Terror in the Middle East

Posted by Sumaira Shaikh Jul 23, 2006

The whole word looks into the Middle East and frowns on Hezbollah for its rocket attacks and Israel's aggression in Lebanon, and the question some may ask is who is terrorizing who?

Hezbollah, a southern Lebanese Shi'a group, which has been declared a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S. leads many to believe the situation has escalated to this level only because of the terrorist tactics employed by Hezbollah and its consistent rocket attacks on Israel.

But is this really the reality? A war is fought by two sides, not one. While Hezbollah is not all innocent, Israel is not just defending itself.

The death toll in Lebanon as reported on July 19 had passed beyond 300, while Israel stood still at 29. Who is the terrorist really? Who is killing who? Israel is engaged in an offensive, not a defensive and the Lebanese people, who like anyone else, want to live their life, are paying for it.

It seems right now for every one Israeli who dies, there are 10 Lebanese who die. Just a week ago 11 Lebanese soldiers were killed, while the initial offensive of Israel began over the eight Israeli soldiers who were killed and the three that have so-called been "kidnapped." So isn't it even now--11 for 11? Even I was mistaken into saying it was a kidnapping, but it was not. The three Israeli soldiers are prisoners of war, just like the thousands of Palestinians now rotting in Israeli jails.

Israel continues to pursue its aggression on a state that has nothing to do with any of the actions of Hamas or Hezbollah. It was Hezbollah that took the Israeli soldiers prisoner, not the Lebanese people or even the state of Lebanon. If Israel really wanted to get even, it should have strategically targeted southern Lebanon, and even there only the offices of Hezbollah members should be targeted, not all of southern Lebanon, because all southern Lebanese people should not be held responsible for the presence of Hezbollah in their region. But instead, Israel has not only bombed the south, but the whole country is being bombed, leading to the death of hundreds of innocent lives.

Bush should not be saying that Hezbollah should stop their 's---' as he said, but instead should look to Israel, who has much more power and military capability, to stop its instigation of violence-not Hezbollah or Hamas, who remotely do not even bear a blemish of the military power that the Israeli state has.