Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Explain THAT!


The government of the UAE, having seen the images of Lebanese ambulances being targeted and destroyed, thought a gift of 12 new ones was a good idea.






So off they shipped them in a cargo plane all the way to Damascus - the mighty bastion of Arab resistance allegedly.










And from there across the border to the Bekaa valley - home to some of the best wine you'd ever enjoy.







And up the mountain side on the last patent artery into the stricken capital, a gorgeous view of the cultivated valley by the way.





And then... KABOOM. Air strike hit the convoy.







You see, ambulances are dangerous things.
They get in the way of murder.

46 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

this is disgusting. It is time for this world to wake up. How can this be happening. What happened to human beings and what have we become.

4:13 AM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're a fool if you don't think the Syrians packed those ambulances with munitions.

You cowards should have stood up to Hezbollah. You think freedom is won by waving banners?

Lebanon's refusal to disarm Hezbollah is complicity in their terror. You are as guilty as Nasrallah. Unless you are willing to stand up and fight the terrorists stop whining at those with the guts to defend themselves.

R.

4:26 AM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I cannot believe this. Someone is defending bombing ambulances, and we are considered terrorists. I guess when terrorism comes from israel, it is self defense. when trying to rescue the injured comes from lebanon, it is called teroorism. That really makes sense!!!!!!.

4:37 AM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger en said...

Iran and its ally Syria are the principal backers of Hizbullah. On Monday, Israeli military officials said their planes had destroyed a long-range missile in Lebanon, named Zelzal, which Hizbullah had received from Iran.

This much is clear: Syria and Iran may have a hand in Hizbullah's attacks, but they are quite happy watching events unfold from the sidelines - together.

"Iran is the only ally Syria has right now," said Eyal Zisser, senior researcher at Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies. "They have a close and intimate relationship."

If Hizbullah attempts to draw Damascus into the fray, can we expect Teheran to jump in as well?
Not a chance, analysts say.

5:59 AM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger Unknown said...

This is why.

7:33 AM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger nour said...

such a good illustration Ramzi...

http://animaerrare.blogspot.com/2006/07/israeli-websites.html

8:29 AM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger blogagog said...

Only a fool would try to drive a vehicle from Damascus into Lebanon right now, ambulance or not. And only a fool would think that Syria didn't pack that vehicle with weapons. Ambulances in the hands of Syria/Hezbollah don't "get in the way of murder" as you suggest. Rather, they transport weapons to continue the murder.

I have no doubt that you know this to be true. Just letting you know the PR stunt isn't working. Stop Hezbollah to stop the war. Leave Israel alone, and they'll leave you alone. They've done it for years. Get over the real and imagined atrocities of history, or everyone in the area will only get more of the same. Let it go. If you don't want your children to die in the same war that has been going on for 50 years, let it go.

9:00 AM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger Xylocaine said...

Ramzi so well said and illustrated...

For the rest of close minded israelis....hizbulla has already packed well for this war...it doesnt need any munitions from syria...at least for the time being...you already recieved 1200 missiles.....there are still around 10,000 missiles to go!

12:31 PM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger Ramzi said...

Anon @ 4:13
Not all human beings are equal in value, you see?

Richard, Achillea, Blogagog
Those ambulances may or may not have been packed with arms. Assume they were. What you must realize that there are red lines to any act of self-defence which limits any such action at the lives of the innocent. Not just because I say so, not because the international treaties say so, but because your own humanity demands it.

You cannot do what you accuse terrorists of doing (ie. hurting innocent civilians) and then claim the higher moral ground.

You have to choose:
1) Democratic ethical people defending themselves
2) Radical militant state terrorizing countries that have terrorists

If you choose the first then you must surely believe that the end NEVER justifies the means. Never.

Captain Zanax
We are in agreement. When I said "allegdly" I fully meant that to be a sarcastic remark.

The Syrian regime is the primary force behind all Hizbullah actions, and when we say proxy war we mean it. Sadly, the Israeli government would like nothing more than to keep Assad in place because:
1) The alternative may be more Islamists.
2) He keeps the Syrian economy/society in the stone age.
3) He never and will never have the courage to stand up to you in a peace negotiation.

Look at Syria now. The whole country is watching frenzied coverage of the situation in Lebanon with war songs playing 24/7 and yet, the Golan is as quiet as a Carribean lagoon.

I'm not calling for more war, don't get me wrong. I'm just pointing out why Syria has not been a target so far and why Lebanon ends up paying for all Assad's empty rhetoric.

Nour
Thanks :)

12:39 PM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger en said...

Last update - 11:34 18/07/2006
It's not too late to say enough
By Yitzhak Laor

Israel has not been defeated in Lebanon because it has not bombed sufficiently and has not destroyed enough. Only self-censorship and the mystification of the Israel Defense Forces for many years have prevented the Israelis from learning what the IDF did to the Lebanese, and what the IDF's conceptual limitations are, as an organization whose strength is great and whose wisdom is definitely not. Only the insufferable status of the IDF in Israeli society has prevented Israelis who emerged by tooth and nail from the Lebanon War from pointing to the senior officers and saying: Enough.

Let us imagine the directors of Remedia (the importer of deficient baby formula that led to the death of three infants in 2003) explaining on television how to feed infants, or the engineers of the Versailles wedding hall (which collapsed during a May 2001 wedding that led to the death of 23 people) in Jerusalem explaining safety procedures. No one would let them finish a sentence. However, from the moment two reserve soldiers were abducted on the northern border - in the midst of killing in the Gaza Strip that is being conducted in a way similar to the destruction in Lebanon - the television channels defined the incident on the border as a crisis of the first rank, and generals from the previous war, the one that lasted for 16 years, and the fruits of which we are eating now, were brought respectfully to the studios.

How quickly we have forgotten the long occupation in southern Lebanon, how every entrance of a new major general into the position of GOC Northern Command was accompanied by promises of a comprehensive change in the "strategy." Major generals come and go and the IDF "strategy" has continued to be perceived as an expansion of the "tactics": more people killed and more shells and more strikes against civilians (see the horrors of Gaza). No one imagines that there is something wrong with the entire conception. Does the IDF's responsibility really boil down only to that soldiers have been abducted and killed on their watch (that is, ultimately only the captives and the killed are to blame?). Does the very need to transform a border incident, grave as it might be, into a causus bellum by means of chatter about "the eroded deterrent power" worthy of an accounting?

And therefore, in the studio sits Major General (Res.) Yossi Peled, one of the heroes of that war, which in military language is called "the Operation for the Peace of Galilee," and preaches: "What will happen afterward, I don't know, but I do know that it is necessary to kill as many Hezbollahs as possible now." He, and the other generals who are commentating on media channels, were in Lebanon and participated not only in the destruction of that country and in the most bitter defeat the IDF ever absorbed, but also in the engendering of Hezbollah.

The current war, then, not only cannot provide a real answer to Israel's problems, but also is being carried out by the same echelon of officers that was defeated in Lebanon, and with whom the accounts for that war have yet to be settled. Books were written, a protest movement arose, an investigative commission about one massacre was conducted, a defense minister who eventually became prime minister was convicted, and even though he is lying unconscious somewhere, his consciousness is apparently serving his pale shadows - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Justice Minister Haim Ramon and Co. - and another generation of impassioned youngsters is growing up around us and screaming over the Internet: "Stick it to them." Afterward, as they sit in the burning vehicles, perhaps in Syria, and the phrase "land mine" returns to the erased dictionary of the past, when they cry out "We want to go home," they won't have the sense to bequeath the recoiling from war to the next generation. That's because on television there still will be the same generals, with the same conception, with the same short and limited range of strategic understanding, and they will win the same enthusiasm from the public that just wants to "stick it to them."

The director of the American Jewish Committee's Israel/Middle East Office, Eran Lerman, is already recommending going to war against Syria. Anyone who is listening to talk about the need to attack Syria (in the name of "strategy") realizes that for those people, "strategy" means enlarging the circle of hostilities, including harming civilians. What Israel's "strategists" have to offer is the destruction of yet another country. Let us set aside the generation that is growing up in front of the television. Let us set aside the horrors that are being carried out in the name of all of us. It is enough to see the destruction of Iraq and its results. The Americans do not intend to live in this region, but we do live here. And did the trigger finger in the North think about the victims in the North, about the fate of the captives? No. This trigger finger thought in terms of "who will stick more to whom." Who can restrain the army? Only Israeli opposition. The heads of the army are even warning of such opposition. That is, it is not yet too late.

5:13 PM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's a hard thing to judge with honesty. Who tells the truth, who lies.

It's an easy thing to use some short-minded rethoric arguments to defend one side or the other.

Maybe we should consider that both sides are guilty. And innocent at the same time.

I do not know the first nation who thinks and acts as a sole man. Judge a man, and not a nation.

I will not judge you for all the murders commited by your friends.

6:49 PM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger C.R. said...

On aimerait une fois pour toutes, que des personnes qui se ressemblent autant que vous tous.. cessent de croire qu’ils sont différents des autres. Une fois pour toutes , demandez à ce que nos médias occidentaux s’occupent de vrais problèmes mondiaux et arrêtent une fois pour toutes de nous parler d’un pseudo conflit qui ne fait rien avancer. Débarrassez-nous de vous tous une fois pour toutes .. ou faites enfin une paix intelligente .. même si cela ne plaît pas à tous les intégristes des deux côtés …

7:17 PM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramzi,

thanks for the post, i hope your day is better and prayers for the my friends in Beruit helping those displaced.

I liked what Anon said, i hope Isreal is listening & reading and Condi get going already!!
Blessings,
Enriqueta

7:55 PM, July 19, 2006  
Blogger Frank Partisan said...

I found this blog at Colonel's.

Powerful post.

Syria doesn't want refugees. I bet it wishes, all this never happened. Syria is weaker than it was, when in Lebanon.


Regards.

10:47 PM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello,
a little message from Paris, I chocked by how the security Concil doesn't want to do anything in order to save Leban's population. As we used to see, Israel & Usa still the best friend especially to destroy arabic population, and this behind all the world. How Human Right is beautiful...
Congratulation for your work, I'm so hurt of what I see through my tv screen. And obviously, the media didn't show everything.. Palestine, Leban, Iraq, who's next?

Je soutiens tout le peuple libanais dans cette crise, que dire dans cette guerre, inégale et horrible. Mon soutiens va également aux Palestiniens, qui souffrent encore et encore.

Courage... et que dieu nous aide.

( sorry for my approximative english... )

11:11 PM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As an American, what I find disturbing is that unconditional support for Israel has become nothing short of a religious dogma over here.

If somebody voices the slightest question, much less hint that Israeli policies have ever been anything other than saintly and pristine and perfect, then people start snarling about "Anti-Semitism" and making accusations about being a terrorist sympathizer.

A lot of prominent American politicos seem to value Israel's well-being above that of their own constituents.

What's depressing is that their dopey constituents play along with it.

11:55 PM, July 19, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fact is Arafat and Fatah have long used ambulances to transport materiel and fighters. Yes, it is against the Geneva Convention to attack ambulances etc. It is also against the GC to use ambulances to conceal weapons and soldiers.

All your platitudes about humanity and values are pointless if the guys obeying the rules get killed by scum who don't. We know Hez., Syria and Iran don't obey the rules hence the rules are off. Bloggers may not like that but anyone with common sense knows it will be so. If Siniora gets the Lebanese Army to blockade the roads from Syria perhaps something could be arranged.

Lebanon should join the fight against Islamic Terror if you're all so offended. Since 2000, when Israel pulled out of Lebanon it's been easier to cooperate with Hezbollah than to uphold the UN resolution and disarm them. Now you are paying the price for those years of inaction.

I'm sure you're a swell guy but good intentions won't bring peace. History demonstates that peace is the product of victory not negotiation.

R.

12:35 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Richard said...

Sorry to change the subject a bit, but I was wondering if you might consider speaking with yr. fellow suffering Lebanese through this blog & tell them not to lash out at individuals who may reside in the "enemy" camp, but who feel their pain. I am an American Jew who opposes the Israeli attack against Lebanon & therefore understand their pain--but I simply do not understand this type of ranting hatred which came today from a Lebanese reader who visited my blog:

"Rima wrote:
Motherfuckers!!!!!!! You must go from the middel east you dont belong there. You are the most hating people in the world.
We hate you we hate we hate..
the war against you will start all over again.
Jude+ terroristen!!!!!!!!!

Website: Libanon
IP: 82.134.247.160"

I also received a similar comment from another Arab reader though w/o the profanity & hatred.

Clearly, these people haven't bothered to actually read my blog. They posted a comment just to vent their feelings.

Can we try, in the midst of our terrible suffering, to remember that not all Jews and not all Israelis are the enemy? Or has it gotten to the point where we are all the same no matter what we believe?

12:38 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Akiva M said...

Ramzi,

I understand the anger. But Israel has been saying for days that their entire strategic plan is based on denying resupply to Hezbollah through Syria.

So why in God's name would you expect a convoy from Syria to be left alone, regardless of the type of vehicle??

This strikes me as pure stupidity; surely there was a way to coordinate the delivery of ambulances with Israel so that the Israelis would know that they were not packed with syrian weapons.

Heck, offer to deliver the ambulance through Israel and have them drive across the Israel/Lebanon border, and Israel would not be able to say no even if they wanted to (and I don't think they would want to).

But sending those ambulances via Syria ensured that they would end up as so much scrap metal.

12:39 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Ramzi said...

Urgh, I spent 30 minutes typing out a reply to everyone and then the *$&#% PC froze and crashed.

So here goes, again:

Yael
Pressure Hezbollah! Of course!
Why didn't we think of that before.


Captain Zanax
I hope it isn't too late, but I fear that it is.

Anon @ 6:49
So lets not judge then and lets call for an end to the violence.

C.R.
Merci! I had to use an online translator to get what you wrote, I'm one of the rare bilinguals in Lebanon. Sorry!

Enriqueta
Lets pitch in and buy her a ticket!

Renegade Eye
I fear a weak Syria more than a strong one.

By the way, who is the Colonel?

Anyssa
Lets hope for peace.

G.S.
I never question the average American's support for all that is good and just.
I do question what the American public knows/reads.
So, uninformed perhaps.
But not dopey.

Richard @ 12:35
Your argument is one big contradiction I don't know where to start!
1) "Arafat and Fatah" have nothing to do with this. Do you have proof that Hezbollah did this? Or are all 'arabs' the same?
2) "the rulez are off" so you behave like they do? Well, then you are no better. Allow me to call you a terrorist too.
3) Lebanon has not been a soverign nation since 2000. We have since 2005 and we spent all last year trying to disarm Hezbollah PEACEFULLY..
4) "History demonstates that peace is the product of victory not negotiation" - this I really really hope you don't mean. Because every victory means a defeat on the other side, and Jews of all people must know that defeat and 'harmony' don't go together.

I'm sure you're a swell guy too.

Richard @ 12:38
If I could speak for all Lebanese bloggers than I would apologize, but sadly I don't. Nor do any of us.
As you said, it's venting anger. I'm not excusing, but isn't that what war does? Blurs all the colors into black and white, 'us' and 'them'. No place for tolerance, dialogue or understanding.

My advice is to ignore it, and just let it slide.


Akiva
I doubt that they sent them in without a word.
I doubt the IAF would have believed them anyway.

P.S. check your blog for a comment

2:33 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Unknown said...

ADD THIS PLEASE!!! ASAP

http://mirvat.blogspot.com/2006/07/united-for-peace-and-justice-please.html

2:49 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Israel: sous pretexte d'un antisémitisme permanent (qui, plus que les contraindre, les aide énormémént), cet état n'a jamais pu respecter les frontières qui lui ont été imposées par la communauté internationale. C'est aujourd'hui le pays le plus raciste, qui fait subir à ses voisins (sans réel pouvoir sauf celui de kidnapper deux soldats) des atrocités qui, par leur longue durée (50 ans environ) deviennent plus graves encore que les injustices de la 2nde guerre mondiale. Implanté au milieu de pays qui, en règle générale, vivaient en paix (mis à part quelques petits conflits intérieurs), Israel, n'a jamais pu assumer le vol d'une terre qui ne lui appartient plus depuis plusieurs milliers d'années. Violence non assumée, liberté volée à ses voisins: au Liban, par exemple, nul ne peut être candidat à la présidence sauf accord préalable d'Israel; la Paléstine, si on peut appeler ça un pays, cherche à se créer depuis 50 ans déjà, nous connaissons le résultat. Jamais il n'est avoué que si Hezbollah a été crée, c'est pour la défense de frontières sans cesse convoitées par la cupidité d'Israel. Qui a crée le Hezbollah? Syriens et Iraniens. Aujourd'hui c'est le Liban qui est attaqué. À l'issu de cette nOuvelle guerre, que va-t-il rester? La Syrie sera toujours là, l'Iran sera toujours là (armé, probablement), Israel aura surement colonisé le une partie du Liban, et la Syrie l'autre partie. Il restera en place les causes de cette guerre injuste, et le Liban aura disparu, mais pas Hezbollah (dont le chef est réfugié en Syrie). Deux soldats israeliens = des centaines de civils morts? Apparemment oui. Est-il juste? Il faut arrêter.
La légitimité d'un état juif n'est pas remise en question, mais l'endroit et tout ce qu'il se permet, oui.
Des chars, des colons, des morts sur leur passage, et derrière, un George W Bush défenseur d'un monde libre. J'en rigole encore. Un mur pour "protéger" une population (juste un prétexte raciste, oups, pardon, antipalestiniste - vu que le mot racisme n'a désormais plus aucune valeur, vu qu'on distingue bien antisémitisme et racisme, utilisons aussi les mots, anti noirisme, anti islamisme, anti bouddhisme, anti christianisme, anti americanisme, anti sudaméricanisme), des colons pret à aller construire sans aucune autorisation règlementaire sur des territoires ayant appartenu à des ancetres qui remontent à des milliers d'années.
Car aujourd'hui, même l'arrière grand-mère de l'ancêtre de 7 générations du plus ancien habitant Israelien ne sait pas quand ce territoire a été abandonné.

Bref, pourquoi ne pas attaquer la Syrie (ce qui apaiserait le Liban) ou l'Iran, ou les deux, à la place du LIban, si ce n'est pour agrandir son territoire, plus que pour le protéger?
La Syrie veut reprendre le pouvoir qu'elle a exercé au Liban pendant trois décennies, Israel a encore soif de nouvelles terres. Il esiste aujourd'hui une collaboration tacite entre ces deux pays qui relève d'un foutage de gueule général.

Le Liban est une victime totale dans cette histoire: ca n'est pas les quartiers généraux du Hezbollah qui sont attaqués, c'est les civils, pour qu'ils aient peur et aillent se réfugier chez les soi-disant gentils Syriens, et que des colons, comme des fourmis vienent s'installer sur ces terres qu'ils revendiqueront des l'instant qu'ils y mettront un pied.

Et tout ça n'est qu'une goutte dans un océan de mensonges et de victimisation gratuite. Car parlons-en, Il est vrai que les atrocités subies par les Juifs pendant la 2nde GM sont indiscutables, mais on oublie vite les cambodgiens, les arméniens. On oublie aussi les Africains, victimes de l'esclavagisme pendant des siècles, et ça, c'est pire que la Shoah, car c'est une Shoah étendue, on ne se contentait pas de les tuer à la tache et aux armes, mais en pus on les laissait se reproduire pour que ca ne finisse jamais (Ca n'a pas duré que 7 ans). Sans parler des Indiens d'Amérique, des peuples d'Amérique du Sud... et des pays musulmans traités comme des barbares depuis les croisades et qui aujourd'hui, par des actes condamnables certes, ne font que répondre à toutes les agressions subies gratuitement dans le but de les priver de leurs richesses.

La solution: revenir sans discussion aux frontières de 1967 et s'y tenir (donc pas de colons). Exercer une pression permanente sur Syrie et Iran (de la part de la communauté internationale). Accepter immédiatement la création d'un réel état Palestinien qui puisse voir son peuple prospérer et les réfugiés rentrer au pays. Cesser tout embargo et chercher à enrichir une culture régionale par la multiplicité des religions, au lieu de construire un mur de haine. Arrêter la paranoïa, car c'est une excuse pour que la tension reste en place.
Laisser à chaque pays sa propre richesse: les Arabes ont du pétrole, les Américains ont Coca-Cola, Nike, Microsoft (qui valent autant, et pourtant personne ne cherche à les prendre ou à modifier en sa faveur les prix décidés par les Américains). Et surtout laisser le Liban se développer à nouveau, dans la paix et l'acceuil de toutes les religions comme il s'est passé pendant des siècles.

Il y aurait tellement d'autres choses à dire, mais je vais arrêter là.
En tant que Juif français, j'ai honte du comportement d'Israel, moi qui ai vécu au Liban et qui y ai été traité tout d'abord comme un être humain.

3:17 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Ramzi. This is one of the situations where words can be more horrible than deeds. Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is not to be tolerated period. Some of the comments published here and elsewhere suggest as dear Mr. Bolton openly said that Israeli civilian casualties stand on a higher moral and ethical ground than the Lebanese because the Lebanese harbor terrorists! I fear that the very language of human rights will be slowly changed and redefined so as to blur the nuances and confuse supporters with militants. On a related note, we have heard Zarqawi and others call for the death of women and children in the "infidel" camps in the name of Allah. Now we hear rabbis in the West Bank condoning the killing of the innocent in times of war as per the Torah.
Do we want to live with that? With the loud and hateful voices and the subtle and ugly hints that in war we should strip off our humanity?
That the goriest, unthinkable, and more has happened throughout history and will continue to happen I fear is more than true. But it is when we start justifying it and come up with novel terms to describe it that we really come closest to the worst in us.

3:32 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All the liberal Lebanese are welcome to have the moral high ground. I acknowledge your moral superiority. We the simple Israelis just want our soldiers back and Hiz disarmed.

Apparently the Shia population in Lebanon believe that it is better to have the country trashed then return our soldiers. I cannot say I understand this but I respect their position. I and most Israelis respect the Shia's decision and hold them responsible for it.

As for the rest of the Lebanese, I cannot have any respect for you. Either fight Israel or fight the Hiz. Anything else is intellectual mastrubation. Steadfastness and sloganeering is just another way of sitting on your ass and not assuming responsibility.

There will be no cease fire without the implementation of 1559. Learn to live with it, or better, bring about its implementation.

3:47 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This issue is clear for me as I do not label Israel, Hezbollah, or the lebanese either terrorists or self defenders. I do however choose to pick sides in every conflict. I would like to see my children grow up in an enovironment free of opression and facism. The most important right I feel everyne should have is the right to be left alone. Unfortunately for the lebanese I choose Israel, many "Arab" countries and pretty much the rest of the world. Hezbollah, Iran, Syria all stand for a lifestyle that is no better than that of the Taliban or Nazis. If they had the type of control the US, Europe, and China has, you would see massive genocides. That is the way it is and the right to be left alone is worth defending.

6:33 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes....'fight' is all what you have to offer...It is no surprise that part of the Israeli society nurtures the same concept imported by Hezbollah from Iran: 'a society of war' or to put it in other terms the culture of death. To you 'simple Israelis' I say that we have tried fighting each other for 15 years and it was horrible....we have tried fighting Israel, and fighting Syria and fighting the Palestinians....we have fought on all fronts to no avail....the only solution was to try to build a modern state. It is obvious that 'simple Israelis', or hotheads or name them whatever you like took the stupid decision to 'fight' Hezbollah in the same stupid way they did in the 80s and the 90s which ended in Hezbollah's "victory" in 2000! Till today Hezbollah did not lose much, but Lebanon is half destroyed with 300 dead and 1000 wounded; Israel has lost 35 of its citizens also.
May be 'simple Israelis' should know more about Shia in Lebanon. Hezbollah is not the Shia, and many Shia do not support this war. Besides, there is no such thing as 'the Shia and the rest.' The Shia are part and parcel of the Lebanese society.
Go seek advice with Israelis who do not want it 'simple' before 'masturbating' your mind on this blog, may be they will come up with better ideas for peace.

7:11 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Sadiq said...

Oh Hell no!

God bless Lebanon and its great people.

7:59 AM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I swear, it's like all the Israelis forgot that Hezbollah was created in response to their country's thirst of new territories. If Israel was able to stick to the borders defined by the international cummunity, there would be less problems. I think Lebanon as well as Israel, has the right to protect hisself, it's just sad that it has to be with such violence...
Anyway, at the then end of this war, what will be left? Israel, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah... guess what's missing? Lebanon!!

10:49 AM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Tsedek said...

The IAF is shooting on everything that even resembles transport of rockets. Shouldn't those sending this humanitarain help know this? That's one of the efforts of this action: preventing rockets to move from side to side.

Why wasn't it coordinated with the international Red Cross and the truck painted with recognizable symbols?

I'm sorry for the loss of humanitarian equipment...

Tse.

4:46 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Fight Israel or fight Hiz." ok! but Israel must stop invading other people's lands telling everyone it's theirs. I don't like Hiz, but at least it's not as hypocrite as a so-called human country. Stop invading and you'll see all the arabs fight the criminal organizations within their territories.
Israel wants to buils a wall of hate? ok, but build it within your borders. You want to fight criminal organization, then stop sending colons to follow you troops and take possess of lands that don't belong to you! Just stick to the borders of 1967!

4:49 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Franklin said something true and unconceivable: there can't be any candidate for presidency in Lebanon without previous according of the US and Israel... How right is that?

5:02 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have lived through a war in my country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and I pray that war in Lebanon does not count another single innocent victim! The world has come to it's very end, and it's a shame, disgraceful fact that G8 is openly supporting Israel. They never had their own land, nor should they ever have, it's a sort of universal justice. God bless!

5:28 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you imagine that? SS Tsahal is killing Lebanese children trying to fly of what's left off the country... I'm sure there is a logical explanation to that: all those children had to carry in their asses long range missiles and were going to give it to hizbolla. Antisemitism cannot grow after this kind of sutuation. How can people hate peaceful Israel, land of holy people...? Too bad we didn't conquer Mars yet, that would be be nice place for Israel, although I think they still would send rockets to Earth.
Here is a sentence you can read on several sites and newpapers: "the moral values of a country depend on its behaviour towards Israel"
Here is a question: would there be peace in Middle East if Israel was not there? we all know the answer

6:33 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To eeee...
We never asked someone else to solve our problems. In fact we have been repeatedly asking Syria, Iran, Israel and the international community to let us sort our own problems and try implement 1559 through national dialogue.
However, peace is a different thing and as it involves two countries I rather think both parties involved SHOULD contribute to the solution. Unilateral approaches are getting no one anywhere.
PS. More than few people support Hizbollah actually and that is why it is difficult to shove 1559 upon them. The alternative was the possibility of civil war and that should never be an option. We all agree that they should be disarmed but we don't see how destroying a country and proving that Hizbollah is indeed a threat to reckon with will help.
The UN investigation into the killing of PM Rakik Hariri was certainly one way of putting more pressure on Syria, but no you'd rather have us plunge into bloodshed again than think of rational approaches.

7:01 PM, July 20, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Roa:

you say that you didn't want a civil war, so you didn't do a damn thing about Hezbollah... You didn't care it was firing on Israel... After all, these were only Jews...

Which means that all that befall you now is deserved... You were afraid to assert sovereignty and preferred to let a few Jews be murdered... Well never again!

So your choice was dumb... The question is whether you will learn from it... I don't think so...

11:39 PM, July 20, 2006  
Blogger Akiva M said...

Ramzi

Thank you for the comment. I will be posting again soon (just got started on this blogging thing and work got crazy, so I'm slacking) and will respond to you there as well.

BTW, some good news:

"Annan also called on Israel to "establish safe corridors for humanitarian workers and relief supplies to reach the civilian population."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Thursday night that Israel would allow the opening of such a corridor, with the assistance of the French, to bring in humanitarian supplies from Cyprus."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153291960150&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

12:36 AM, July 21, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Take heart, young fellow, be strong. I wish I could help you. I truly hope this won't last.
I keep admiring the cool and lucid way you face such adversity. Bravo.

12:47 AM, July 21, 2006  
Blogger Assistant Village Idiot said...

Fascinating repetition. The critics of the post say "You should have kicked hezbollah out. If not, take the consequences." The reply always comes, never answering that idea. "But Israel is bad and does bad things, and all you stupid westerners don't understand that." The closest someone comes to answering is to say "Well, letting democracy work would be better." Well duh, yeah, but it didn't.

You look at only one side of the balance pan. What is it you cannot bear to look at in the other pan? You beat your breasts about humanity, trying to claim that you are human and the Israelis are beasts. Not standing up to hezbollah was a greater failure of humanity. Packing ambulances with munitions is a greater failure of humanity than bombing them. If you will not make the difficult choices, fraught with risks and responsibility, then you will always have to endure the decisions of that who will take the risks and attempt to fix horrible situations.

7:04 AM, July 21, 2006  
Blogger Terry Crane said...

Interesting, can the author even tried to tell an ambulance from a truck with missile launcher from a jet fighter? Or can he possibly tell an ambulance that is empty from the one that carries a few dosen of B-26 "GRAD", mistakingly called Katyusha by Western media? Or we should trus Syrians and him that thing like that will never happen??? Well, abundant lies in this blog convinced me and I believe many other people that one who lies like that will load GRADs into an ambulance without winking.

11:39 AM, July 21, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ramzi,

i would much rather send the money to relief efforts, but nice idea!

blessings,
enriqueta

10:17 PM, July 21, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi I'm a jew from France. basically I think Hezbollah started all of this by kidnapping the israeli soldiers on purpose...still I don't understand why israeli people support an attack where the israeli army openly forces civilian people out of their homes....I think we jews with our history should remember what we suffered instead of trying to impose it to others.

this is all a big ugly and alas deadly mess. I wish i could say that the israeli are the good guys...alas they appear to be as inhuman, insane and barbarous as ....well as the guys on the other side.....shame on you all and shame on us too, on our governements who are only interested in getting out a few hundred of their own while lebenase and israeli people die in Haifa or Beyrouth........i'm disgusted by all this.

11:37 PM, July 21, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My dear friends,

let us go back in time to the year 1918 wih the system of administration established by Britain in Palestine as mandatory government for the migrating Jews to the area. Jewish migration was heavily encouraged and by 1922 Jews had formed 11 per cent of a total population of three-quarters of a million. By 1949 they formed more than 30 percent of a population which had doubled. In November 1947, the UN gave its consensus to a partition plan of Palestine. On May 14th, 1948, Britain withdrew from Palestine and the Jewish community declared its independence as the state of Israel.

Moreover, this is not enough for the Jews. According to them, the promised land (according to a covenant God made with them) extends from Nile to Euphrates. Therefore, our Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan are countries Jews wish to make solely theirs, as recorded in Joshua 1:4, "Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates — all the Hittite country — to the Great Sea on the west."

Israel's regime and Israel's history and politics so far have been based according to the Torah. I hope you readers are aware that in the Jewish religion, anything that is not Jewish (for example a christian or a muslim), is considered a Gentile or Goyim in Hebrew and this is a very offensive term. Are you also aware that according to the Jewish religion, the best of Gentiles should be killed? And that by doing so they are pleasing their God, whichever God this is.

As for America, more than 60% of the Senate is Jewish. America and its government is being controlled by Jews.

Israel has always been off beat in its attacks and it has always been the first to begin an attack. Let us please not forget that Israel has been raping Lebanon for 20 years and it has been raping Palestine for more than we could remember.

Once I was watching an interview with an Israeli girl about the situation in Israel and all she could say was " I am not enjoying my life, I live in fear and I can't even go out clubbing " Can you imagine that this Israeli is worried about going out clubbing whilst children have been dying in Palestine and Lebanon prior May 25th, 2000.

I think after the shameful wars of 1967 and 1973, it is about time Israel learns that it can be beaten.

So who is the perpetrator?

Please, open your minds to who is the real enemy at stake.

5:40 AM, July 22, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nasrallah and Assad are trying their hardest to resuply Hezbollah with rockets, and you expect Israel not to blow up every convoy coming in?

Are you really that stupid?

There's a humanitarian shipment coming in, with all goods inspected by Israel, make the right queries and you'll get ambulances.

But get it through your stupid skull: so long as Hezbollah continues to use civilians for cover, mosques for cover, ambulances for cover, and civilian convoys for cover, things like this ambulance shipment will be fair game to the Israeli air force.

8:13 AM, July 22, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In a military action, a closed heavy transport truck, moving from a hostile nation known as a munitions source, is a fair target. You failed to mention that Israel clearly stated that it would attack transport convoys & trucks coming from Syria.

Just so you know, I am opposed to the current military actions, but I also have served in Bosnia. You remember Bosnia, don't you? Muslims were massacred & killed and no one in the arab world did very much to help. Although Turkey and Israel were able to take in refugees and send medical and humanitarian aid. I know because an Israeli and Turkish medical team looked after our unit after we were hit by sniper fire & RPGs.

8:34 AM, July 22, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Free people from Lebanon, fight the Hezbollah and build up a ral democracy. Then you will get peace and freedom

12:29 PM, July 22, 2006  
Blogger Ramzi said...

This argument is going in circles and with my readers in Israel rushing to justify something while totally missing the point.

The truck convoy was struck BEFORE Israel warned against truck and convoy transport. Many trucks were hit and civilians killed before it made it 'official' policy.

The point was not the convoy of new ambulances from Syria, the point was the taking out of ambulances in the first place. The Israeli pilot that strikes them does so on the basis of a chance that they are being abused to carry fighters. This "chance" even if it were 90% leaves a 10% chance that the passengers are wounded civilians escaping to a a hospital and ICRC considers this illegal and against the rules of law.

Now if you choose to defend this by pointing out that Hezbollah using these ambulances is also illegal you have no argument because:
a) You have no proof, while the burning ambulance speaks for itself of your aggression.
b) Hezbollah is not a democratic state that has signed countless treaties for human rights.
c) So you are no better than Hezbollah then, stop claiming the higher moral ground.

At any rate, I'm disabling the comments on this post because the language has deteriorated and there is no more to be added really.

2:38 PM, July 22, 2006  

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