begin a month ago or a year ago, it [began] more than 70 years ago, [we are] a people living under occupation, under emergency laws for more than 70 years. This is the main problem, it is the occupation, it is the discrimination against us, it is the violations of all our rights, it is recognising our humanity, it is recognising our need on water electricity. It is to recognise our identity, our culture, and our nationality.

The problem is that the world has forgotten that we are still living under occupation, that there is an occupation army invading our houses every day and exploiting the privacy of every single Palestinian. It is the play of power, Israel and the US have the power and they decide who is right and who is wrong, who has to be under occupation and who is not, who is democratic and who is not. Both destroying all human values by occupying other countries and [,with all sorts of justifications,] calling that building democracy and fighting terror or helping other people or protecting the civilized world….etc. but the real values and reasons for that is oil, business, and colonisation. I’m sorry but as a person who struggles inside my community for the values of Peace, Democracy, Human Rights and Reconciliation, these two governments are making our work [into a] disaster and it is very difficult to defend our work. If you see what the [only] democratic state in Middle East [Israel] do in Palestine and how many children she killed and what the Democratic army of America doing in Iraq of Rape and killing it is very difficult to sell their claim of Democracy and Human Rights and peace. What these two governments armies are doing is against peace, against democracy and against all human values. I hope that the people will take responsibility and act and say that what their government doing is not in their names. Let us agree that occupation is evil even if it comes from a democratic country!!!

Yours in peace & reconciliation,

The Center for Conflict Resolution & Reconciliation – CCRR Director

Noah Salameh
Tel. +972-2-2767745
Telefax. +972-2-2745475
E-mail: OBSCURED EMAIL ADDRESS or OBSCURED EMAIL ADDRESS
www.ccrr-pal.net
www.ccrr-pal.org

The following is a letter from Beirut.

Dear All,

I am writing now from a cafe, in West Beirut’s Hamra district. It is filled with people who are trying to escape the pull of 24 hour news reporting. Like me. The electricity has been cut off for a while now, and the city has been surviving on generators. The old system that was so familiar at the time of the war, where generators were allowed a lull to rest is back. The cafe is dark, hot and humid. Espresso machines and blenders are silenced. Conversations, rumors, frustrations waft through the room. I am better off here than at home, following the news, live, on the spot documentation of our plight in sound bites. The sound of Israeli warplanes overwhelms the air on occasion. They drop leaflets to conduct a “psychological” war. Yesterday, their sensitivity training urged them to advise inhabitants of the southern suburbs to flee because the night promised to be “hot”. Today, the leaflets warn that they plan to bomb all other bridges and tunnels in Beirut. People are flocking to supermarkets to stock up on food. This morning, I wrote in my emails to people inquiring about my well-being that I was safe, and that the targets seem to be strictly Hezbollah sites and their constituencies, now, I regret typing that. They will escalate. Until a few hours ago, they had only bombed the runways of the airport, as if to “limit” the damage. A few hours ago, four shells were dropped on the buildings of our brand new shining airport.

The night was harrowing. The southern suburbs and the airport were bombed, from air and sea. The apartment where I am living has a magnificient view of the bay of Beirut. I could see the Israeli warships firing at their leisure. It is astounding how comfortable they are in our skies, in our waters, they just travel around, and deliver their violence and congratulate themselves.

The cute French-speaking and English-speaking bourgeoisie has fled to the Christian mountains. A long-standing conviction that the Israelis will not target Lebanon’s Christian “populated” mountains. Maybe this time they will be proven wrong? The Gulfies, Saudis, Kuwaities and other expatriates have all fled out of the country, in Pullman buses via Damascus, before the road was bombed. They were supposed to be the economic lifeblood of this country. The contrast in their sense of panic as opposed to the defiance of the inhabitants of the southern suburbs was almost comical. This time, however, I have to admit, I am tired of defying whatever for whatever cause. There is no cause really. There are only sinister post-Kissingerian type negotiations. I can almost hear his hateful voice rationalizing laconically as he does the destruction of a country, the deaths of families, people with dreams and ambitions for the Israelis to win something more, always more.

Although I am unable to see it, I am told left, right and center that there is a rhyme and reason, grand design, and strategy. The short-term military strategy seems to be to cripple transport and communications. And power stations. The southern region has now been reconfigured into small enclaves that cannot communicate between one another. Most have enough fuel, food and supplies to last them until tomorrow, but after that the isolation of each enclave will lead to tragedy. Mayors and governors have been screaming for help on the TV.

This is all bringing back echoes of 1982, the Israeli siege of Beirut. My living nightmare, well one of my living nightmares. It was summer then as well. The Israeli army marched through the south and besieged Beirut. For 3 months, the US administration kept dispatching urges for the Israeli military to act with restraint. And the Israelis assured them they were acting appropriately. We had the PLO command in West Beirut then. I felt safe with the handsome fighters. How I miss them. Between Hezbollah and the Lebanese army I don’t feel safe. We are exposed, defenseless, pathetic. And I am older, more aware of danger. I am 37 years old and actually scared. The sound of the warplanes scares me. I am not defiant, there is no more fight left in me. And there is no solidarity, no real cause.

I am furthermore pissed off because no one knows how hard the postwar reconstruction was to all of us. Hariri did not make miracles. People work hard and sacrifice a lot and things get done. No one knows except us how expensive, how arduous that reconstruction was. Every single bridge and tunnel and highway, the runways of that airport, all of these things were built from our sweat and brow, at 3 times the real cost of their construction because every member of government, because every character in the ruling Syrian junta, because the big players in the Hariri administration and beyond, were all thieves. We accepted the thievery and banditry just to get things done and get it over with. Everyone one of us had two jobs (I am not referring to the ruling elite, obviously), paid backbreaking taxes and wages to feed the “social covenant”. We faught and faught that neoliberal onslaught, the arrogance of economic consultants and the greed of creditors just to have a nice country that functioned at a minimum, where things got done, that stood on its feet, more or less. A thirving Arab civil society. Public schools were sacrificed for roads to service neglected rural areas and a couple Syrian officers to get richer, and we accepted, that road was desperately needed, and there was the “precarious national consensus” to protect. Social safety nets were given up, healthcare for all, unions were broken and coopted, public spaces taken over, and we bowed our heads and agreed. Palestinian refugees were pushed deeper and deeper into forgetting, hidden from sight and consciousness, “for the preservation of their identity” we were told, and we accepted. In exchange we had a secular country where the Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces could co-exist and fight their fights in parliament not with bullets. We bit hard on our tongues and stiffened our upper lip, we protested and were defeated, we took the streets, defied army-imposed curfews, time after time, to protect that modicum of civil rights, that modicum of a semblance of democracy, and it takes one air raid for all our sacrifices and tolls to be blown to smithereens. It’s not about the airport, it’s what we built during that postwar.

As per the usual of Lebanon, it’s not only about Lebanon, the country has paradigmatically been the terrain for regional conflicts to lash out violently. Off course speculations abound. There is rhetoric, and a lot of it, but there are also Theories.

Theory Number One.
This is about Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah negotiating an upper hand in the negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah have indicated from the moment they captured the Israeli soldiers that they were willing to negotiate in conjunction with Hamas for the release of all Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. Iran is merely providing a back support for Syria + Hamas.

Theory Number Two
This is not about solidarity with Gaza or strengthening the hand of the Palestinians in negotiating the release of the prisoners in Israeli jails. This is about Iran’s nuclear bomb and negotiations with the Europeans/US. The Iranian negotiator left Brussels after the end of negotiations and instead of returning to Tehran, he landed in Damascus. Two days later, Hezbollah kidnapped the Israeli soldiers. The G8 Meeting is on Saturday, Iran is supposed to have some sort of an answer for the G8 by then. In the meantime, they are showing to the world that they have a wide sphere of control in the region: Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. In Lebanon they pose a real threat to Israel. The “new” longer-reaching missiles that Hezbollah fired on Haifa are the message. The kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia issued statements holding Hezbollah solely responsible for bringing on this escalation, and that is understood as a message to Iran. Iran on the other hand promised to pay for the reconstruction of destroyed homes and infrastructures in the south. And threatened Israel with “hell” if they hit Syria.

Theory Number Three
This is about Lebanon, Hezbollah and 1559 (the UN resolution demanding the disarmement of Hezbollah and deployment of the Lebanese army in the southern territory). It stipulates that this is no more than a secret conspiracy between Syria, Iran and the US to close the Hezbollah file for good, and resolve the pending Lebanese crisis since the assassination of Hariri. Evidence for this conspiracy is Israel leaving Syria so far unharmed. Holders of this theory claim that Israel will deliver a harsh blow to Hezbollah and cripple the Lebanese economy to the brink of creating an internal political crisis. The resolution would then result in Hezbollah giving up arms, and a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon under the control of the Lebanese army in Lebanon and the Israeli army in the north of Galilee. More evidence for this Theory are the Saudi Arabia and Jordan statements condemning Hezbollah and holding them responsible for all the horrors inflicted on the Lebanese people.
There are more theories… There is also the Israeli government reaching an impasse and feeling a little wossied out by Hezbollah and Hamas, and the Israeli military taking the upper hand with Olmert.

The land of conspiracies… Fun? I can’t make heads or tails. But I am tired of spending days and nights waiting not to die from a shell, on target or astray. Watching poor people bludgeoned, homeless and preparing to mourn. I am so weary…

Rasha

Today’s news: Children die in convoy attack as Israel widens Lebanon assault

Are these people’s children less important than anyone else’s. Your answer will confirm whether your a racist or not. Good luck. Don’t look at your neighbor’s answer when responding. Bonus points for creativity.

Meanwhile, in Chicago…

In a racist defense of Israel’s recent attacks, the Jewish United Fund is holding a rally on Monday, July 17th at 12 noon at the Federal Plaza on Dearborn & Adams.

They are defending attacks on civilians in both Lebanon and Gaza, on the Beirut airport and bridges and highways in Gaza and Lebanon. Already 54 civilians have been killed in Lebanon alone, including 10 members from one family and 7 from another. 85 more are dead in Gaza and hundreds more have been wounded in the two places.

Endorsers: Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Hammerhard Media Works, Students for Justice in Palestine – DePaul, Students for Social Justice – UIC, International Solidarity Movement-Chicago chapter