Israeli terrorism trumps Lebanese terrorism... apparently

Beirut residents warned by Israel

Israel earlier dropped leaflets in the Lebanese capital saying: "After the continued launching of Hezbollah terrorist rockets... the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] intend to widen their offensive in Beirut."

Have any of those very correctly labeled "terrorist" rockets been launched from Beirut? No. Have any of the numerous previous attacks on Beirut stopped or even slowed the firing of terrorist rockets from far to the south of Beirut? No. So what then is the point of further pounding Beirut if, as Israel says, they intend to respond to the rockets being fired from many miles south of Beirut?

Is not obvious that the point is to apply pressure to Lebanese Shia to cease supporting Hezbollah?

Oh but wait a minute... that's the textbook definition of terrorism -- attacking a civilian population to get it to withdraw support from the enemy.

If that's what's really going on here then might not it follow that For Israel, innocent civilians are fair game?

My notebook overflows with reports of civilian deaths. On July 15, Israeli fire killed 21 people fleeing from Marhawin, including 13 children; no weapons, no Hezbollah nearby. On July 16, an Israeli bomb killed 11 civilians in Aitaroun, including seven members of a Canadian-Lebanese family on vacation; again, no Hezbollah, no weapons. On July 19, at least 26 civilians were killed in Srifa when Israeli bombs flattened an entire neighborhood; no evidence of military targets. On July 23, at least seven civilians were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed dozens of cars trying to flee the south after receiving Israeli instructions to evacuate immediately; no indication of weapons convoys in the vicinity. The list goes on, with about 500 civilians killed so far.

Israel says the fault for the massive civilian death toll lies with Hezbollah, claiming its fighters are hiding weapons inside civilian homes and firing them from civilian areas. But even if the Israeli forces could show evidence of Hezbollah activity in some civilian areas, it could not justify the extensive use of indiscriminate force that has cost so many lives.

Not only has Israel failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets; its own officials suggest that they have decided any civilian still in the south is fair game. Last week, Justice Minister Haim Ramon reportedly said, "All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah."

And that's from someone who has documented civilian deaths in other war zones and could at least find plausible military explanations for most of them. And also keep in mind that I am myself Jewish. Although I have on more than one occasion still been called an "anti-semite" by Jewish rightwing zealots irregardless of my ethnicity because I dared to challenge their brutally closed-minded ideological presumptions. Those who need to demonize me because the alternative might mean admitting that they might be horribly wrong will do so no matter what. C'est la vie. They're not the ones that I write for. I'm more interested in those who still have a conscience.

Since when has two wrongs ever made a right?