The cease fire is not there yet [Archives:2006/976/Opinion]
Yes, the heavy fireworks are over in the Levant, but for how long and what can one expect in the days to come? We have a fragile cessation of hostilities, or at least it seemed that way, for already Israel has violated this by making another futile effort to save face amidst the growing adverse repercussions of its defeat at the hands of Hezbollah and the brave Lebanese people, who stood behind their resistance movement to the last man. There can be no doubt that the Lebanese have sacrificed literally their entire infrastructure and the dwellings and workplace of most of the population of the country. But it should be borne in mind that the end result of this sad conflict was that it catapulted Lebanon into the forefront of regional power, not so much as a great military power, but rather as a country with a people that possess an iron will and unbeatable and fearless determination to maintain their independence and dignity, notwithstanding all the consequences and the might and fury of their enemy. More than that, the Lebanese, in their own way have shown that they can shove aside all their factional strife in the wake of facing up to a merciless aggression that has no misgivings about filling the valleys of Lebanon with the pure blood of its proud people.
Israel is now in a predicament indeed. Israel knows not what to do after having sought to project itself at the front line of a fictitious war on “terror”, which it and no other has brought into this world. Israel's existence was the product of terror and its continuity is now being pursued by the creation of a mysterious world of “Islamic fascism” and Islamic fundamentalist terror. Never mind that the latter have been clearly proven to be the clandestine works of the Mossad, the International Zionist Establishment and the power-driven mongrels of the New Right Establishment of the United States. Even if we can weakly assume that the latter are not the screenplay writers of this facade of gangsterism, which Islam is innocent of, surely as Robert Fisk and many other commentators have suggested (If You Want The Roots Of Terror, Try Here by Robert Fisk, The Independent, August 12, 2006), then for sure by feat, Israel has helped sow the seeds of terror by providing the grounds for the rise of terrorism. What else can be expected in a world where the avenues for seekers of justice have been closed and sealed from any genuine sufferers of oppression and aggression to pursue and the will of the mighty has been declared as the only justice that will prevail in this world. Undoubtedly, frustration and hopelessness are indeed roots that grow into chaotic displays of anger that seek their own means of arriving at justice and relief from the agonies of evil occupations and unholy alliances that seek to maintain a monopoly on the hold of the natural resources and the necks of the meek of this world.
So, now we are at a moment of suspense, suspense that has turned into anxiety by the first and latest violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, by the very mob in Israel that sought help and relief from the UN. This is after Hezbollah (or Hizbullah as some would spell it) threw some powerful punches at the Israeli forces that have been playing amok in the beautiful valleys of Lebanon, only to find that they were up against a foe that knows well how to face the chauvinistic arrogance of this Zionist cancer that has been implanted in the land that was ordained by the Al-Mighty to be the Land of Peace. As if Israel was telling the world, there will never peace here unless all have succumbed to what their missiles and smart bombs dictate. With Hezbollah around still, we can expect the challenge to this arrogance to be formidable indeed and apparently sustainable. The ball game is now back in Washington again, and there, as usual, is where the danger really lies.
Hassan Al-Haifi has been a Yemeni political economist and journalist for more than 20 years.
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