Israel Lebanon Crisis - The Lesson Of Hizbollah
Alberto Cruz, Rebelión, 13-07-2006
Translated By Tlaxcala
Europe is used to being surprised when certain crises blow up that are not within the range of the "politically
correct". If Israel repeatedly breaks international law by, among other things, collective punishment of the population
of Gaza (we can cite here Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that establishes that "the occupying power cannot
use collective punishments against the civilian population") in that case we limit ourselves to calls for calm, prudence
and similar nonsense. Does anyone remember the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Hague against
Israel's apartheid wall? Has a single government demanded Israel remove it, as the judgement demanded? No. However, if
Palestinian combatants capture one Israeli soldier during a military operation there is a general weeping and ganshing
of teeth demanding his uncondtional liberation, although for years thousands of Palestinians and other Arab citizens
have been languishing in jail without the high-minded Europeans lifting a finger to help them.
Gaza cut open, bombarded, its main infrastructure destroyed. Silence. Ministers and democratically elected deputies od
the Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel. Silence. Families destroyed by the bombs of "targeted assassination" -
infamous language used by the communications media following the example of Javier Solana, currently responsible for the
EU's foreign affairs, when as NATO's Secretary General he coined another notorious phrase "collateral damage" to refer
to the bombardment of bridges, trains and houses during the war against Yugoslavia in 1999 - all in images served up by
the news outlets at meal times as part of a landscape without any prudish UN resolution, ever ready to sanction Iran or
North Korea, or anyone, except Israel.
But it is not a criticism only of Europe or the West in general. The miserable Arab regimes hide their heads every time
the usual suspects go on the attack and in the end they will sign a declaration with the firmest, hardest condemnation
possible. Pure rhetoric that never goes any further. Already they have demanded an urgent meeting of the Arab League to
discuss the matter. Never mind talking about the withdrawal of ambassadors (Egypt, Jordan and Mauretania have full
diplomatic relations with Israel.) or charges d'affaires (as is the case of Morocco or Qatar) or of the urgent dispatch
of money in order to help the impecunious Palestinian coffers against the economic stranglehold imposed by Israel and
European blackmail after the democratic triumph of Hamas.
Already scripted, Palestinian suffering does not count. And just then Hizbollah turned up. The organization that lead,
not exclusively but certainly unquestionably, the Lebanese national liberation struggle against Israeli occupation, has
carried out a daring action with unpredictable consequences : the capture of two soldiers and the killing of several
others in south Lebanon. An action asserting its right to put on the table the matter of the Palestinian prisoners and
those of other nationalities in Israeli jails.
Precedents
It is not the first time that Hizbollah has carried out an operation of this type in order to secure the release of
prisoners. Early in 2004 in February, after long and laborious negotiations between Hizbollah and Israel in which
Germany acted as guarantor, the political-military movement won the release of 400 Arab prisoners in exchange for an
ex-Colonel of the Israeli army and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers killed in an attack in the occupied territory of
the Shebaa Farms (Lebanese territory near the Syrian border). Among the prisoners were Palestinians, Lebanese and other
nationalities. Also, the agreement included the handing over of the remains of Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas
killed during more than 20 years of Israel's occupation of south Lebanon. Those guerrillas belonged to lay organizations
like the Lebanese Communist Party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Al Fatah, among others.
Nor is this the first time this year that Hizbollah and the Israeli occupiers have fought. On May 28th last a Hizbollah
soldier and another Israeli died in the Shebaa Farms, in the locality of Yacub about 5 kilometres from the Syrian
border. Also there was a firing of the well-known Katyusha missiles against the headquarters of the Israeli army in High
Galiliee, near Sabed inside Israel's recognized borders although it is unclear whether the launching was by Hizbollah or
Islamic Jihad acting in reprisal for the killing of one of its leaders a few days previously.
Beyond any criticisms one may have of Hizbollah, one has to see this organization as a legitimate political-military
organization whose struggle offers an example. Hizbollah, to use a phrase of Lenin's, is very cleverly sharpening
Western and Arab contradictions. One can imagine the scenes of joy in the poorest Shi'ite barrios of Beirut and for sure
in Gaza and other places. And the desperation of those - like the President of the Palestinian Authority, always ready
to submit to Western demands - or the Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, a supporter not only of the disarming of
Hizbollah but of the invasion of Syria by the United States, who now face a situation in which they have no room for
manouevre at all. One can imagine how the telephones are smoking while the UN Security Council, with its General
Secretary to the fore, seek to escape from the morass and once more keep Israel clean. But this time the game has other
cards.
Since October 2004 the Security Council has approved four resolutions in which together with the withdrawal of Syria
from Lebanon and the disarmament of Palestinian militias that protected the refugee camps, a complete disarmament was
demanded of Hizbollah, something this organization refused so long as Israeli troops remained in the Shebaa Farms.(1)
The UN, knowing that it was impossible to disarm Hizbollah by force had demanded its integration into the Lebanese Army
(2) and this possibility had been discussed on June 8th during the last meeting the Lebanese parties held to reach an
agreement for the government of the country and an end to the Presidency of Emil Lahoud, considered pro-Syrian, who had
publicly remarked that Hizbollah was carrying out "legitimate resistance" so long as Israel occupied any part of the
country. The same had been publicly recognised by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, regarded as anti-Syrian. Here a pact of
"honour" had been reached to treat Hizbollah with respect and to regard it as an important force in Lebanese politics.
In that meeting, opinion favoured the presence of international forces to protect the frontier with Israel once
Hizbollah became a part of the Lebanese army.
However, over the last month two things happened that have passed unnoticed in the West and have provoked the current
situation: on the one hand the alleged shipment of medium range rockets from Iran to reinforce the military resources of
Hizbollah (3) and on the other the discovery of an Israeli espionage ring in Lebanon, responsible for the murder of two
high ranking Hizbollah leaders and two Palestinian political officials, one of Islamic Jihad and another of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (4).
Those who allege the first item think that the shipment of rockets may be part of Iranian deterrence against a possible
Israeli attack provoked by the nuclear wrangle. But they forget that although Shi'ite, Hizbollah is a Lebanese
organization and will not risk losing its support inside the country, not just among Shi'ites, for something not
strictly to do with Lebanon, even though it might attack Israel. However, in the last few months and above all rooted in
Resolution 1559 (cf. * below) and the supposed Rose Revolution - the anti Syrian demonstrations - a confrontation is
looming still in its early stages between Sunni and Shia that has led the latter to reinforce their postions not just in
Beirut but also in other cities in which they are strong like Sidon. In Lebanon there is no Iraq style sectarian
confrontation, but Sunni radicalism is growing in areas like Tripoli and Akkar, where it seems that Al Qaeda is growing
in strength.
As for the second item, the discovery of the Mossad network composed of Lebanese and Palestinians put the anti Syrian
parties in a corner so that since then ( the arrest of the spies happened two days after the inter-party meeting of June
8th) they have not returned to insisting on disarming Hizbollah. It is obvious that the situation has changed
considerably. Israel has again invaded Lebanon and the international community has no idea how to respond. Meanwhile,
Hizbollah will gain new recognition as much from Sunni as from Shia, for being the only Arab organization able to put
the Hebrew state up against the ropes, And to make clear that so long as one organization keeps intact its determination
to struggle against the occupation and expansionism of Israel, no imperialist plan for a strategic rearrangement of the
region will succeed.
Notes
(1) Alberto Cruz, "EEUU busca en Líbano recomponer su estrategia para Oriente Medio", Rebelión, 10 de abril de 2006.
(2) Alberto Cruz, •La ONU, otra vez, al servicio de EEUU e Israel", Rebelión, 23 de mayo de 2006.
(3) Haaretz, 29 de mayo de 2006.
(4) Al Bawaba, 10 de junio de 2006.
Translator's note
* UN Resolution 1559 of 02/09/2004 called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and for free and fair
elections. ( http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sc8181.doc.htm)
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Translated from Spanish into English by toni solo, a member of Tlaxcala ( www.tlaxcala.es), the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation is Copyleft.