The international community bears no small degree of responsibility for the current fighting between Israel and Hizb’allah.

Israeli academic and sometimes government advisor Gerald Steinberg wrote this week about how in early 2000 he had participated in a meeting with European Union officials at the forefront of international pressure to get Israel out of southern Lebanon.

“In detailed talks that took place at the French ambassador’s residence in Jaffa…the Europeans assured us that once Israel retreated, Hezbollah would lose its raison d’etre as a ‘militia’ and transform itself into a political party. France and its partners would send peacekeepers to prevent terror and missile attacks against Israel, help the Lebanese army take control of the border, and disarm Hezbollah.”

When the IDF withdrew a few months later, Europe and the rest of the world heralded Israel’s capitulation as a real chance for peace, and did absolutely nothing as Hizb’allah, drunk with victory, turned it into anything but.

It took only five months for an emboldened Hizb’allah to launch its first cross-border raid, which resulted in the abduction and slaying of three IDF soldiers.

Had Europe and the world fulfilled their promises to Israel back then, the region would not be in “crisis” today.

Islam’s rejection of Israel may be the root cause of the violence, but the international community - in particular Europe and the UN - is its primary facilitator.

If the world really wants to see peace and stability in the Middle East, it needs to learn from its mistakes, shut its mouth, and let Israel take care of business.

If the West is, as it says, engaged in a global war on terror, it must view the current fighting between Israel and Hizb’allah as a golden opportunity to take out one of the world’s most powerful terrorist organizations. Continue reading »

The international community, no doubt strong armed to a certain degree by the Bush Administration, actually showed a great deal of clarity in its statement Sunday regarding the escalating situation along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Beirut has been screaming for a ceasefire for days, urging the world to impose a cessation of hostilities not on Hizb’allah, but on Israel.

But leaders of the world’s top industrialized nations (G-8) meeting in St. Petersburg told Lebanon it will have calm only AFTER aggression against the Jewish state ceases. Continue reading »

The international media has been gloomily and loudly repeating the mounting civilian death toll in Lebanon. And yet, no mention of the number of Hizb’allah casualties, which must be far greater than civilian casualties since Israel is carefully and specifically targeting Hizb’allah. Nasrallah and his cronies are purposely keeping those numbers secret.

Leave it to the media to play right into Hizb’allah’s hands by failing to mention this fact.

Also largely ignored is the fact Hizb’allah has placed its most strategic positions as close to civilian centers as possible. In many cases, stockpiles of missiles have been hidden in homes!

Hizb’allah chief Hassan Nasrallah Sunday said his group’s only desire to protect the people of Lebanon.

But the people of Lebanon are today enduring a punishing Israeli military offensive ONLY because Hizb’allah decided to launch an unprovoked assault on northern Israel. Before that assault, there were no Israeli bombs or shells landing in Lebanon. Plain and simple.

If Nasrallah really cared about the well-being of Lebanon’s people above all else, he would set free the IDF soldiers abducted by Hizb’allah and withdraw his forces from southern Lebanon.

But like all Arab leaders who shed crocodile tears over the suffering of their people, Nasrallah’s true aim is to help facilitate the annihilation of Israel. It is a pattern that was established long ago with the cynical use of “Palestinian” refugees scattered throughout the region, who have been left in an unsettled state for decades.

Like those “refugees”, the people of Lebanon can rest assured that Nasrallah and his cause can only benefit from their suffering and deaths.

It appears Hizb’allah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, having lost his home and office in an Israeli air raid, has taken up residence in loony land, severely impairing his ability to distinguish between the actions and motivation of his own forces and those of the Israelis.

Said Nasrallah (Hebrew) in a press conference Sunday:

Hizb’allah is attacking only Israeli military targets and “is making every effort to not harm civilians,” whereas Israel is hitting only civilian targets, “civilians - and not [our] missile stockpiles.”

I am pretty sure the residents of Haifa, Tsfat (Safed), Kiryat Shemonah, Metulla, Tiberias, etc would take issue with that assertion.

He continued:

“One side is acting with reason. Contrary to the stupidity that is driving the other side.”

Tellingly, there is not one Arab state outside of Syria that is backing Hizb’allah at this point. Even Saudi Arabia, certainly no friend of Israel, has slammed Hizb’allah for engaging in “irresponsible adventurism” that caused the current crisis.

“We just want to protect our people.”

Right. And you do that by provoking a fight with a superior power.

Sadly, Nasrallah’s words will be taken at face value by many in the international media, and therefore by their readers.

Israel’s “Palestinian” peace partners are eager to join with their Hizb’allah buddies in assaulting northern Israel, an area of the Jewish state they don’t get a chance to attack all too often.

From The Jerusalem Post:

“Many young men, including members of the Palestinian security forces, want to join the fight against Israel in Lebanon,” one PA official said. “We have thus far received hundreds of requests from people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have expressed their desire to join the Lebanese resistance forces.”

PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas regime, however, would like these fighters to stick around a while longer to help keep up the fight against Israel in Judea, Samaria and Gaza:

“The Palestinian Authority has enough problems here,” the official pointed out. “We need these men in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where we are also under attack from Israel.”

The “Palestinians” are ready to join Hizb’allah because at this point they see the terror group giving out as good as it is getting. They see Hizb’allah as strong and courageous:

“Hizb’allah has taught Israel a good lesson and as Arabs and Muslims we are very proud of them,” a PA policeman from the Ramallah district said.

If Israel really wants the “Palestinians” to turn into true peace partners, it needs to show its strength by destroying Hizb’allah and Hamas.

UN and EU representatives tasked with bringing an end to the fighting between Israel and Hizb’allah are expected in Jerusalem Sunday, as leaders of the world’s top industrialized nations meet at the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg with the Middle East at the top of their agenda.

With so much activity in the international community, Israeli officials figure they have about 48-72 hours to inflict as much damage on Hizb’allah as possible before the world steps in and forces an end to the fighting.

The world always does this. Nearly every instance in which Israel was poised to eliminate or seriously set back the Arab threat to its citizens has been hijacked by an internationally-imposed ceasefire.

Apparently beyond the small-minded thinking of these world leaders is the fact such behavior only prolongs the conflict by perpetuating the existence of groups like Hizb’allah.

The Israelis know what is coming, so they need to act fast. Time to take a page from the American playbook and employ the kind of overwhelming force that will ensure a swift victory.

The combination of rogue Islamic regimes and terrorist organizations is a recipe for instability and mass bloodshed, and was consequently one of the primary justifications behind America’s invasion of Iraq.

Terrorist organizations are far more likely to, as the Saudis put it, engage in “irresponsible adventurism.” They only lack the resources available to a sovereign state.

Throw in an Iran, add a little Syria, and you have a well-armed, technologically-advanced, foaming-mouthed terrorist organization like Hizb’allah that is light years ahead of its “Palestinian” allies.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and all their buddies could not in their wildest dreams hope to knock out an Israeli warship.

Thank God the US took out Saddam Hussein, or we may be in a lot more trouble than we are today.

News that Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon is having the desired effect:

[I]n the wake of Syria’s withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon in 2005, the disarmament of Hezbollah has emerged as one of the foremost issues in Lebanese politics. Since the fighting with Israel started Wednesday, calls for Hezbollah to relinquish its weapons have gathered urgency.

The article goes on to say that Lebanese from across their nation’s fractured political spectrum insist that Israel’s response to Hizb’allah’s aggression has been disproportionate.

Well, if the above is true, I would say Israel’s response has been just right, if not a little too weak. Additional force would turn those calls for Hizb’allah’s disarmament into action.

The fear many of us on Israel’s side share:

The worst outcome would be for the Israelis to stop after inflicting only minor damage on Hezbollah. This would subject Israel to international condemnation and increase Hezbollah’s prestige for “standing up” to Israel, while producing few benefits for either Israelis or Lebanese.