I must confess my ignorance about the Israel/Lebanon situation

and would like to ask for someone to "spoon feed" me, if you don't mind.

But please, please - I don't want these thread to join the padlock brigade, if you catch my drift, so please no hostilities. Save that for the Bush Crime Family.

Thanks in advance.

They don't like each other. They would destroy Israel if they had the capability. Hezbollah, a long-time terrorist group connected to Iran, is now a major political force in Lebanon. A bad taste still exists in the mouths of many in the Israeli establishment since they were driven out of southern Lebanon years ago. Now, they want to try some of their military hardware - blow up a few bridges, buildings, and Canadians.

George W Bush does not want to get involved. He would rather eat pig in Germany. The plan was probalby set in place since the day Lebanon had "free elections" and elected Hamas to the majority in the government. Bush and the Israeli government announced immediately after that election their disapproval with the new "democracy". Now they are bombing the hell out of each other. Nobody knows where it is headed or where it will end.

Want another spoonful? :)

My rant below (which contains a bit of information):


When Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah demands the release of Samir al-Kuntar ("We are working on making this year the year to free our brothers in Israeli detention. Samir Kantar and his friends" - as quoted in the Lebanon Daily Star) as part of any deal to return the 2 Israelis kidnapped from within Israel and taken to Lebanon, our media rarely reports the demand and seems never to report just who Samir al-Kuntar is.

Samir al-Kuntara is a Lebanese Druze who belonged to a pro-Iraqi terrorist organization run by Abu al-‘Abbas. He was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for his participation in a brutal terrorist attack in Nahariya in 1979. A group of terrorists infiltrated from Lebanon by sea and entered the house of the Haran family, murdering Danny Haran and his daughter Einat. Samir Kuntar killed the four-year old girl with his own hands. Police officer Eliahu Shahar was killed in a rescue attempt. Israel rejects releasing Samir Kuntar in negotiations with Hezbollah.

Indeed I find a lot of information that would put into context the days happenings missing from our media. When last May 23 Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah went on the Hezbollah TV station in Lebanon, Al-Manar TV, and said that he now had 12,000 (if not 13,000) rockets and could hit all of Northern Israel ( Nasrallah speaking at a meeting of The Resistance Culture Committee: “The resistance (i.e., Hezbollah) has more than 12,000 rockets… All of northern occupied Palestine (i.e., Israel, he does not recognize a right to exist for Israel) is within range of the rockets of the resistance…” I saw no reporting. When he boasted that Hezbollah had introduced suicide bombers into the attack on Israel and that in the "near future" he would kidnapped some Israeli soldiers, I saw no reporting. Indeed when he made the statement "As to what is more distant (that is, regarding rockets hitting further south in Israel or west into Iraq)… that will remain a secret. Today the north (of Israel) is within range of the resistance’s rockets, its ports, its bases, its factories and everything located there." - I saw no reporting despite the implications that he may be expecting a delivery via Syria of Iranian long range missiles? The ship attack was done with an Iranian missile, so the transport route seems to be working. Just what is the secret regarding his longer range missile ability, now and in the near future?

Did anyone catch a comment in US Media when Al-Manar TV on May 25 broadcast the TV documentary of terrorist operatives belonging to the so-called Jihad Warriors Battalion, a faction of Fatah/Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, training in Lebanon? How about when Nasrallah claimed that he sees Israel as the aggressor in any conflict Hezbollah starts because Hezbollah is only responding to Israeli existence - something that obviously should not be. When Nasrallah claimed that he had stopped the plan to expand Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates by his support for the Palestinian intifada, did anyone catch a mention by the portion of the US press that covers terrorists? Indeed the fact that Hezbollah (per Nasrallah) does not recognize Lebanon as a country seems to have escaped discussion, as has the fact that much of Lebanon - including many of those in the Shi’ite community - oppose but perhaps are afraid of Hezbollah (in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, on May 22 and 23, two senior Shi’ite columnists (Qassem Qasir and Nasir al-Assa’ad) wrote columns detailing the weak points and the extremely problematical nature of Hassan Nasrallah’s concepts, and called upon him to provide answers in preparation for continuing the national dialog, and even noted that Hezbollah is sponsored by Iran - the column asking what the Hezbollah position will be if there is an armed confrontation between America and Iran - will Hezbollah remain neutral or will it fight on the side of Iran/Syrian interests?).

Would it help clarify the size of the "disproportionate" Israeli reaction if folks knew via US media quotes of Nasrallah saying that Hezbollah sees any Israeli home or apartment in any mid-east location between Turkey and Egypt and west of Syria/Jordan as a “settlement” in "occupied Palestine”?

Would it help clarify the discussion if US media noted that Hezbollah "liberating Shebaa Farms" (the slopes of Har Dov in the Golan Heights) is not acceptable to the international community or the UN because the UN found that those slopes were never part of Lebanon?

Is US media interested in clarifying this or any discussion, or have all parts of US media become clones of Fox Cable news, adopting Fox's "if it bleeds it leads" with minimal information or misinformation approach, with the only the minor degree of right wing spin/censorship variation available to distinguish far, far right Fox from far right other media?

Very informative.

I forgot. While the terrorist killed the father and one daughter, the wife with the second, a toddler, climbed to a tiny attic to hide. The mother kept her hand over the child's face to prevent her from crying and when it was over, she found that she suffocated here.

Thank you for detailing these events.

for the current hostilities.

:D

thanks :hi:

you're mixing up Hamas and Hizbullah.

A lot of Religious ideals are used to keep the fight going. The argument will go back and forth forever it seems. The US is blamed because it sends so much money to Israel and normally supports Israel as the "good guys" and all other's as the "bad guys". When in my eyes its just wrong all together. Peace needs to happen. Both sides need to give. And it would help if they didn't all have missiles pointed at each other as well.

occupation.

People in the Middle East are pissed at Israel simply because it isn't an Islamic state and they've been bitching about it since 1948.

Everything else, occupation, refuges, etc, are just rationalizations for anti-semitism and anti-Jewish bigotry. They will never be happy until Israel is destroyed.

You actually think that occupation and other abuses is just a "rationalization"? In other words, there's no good reason to be angry at Israel. It's just inherent anti-semitism? How ridiculous.

You actually think that occupation and other abuses is just a "rationalization"? In other words, there's no good reason to be angry at Israel. It's just inherent anti-semitism? How ridiculous.

If you really want to see just how deep the anti-semitism is, you only have to spend about 10 minutes watching what's on television in the Middle East.

There's an organization (at www.memritv.org) that monitors Middle-Eastern TV and creates English translations for programs broadcast in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, etc.

For example, on December 7th, 2005, Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) broadcast this children's "educational" program:

http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=964

It's a claymation where Jews are portrayed as greedy, sneaky, sabbeth breakers that, in the end, are turned into apes and pigs.

Or how about Al-Nas TV (Egypt) where Egyptian Cleric Sheik Muhammad Sharaf Al-Din tells children that the Jews Are the People of Treachery, Betrayal, and Vileness:

http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1184

And then we have this one from Al-Risala TV (Saudi Arabia/Kuwait)where Egyptian Cleric Hazem Sallah Abu Isma'il Lectures on the Jews' Conflicts with Prophet Muhammad and States: "Eighty-Two Percent of All Attempts to Corrupt Humanity Originate from the Jews"

http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1129

I just can't believe that you really think that the occupation, etc., are simply "rationalizations" as you claimed. Isn't it possible that the horrible anti-semitism that abounds is to some degree reactionary to the injustices (perceived, actual, or both) people feel? Not that that justifies it at all, but just think of all the anti-Muslim bigotry that happened here in the U.S. after 9/11. And maybe it doesn't even matter which causes what, but back to my point: dismissing Israeli abuses and injustices is just as naive as pretending there is no anti-semitism on the "other" side. Don't you agree?

were not the non-Jews there first? :shrug:

when they were called Israelites.

The area was part of the Ottoman Empire and was sparsely populated, mostly deserts, swamps and hills that were deforested by continuing herding.

When the Jews formed a movement to move more of them back, they started by purchasing land that those who were there did not want - like swamps.

Even the ones who call themselves Palestinians did not move there until about the 18th century. The land was populated by nomads and was part of the vast Ottoman Empire.

two years before any occupation took place. Unless you are talking bout Israel's war of Independence that it did not start.

but it must be intense differences in religious beliefs and the utilization of land for peoples of different faith. So sad, that hate is so intense in a "religious" struggle.

I'd like to give both sides a thousand year timeout so maybe their future generations will forget they hated each other.

that is one axis of the tragedy here. Lebanon got savaged when Israel invaded in 1982. They have, in the last several tears, put things back together. The disparate political groups were in talks about whether and how Hezbollah should disarm and become purely political. The militants in Hezbollah didn't want that, and snatched those IDF soldiers as a deliberate provocation.

and Israel took the bait.

Took the bait, fed it steroids...

that were kidnapped by the Israeli forces just a few days ago? Government officials kidnapped? Sounds like a provocation to me? But i may have just imagined this story? Did it happen?

and killed a teenager.

"We don't know their names. You don’t know the names of victims. They were taken to Israel, presumably, and nobody knows their fate. The next day, something happened, which we do know about, a lot. Militants in Gaza, probably Islamic Jihad, abducted an Israeli soldier across the border. That’s Corporal Gilad Shalit. And that's well known; first abduction is not. Then followed the escalation of Israeli attacks on Gaza, which I don’t have to repeat. It’s reported on adequately.

"The next stage was Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers, they say on the border. Their official reason for this is that they are aiming for prisoner release. There are a few, nobody knows how many. Officially, there are three Lebanese prisoners in Israel. There's allegedly a couple hundred people missing. Who knows where they are?"

Chomsky on Democracy Now

took a minimum of two months to dig. This wasn't a response to anything that ahppened a day before or even a week before.

". . . Around 10,000 B.C., many hunter-gatherers living along the coastal plains of modern Syria and Israel and in the valleys and hills near the Zagros Mountains between Iran and Iraq began to develop special strategies that led to a transformation in the human community.

. . . Between 9000 B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era, western civilization came into being in Egypt and in what historians call Ancient Western Asia (modern-day Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, south-western Russia, Iraq and Iran).


. . . The history and culture of Mesopotamian civilization is inextricably connected to the ebb and flow of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The earliest communities developed to the north but since rainfall in that area was so unpredictable, by 5000 B.C. communities had spread south to the rich alluvial plain. The economy of these communities was primarily agricultural and approximately 100-200 people lived in these permanently established villages. The alluvial plain in southern Mesopotamia ("land between the rivers") was far more fertile than the north but because there was little rainfall, irrigation ditches had to be constructed. Furthermore, the river beds of the Tigris and Euphrates rise and fall with the seasons and they change their course unpredictably. Southern Mesopotamia also had its share of flash floods which could destroy crops, livestock and village homes . . .

. . . Because the land closest to the river was the most fertile, there was a variation in terms of the wealth of these early farmers, which led to distinct social classes.


. . . Mesopotamian villages and towns eventually evolved into independent and nearly self-sufficient city-states. Although largely economically dependent on one another, these city-states were independent political entities and retained very strong isolationist tendencies.

http://www.earth-history.com/Sumer/

and Israel started with the bombs.

killed 8 other soldiers and injured 5 civilians with rocket bombardments at the same time.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_07/009178.php

July 15, 2006

IRAN'S ROLE REVISITED YET AGAIN....Over at the Prospect, Laura Rozen interviews Mark Perry, co-director of the Conflicts Forum, a group that has set up frequent discussions with Hezbollah over the past three years. Here's what he has to say about Iran's involvement with the recent attacks on Israel:

We’ve been hearing the theory that the timing of Hezbollah’s Tuesday kidnapping of the two Israeli Defense Force soldiers was planned well in advance and with coordination from Tehran or Damascus. Can you speak to that?

Oy vey. There are a lot of people in Washington trying to walk that story back right now, because it’s not true.

Hezbollah and Israel stand along this border every day observing each other through binoculars and waiting for an opportunity to kill each other. They are at war. They have been for 25 years, no one ever declared a cease-fire between them....They stand on the border every day and just wait for an opportunity. And on Tuesday morning there were two Humvees full of Israeli soldiers, not under observation from the Israeli side, not under covering fire, sitting out there all alone. The Hezbollah militia commander just couldn’t believe it — so he went and got them.

I think that's about the end of this discussion for me — at least for the time being. It's evident that the most knowledgeable people around have wildly different opinions about this, but also that those same people have no specific evidence one way or the other. Iran and Syria are sponsors of Hezbollah and Hamas and are obviously closely aligned with their actions, but whether they actively approved of the recent kidnappings appears to be unknown. And, for now anyway, unknowable.

—Kevin Drum 1:23 AM

Whether Hizbullah's attack was ordered from Syria, I can't say. But it certainly wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it took time to organize. For example, you have the rocket barrage which served as cover for the attack, or the mine which was planted to hit pursuit.

through the "Operation Summer Rain", and that Israel, as usual, has thousands of Palestinians prisoners, including hundreds of children.

Don't forget the context.

They haven't seen a day of peace from that area.

has the right to attack Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks in Gaza? If so, doesn't that also run the other way?

Should the entire Republican Party be blamed when they expose another Republican for child molestation? :)

Its their major policy statement - those who are members probably agree with its primary purpose if not which soldiers it chooses to kidnap. However, it does make it difficult to have neotiations of any type when a leader can't control the militancy of the organization.

Functions as a sort of private state, with civil and military arms, whose personnel are under discipline. To enquire shoudl all Hezbollah be held responsible for the actions of a few is to inquire the same of any armed force or government at war, which no one would bother to do: if Comy. E of the 18th regimenmt attacks a position, no one marvels at fire being directed at Coy. A elsewhere in the line....

put it into civil war that lasted 20 years. The PLO then, as Hezbollah now have taken over southern Lebanon to shell Israel and in 1982 Israel decided to take matter into its own hand as it was clear that the Lebanese government was unable to control the terrorists.

Freudian Slip? Yes it's a trail of tears.

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/101conflict.shtml
The above is about the background of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, that is the root cause of the current hostilities.

Also this
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_663.shtml

Specifically on the current crisis.

:hi:

There is nothing about the 1948 war, about the continuing attacks on Israel before there was any occupation in 1967. There is nothing, even, about how the 1967 war started; a blockade of the straits of Tiran would be considered an act of war every place in the world.

There is nothing about the initial attack was on Egypt, the aggressor, and how Jordan and Syria decided to join the festivities and lost.

And, of course, there is not even a map to show how Israel cannot afford to lose even a single mile.

On edit, this http://www.mideastweb.org/index.html is a much better site, published by Israelis and Arabs who at least live in the area

It's helped me too :hi:

Israel was attacked, politicians are pissed, hawks hold sway and a possibly ultimately self-defeating response is initiated. Shades of 9/11.

Following seems to be a concice, balanced article on the subject.

The Road to War
Sunday July 16, 2006
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1821573,00.html

Halutz's plan mixed various aims. There was little real hope that the pressure on Hizbollah might force the immediate return of the soldiers. But a land, air and sea blockade would prevent Hizbollah receiving supplies and prevent the militia evacuating the hostages to Syria. A tight cordon coupled with air strikes would allow the destruction of Hizbollah's military capacity. In addition, the physical damage wreaked by the bombing would force the government of Lebanon (and the international community) to act against the Islamic militia, hopefully implementing a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for Hizbollah's disarmament and the positioning of Lebanese troops on the southern border. Civilian suffering leading to anger against Hizbollah would, the politicians and military men knew, force the Lebanese, or the international community, or both, to act rapidly. The plan was accepted unanimously. 'If our security and economy is being hit,' said one minister, 'so shall Lebanon's.'

. . .

The argument here is simple. The past few months have seen several developments that have displeased those who stand to benefit from continued strife. There has been an improvement in relations between moderate Palestinian leaders and Olmert, who is committed to a disengagement of Israeli forces and settlers from the West Bank and hints that even elements of Hamas might be shifting towards a more pragmatic position. In addition, the Syrians, forced to leave Lebanon last year, have become marginalised and Hizbollah has begun to lose credibility. In addition, Tehran is under huge international pressure because of its nuclear programme. Nothing would benefit hardliners in Gaza, Lebanon, Damascus and Tehran more than a nasty and bloody war. 'It is a good thing for Damascus and Tehran,' said Spyer. 'They are largely behind what we are now seeing..'

. . .

One critical question is the degree of support that Hizbollah, which has a well-armed militia and a large social programme, has among Lebanon's poor Shias. The consensus is that the militia had been losing support before the crisis. That may be one reason for Wednesday's attack, even if the reaction of the Israelis was greater than foreseen. 'Hizbollah was being squeezed,' said Steinberg. 'It was "use-it-or-lose-it" time.' Initially, it looked as if those tactics might have worked. On Wednesday night, as news of the kidnapping broke, teenagers on motorbikes rode up and down Beirut seafront waving the party's yellow flag and honking horns. Even after bombardment chewed up the highway to Damascus and put the airport out of action, celebrants were setting off firecrackers. But as the extent of Israel's onslaught on Lebanon's infrastructure became clear, the atmosphere changed.

. . .

'It's quite hard to feel empathy at the moment, when just 10 minutes ago a rocket hit here and I was in danger. But empathy will come,' he said, glancing across the neat houses, with their groomed front lawns, the Star of David flags flapping defiantly from the rooftops. 'We do want peace and the Lebanese want the same as us. But it's up to them now; they have to choose which way they want to organise their life, with Hizbollah or without it.'

I'm more of a domestic person than a foreign one...

*edit* SHIT. I really cant spell. At all.

had a security vacuum that unfortunately was taken up in some degree by Hezbollah (which was formed in reaction to Israeli occupation of Lebanon in the past). We're watching a not thought out well foreign policy on behalf of the US unfold. Lebanon is not equipped to handle this escalation.

for what it is. It's like trying to shape dough. It keeps changing shape, expanding and deflating and you never know what shape you are going to get after you put it into the oven to bake. The above posts haven't helped.

there's always three sides to every story. Side A's story; Side B's story - and the "truth" from the outside looking is usually something different altogether.

Been wanting to ask for this myself, but there is too much flaming and quick labels.

From what I can see both sides have been acting like child minded idiots with deadly weapons for years.

Quite frankly, if the decision was mine, I would wipe out both sides and clear the land and use half of it build homes for homeless kittens, the other half for homeless Dobermans.

Then maybe the rest of the world could live in relative peace.

this is one subject in which I plan to tread lightly.

or, as lightly as "I" can.

:hi:

I don't join in these threads cuz many of the post tells more about the posters than the situation there.
I think I would be banned replying to many of the post generated by these threads.
:hi:

CatWoman,
I understand alot of people are not very informed about the Mideast Situation, or most probably ill-informed!! The US Media is very strict in not damaging the image of Israel, and it makes sure that no matter what Israel does to still show them as the victims...
As a follower of the Mideast conflicts, I think Israel's position in the middle of the Arab world is very tough. Specially when the Zionist message is clearly does not believe in co-existent!!!
It goes both way, the abduction of palastenians and the latest israeli policies is making the rise of exteremists in the Muslim world! Major Problem... Here comes the creation and the existance of Hizballa!!!
After Hizballa's efforts to throw the Israel out of Lebanon, Hizballa got major support and credibilty in the Arab world as a savior and resistance against Israel.
As there are still unsolved issues between Israel and Lebanon, such as the hundreds of lebanese prisoners in Israel and some villages still occupied by Israel; this is giving a reason of the existence of the resistence!!
After Hizballa abducted 2 Israeli soldiers, Israel retaliated strongly and thus started destroying the infrastructure of Lebanon!!

and welcome to DU

:hi:

pick up a copy of Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem. It has been out since the 80's, with an updated chapter in the mid-90's. At times it can be really tedious, but all in all, I found it to be very helpful background material on the Middle East and most of its conflicts, dating back, um, well, a very long, long time.

Thomast Friedman didn't always seem to beat the drum of war.

Good idea for a thread. Skimming the posts, looks like many different views are tolerated here. That's the way to learn.

PRINCE
Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while,
Till we can clear these ambiguities,
And know their spring, their head, their
true descent;
And then will I be general of your woes,
And lead you even to death: meantime forbear,
And let mischance be slave to patience.
Bring forth the parties of suspicion.

FRIAR LAURENCE
I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me of this direful murder;
And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and myself excused.

PRINCE
Then say at once what thou dost know in this.

FRIAR LAURENCE
I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet;
And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife:
I married them; and their stol'n marriage-day
Was Tybalt's dooms-day, whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from the city,
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd and would have married her perforce
To County Paris: then comes she to me,
And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this second marriage,
Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then gave I her, so tutor'd by my art,
A sleeping potion; which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo,
That he should hither come as this dire night,
To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
Being the time the potion's force should cease.
But he which bore my letter, Friar John,
Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight
Return'd my letter back. Then all alone
At the prefixed hour of her waking,
Came I to take her from her kindred's vault;
Meaning to keep her closely at my cell,
Till I conveniently could send to Romeo:
But when I came, some minute ere the time
Of her awaking, here untimely lay
The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.
She wakes; and I entreated her come forth,
And bear this work of heaven with patience:
But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
And she, too desperate, would not go with me,
But, as it seems, did violence on herself.
All this I know; and to the marriage
Her nurse is privy: and, if aught in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrificed, some hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.

PRINCE
We still have known thee for a holy man.
Where's Romeo's man? what can he say in this?

BALTHASAR
I brought my master news of Juliet's death;
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father,
And threatened me with death, going in the vault,
I departed not and left him there.

PRINCE
Give me the letter; I will look on it.
Where is the county's page, that raised the watch?
Sirrah, what made your master in this place?

PAGE
He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave;
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did:
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;
And by and by my master drew on him;
And then I ran away to call the watch.

PRINCE
This letter doth make good the friar's words,
Their course of love, the tidings of her death:
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
And I for winking at your discords too
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd.

:shrug:

promises to different factions - mainly the Jews who wanted a homeland in the land then part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Arabs who wanted their own too.

The movie "Lawrence of Arabia" gives you some of that.

Following WWI that part of the Ottoman Empire, pretty much what we call now the Middle East, was given by the League of Nation to France and to Britain as mandates.

Eventually France and Britain withdrew giving rise to independent nations of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Trans Jordan. The lines were pretty much arbitrarily drawn and some of that disastrous policy we see in Iraq, where three different hostile tribes were told to be brothers as they were going to share one country. And, for good measure, the oil rich province of Kuwait was torn from Iraq to be an independent nation. (In 1990 Saddam was not that crazy when he invaded Kuwait claiming his right for it).

Lebanon was carved from Syria to assure a majority rule of the Christians there. Again, this is why Syria was in Lebanon for the past 20 years, or so, claiming that Lebanon was Southern Syria, and promoting Hezbollah to assure its rule.

The tiny land, size of New Jersey, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River was a problem as both Arabs and Jews were promised their own homeland. The acute suffering of the Jews who survived the German concentration camps during WWII, who had no place to go back to their old homes in Eastern Europe - now under Soviet rule - got the UN involved. In November 1947 it voted to end the British mandate and to establish two states there, a Jewish one and an Arab one. The Jewish one was going to be just a fraction of what finally became the State of Israel.

The Jews accepted it, the Arabs did not. On the very next day, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Trans Jordan attacked Israel. This was Israel's war of Independence but a disaster for the Arabs. Many Arabs flew from their homes into what would have been the Arab state, hoping to wait for the Arab victory to go back to their homes. As war goes, some atrocities were performed by both sides that also caused Arabs to flee their homes.

The war ended by cease fire agreement signed with Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Trans Jordan. The new borders gave the new state of Israel larger areas that were not part of the original partition. It was now the size of Rhode Island.

Shortly after that Trans Jordan took over what we call now the West Bank, the territories west of the Jordan River and was now called the Kingdom of Jordan.

Egypt took over what we call now the Gaza strip.

Both places have been festered with refugee camps living off support from the UN. There were about 600,000 Arab refugees (they were not called Palestinians then) but a similar number of Jews fled Arab countries and came to Israel. While the Jewish refugees were absorbed in the new country of Israel, the Palestinians one were left to rot in miserable refugee camps, dreaming of annihilating Israel and returning to their old homes. While the Palestinians in the West Bank were given Jordanian citizenship including passports, the ones in Gaza were not. They lived there in limbo.

Lebanon has been a peace loving country where the delicate balance between Muslims and Christians was kept. It welcomed people of all places and races and religion, and in the 1970 Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinians Liberation Organization (PLO) set his headquarter there. Wait, he first was in Jordan but used it to stage terror attacks against Israel. In September 1970 Jordan got sick and tired of the PLO and kicked all the Palestinians who were in training camps out in a bloody campaign. The group that killed the Israeli athletes in the Munich olympics in 1972 was called Black September after that campaign.

The militant Palestinians, then, moved to Lebanon to establish their training camps there and to use Lebanon as a launching pad to attack Israel.

(I am skipping now the 1967 and the 1973 wars as they did not involve Lebanon). Starting around 1976 Lebanon was in civil war between the different factions, where the PLO was a contributing factor in destabilizing the country. Terrorists work best from an unstable country where they can take advantage of lack of organized police force.

The PLO took over Southern Lebanon after terrorizing the local population there and started with shelling northern Israel. In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon and kicked the PLO out (it went to Tunisia). Israel joined forced with one of the factions and one horror event was when that faction massacred Palestinians in refugee camps, with no intervention by the Israelis who should have known better.

Eventually Israel withdrew to control the southern part of Lebanon, and that civil war ended only in the mid 90. Syria took advantage of the civil war and practically ruled Lebanon until last year, after its loyal locals murdered the popular president.

Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000.

Lebanon was on its way to rebuild itself again as Switzerland of the Middle East, as it was called before the civil war. Yet, while Syria was there, a new terrorist group was formed called Hezbollah (the army of god). This group is supported, trained, and provided by Syria and Iran.

In contrast to many Arab groups that demand Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders (a war where Israel took over the West Bank and Gaza), or even its pre-1948 drawn borders - the partition one - Hezbolla just wants to eliminate Israel all together. This is an important point since there is nothing to negotiate, even if Israel would agree to negotiate.

Even though the civil war was over, Israel and Syria withdrew, the Hezbollah group stayed as a militia independent group. At a recent elections it even won several seats in the Lebanese parliament.

Lebanon does not have a strong army. Like Switzerland it is interested in promoting commerce and banking and tourism, to let everyone live and let live. Hezbollah has been taking advantage of it and has taken over southern Lebanon, has built fortified forts - as Israel has now discovered and destroyed - has been acquired long-range sophisticated missiles, and has been shelling Israel for long time now.

Last week it decided to kidnap two Israeli soldiers and to demand the releases of their own that are still in Israeli jail.

Israel took this opportunity to try to destroy the military stockpile of Hezbollah and to push it way from Southern Lebanon. Basically, Israel is telling Lebanon: if you cannot control their activities we are going to do so.