LEBANON: THE AFTERMATH OF WAR. A SYNTHESIS
By Sarah Meyer
BRussells Tribunal
20 September 2006
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/
* More on IDF use of chemical weapons – July 31-August 1, 2006 – from Readers [PDF]
* Sarah Meyer articles and researches published by the BRussells Tribunal.
* See also: Index On Illegal Weapons in Lebanon (30 July 2006) | Death in Lebanon (10 August 2006) | APPENDIX TO ILLEGAL WEAPONS IN LEBANON (15 August 2006) | APPENDIX II: INDEX ON WEAPONS IN LEBANON: WAR CRIMES in LEBANON and PALESTINE (15 August 2006)
photo: Carolyn Brown
“The arms trade is the modern slave trade. It is an industry out of control: every day more than 1,000 people are killed by conventional weapons. The vast majority of those people are innocent men, women and children.” Desmond Tutu.
The Israel-Lebanon conflict, known in Lebanon as The July War and in Israel as the Second Lebanese War, was from 12 July to 14 August 2006, when the UN ceasefire went into effect. The Israelis continued to blockade Lebanon until the 8th of September.
1. Lebanon Infrastructure & Environment
2. Cluster Bombs
3. Phosphorus Bombs
4. Depleted Uranium
5. Other Gruesome Weaponry?
6. Displacement and Death
7. Calls for War Crimes Trials
8. Other Responses: Israel, UK, USA
9. ‘Anti-Semitism‘
Lebanon Infrastructure and Environment
On the 23rd of August, Amnesty International presented first hand information on the Israeli policy of deliberate destruction of the civilian infrastructure. The Amnesty report was followed nine days later by a report of The European Commission. This report said that:
- Israel destroyed or damaged in south Lebanon 1489 buildings, 21 of 29 bridges over the Litani river, 535 sections of road and 545 cultivated fields during its 34-day military offensive.
- In Beirut, 326 residential buildings have either been damaged or destroyed in the southern suburbs, of which 269 are located in the Haret Horaik area.
- All runways of Beirut airport and six strategic highway sections have been severely damaged.
The Red Cross reported (12.09): “During the conflict the majority of people affected were civilians and two thirds of them were women and children.”
Hezbollah, meanwhile, was rapidly managing to do what the US has failed to do either in Iraq or Afghanistan: make funds available to rebuild the country. By handing out $US 12,000 to families whose homes had been destroyed, and swiftly distributing food, it immediately won the support of the Lebanese people. Not to be outdone by Hezbollah’s generosity, the Lebanese government said it, too, would compensate war victims. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has said his government would pay $40,000 to families whose homes were destroyed. Meanwhile, in Beint Jbeil, the Hezbollah are eager to work. A surveyor working with the council spoke of official shortcomings. ‘Hezbollah intervenes quickly; it pays straightaway. It is much faster and less bureaucratic.’
The corporate world raised its profile when the milk factory was bombed in Lebanon. Nestlé’s Israeli branch allegedly held the UNIFIL milk contract until 2001. Until the factory was bombed by Israel recently, Lebanon held the contract. Nestle refuses to return calls. Nestle owns 50.1 percent of Israeli food maker Osem Investments and the two together produce snack foods at a plant in Sderot. Nestle also own: Perrier water, Hagen Dazs ice cream, around 50% of l’Oreal, baby milk powder, snack foods, dog and cat food brands, etc. Nestlé says it has over 200, 000 shareholders. (Stop buying Nestle products!)
The oil spill, due to an Israeli strike on the Jeyyeh power station, threatened the entire 105 mile coastline and was spreading out to sea. It was said that it could take 10 years for the affected area to recover. Crisis talks with officials from the UN, EU and National Maritime Association were scheduled to take place in Greece. Israel was unhelpful, as their blockade prevented the clean-up of the oil spill. Environmentalists were prevented from acquiring detailed information on the locations and trajectory of the oil spill.
Ancient civilian heritage was also damaged by oil, and by bombs. UNESCO has launched an appeal to save Lebanese historic sites. Both ancient and medieval remains were coated in oil following the Israeli bombing of this power plant. Tyre and Baalbek need restorative care from explosions.
On the 14th of September, Lebanon was preparing legal action to sue Israel. This doesn’t help the farmer whose olive trees are being cut down and land leveled by Israeli bulldozers whilst the international forces stand by and do nothing but write down the violations in their notebooks.
Ten years to clear the 100,000 cluster bombs in Lebanon.
Israeli forces demolish home with family still inside, father and son killed
16. 08.06. Maan News Agency.
South Lebanon littered with war’s lethal leftovers
16.08.06. Reuters. Unexploded ordinance, also known as UXO, have killed at least four people and injured at least eight since a U.N.-backed truce halted fighting between Israel and Hizbollah on Monday. Jawad Najam, a doctor at a private hospital in nearby Tyre, said his staff had treated 25 people for cluster bomb injuries in 24 hours. He described the bombs as looking “like toys”.
Clustered in Fear, and Now Death
16.08.06. B. Wallace, LA Times. AINATA, Lebanon: All the dead were neighbors, killed as they huddled together in the basement of the Fadlallah family house in the old quarter of this southern Lebanese town.
Lebanon: Israeli Cluster Munitions Threaten Civilians
17.08.06. Human Rights News. Israel Must Provide Data To Save Lives.
Lebanese forces defuse cluster bombs in southern Lebanon
18.08.06. Bahrain News Agency. Lebanese forces have so far defused 10,000 cluster bombs and repaired damage caused to electricity, telephone and water works caused by the Israelis.
LEBANON: Leftover Israeli cluster bombs kill civilians
21.08.06. Reuters. In the 40 villages the de-mining group had visited around Nabatiyeh, half had been “severely contaminated” with cluster bombs.
Video. CNN. (3 min). Cluster Bombs in Lebanon (22.08.06).
Israel cluster bombed 170 sites in Lebanon,
23.08.06. Peninsula Qatar.
Report from Southern Lebanon: Ana Nogueira Investigates the Lasting Dangers of Unexploded Israeli Cluster Bombs
23.08.06. Democracy Now. So the American stuff is much, much worse than the Israeli-manufactured, and primarily the Israelis have been using American weapons.
IMPRISONED BY BOMBS
29.08.06. Reuters. Sean Sutton of British-based Mines Advisory Group describes a day’s work with explosives experts in southern Lebanon.
UN: Israel spewed cluster bombs over Lebanon in last days of war
30.08.06. UN. (Jan Egeland) said the UN Mine Action Coordination Center had assessed “nearly 85 percent of bombed areas in south Lebanon” and identified “359 separate cluster bomb strike locations that are contaminated with as many 100,000 unexploded bomblets. What’s shocking and I would say completely immoral is that 90 percent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict.
Annan blasts Israel over cluster bombs
31.08.06. Middle East Times. “Those kinds of weapons shouldn’t be used in civilian and populated areas … and [we need to] move very quickly to disarm them,” Annan said ..
BBC: Clearing weapons from South Lebanon. Photos.
IDF defends use of cluster bombs in Lebanon
31.08.06. Jerusalem Post.
Lebanon/Israel: Israel must disclose details of cluster bomb attacks and accept a full investigation
31.08.06. Amnesty International, Press Release.
Pressure for ban on cluster bombs as Israel is accused of targeting civilians
31.08.06. B. Russell, Independent. United Nations officials said that 12 people had been killed, and another 49 injured by such bombs since the war ended and that the casualty rate was likely to rise.
VIDEO. UN: Over 100,000 cluster bombs in Lebanon. Channel 4 Special Report, 31.08.06.
A decade to clear bombs
01.09.06. Washington Post. Three types of artillery-delivered cluster bombs were used by Israel in Lebanon — two U.S.-made (M42 and M77) and one Israeli (M85), each with roughly the same failure rate of 40 percent, he said.
NZ calls for stronger controls on cluster bombs
07.09.06. “The latest information I have from the United Nations Mine Action Service is that the situation there is without a doubt the worst post-conflict cluster bomb contamination they’ve ever had to deal with. The latest estimate is that 50 per cent are not detonating on impact and are there waiting for an innocent person to come along. There have so far been 68 confirmed casualties, 12 of them fatal.”
Vatican asks UN for moratorium on cluster bombs
08.09.06. Ekklesia.
Cluster bombs wound seven people in Lebanon
13.09.06. Raw Story.
A Walk Through the Rubble: Israel’s Use of American Cluster Bombs
14.09.06. Dr. F. Lamb, AlSultaneih / Counterpunch. “A desire by Israel to get rid of as much of its U.S. cluster bomb inventory as possible, which the Pentagon has stipulated must be reduced to a lower level before Israel can reorder newer models like the M-26. This is why the 33-year old CBU-58, almost extinct, was used so widely. Israel was cleaning out its CBU closet for new orders, one Lebanese army source reported. Senator Ted Stevens and those in the Senate who opposed banning cluster bombs on Sept. 9 might want to reflect on what actual utility the US cluster bombs used by Israel in Lebanon actually achieved.”
Deadly harvest: The Lebanese fields sown with cluster bombs
18.09.06. P. Cockburn, Independent. The casualty figures will rise sharply in the next month as villagers begin the harvest, picking olives from trees whose leaves and branches hide bombs that explode at the smallest movement.
US MAY ban sale of cluster bombs to Israel
20.09.06. P. Cockburn, Independent. “The US State Department is investigating Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs during the war in Lebanon. In particular, whether or not Israel broke a secret agreement with the United States not to use cluster bombs against civilians. There are letters scrawled in Hebrew on the metal but most of the writing is in English; CBU [Clusturer is identified as Lanson Industries. There are a number of cryptic code numbers reading “Part No 7127151/22290” and “FSN 1325-758-0417″ and contract no F42600-72-2676. The bomb was made before the Vietnam War had ended, because there is a marking showing that its warranty ended on 7 February 1974. The expiry of the warranty more than 30 years ago suggests that the manufacturer expected some deterioration in the product.”
Why sell cluster bombs in the first place? All production of cluster bombs should be stopped, now. Any company found manufacturing cluster bombs should be prosecuted. The sale / purchase of cluster bombs should be illegal. Meanwhile, it is the Israeli and the U.S. governments who should pay the cost for – and do the work of – clearing the cluster bombs in Lebanon.
Israel utilized white phosphorus in its bombardments of Lebanon
27.08.06. granma.cu. At least three corpses with clear signs of having been attacked with white phosphorus, a chemical weapon banned for use against human beings, were taken to a hospital in the Lebanese city of Baalbek during the war. Samples from the corpses to Beirut have been forwarded to a chemical weapons research laboratory in Paris to be analyzed.
See Israeli confirmation of the use of phosphorus bombs below, or here.
Iraqi child affected by DU. ALJAZEERA
Whilst there have been many articles on the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon, there has been an inexcusable and irresponsible lack of information concerning the amount of depleted uranium used in Lebanon. In addition to the information given in Index on Illegal US Weapons in Israel, the following information is available.
In March 2006, Raw Story printed an article by John Byrne: U.S. signs $38 million deal for depleted uranium tank shells. It should be asked if these depleted uranium munitions, made by Alliant Techsystems, were used by the Israelis in their war against Lebanon, or if any other DU munitions were sent to Israel.
Dr. Rokke talks about depleted uranium, used in Lebanon
16.08.06. INN World report. If you don’t believe DU is dangerous both to humans and the environment, watch this video and see the results of DU. The use of depleted uranium is a war crime.
Scientists suspect Israeli arms used in South contain radioactive matter
21.08.06. Daily Star / ICH.
Global Diabetes Epidemic Caused by Depleted Uranium
23.08.06. L. Moret, Rense.com. 2 maps of destruction in Lebanon. Short precis on depleted uranium, cluster bombs, missiles and white phosphorus in Lebanon. (DU) will contaminate the entire Mediterranean, Europe, and beyond… wherever the winds take it, to be rained and snowed out in our back yards.
Roof-top protest at Brighton arms manufacturer
23.08.06. AFP. Parts for the Hellfire missile are made by EDO MBM in Brighton. EDO (UK) Limited, formerly EDO MBM Technology Limited, is part of the US-based EDO corporation, and designs, develops and manufactures weapon carriage and release systems for the aerospace and defence industries. Clients include Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, according to its website.
The Middle East : Lethal Legacy
13.09.06. F. Arbuthnot. A silent holocaust across the region.
The United States does not have a problem with the illegality of depleted uranium. In fact, according to an AP story, the U.S. has just ordered a new bigger and better vehicle, the MGS, which will carry both a depleted uranium armor-piercing round and a canister round filled with 2,300 tungsten ball bearings.
For more photographic evidence of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon, click here.
What Types of Gruesome Weapons Did Israel Use in Lebanon?
23.08.06. N. Sayad, Samidoun Media Center / Global Research. Dr. Omar Morabi, the president of the Association of the Lebanese Belgian Friendship in Brussels, said that a mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) would be traveling to Lebanon with a view to taking samples from dead bodies in South Lebanon.
Lebanon digs mass graves for war dead
17.08.06. TVNZ.
Lebanon’s pain grows by the hour as death toll hits 1,300
17.08.06. R. Fisk, Independent.
War inflicted $3.6b. damage on Lebanon.
18.08.06. Reuters. 1/4th of the population, or 90,000 are displaced.
The Geneva Conventions
Protocol I, Article 85, Section 3 of the Geneva Convention: “An indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population or civilian objects and resulting in excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.”
A War Crimes Tribunal May be the Only Deterrent to a Global War
01.07.06. F. Boyle, Counterpunch.
Online petition to try Israel for war crimes urged
16.08.06. Gulf Daily News.
The real threat we face is Blair
17.08.06. J. Pilger, New Statesman / ICH. “By any measure of international law, from Nuremberg to the Geneva accords, Blair is a major prima facie war criminal.”
War Crimes: The case against Israel
18.08.06. Pravda. “The State of Israel is hereby accused of committing War Crimes in the conflict with Hezbollah IN Lebanon (July 12th to August 12th 2006). We present and document four counts where the Geneva Convention has been seriously breached.”
Envoy condemns Israel’s crimes in Lebanon
18.08.06. iran mania. “According to an IRNA report, Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Mohammad-Reza Sheybani in a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, condemned Israel’s crimes in Lebanon. He urged the need to pursue the crimes, which were committed by the Zionists, through regional and international bodies.”
Campaign for Accountability for U.S./Israeli War Crimes
20.08.06. Ramsey Clark.
Government studies options to sue Israel for war crimes
22.08.06. Daily Star.
War Crimes: The case against Israel
23.08.06. T. Bancroft-Hiunchey, Pravda. We present and document four counts where the Geneva Convention has been seriously breached.
Lebanon Considers Suing Israel for War Crimes,
30.08.06. Democracy Now. Lebanese parliament member Ghassan Moukheiber is leading the charge in the case. He’s an attorney and a member of the parliamentary human rights committee.
U.N. Names Panel to Probe Israel Abuses.
01.09.06. AP / Washington Post. They leave for Lebanon on the 23rd of September.
Israel officials warned of possible war crimes prosecutions abroad.
04.09.06. The Jurist. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] has warned senior government and military officials that inflammatory statements some made about the recent conflict with Lebanon, such as advocating the bombing of villages that housed Hezbollah rebels, could lead to war crimes prosecutions abroad, the Israeli Army Radio reported Monday.
Groups prepare to charge Israel with war crimes
13.09.06. Jerusalem newswire.
& also, but with more detail,
Groups gather evidence of possible Israeli war crimes in Lebanon,
13.09.06 AP.
Under fire: Hizbullah’s attacks on northern Israel,
14.09.06. Amnesty International.
Moroccan Jews charge Israel with war crimes,
14.12.06. workers.org.
In the Swiftian tradition, Prison Planet replied to a discussion following an Israel Lobby Watch article in the Nation: “All this bickering can be put to rest quite simply by the UN issuing an amendment that stipulates the Geneva war convention rules apply to all nations EXCEPT the US, UK and Israel”.
It is not the UN that is trying to change the rules, however. It is President Bush who, fearful of his own part in committing War Crimes, and with the help of supportive ‘lawyers’ is trying to change the rules.
With all the contradictory stories flying around, it was good to read an interview with the excellent U.S. reporter, Dahr Jamail, who felt The World Just Stood By.
Israel
The hidden story of Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails
18.08.06. S. Assaf, uruknet. A secret list has revealed the names of 67 men known to have been kidnapped by Israel and its allies during 18 years of occupation. Thousands of others are missing.
Haaretz (22.08.06) said that Israeli Arabs would get less government war compensation than Jews.
The truth started to emerge from some of the Israeli military.
Video. Channel 4 news (23.08.06, 11 min.) A senior tank commander says at the height of the offensive he disobeyed orders – refusing to send his men into high-risk battle because they just weren’t ready. To watch Israeli’s Protest at War Effort, click here.
IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon
12.09.06. Haaretz / ICH. What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs, the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war. Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets. In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law.”
and
Israeli commander says, what the IDF did was “crazy and monstrous.
14.09.06. M. Rapoport, Haaretz. “The IDF also used cluster shells fired by 155 mm artillery cannons, so the number of cluster bombs fired on Lebanon is even higher. At the same time, soldiers in the artillery corps testified that the IDF used phosphorous shells, which many experts say is prohibited by international law. According to the claims, the overwhelming majority of the weapons mentioned were fired during the last ten days of the war. At the same time, soldiers are reporting that they fired phosphorous shells, which are supposed to be used by the IDF for marking or setting fire to areas, in order to start fires in Lebanon. The artillery commander says he saw trucks with phosphorous shells en route to artillery batteries in the North.”
A former IDF chief said that soldiers were sacrificed as spin (14.09.06 Haaretz). One Israeli general resigned over the Lebanon war (14.09.06, English People).
The Jewish Voice For Peace published the statistics of U.S. Military Aid and Israel.
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Total direct aid to Israel, 1948-2003
$89.9 billion (uncorrected for inflation) - Since 1976 Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US aid. It is the largest cumulative recipient since World War II.
- Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Israel = $16,710) — over $500
- Direct U.S. Aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Ethiopia = $100) — about $0.45
-
REGULAR US GRANT AID in FY 2003
$2.76 billion military aid grant
$2.1 billion economic support funds
$600 million refugee resettlement grant -
COMMERCIAL LOAN GUARANTEES IN FY 2003
$2 billion -
BUSH ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST FOR FY 2003
Military aid grant $1 billion
Commercial loan guarantees $9 billion
Arrow missile development $60 million - TOTAL AID FOR FY 2003 $14.82 billion
- Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel — 30%
- Israel’s population as a percentage of world population — .01%
- Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) states, “No assistance may be provided under this part to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” 22 U.S.C. 2304(a)
- Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act prohibits selling military equipment to countries that use them for non-self-defense purposes.
- The U.S. State Department determined in February 2001 that Israel has committed each of the acts that the law defines as “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person.” It described Israeli army use of live ammunition against Palestinians when soldiers were not in impending danger as “excessive use of force.”
Israel Buys 2 Nuclear-Capable Submarines
24.08.06. All Headline News. Israel has purchased two additional German-made Dolphin submarines enabled to fire nuclear warheads. Military experts say Israel is clearly indicating to Iran that it can retaliate if attacked by nuclear weapons.
And the Israeli air force chief is going to plan the war on Iran. The pot calls the kettle black: Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, said the world cannot afford for Iran to have nuclear weapons.
And what now?
Israel Drawing Up Battle Plans For Next Lebanon War
18.09.06, all headlines.
Meanwhile, there is, writes L. Susser (18.09.06) trouble brewing in Israel as “more and more politicians and Israel Defense Force commanders are going public and blaming each other for the war’s failures and shortcomings. The public mood and the commission’s findings could have major consequences for Israel’s military and political leadership.”
UK
On the 13th of July, the day after the war started in Lebanon, a Briefing Paper for a parliamentary lobby was presented: Israel’s Weapons of Mass Destruction. Cause for Concern. In this paper see: Weapons, Delivery Systems, Use of: pp. 2 5; Israeli Arms Trade pp. 12 15.
The majority of people in England were very agitated about the ‘Bliar’ (sic) government response. Over 100,000 people attended a demonstration during the Lebanese war. A legal bid to block the use of British airports by US planes supplying bombs to Israel has been rejected by the High Court. A judge in London dismissed a plea by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) for permission to seek judicial review and an injunction against the Government, based on the argument that it was knowingly assisting “acts of terrorism” by Israel in its campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Belatedly, the European nations decided not to allow stop-overs of Israeli arms flights. The nations now refusing airport access to Israel include Britain, Germany and Italy.
Blair, already in deep trouble because of the Iraq war and polls which show British people feel less safe since 9/11, was now hit by Lebanon backlash.
A minister admitted the government’s ceasefire ‘mistake.’ (14.09.06. A. McSmith, Independent.) A Foreign Office minister has conceded that Tony Blair’s refusal to call for a ceasefire during 34 days of slaughter in Lebanon may have been a mistake. The former foreign office minister, Denis MacShane, a Blair supporter, said: “In geopolitical terms, calling for a ceasefire would not have stopped a single bomb from being dropped or a single rocket from being fired, but the whole of Britain was outraged by what they saw on television and there are times when government must consider public opinion.” (sm italics)
U.S.A.
Hollywood stars blast Nasrallah,
17.08.06, Ynet news. Some 84 movie stars, film industry members sign a statement condemning Hizbullah, Hamas activities in Middle East. Including: Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton, William Hurt, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner, Sam Raimi; Sumner Redstone; Haim Saban; also: Serena Williams, Rupert Murdoch. Actor Adam Sandler announced that he would donate $100,000 to the children of the north and south, and about 400 Play-Station games purchased by the actor are expected to be transferred to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in the coming days.
I have been informed that all donations from Jewish Americans to the Israeli government are US – tax deductible, so perhaps the donations are not quite what they seem.
US extends credit line to Israel.
20.08.06. Ynet / ICH. Bush administration agrees to extend by three-year loan guarantees for Israel given to Israel in 2003; Israel has used USD 4.9 billion of a total USD 9 billion. To add insult to injury, the US may consider additional aid to IDF (31.08.06. J/ Katz, Jerusalem Post) If Israel asks, the US would seriously consider granting the Defense Ministry additional financial assistance because of the huge expenses incurred during the war in Lebanon, a high-ranking US diplomat revealed Wednesday.
US aid to help clear Lebanon mines.
24.08.06. news.com. (The) Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement planned to provide an immediate $US420,000 to help remove unexploded mines and cluster bombs left over from the recent 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas. An additional $US2.0 million ($2.63 million) will be sought to continue the work into the next fiscal year, which begins October 1. The aid (is) subject to congressional approval. (sm highlight – ie, NOT ‘immediate’). Sure enough, four days the US said it would withhold aid to Lebanon until troops secure the border (28.08.08, AP). Tom Lantos said Sunday that he would ask the U.S. administration to freeze the U.S. $230 million aid package to Lebanon proposed by President George W. Bush until the Lebanese government takes control of its borders with Syria and prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas.
Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs
24.08.06. The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two officials said. The agreements that govern Israel’s use of American cluster munitions go back to the 1970’s, when the first sales of the weapons occurred.
Two Congressional Research Service reports were produced
-
“Israel: Background and Relations with the United States,”
updated August 31, 2006 (SM: Some chapter headings and subheadings are incorrect; no mention is made of US arms sales to Israel which were used in bombing of Lebanon. Nor is there a discussion of flights with US weapons through UK airports. -
“Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy,”
updated September 1, 2006.
Senate rejects bomb restrictions
09.09.06. JTA. The U.S. Senate voted down a proposal to restrict sales of cluster bombs. Civilians’ deaths and injuries don’t matter, I guess.
The Jerusalem Post noted that the US was moving to scuttle the Arab plan for an international peace conference.
Bush and Co. don’t want to be tried as war criminals, so Bush is trying to change Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. Even the NY Times doesn’t approve of this.
The media had its problems, blindspots and corporate considerations during the war. Following the war, the U.S. right – wing press went into overdrive. One result of this distorted information was a barrage of hate mail. One has two alternatives: either to 1) junk this post or 2) try to develop a reasonable discussion. The latter has proved impossible for me. Those who write, accusing me of being anti-semitic, a jew-hater, pathological, a liar, a hateful person, a hate-filled person, ad nauseum, have no wish to either point out what they find objectionable in an article, or to read any material sent by reply, or to have a reasonable discussion. If readers do wish to complain, it would be more logical, human even, to refer to specific issues raised in an article or speech rather than writing rude and ranting hate-mails.
Following are 4 articles written on the subject of anti-semitism.
-
Diversionary Strike On a Rights Group
30.08.06. K. Peratis, Washington Post. “You’re biased” is not a rebuttal. -
Criticize Israel? You’re an Anti-Semite!
01.09.06.R. Brooks, LA Times / ICH. -
Blanket Immunity from War Crimes: When criticisms of Cluster Bombs is Anti-Semitic.
2/3.09.06. S. Heller, Counterpunch. -
Kill Arabs, Cry Anti-Semitism.
12.09.06. N. Finkelstein, ICH. ‘ central thesis of my book Beyond Chutzpah is that whenever Israel faces a public relations debacle its apologists sound the alarm that a “new anti-Semitism” is upon us. So, predictably, just after Israel faced another image problem due to its murderous destruction of Lebanon, a British all-party parliamentary group led by notorious Israel-firster Denis MacShane MP (Labor) released yet another report alleging a resurgence of anti-Semitism (Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry Into Anti-semitism, September 2006).
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I would like to conclude this roundup with two articles. The first is by James Petras;
The Lobby and the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon: Their Facts and Ours
30.08.06. James Petras, ICH. “The magnitude of the Jewish Lobby’s cover-up of Israel’s massive military assault can be measured in great detail. The Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) launched 5,000 missiles, 5-ton bunker-buster bombs and cluster bombs as well as anti-personnel phosphorus bombs each day into Lebanon for 27 days “ totaling over 135,000 missiles, bombs and artillery shells. During the last 7 days of the war Israel launched 6,000 bombs and shells per day “ over 42,000, for a grand total of 177,000 over a heavily populated territory the size of the smallest state in the US. In contrast, the Lebanese national resistance launched 4,000 rockets during the entire 34-day period, an average of 118 per day. The ratio was 44 to 1 “ without mentioning the size differentials, the long-term killing effects of the thousands of un-exploded cluster bombs (nearly 50 killed or maimed since the end of hostilities) and Israel’s scorched earth military incursion.
and the second is by the Nobel Prize winner, Desmond Tutu.
The Modern Successor to the Slave Trade
13.09.06. Desmond Tutu. Independent / ICH.
In 2005, Russia, the United States, France, Germany and the UK accounted for an estimated 82 per cent of the global arms market. And it’s big business: the amount rich countries spend on fighting HIV/Aids every year represents just 18 days’ global spending on arms.
We must end impunity for governments who authorize the supply of weapons when they know there’s a great danger those weapons will be used for gross human rights abuses.
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Index Research articles on Lebanon:
Lebanon vs. The BBC
(23.07.06)
Index on Illegal US Weapons in Lebanon
(30.07.06)
Death in Lebanon
(11.08.06)
Appendix to Illegal US Weapons in Lebanon
(16.08.06)
Appendix II: Index on Weapons in Lebanon: War Crimes in Lebanon and Palestine.
(16.08.06)
The url to Lebanon: The Aftermath of War. A Synthesis is http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/09/lebanon-aftermath-of-war-synthesis.html
This article was first published by the BRussells Tribunal: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/MeyerLebanon2.htm
Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the United Kingdom.
