Arabs Unfairly Labeled As Sole Aggressors this Summer
Issue date: 9/26/06 Section: Letters
- Page 1 of 1
To the Editor:
In recent news we have learned that the Israeli army used cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during its deadly offensive in Lebanon. "We covered entire villages with cluster bombs, what we did there was crazy and monstrous," the commander in the Israeli occupation forces' Multiple Launch Rocket System unit told Haaretz, a daily Israeli newspaper. Who will end up igniting these bombs? Curious Lebanese children playing outside, who at a young age have seen the horrors of war.
The media has falsely led us to believe that the war was to recapture soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah, yet we have never heard of Israel's detention of thousands of Arab prisoners, most of whom are innocent Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, or the abduction of two Gaza civilians, a doctor and his brother on June 24. Many claim that the sole catalyst to this horrific war was Hezbollah and Hamas' kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers. Yet what is unknown to many is that Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Israeli government have used this practice of exchanging soldiers to foster an exchange of civilians.
But why the use of military force now? Hezbollah is the only Arab force that has made even a gesture to help the embattled Palestinians, and thus Israel views this as a threat and wants to undermine their efforts. It is also a way to destabilize the region of any force that is challenging Western and Israeli powers.
Essentially Israel is doing the dirty work for the United States, which sees Islamic resistance powers such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as a threat to their neoconservative agenda. Since 1974, Israel has received nearly $80 billion in assistance, including three special aid packages, perpetuating a military society with Arabs as second-class citizens or worse. More than 350,000 settlers have built approximately 150 illegal settlements on confiscated Palestinian land. Israel is systematically eliminating the prospects of a viable Palestinian state.
FATIMA JAFRI
Class of 2008
In recent news we have learned that the Israeli army used cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during its deadly offensive in Lebanon. "We covered entire villages with cluster bombs, what we did there was crazy and monstrous," the commander in the Israeli occupation forces' Multiple Launch Rocket System unit told Haaretz, a daily Israeli newspaper. Who will end up igniting these bombs? Curious Lebanese children playing outside, who at a young age have seen the horrors of war.
The media has falsely led us to believe that the war was to recapture soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah, yet we have never heard of Israel's detention of thousands of Arab prisoners, most of whom are innocent Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, or the abduction of two Gaza civilians, a doctor and his brother on June 24. Many claim that the sole catalyst to this horrific war was Hezbollah and Hamas' kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers. Yet what is unknown to many is that Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Israeli government have used this practice of exchanging soldiers to foster an exchange of civilians.
But why the use of military force now? Hezbollah is the only Arab force that has made even a gesture to help the embattled Palestinians, and thus Israel views this as a threat and wants to undermine their efforts. It is also a way to destabilize the region of any force that is challenging Western and Israeli powers.
Essentially Israel is doing the dirty work for the United States, which sees Islamic resistance powers such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as a threat to their neoconservative agenda. Since 1974, Israel has received nearly $80 billion in assistance, including three special aid packages, perpetuating a military society with Arabs as second-class citizens or worse. More than 350,000 settlers have built approximately 150 illegal settlements on confiscated Palestinian land. Israel is systematically eliminating the prospects of a viable Palestinian state.
FATIMA JAFRI
Class of 2008
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Greg Barison
posted 9/27/06 @ 9:38 AM EST
No bombs at all would have been dropped had not Hezbollah (imagine the arrogance of calling yourself "The Party of God") not sent a hundred fighters into Israel with the express purpose of capturing Israelis. (Continued…)
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