Qana* Question
Just got back OK from Lebanon. Thank you blogger friends who were concerned and enquired about me.
Events are moving fast and I am still under the shock of the Qana death toll, which follows the shock of the destruction of the Lebanese coast, which comes after the shock of the horrific and avoidable deaths and destruction, which was all preceded by the shocking idiocy and cowardice of our political class, and yes our people.
I shall return to those matters another day.
Today it is Qana: the dead and above all the dead children. We are all stunned and in mourning.
One question: how do you think Hassan Nasrallah greeted the terrible news?
* Qana or Cana
25 Comments:
At 7/31/06, 8:36 AM, Anonymous said…
Welcome back! I had no idea you were in Lebanon. The blogosphere and my comments section greatly missed you.
Glad you're safe.
At 7/31/06, 8:40 AM, Anonymous said…
Welcome back as well!
At 7/31/06, 9:05 AM, Ecce Libanus said…
So glad you're back safely JW.
Can't wait to hear what you have to say about this whole affair.
As for "how do [I] think [L7aso Zabrallah] greeted today's terrible news? " I'd say with jubilation, I'm sure. Wasn't that the whole intent? (and the symbolism of instigating another hit on Cana is quite telling, so far as Zibbo is concerned.) Isn't the hit-and-run tactic in between civilian populations and places of worship the MO of Zibballah and like minded mercenaries that cut their teeth in Lebanon?
At 7/31/06, 9:38 AM, Wil said…
Indeed, welcome back JW.
At 7/31/06, 9:54 AM, JoseyWales said…
Thanks everone.
Lot of catching up to do. Been reading your blogs from Beirut and more recently.
Lou, great vitriolic piece on Nasrallah and his demented outfit.
WIL, sorry about the bad language on Corm, please feel free to delete.
At 7/31/06, 10:58 AM, Lazarus said…
welcome back. glad you're safe ya JW.
At 7/31/06, 5:07 PM, Anonymous said…
Josey,
Believe it or not your commentary was conspicuous by its absence!!! Nice to learn that you are fine.
As to your question regarding Nasrallah, I would hope that for a change he might be worried that the thinking public might hold him and his irresponsible organization to the same standards that are being applied to the killings at Qana.
But realistically I think that his delusional view would more likely make him feel triumphant especially when what passes for statesman in Lebanon thanked him for his contributions.
At 7/31/06, 6:30 PM, Anonymous said…
Nasrallah is overjoyed with the propaganda victory he has scored. It his group of gangsters that hide behind children and women hoping that they will be killed only for the public relations war that he is waging. Why else does he endanger their lives and often prevent the innocents from leaving. The timetable of the Israeli strike and the subsequent collapse of the building is suspect. Israel needs to protect it's citizens and will continue to go after Nasrallah and his terrorist army. The Lebanese people are the victims of Iran and Syria who wish to destroy Israel using Lebanon as fodder. There will be many more deaths as long as the Hezbollah gangsters are allowed to roam free in Lebanon.
At 7/31/06, 9:24 PM, JoseyWales said…
Thanks Laz and Gus. Good to be back.
At 8/1/06, 6:54 AM, Wil said…
That was you on Corm? Nope. Won't delete.
At 8/1/06, 8:05 AM, Anonymous said…
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At 8/1/06, 8:17 AM, Anonymous said…
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At 8/1/06, 8:31 AM, Anonymous said…
It is always sad when innocents die, but in one little massacre in Iraq, Algeria, Darfour many many more innocents die at the hands of Arabs. Selctive morality does not serve anybody. The Arabs are great in demansing what they refuse the others. What I call unidirectional morality. That said, I repeat I am sorry for the innocents, but should one not blame the Hizbullah who fired the rockets from Qana into Israel placing them and hiding them among civilians. What a cowardly act! Question: why do you not direct your rage towards the Hizbullah and their Irano- Syrian Marionette: Nasrallah?
He can cry victory, but what he has done to Lebanon in the service of his paymasters- is his responsibility. The Israelis repatedly said: "the Lebanese people are not the enemy. Hizbullah is"
Lebanese Shia Explains Hizballah's Charity Work
Here’s a translation of a letter to the editor of Berlin
left-wing daily Die Tagesspiegel from a Lebanese Shia who lived in the
southern area controlled by Hizballah:
I lived until 2002 in a small southern village near Mardshajund that is
inhabited by a majority of Shias like me. After Israel left Lebanon, it
did
not take long for Hezbollah to have its say in other towns. Received as
successful resistance fighters and armed to the teeth, they stored rockets
in bunkers in our town as well. The social work of the Party of God
consisted in building a school and a residence over these bunkers! A local
sheikh explained to me laughing that the Jews would lose in any event
because the rockets would either be fired at them or if they attacked the
rockets depots, they would be condemned by world opinion on account of the
dead civilians. These people do not care about the Lebanese population,
they
use them as shields, and, once dead, as propaganda. As long as they
continue
existing there, there will be no tranquility and peace.
Dr. Mounir Herzallah
Berlin-Wedding
At 8/1/06, 8:38 AM, Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 8/1/06, 8:47 AM, Anonymous said…
As awful as the loss of life in Qana is, has everybody forgotton that over 50 people died a horrific death on 7/7 at the hands of Muslim extremists just like Hizbollah? Israel left Lebanon over six years ago and does not want to be back there again. It is only doing this as a matter of survival.
Hazbollah and hamas have, for sometime, assembled rockets and missiles along the Israel-Lebanon borders right under the nose of Kofi Annan proving this man has been
bought by islamist killers - he must be removed immediately.
Using women and children as a shield in war reveals the cowards that these islamit killers are.
The leaders and people of Lebanon have chosen to harbour and support these killers and have to face up to the consequence of their action.
At 8/1/06, 9:51 AM, Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 8/1/06, 9:57 AM, Anonymous said…
Here it is in English for those who donot master French:
Lebanese website blames Hizbullah for Qana deaths
*************************************************
original article in French:
www.libanoscopie.com/FullDoc.asp?DocCode=994&Cat=2
Anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon openly point finger at Hizbullah as
guilty of killing of dozens of civilians in order to curtail plans
for disarming group. 'Hizbullah has placed rocket launcher on
building's roof and brought invalid children inside in bid to provoke
Israeli response,' they write Roee Nahmias YNET 1 August 2006
Is Hizbullah behind the tragic incident in the village of Qana that
claimed the lives of some 60 people? While the Israeli army continues
to investigate the circumstances leading to the building's collapse,
some in Lebanon do not hesitate to point the finger at the Shiite
organization and claim it is to blame for the death of dozens.
The Lebanese website LIBANOSCOPIE , associated with Christian
elements in the country and which openly supports the anti-Syrian
movement called the "March 14 Forces," reported that Hizbullah has
masterminded a plan that would result in the killing of innocents in
the Qana village, in a bid to foil Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora's "Seven Points Plan", which calls for deployment of the
Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah.
'Disabled children placed inside building'
"We have it from a credible source that Hizbullah, alarmed by
Siniora's plan, has concocted an incident that would help thwart the
negotiations.
Knowing full well that Israel will not hesitate to bombard civilian
targets, Hizbullah gunmen placed a rocket launcher on the roof in
Qana and brought disabled children inside, in a bid to provoke a
response by the Israeli Air Force. In this way, they were planning to
take advantage of the death of innocents and curtail the negotiation
initiative," the site stated.
The site's editors also claimed that not only did Hizbullah stage the
event, but that it also chose Qana for a specific reason: "They used
Qana because the village had already turned into a symbol for
massacring innocent civilians, and so they set up 'Qana 2'." Notably,
the incident has indeed been dubbed "The second Qana massacre" by the
Arab media.
At 8/1/06, 10:16 AM, Anonymous said…
Source: L'Orient le Jour - LIBAN
Les habitants organisent des patrouilles pour empêcher les tirs de Katioucha à partir des zones encore peuplées
Ibrahim Andraos pleure sa maison détruite à Aïn Ebel, bourgade chrétienne du Liban-Sud : le Hezbollah avait installé une rampe de missiles sur le toit en pleine nuit, et la riposte d’Israël a éte cinglante, rapporte Béatrice Khadige, de l’AFP.
Pour sauver ce qui peut l’être dans les bourgades proches de Bint Jbeil, le bastion intégriste attaqué sans répit depuis une semaine par l’armée israélienne, les habitants qui n’ont pas fui organisent des patrouilles pour empêcher les combattants intégristes de déployer des armes (à partir des zones peuplées) et attirer sur leurs villages les foudres de Tsahal, souligne l’AFP.
Pour Ibrahim, un sexagénaire, qui a travaillé des années dans le Golfe et en Afrique avant de rentrer chez lui, cette précaution est arrivée trop tard.
Et c’est au plus noir d’une nuit récente que le malheur s’est abattu sur lui. « Il était une heure du matin, mercredi, et nous étions sans électricité. Nous avons entendu des gens parler : c’était les combattants du Hezbollah. Ils ont installé un lance-missiles sur le toit et ils en ont tiré au moins cinq », souligne-t-il.
Il ne lui restait plus qu’à fuir. « Nous sommes tous sortis pour courir nous abriter au bas du village », raconte Hassan devant les ruines noircies de sa maison. La frappe israélienne a détruit quatre autres habitations: celles de ses frères et de ses cousins, dont il ne reste que des pans de mur écroulés.
Pris dans le feu croisé d’une guerre qui n’est pas la sienne, Ibrahim, suivi de sa femme et de ses sept enfants, a rejoint la cohorte des déplacés qui, depuis plus de deux semaines, sont les victimes du face-à-face entre Israël et le Hezbollah.
Et il a gagné Rmeich, un autre village chrétien du secteur où des milliers d’habitants de la région se sont mis à l’abri. Il y a retrouvé bon nombre de ses voisins d’Aïn Ebel, à qui l’armée israélienne avait ordonné de partir en larguant des tracts les sommant de quitter leur village.
À Rmeich aussi, les combattants du Hezbollah sont venus tirer des missiles contre les positions de l’armée israélienne et contre le nord de l’État hébreu. Mais ils ne l’ont fait qu’une fois : « La semaine dernière, ils ont installé leurs lance-missiles entre les habitations », affirme un habitant de cette agglomération, qui se présente sous le seul nom de Tony. « Quand les Israéliens ont frappé, il y a eu quatre civils tués. » « Depuis, toutes les nuits, des jeunes gens patrouillent dans les quartiers pour empêcher que le Hezbollah ne vienne provoquer des morts », ajoute-t-il, cité par l’AFP.
Identifier les combattants n’est pas chose facile, assure l’un de ces jeunes gens : « Ils sont habillés comme nous, en tee-shirt et pantalon, mais d’autres sont en uniforme militaire. »
Selon d’autres témoignages, les combattants du Hezbollah tentent également d’empêcher les civils de quitter leurs villages : « Ils veulent nous empêcher de partir d’ici », affirme une femme de la région, qui ne veut pas dire son nom.
At 8/1/06, 11:07 AM, Jean said…
Hey,
Glad to finally discover your blog.
I ended up here after you left a comment on my blog.
Would you be interested in putting a link here to my blog ? I will be doing the same of course on my side.
Jean
--
At 8/2/06, 7:50 AM, Anonymous said…
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At 8/2/06, 7:56 AM, Anonymous said…
Worth Reading Today
* The Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/01/devotion_and_discipline_fuel_hezbollahs_fight/?page=full )
hung out with two Lebanese gunmen in Bint Jbail who describe a veritable Hezbollah kiddy corps:
Hussein and Hamid credited their devotion to Islam for their success against the Israelis, but they described a meticulous blueprint for guerrilla warfare built around a carefully selected force, whose members begin training at age 14….
Only experienced fighters are allowed into front-line combat, Hussein said. Children are trained from a young age even if they aren't selected as Hezbollah fighters. ``How do you think our children are raised? To fight the Israelis. My son is 13 years old and knows how to fire a mortar."
* A Daily Telegraph discovers how easy it is to hide Katyushas.
Shortcut to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/01/wmid201.xm
At 8/2/06, 8:26 AM, Anonymous said…
There is a very interesting report on France-Echo concerning the Kana massacre. A French nurse who specialized in treating children with multiple handicaps examined the photos of the victims and found evidence that they were all physically handicapped. Even if you don’t read French, the photos of the victims clearly show that these kids were not normal children and the French reports concludes by asking if Hezbollah did not deliberately do this to get rid of handicapped children who (for a fascist mindset similar to Adolf Hitler) are such a drain on a warrior (sic) society.
I invite everyone to visit the site (if only to see the photographs)
http://www.france-echos.com/actualite.php?cle=9800
At 8/2/06, 12:46 PM, Anonymous said…
Lebanese Govt supports Hezbollah attacks on Israel -interview with Dr Ahmad Fatfat,Lebanese Interior Minister
Note: A video recording of this interview and the link to the transcript below is available at: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/
Excerpt:
TONY JONES: Dr Fatfat, it sounds like you are in fact supporting the offensive which began with Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel. You describe that as resistance, do you?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Sure because Israel is doing the same. Now any act of war against Israel is a act of resistance. It's a war. They impose - they want this war. We want peace, but they prefer to have war. It is a price of the war for everybody.
TONY JONES: But it does seem clear that in this case, this war began with Hezbollah bombing with its missiles Israeli cities. Now, you are part of the Lebanese Government. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1559 under which the Syrian army was withdrawn from Lebanon, your government was obliged to actually disarm Hezbollah, but now you are telling us you actually support what they are doing.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: No, no. It is different. It is so different. We have, as I said, an occupied territory.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1703362.htm
Broadcast: 02/08/2006
Dr Ahmad Fatfat on the Middle East conflict
Reporter: Tony Jones
TONY JONES: Well, Dr Ahmed Fatfat is the Interior Minister in the Lebanese Government. He's a Sunni Muslim and member of the current For the Future Movement which is the main faction of the so-called martyr list set up by the assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Dr Fatfat joins us now from Beirut. Thanks for being there.
DR AHMAD FATFAT, LEBANON INTERIOR MINISTER: Thank you.
TONY JONES: It's been reported.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Good morning.
TONY JONES: It's been reported that thousands of civilians from southern Lebanon are trying to move north to escape the Israeli offensive. Do you have any idea of the scale of that exodus?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: We have some information that about 50,000 at least are on the road now. I am not sure about the number, but the information that I had two hours ago, some villages leave at 100 per cent, and some between 50 and 90 per cent. But it's very, very important to exude and it seems that it is what Israeli was reaching to do to evacuate all of the Lebanese population from the south to make maybe a free zone, what we call a "burn zone", so they will have more ease to conquer it.
TONY JONES: Dr Fatfat, we've heard from our correspondent who's been down near the border that many people will not be able to escape in that 48-hour period. How worried are you about that?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Our politics asked the population to stay where they are and we are doing our best to give them support and food and medical and every support by the Red Cross, by the civil defence and by the ASF. But I am afraid if you have a lot of civilians there, Israel will do another crime like they did in Qana a few days ago, as they did all over the three weeks in so many villages. We are speaking a lot about Qana, but in three weeks we have more than - maybe 20 crimes like Qana everywhere in so many villages. So we are really afraid of what will happen with our civilians in the south if we didn't have just now a real cease-fire.
TONY JONES: You are calling the bombing in Qana a crime. The Israelis say it's an accident.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: It is not an accident. It is not an accident, you know. All the story of Israel, we have such crime like that, beginning we've seen before, before '48 and to Qana in '96 and so many, many, many mistakes like that. But there is a crime to make terror to terrorise our population so they leave their homes, they leave their grounds, they leave their village. It is a real political decision what Israel did in Qana.
TONY JONES: Israel is conducting its own investigation into the bombing in Qana. Will your government be seeking -
DR AHMAD FATFAT: It's not the first time.
TONY JONES: - will your government be seeking a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court into that bombing?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Yes. Sure, sure. We are preparing our file about it and we will ask the United Nations also to make their own investigation about it because, as I said, it's not the first time and I'm sure it will not be the last time in Israeli politics in the Middle East.
TONY JONES: Your Health Minister today said there are some 200 unrecovered bodies of Lebanese civilians, which the Government knows about. Do you have any idea now of the scale of civilian casualties?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: We have a scale of all the casualties, which are about maybe 800, 850 killed. Between 1 and 200 bodies are under their houses still now and there is now a real work done by the Red Cross and International Red Cross and also civil defence to take out the bodies today if we can before the Israeli bombing will begin another time. For all of the casualties, as I said, it is maybe 1,000 of them. More than 2,000 are injured. It is only on elementary level. If you want to speak on an economic level, it is so, so, so high. I can speak about billions of dollars.
TONY JONES: Do you accept what Israel is saying that, and what it is trying to demonstrate, by the use of aerial pictures, that in fact what is happening in the south is Hezbollah is placing rocket launchers and military equipment in or near the homes of civilians and that is why civilians are being hurt in these bombings?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Israel had all the material to decide exactly where the bomb will go, whether they bomb exactly. They know so well at what moment they have an objective
- civil or military objective. They know this so well. This time they are really bombing against civil, not against Hezbollah only. It's political choice they did. If they want to really make a war against Hezbollah, they have the material. They are on the ground. So they can do it against Hezbollah. But now they are doing a war against really against civilians without any arms.
TONY JONES: Why is it, Dr Fatfat, why is it the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese army have been unable to make any headway at all up to and before this offensive began in disarming Hezbollah and taking away its missiles, which are situated on your own sovereign territory?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: It's a very interesting question. Look, you have an occupied territory by Israel in Shebaa. They don't get out, they don't withdraw from it. We have three prisoners in Israel. One of them is still there for 29 years. You understand 29 years in the prison. All the days, all over the last month, the sovereignty of our space in air, in water, on the ground was affected by Israel. So why did we have to have the resistance? We not have the obligation to do the resistance to this all Israeli aggression. If they want peace, it is so easy. They can get out from Shebaa, they can liberate the prisoner, give us the plan and the map of the mine in Lebanon they put 10 years, more than 10 years, ago and they respect our sovereignty. In this case, it is so easy to control all of the border by the Israeli army and to have a real control and real sovereignty on Lebanon. Basically, they don't want peace. They really prefer this situation because they prefer to make a war against Lebanon, than to have it against Syria or against Iran.
TONY JONES: Dr Fatfat, it sounds like you are in fact supporting the offensive which began with Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel. You describe that as resistance, do you?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Sure because Israel is doing the same. Now any act of war against Israel is a act of resistance. It's a war. They impose - they want this war. We want peace, but they prefer to have war. It is a price of the war for everybody.
TONY JONES: But it does seem clear that in this case, this war began with Hezbollah bombing with its missiles Israeli cities. Now, you are part of the Lebanese Government. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1559 under which the Syrian army was withdrawn from Lebanon, your government was obliged to actually disarm Hezbollah, but now you are telling us you actually support what they are doing.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: No, no. It is different. It is so different. We have, as I said, an occupied territory. We have a plan of seven points that our Prime Minister presents to the meeting in Rome a few days ago. It is so clear. After a complete cease-fire, we exchange prisoners, we ask Israel to go to the blue line, the border line, we can - so we stop to attack Lebanon and they have to respect our sovereignty. So we accept to have international forces. By international, what we mean is UN forces to control the zone, to protect Lebanon from Israeli attack and to respect cease-fire and the Lebanese army can have the control of all of the Lebanese territory so we can have no more attack. This is a solution to go to the agreement of armistice of 49 because this is not a war beginning now. It's a war of at least - very soon it will be for 60 years. It's a new battle.
TONY JONES: Dr Fatfat, do you agree Hezbollah, and their missiles, should have been disarmed in southern Lebanon or do you think they are in fact part of a resistance movement of which your government is part? It is quite confusing.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: No, no, no, not confusing. Until now - until we have occupied territory in Shebaa and we have prisoners, we have the obligation to have resistance. We cannot dismiss like that. We can not resign. What you are asking me is that you resign occupied territory with prisoners in relation to our space, of our water every day? It is not admissible. No one can admit this situation. If they respect the Lebanon territory, they respect Lebanon independencies and leave the Lebanese territory in Shebaa, they leave our prisoner, so no need to resist us or militia or anything. Now we can not except the nomination of militia to Hezbollah. It is a resistance and we need peace. We are working for a package deal and this package deal, this agreement, Hezbollah has partly accepted. So we present it to the international community in Rome and our friends in the Arab world and in Europe accept it. We have only now to convince the American diplomacy so we can have a lot of pressure on Israel to stop this war and have cease-fire. Then we are going to a real package deal to have real peace in our region.
TONY JONES: But, Dr Fatfat, it's pretty clear that up until now people have identified the Lebanese Government as being on one side and Hezbollah being on a side all of their own, operating a sort of state within a state inside Lebanon. You are saying they are in fact part of the same thing, that they are in a way connected, with an overall resistance against Israel which your government appears to support, if what you are saying is correct?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: I am saying so clearly until we have occupied territory in Shebaa, until we have prisoners, we need to have a resistance. We cannot dismiss - we cannot accept this situation. This is our general opinion in Lebanon. This is not the decision of our Government. As you know, Hezbollah is part of this Government. We have an agreement about it. We are working for peace, but this peace need to make peace. We cannot make peace alone with Israel. Israel wants also to do peace. Did Israel want it? No. They choose the war. That's their choice from 60 years ago. It's a package deal that we propose now.
TONY JONES: We're nearly out of time, but let me just ask you this: how can you make peace with a neighbour that you are firing missiles at?
DR AHMAD FATFAT: It's not the planes - the bombing, the hitting of our houses, of our bridges, of our roads over years. The missile is new in Middle East. Israel are bombing by air, from sea for 10 years. If you are speaking about peace, it must be a peace for everybody, not only for Israel. Now it is so different because this is the first time maybe that Israel is also suffering from war. We are speaking to the Israeli opinion. If you want peace, we want peace and immediately cease-fire. let's go to make a package deal and to stop this war. It is destructing everything in Lebanon, but is also making things in Israel and we don't know this. We need everybody in the Middle East to have peace. But if you want the peace with Lebanon, we must have also a real peace in the Middle East. Even now we withdraw Hezbollah and application 1559 and we have disarmed Hezbollah. Are you sure in five years or in 10 years it will not be another organisation and another resistance and justice will be in the Middle East with war all the time? We have to resolve all of these problems. So why we need a package deal and real peace. We need real peace in the Middle East.
TONY JONES: Ahmad Fatfat, I'm sure we could debate this all night. We are just about out of time. Our satellite is about to run out. Thank you very much for taking the time to come and talk to us tonight.
DR AHMAD FATFAT: Thank you. Thank you.
At 8/2/06, 8:39 PM, JoseyWales said…
Jean,
Thanks for visiting, hope you come back and good luck with your blog.
Re linking, let's revisit it later.
At 8/6/06, 2:14 AM, Papa Ray said…
Nasty Nas said that Hezbolla would sacrifice anything including it's children. I guess he was not kidding:
Lebanese report: Hezbollah planted disabled children in basement to die
Papa Ray
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