The PR war in the Middle East

The tone of my future entries may probably change a bit because I can no longer stay silent about the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. I support Israel. I always have. There, it has been said. I finally decided to write about the conflict because of an interview that I can only classify as harrasmment by CNN anchor person Shihab Rattansi to an IDF spokesman a few hours ago. Rattansi was unprofessional, emotional, and his tone was antagonistic to the IDF spokesman. Did Rattansi have illusions of grandeur thinking he was Larry King and he had his own talkshow where he had free reign to dish out personal opinons? Wake up Rattansi, you are an anchorman! You deliver news and not color your reporting with your oh-so-important personal thoughts and feelings. If I wanted emotional, I'd wait for my period so I can start PMSing!

In this recent conflict, Israel has been (as usual) losing the international public relations war. With ridiculously transparent anti-Israel reporting, BBC is redundant to watch unless you want to be spoonfed on why you should hate Israel. But that is nothing new, Israel has always been vilified and see as the bully, the former David who has now become a Goliath, and allegedly behaves as one. The recent conflict has the American government standing by Israel, and the EU and the UN (suprise!) on the other.

What are Israel andHezbollah fighting for?

Hezbollah wants Israel, a soverign country, to be exterminated, erased from the Middle East map.
Israel wants Hezbollah, and not the soverign state of Lebanon, defanged and completely disarmed to stop them from kidnapping Israeli soldiers and firing missiles to Northern Israel.

The big question:

Who started the recent Middle East crisis?

I think there is little doubt that Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, was the aggressor, not the mighty Israel. If it were the other way around, and Lebanon was the military and economic power whose land was crossed and whose soldiers were killed and kidnapped by a known terrorist organization in Israel, I doubt a powerful Lebanon will just negotiate with the terrorists that have already done the same thing even prior to this July 2006 kidnap and killing. What, Israel is just going to negotiate with Hezbollah everytime Hezbolla decides to kidnap Israeli soldiers or launch katyusha missiles to Nahariya? WHy don't Israel just put a sign on their soldiers that reads ---> "2 (soldiers) for the price of 1(Hamas or Hezbolla prisoner) to make it things even more convenient for these rogue organizations?"

Israel has not occupied SOuthern Lebanon since 2000, yet Hezbollah still claims that it is exists because it is defending Lebanon from Israeli occupation. How can you fight an invading army that is not there? You draw them in, that's what you do. You create a situation where they are forced to enter SOuthern Lebanon so that you can cry "Invader! And we, Hezbollah will protect you helpless Lebanese civillians from these Israeli invaders!"

So how exactly will Hezbollah defend the Lebanese civilians? They do so by hiding in their homes, launching missiles from their kitchens, blending with the civilians so that even if they are identified, their proximity to the civilians will inevitably make the civilians human shields and create a bigger collateral damage on civilians, which is precisely what Hezbollah wants the world to see. The UN humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, has already accused Hezbollah of "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel. But I bet you didn't catch that on BBC or CNN.

When I see the images of civilian casualties in SOuthern Lebanon, Beirut, and Tyre, I know that there are same images in Northern Israel, but you will not see much of that in BBC (aka Beirut Broadcasting COmpany). Israel's mantra is to be strong, and never again be seen as helpless and weak after the slaughter of the holocaust. That is probably why instead of seeing a wailing bloodied Israeli woman in the news, you will see ambulances and volunteers rushing to the scene, and whisking away victims of missile attacks to the nearest hospital. Instead of young men rushing to the streets with guns and crying for Holy War against the enemy, wanting to be martyrs for the cause of jihad, you will see young Israeli soldiers silently leaving for battle, but not forgetting to leave a message to their mothers if the camera pans to them. None of them wants to die so that they will be rewarded by God for fighting the enemy of Judaism; they fight so that Israel can live.

Whatever is said about Israel, they did not instigate the conflict, nor do they use women and children as human shields then invite CNN cameras so the world can see what big bad Israel has done to innocent people. Hezbollah may be heroes for the economically deprived Shi'ite Muslims, but I wonder what the rest of Lebanon's population composed of Sunnis, Christians, and Druze think of the Hezbollah?

The truth is, Lebanese civilian's blood is in Hezbollah's hands, not Israel.