A Matter of Timing
But what of the civilian deaths, exemplified by the tragedy of Qana? A truer picture is summarized by a cartoon showing an Israeli soldier standing defensively in front of a baby carriage, while a soldier of Hezbollah fires at Israel from the other side of the baby carriage. To kill Israelis, Hezbollah cynically hides behind women and children, just as it deliberately dug bunkers in the crowded suburbs of Beirut. Yet these abuses don't attract much international condemnation, especially from the anti-Israel United Nations. It is only luck and tough security measures that have prevented large-scale Israeli tragedies. By contrast, Israel warns the Lebanese population in advance of attacks and urges people to leave the area. Warnings preceded the bombing of the Hezbollah rocket site in Qana--which is still a mystery. The building collapse came seven hours after the bomb fell on or near it. If the blast was perceived as a danger, why didn't Hezbollah or the Lebanese get the civilians out? Hezbollah has clearly violated the most basic laws of war, including the Geneva Conventions, which require parties to a conflict to "avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas" and state that "the presence of a protected person [i.e., a civilian] may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations."
The Geneva Conventions also forbid exactly what Hezbollah was doing at Qana, that is, concealing weaponry among civilians, as revealed in video footage from an Israeli drone showing a Hezbollah rocket launcher firing from a spot directly adjacent to the building struck in Qana. Israeli forces didn't know that dozens of civilians had found refuge there. Hezbollah did when it set up its rocket launcher there. International law is not a suicide pact. A double standard is in operation. The cry against an Israel acting in its self-defense is nowhere replicated when Hezbollah uses UNIFIL peacekeeper bases as a shield against Israeli fire. Where were the calls for Hezbollah to halt when one of its rockets killed eight railroad workers in Haifa? And that is just one of thousands of rockets that have been raining on Israel, where a million and a half people are still living in shelters. Where is the expression of disgust as Hezbollah's friends rejoice at the murder of Israelis? The Israelis don't dance on the rooftops at the sight of the bodies of their enemy's children. They feel deep sorrow and regret and have voiced it over and over.
Words on paper. The images of suffering innocent civilians are moving, but they should not cause the world to forget what Nasrallah would like the world to forget--that he started this war. Israel's bombings are no more or less justified than ours in Kosovo, Belgrade, Afghanistan, and "shock and awe" in Iraq. Israel cannot yield to the naive clamor for an immediate cease-fire. If Israel falters, the iron wall of military power that has enabled it to earn modest acceptance in the Middle East will have been seriously breached. As a matter of self-preservation, Israel cannot stop until it is assured that Hezbollah is disarmed, and only when effective western and Lebanese military forces are deployed in southern Lebanon. The only cease-fire worth having is one that will provide substantial, long-lasting change on the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Lebanese-Syrian border. That is why Israel is seeking control of a swath of land in southern Lebanon to turn over to U.N. forces. If an unconditional cease-fire is declared before a multinational force is deployed, Hezbollah will simply come back, resupply with Iranian rockets through Syria, and resume its war. And you can be sure that as soon as there's a cease-fire, the world will lose interest in other parts of the agreement. That's precisely what happened after 2000.
advertisement