31/07/06, Rami Khouri, New massacre at Qana propels region into uncharted diplomatic terrain
Post
Hizbullah's backing stiffens resolve of siniora government
BEIRUT: The Israeli attack that killed scores of elderly people and handicapped Lebanese children in a civilian shelter in the Southern Lebanese town of Qana early Sunday has triggered reactions that may prove to be a turning point in the current fighting, and perhaps even in the 58-year-old Arab-Israeli conflict.
Television images throughout the world focused Sunday on two parallel scenes: the removal of smashed bodies in Qana and an angry demonstration in front of the UN building in central Beirut, where a small number of enraged young Lebanese entered the facility and trashed parts of it.
Those sentiments of rage by Lebanese citizens are the core of wider feelings that may soon be translated into novel, and potentially historic, diplomatic dynamics. This was reflected most dramatically Sunday morning when Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri told a press conference that, in view of the massacre at Qana, the Lebanese government has nothing to discuss except an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
Berri, a key link with Hizbullah, stated emphatically that all Shiites and Lebanese stand firmly with the government position. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice then announced that she was postponing her scheduled Sunday visit to Beirut to discuss how to end this crisis.
The unprecedented nature of these moves comprises the convergence of five forces in the Arab world that have never come together as they do this week: impassioned public opinion, sustained armed resistance by non-state actors, firm government positions that align with both previous elements, non-stop mass media dissemination, and a sense of Israel's military vulnerability.
Many Lebanese and others in the region passionately debate Hizbullah's ultimate aims, often mistrust its motives, and question the wisdom of its abduction of two Israeli soldiers on July 12. Yet that abduction, the subsequent Israeli attacks against Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, and Hizbullah's continued resistance have now pushed the region into uncharted diplomatic territory. Hizbullah's strategy, tactics, and capabilities are at the heart of this process.
Hizbullah's response to the Israeli attacks includes four key elements: It has absorbed massive bombardment without its military, media or leadership capabilities being significantly diminished; it has retaliated almost daily with rocket strikes, progressively ever deeper into Israel; it has inflicted relatively heavy casualties on Israeli ground troops and forced them to withdraw from the Bint Jbeil area in Southern Lebanon; and, it has succeeded in synchronizing its diplomatic position with that of Siniora, thus tempering criticisms that it acts alone against the interests of Lebanon and its government.
BEIRUT: The Israeli attack that killed scores of elderly people and handicapped Lebanese children in a civilian shelter in the Southern Lebanese town of Qana early Sunday has triggered reactions that may prove to be a turning point in the current fighting, and perhaps even in the 58-year-old Arab-Israeli conflict.
Television images throughout the world focused Sunday on two parallel scenes: the removal of smashed bodies in Qana and an angry demonstration in front of the UN building in central Beirut, where a small number of enraged young Lebanese entered the facility and trashed parts of it.
Those sentiments of rage by Lebanese citizens are the core of wider feelings that may soon be translated into novel, and potentially historic, diplomatic dynamics. This was reflected most dramatically Sunday morning when Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri told a press conference that, in view of the massacre at Qana, the Lebanese government has nothing to discuss except an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
Berri, a key link with Hizbullah, stated emphatically that all Shiites and Lebanese stand firmly with the government position. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice then announced that she was postponing her scheduled Sunday visit to Beirut to discuss how to end this crisis.
The unprecedented nature of these moves comprises the convergence of five forces in the Arab world that have never come together as they do this week: impassioned public opinion, sustained armed resistance by non-state actors, firm government positions that align with both previous elements, non-stop mass media dissemination, and a sense of Israel's military vulnerability.
Many Lebanese and others in the region passionately debate Hizbullah's ultimate aims, often mistrust its motives, and question the wisdom of its abduction of two Israeli soldiers on July 12. Yet that abduction, the subsequent Israeli attacks against Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, and Hizbullah's continued resistance have now pushed the region into uncharted diplomatic territory. Hizbullah's strategy, tactics, and capabilities are at the heart of this process.
Hizbullah's response to the Israeli attacks includes four key elements: It has absorbed massive bombardment without its military, media or leadership capabilities being significantly diminished; it has retaliated almost daily with rocket strikes, progressively ever deeper into Israel; it has inflicted relatively heavy casualties on Israeli ground troops and forced them to withdraw from the Bint Jbeil area in Southern Lebanon; and, it has succeeded in synchronizing its diplomatic position with that of Siniora, thus tempering criticisms that it acts alone against the interests of Lebanon and its government.
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