World Waking Up to Israeli Brutality and Militarism
September 11, 2006
Samar Fatany, Arab News
The world is recoiling from the recent Israeli display of brutality and militarism in Lebanon and Palestine. It is such behavior on the part of Israel that has destroyed all hopes for peace in the region. Now the nations and organizations of the world are standing up to stop this spiraling madness.
The UN was able to force Israel to end its hostilities in Lebanon despite American and British support. There were reports that several European states denied Israeli aircraft the use of their airports. Capt. Etai Regev, chairman of El Al’s union of pilots, said the refusals came from such countries as Britain, Germany and Italy — countries that were considered friendly to Israel.
According to Regev, heavily laden planes arriving from US bases were not given approval by European states to make intermediate landings to refuel and they did this for political reasons.
World leaders have vowed to implement the reconstruction of Lebanon and have mobilized international forces to protect the Lebanese borders. The UN has succeeded in making Israel end the air, sea and land blockade that was threatening the livelihoods of the innocent Lebanese.
There is even mounting international pressure to make Israel pay for the destruction of Lebanese infrastructure.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez broke off diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, and Russia has declined to participate in a technology fair that was to be held at a Tel Aviv hotel. There are also calls in Britain to boycott academics working in Israel.
International humanitarian organizations and the UN have issued strong statements of condemnation against Israeli brutality in Palestine and Lebanon and accused Israel of war crimes. This development must have caused a stir in Israel and prompted Israeli officials to form a special legal team to provide protection for officials involved in war crimes in Lebanon. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has urged top officials against making inflammatory statements that might be used against them in legal proceedings abroad.
Daniel Machover, a British attorney involved in attempts to prosecute Israeli officers, like Doron Almog, a retired general who had commanded Israeli forces in Gaza, said he knew of at least two teams compiling evidence in Lebanon for use in future legal cases.
Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer strongly criticized the Israeli government’s decision to construct 690 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. “Instead of evacuating illegal outposts and suspending construction in the settlements, the government is building hundreds of housing units in the territories, and planning to legitimize dozens of illegal posts,” he told Haaretz newspaper. “These acts violate Israel’s commitment to the road map.”
American media is also openly criticizing Israeli policies. The New York Times reported that the Bush administration has said Israel should not expand settlements in the occupied West Bank because it makes the process of a final settlement between Palestinians and Israelis more difficult. “Much of the world considers Israeli settlements in territory seized in the 1967 War, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal, which Israel disputes,” The Times reported.
The British press continues to attack Prime Minister Tony Blair’s imperialistic policies and his blind support for Israel and the US. “Nearly two-thirds of the public believes British foreign policy is too subservient to the US and that the foreign occupations are a failure,” wrote Andrew Murray, the chair of the Stop the War Coalition in a recent article published in The Guardian.
The strength of the antiwar movement over the past five years, drawing fresh support during the Lebanese war, testifies that this sentiment goes much further than opinion polls. In his article, Murray criticizes his government’s policies that have set aside the left’s traditional support for international law and the UN in favor of backing Bush’s endless war.
French President Jacques Chirac recently told an annual gathering of French ambassadors that violence might get out of control unless the peace process was revived to put an end to years of conflict in the Middle East. “To resign oneself to the status quo is to risk being trapped in a cycle of violence, which might get out of control,” Chirac said. “Israel legitimately aspires to security, but security does not go without justice.”
However, Israeli arrogance and brutality seem to have no limits. “In case of confrontation with Syria, we will lift all limits that we imposed on ourselves in Lebanon when it comes to using our force,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said recently on Israeli military radio.
Obviously the man is beyond any remorse and has no qualms in declaring to the whole world that he could commit much worse acts of brutality in the future.
On Aug. 24, the Israeli head of military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, warned against “overconfidence in Syria, which could see Damascus try to recapture the Golan Heights through military or political means.”
Another blatant statement by an Israeli official reveals Israeli brutality against those who show resistance to their occupation policies and expansionist designs — whether through military or peaceful means.
Arab and Muslim countries have asserted that blind support of Israel by the US and other Western powers should bear the blame for the expanding extremism across the region.
“Over and above these clashes there is a bigger danger, that of a divorce between worlds. East against West, Islam against Christianity and rich against poor,” Chirac told a meeting of French ambassadors.
Such exposure of Israeli violations and policies as well as brave statements and criticisms by Western leaders, politicians and academics can force Israel to change direction. We cannot count on powerless Arab condemnations or terrorist attempts by false Arab leaders to contain Israeli aggressions.
It is time for global action to put things right, impose sanctions on Israel if need be, revive the Middle East peace process, force Israel to respect international law and make the Jewish state abandon its expansionist policies.
Hopefully all the parties involved in the current calamity will not forget that the retribution must end and that our final goal must remain an era of peace and prosperity for all the peoples of our region. We must call Israel back to the road to peace — not follow it down the darkening sides of the abyss of war and misery.
— Samar Fatany is a radio journalist. She is based in Jeddah.
Samar Fatany, Arab News
The world is recoiling from the recent Israeli display of brutality and militarism in Lebanon and Palestine. It is such behavior on the part of Israel that has destroyed all hopes for peace in the region. Now the nations and organizations of the world are standing up to stop this spiraling madness.
The UN was able to force Israel to end its hostilities in Lebanon despite American and British support. There were reports that several European states denied Israeli aircraft the use of their airports. Capt. Etai Regev, chairman of El Al’s union of pilots, said the refusals came from such countries as Britain, Germany and Italy — countries that were considered friendly to Israel.
According to Regev, heavily laden planes arriving from US bases were not given approval by European states to make intermediate landings to refuel and they did this for political reasons.
World leaders have vowed to implement the reconstruction of Lebanon and have mobilized international forces to protect the Lebanese borders. The UN has succeeded in making Israel end the air, sea and land blockade that was threatening the livelihoods of the innocent Lebanese.
There is even mounting international pressure to make Israel pay for the destruction of Lebanese infrastructure.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez broke off diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, and Russia has declined to participate in a technology fair that was to be held at a Tel Aviv hotel. There are also calls in Britain to boycott academics working in Israel.
International humanitarian organizations and the UN have issued strong statements of condemnation against Israeli brutality in Palestine and Lebanon and accused Israel of war crimes. This development must have caused a stir in Israel and prompted Israeli officials to form a special legal team to provide protection for officials involved in war crimes in Lebanon. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has urged top officials against making inflammatory statements that might be used against them in legal proceedings abroad.
Daniel Machover, a British attorney involved in attempts to prosecute Israeli officers, like Doron Almog, a retired general who had commanded Israeli forces in Gaza, said he knew of at least two teams compiling evidence in Lebanon for use in future legal cases.
Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer strongly criticized the Israeli government’s decision to construct 690 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. “Instead of evacuating illegal outposts and suspending construction in the settlements, the government is building hundreds of housing units in the territories, and planning to legitimize dozens of illegal posts,” he told Haaretz newspaper. “These acts violate Israel’s commitment to the road map.”
American media is also openly criticizing Israeli policies. The New York Times reported that the Bush administration has said Israel should not expand settlements in the occupied West Bank because it makes the process of a final settlement between Palestinians and Israelis more difficult. “Much of the world considers Israeli settlements in territory seized in the 1967 War, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal, which Israel disputes,” The Times reported.
The British press continues to attack Prime Minister Tony Blair’s imperialistic policies and his blind support for Israel and the US. “Nearly two-thirds of the public believes British foreign policy is too subservient to the US and that the foreign occupations are a failure,” wrote Andrew Murray, the chair of the Stop the War Coalition in a recent article published in The Guardian.
The strength of the antiwar movement over the past five years, drawing fresh support during the Lebanese war, testifies that this sentiment goes much further than opinion polls. In his article, Murray criticizes his government’s policies that have set aside the left’s traditional support for international law and the UN in favor of backing Bush’s endless war.
French President Jacques Chirac recently told an annual gathering of French ambassadors that violence might get out of control unless the peace process was revived to put an end to years of conflict in the Middle East. “To resign oneself to the status quo is to risk being trapped in a cycle of violence, which might get out of control,” Chirac said. “Israel legitimately aspires to security, but security does not go without justice.”
However, Israeli arrogance and brutality seem to have no limits. “In case of confrontation with Syria, we will lift all limits that we imposed on ourselves in Lebanon when it comes to using our force,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said recently on Israeli military radio.
Obviously the man is beyond any remorse and has no qualms in declaring to the whole world that he could commit much worse acts of brutality in the future.
On Aug. 24, the Israeli head of military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, warned against “overconfidence in Syria, which could see Damascus try to recapture the Golan Heights through military or political means.”
Another blatant statement by an Israeli official reveals Israeli brutality against those who show resistance to their occupation policies and expansionist designs — whether through military or peaceful means.
Arab and Muslim countries have asserted that blind support of Israel by the US and other Western powers should bear the blame for the expanding extremism across the region.
“Over and above these clashes there is a bigger danger, that of a divorce between worlds. East against West, Islam against Christianity and rich against poor,” Chirac told a meeting of French ambassadors.
Such exposure of Israeli violations and policies as well as brave statements and criticisms by Western leaders, politicians and academics can force Israel to change direction. We cannot count on powerless Arab condemnations or terrorist attempts by false Arab leaders to contain Israeli aggressions.
It is time for global action to put things right, impose sanctions on Israel if need be, revive the Middle East peace process, force Israel to respect international law and make the Jewish state abandon its expansionist policies.
Hopefully all the parties involved in the current calamity will not forget that the retribution must end and that our final goal must remain an era of peace and prosperity for all the peoples of our region. We must call Israel back to the road to peace — not follow it down the darkening sides of the abyss of war and misery.
— Samar Fatany is a radio journalist. She is based in Jeddah.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 10:56 PM
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