After reading plenty of recent global headlines about protests against Israel's military actions in Lebanon it was a pleasant relief to read Fouad Ajami's piece in Friday's Wall Street Journal. As a Lebanese intellectual and Professor at Johns Hopkins of great stature he places the blame squarely upon Hassan Nasrallah as the ruler of Hezbollah.
It did not seem to matter to Nasrallah that the ground that would burn in Lebanon would in the main be Shiite land in the south. Nor was it of great concern to he who lives on the subsidies of the Iranian theocrats that the ordinary Lebanese would pay for his adventure. The cruel and cynical hope was that Nasrallah's rivals would be bullied into submission and false solidarity, and that the man himself would emerge as the master of the game of Lebanon's politics.
How unreasonable it is to expect that there would also be global protests over Hamas and Hezbollah attacks directed at Jewish children and other civilians? Perhaps somewhat less unreasonable than the prospects of outrage of these groups kidnapping Israeli soldiers.
I watched the World Cup a few weeks ago and have followed plenty of the analyses of Zidane's behavior. But perhaps Zidane's own explanation is the best when criticized by others:
"I reacted badly, and I would like to apologize for it," said Mr. Zidane, who has occasionally erupted in the past. But he said he didn't regret the head butt. "The guilty one is the one who provokes," he said.
As offensive as violence may be there is more than one side to a story. I don't consider the two events on the same level, the suffering of innocent people is horrific and tragic. We can compare the reactions to these two 'aggressors' and lack of criticism of their respective provokers. Notice that the most strident critics of Israel (and the U.S.) try to brand its actions as those of a terrorist, terrorist state, terrorist foreign policy, etc... ad nauseum. But the criticism doesn't stand the tests of rationality: the legitimate nation reacts to attacks upon its citizens and attempts to destroy it - the terrorist entity targets civilians indiscriminately; the soldier dreads going to war and does it so with reluctance - the martyr, terrorist and jihadist relishes bloodshed; the nation dreams of a day when there shall be no more war and can live in peace with its neighbor - the terrorist entity fears peace and fights against it at all costs.
Sandy Tolan offered a very rational discussion about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians on BookTV. I like his central message that both sides have been dehumanized by opponents. He would like to see both sides sit down at a table and talk. This just reminds me of the new BattleStar Galactica series. After the terrible war between the Colonials and the Cylons, every year the Colonials wait in vain at the table to work out negotiations but the Cylons never show up until they launch their offensive. Perhaps there is no one to represent the Palestinians or perhaps the vows to annihilate the Jews is simply to ingrained.
Neither side can find peace without finding security first then there can be fairness and justice.
UPDATE:
DifferentRiver posts about the asymmetry in reporting on Hezbollah and Israel.
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