Call it what it is: A War

I think that the world is stuck in 1991 in its view of the whole Israel-Palestine thing. Look, I'm not an Israel nutso that thinks that one day the Palestinians will all wake up and realize that they love Golda Meir and long sideburns. But, it's about time to dump the tired, old frame that Israel is a big steel tank shooting ammo in every direction and that its Arab enemies are poor, defenseless children.

Yes, children have died in Palestine and Lebanon. The world has paid them due and so have I. If they were my children, I'd wanna kill whoever killed them. That I understand. But, this is not a war--as the world press is framing it--of Israel bombing children for no good reason and just destroying Lebanon because it sees fit. So, without further ado, here are some popular myths I'd like to squelch:

1) Israel is a nation of war that loves killing children. Yes, I have spoken with one former IDF soldier who sounded a lot like a sadist. But, I've talked to a hundred soldiers who are normal, caring individuals. Let's recount: ISRAEL LEFT LEBANON IN 2000. It left. Period. What did Hezbollah do? Oh, I don't know, arm itself for a war. But, why would it do that? Either: a) to serve Iran; or b) because it will always hate Israel. So, why would a country that loves war so much leave Lebanon and Gaza? You could say it got too hot in the kitchen for them, which is true. But, you could also say that it wanted to calm things down. It did things the right way with Lebanon, and, lo and behold, now its been provoked into another war. Sure, Israel "took the bait," but, after all, there were supposed to be no more issues on the table! Which leads me to ...

2) The whole Shebaa Farms and prisoners thing is bullshit. Shebaa Farms has been decided by the UN to be part of occupied Syria. There are 3 Lebanese/Hezbollah prisoners in Israeli jail--or at least there were on July 11. Those 3 guys are, let's say, not cool.

3) Israel loves killing civilians. I'm sure that some gung-ho soldiers love to kill Arabs. I don't doubt that. But, let's recount some of the arguments from the Iraq war. For one, why would Israel equip their bombs with computers if they were just planning on dropping them on kids? It just makes no sense. Two, why would Israel leaflet and bullhorn towns to get them to evacuate if they just want to kill innocents? It doesn't make sense. Now, sure, you might not immediately leave home if asked by an occupier, but Israel does normally give fair warning which is a lot better than what Hezbollah does. Finally, Israel wants to kill Hezbollah not the Lebanese. By killing Lebanese accidentally, it turns them toward Hezbollah. So, why the hell would they want to turn a local population that could be for them to the other side? The answer is: they don't. Civilians die by mistake. Doesn't mean that it isn't a tragedy.

4) Here's the kicker: Israel is simply massacring the Arabs. The Arabs are poor, defenseless goats being slaughtered. They're doing nothing. They're innocent. First of all, 100-200 rockets are being shot into Israel every day. Not Israel's fault that they don't kill tens of people. That's their intention, however. Second, a suicide bomber has been thwarted every four days or so in Israel. Not Israel's fault that they don't kill scores of innocents, but that's their intention. So, let's review: if Hezbollah and Hamas had better weapons they would be killing more Israelis. The intent is there. If you try to kill your wife but dont' succeed, you can still be tried for attempted murder. The terror groups want to murder Israeli civilians,. The fucked up thing is that the world and Arab press view things completely opposite. To them, Israel is the one that purposely kills, and the Arabs are poor and defenseless and being massacred. It's not like that.

In conclusion, I think that when the smoke clears it will be obvious to all that this conflcit was a war between Israel and southern Lebanon/Hezbollah. Just like the "Jenin Massacre," people now are crowing about all the senseless deaths and forcing this conflict into the frame of one-sided state-driven massacres. The Arabs, however, have progressed since 1991. They have better weapons now and, I would argue, deadlier intentions. In a generation, they will have even better weapons if peace is not forged--maybe even if peace is forged.

In Jenin, Israel lost many soldiers in a real battle with Hamas. Israel is really fighting real terrorists in southern Lebanon. Sure, we can talk about the mixed-up tactics and the atrocities of the day. But, let me be clear: Israel is not the only one commiting atrocities (yes, I'll admit "atrocities" have been commited). To all the Muslims who make a huge deal about Israel: where were you when the Bosnian Muslims were being led to slaughter? Didn't care, huh? How about when the Chechens were being leveled? No comment? Where are you when Mubarak makes a crack down? Or when the janjaweed flat-out murder and rape entire villages in the Sudan? Or when Shi'a and Sunni mass murder one another in Iraq? No rage? No protests? Huh. But those are real massacres, killing tens of thousands. I guess that Muslim life is only important when showing the bodies makes Israel or America look bad. That's a cynical statement, but I hate to tell you there are bigger fish to fry than Israel-Palestine or Israel-Lebanon. As I mentioned: Chechnya, Iraq, Bosnia, Sudan.

Sadly, the world has a fetish for the Jews. It is enamored by them and everything they do. It loves to hate them. They are vaunted as superhuman and derided as subhuman. But, we can never win. In Iraq, scores of children are killed every day by red-blooded Arabs. In Sudan, the same happens. And guess what: it's on purpose. Israel mistakenly kills civilians, which I admit is still bad and deserving of censure, and the Arab World rises to condemn and spit on Israel. Europe wakes from its slumber and shoots Israel a dirty glance: after all, Europe deals with Muslims with perfect equanimity. The fact that Israel has an air force is derided. How are they allowed to bombard the Lebanese when the Lebanese don't have the same capabilities? It's not fair! And Hezbollah and Hamas are lionized. They are fighting the great beast! Let's get over this whole David-Goliath syndrome and get to what this is really about Israel vs. the Arabs in a new form. Plain and simple. A war. You fight with the team you got. And, I'll admit, Hezbollah has a good team.

So, please, stop telling me that this shit is one-sided, that Israel likes civilian deaths, and that Hezbollah are a bunch of saintly martyrs. Israelis are dying too--not as much, but if you want more Israelis dead you know where to sign up. Israel is working hard to get rid of a deeply rooted and powerful terror group: stronger and more vetted than al-Qaeda. This is a war. Stop calling it a massacre or a tragedy. I promise that when the smoke clears the world will have wished it didn't make Israel fight with one arm behind its back.