It's not that Hezbollah blends into the Lebanese population, but rather that
Hezbollah _is_ the Lebanese population - or at least that portion which
supports it. If Hezbollah were strictly a military organisation I could take
the point you are trying to make, or at least understand the argument, but
it is not just a military organisation, it is also political and social in
the sense that it organises and supports social programmes. To this extent,
members of Hezbollah are, or can be, civilians by default rather than just
military operatives. So to say that Hezbollah has been using civlians as
shields is missing the point.
Additionally, it comes back to the mythologising of the notion of human
shields. Who talks about human shields? It's not Hezbollah. What evidence is
there for the use of human shields by Hexbollah? Are there any videos of
civilians being paraded in front of rocket launchers? Of course not. It's
the IDF and Israeli spokespeople who refer to human shields and they talk
and talk until just by using the words it becomes a _fact_ that everybody
knows about.
(I've read the Egeland quote and would like have to asked him about his
sources. I don't believe Hezbollah would boast about the discrepencies in
casualty figures. Note that if there's a quote from Hezbollah to the
contrary I'll stand corrected.)
Take the aerial bombardment of Southern Beirut. It's a "Hezbollah
Stronghold",. according to media reports. But what does that mean? Does it
have walls and a citadel? No, it's made up of tower blocks with civilian
apartments. A few apartments are no doubt home to Hezbollah members, but the
majority aren't. Is this a another case of using human shields?
Now all this is not to say that Hezbollah fighters were not at any time
using villages as cover at the same time as those villages were occupied by
civilians. I've no doubt they were, but I'd lay odds that those villagers
were not unsupporting of the fighters. Does that make them human shields?
Behind all this, once more, I have to mention Israel's hypocracy. During
their occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, they supported the South
Lebanon Army, a militia organisation much like Hezbollah. Supported in terms
of providing money, weapons, uniforms, the lot. The SLA were reported to use
torture and though Israel denies their involvement, they do not seem to deny
that it took place.
Note also that Israel plays host to the 'Government of Lebanon in Exile'. On
the one hand Israel says it's acting in support of the democractically
elected government of Lebanon, on the other it supports what remains of the
SLA and which acts as a proxi government of Lebanon based in Jerulsalem.
Which is it to be and what would happen if Lebanon sent planes over the
border to bomb the SLA headquarters?
Without the detail and supported by a great deal of mythologising, the
conflict does sound so simple Phil. Hezbollah are terrorists and that's all
you really need to know. But its not that simple, you know that, but aren't
willing to deal with it.
Simon
Simon Ward:
"Phil, you're very close to presenting an argument for genocide. Is that what you intend to put forward?"
I am arguing that when one is counting the dead, and there is no clear distinction between combatant and non-combatant, that one cannot clearly identify civilian deaths.
The blurring of this distinction has other consequences. The congregation that I belong to has sponsored a Palestinian man here in Canada. He came almost ten years ago, leaving his wife and two children in a UN refugee camp in Lebanon. He came to Canada as a refugee because Hezbollah was threatening his family if he did not join. He was a Christian and a pacifist and so refused and fled. At first his claim was denied because it wasn't at all clear that he had not joined Hezbollah. How could he prove he did not belong to Hezbollah when there was no clear way of telling who belonged? After a number of years, Immigration Canada finally allowed that he most likely was not a member of Hezbollah and gave their approval for granting him citizenship. However, CSIS, the Canadian spy agency, blocked his application since they hadn't been convinced. And that is where things stand today. CSIS has told us that they will have an answer for him some time this Fall. In the mean time, his family waits. The Israelis bombed a part of the camp very close to his family. He insists that there were no Hezbollah in the camp. He is a friend of mine but he has no love for the Israelis and I don't know how he could know that Hezbollah doesn't have a presence in the camp.
The fact that Hezbollah blends into the civilian population has serious, often fatal, consequences for those who, in some cases, want nothing to do with Hezbollah.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns Toronto, ON
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