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from my blog...because I'm too lazy to write anything
Quick re-cap for those of my friends or people who don't know what is going...which I hope all of you do know what is happening.
Lebanese terrorists under the guidance of Hezbollah (their government, will get into all this later) kidnapped an Israeli soldier who was in Gaza. Israel's response was to murder countless people in Gaza. Now, both sides are going back and forth, releasing missiles and total hell on each other.
The government of Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah. This means literally the party of god and has been there since 1982. It is under "dispute" as I guess we can call it if this is a terrorist organization. Canada and the US believe recognize them as such, but the EU does not call them that, only recognizes some of their terrorist acts. They have done many attacks on fellow nations and also their campaign is for wiping out israel.
Hamas "or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist militant organization. It is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union,[1] Israel, and the United States,[2] and is banned in Jordan.[3]
Created in 1987 by Shaikh Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is known chiefly for its suicide bombings [4] and other attacks directed against Israeli civilians, as well as military and security forces targets. Hamas' charter (written in 1988 and still in force) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.[5]
According to the U.S. State Dept, Hamas is funded by Iran, Palestinian expatriates, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.[2] In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas' leaders "should be held accountable for the war crimes and crimes against humanity" that have been committed by its members. The same report quoted Reuven Paz, former head of research for the Shin Bet (Israeli intelligence agency), who described Hamas as "an authentic product of Palestinian society under Israeli rule, more so than the PA." (Palestinian Authority).[6]
Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election and is now the majority party of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Its vehemently anti-Israeli rhetoric has found a receptive audience amongst Palestinians, some of whom perceived the preceding Fatah government as corrupt and ineffective. Hamas has also established an extensive network of welfare programs throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, further adding to its popularity. Since Hamas took control, the Palestinian territories have experienced a period of sharp internal conflicts, known as Fauda, in which many Palestinians were killed in internecine fighting.[2]"- previous Hamas article by wikipedia. Sorry, they did a lot better job of explaining them than I ever could.
Israeli government consists of a 120 seat unicameral parliament. The religion of the nation is predominantly Jewish. Both Lebanon and Israel's government have had extremely harsh actions towards one another.
This current situation seriously scares the hell out of me. Both nations are in a "war" (not sure if such was declared but it is what is happening) and are going to be bombing the hell out of each other. I can partially see why Israel is doing what they are doing, but their actions are uncalled for, especially at a time like this. Hezbollah was on the verge of recognizing Israel as a nation, and they go and do something like this. And it's not just that, everyone is getting killed because of it. I could see an attack on Lebanon and palestine's military forces alone, but it is being taken out on the citizens as well. This is undoubtedly due to Hezbollah's refusal to have the military wear uniforms so they will blend in with citizenry and ultimately create a higher citizen death rate.
So just bomb everyone and hope you hit the target, right? Well, at least on both sides there is movement towards evacuation, but even then it is not much. The U.S. has claimed to help evacuate those out to Cyprus but only 63 people (as of the time I have written this blog) have been evacuated, while France and many other countries are done or almost done evacuating. To digress for a minute, why don't we give a shit? Are American people of no importance. Furthermore, what are we gonna do to help? I'll get to that last one later...now, back to the topic.
Is any resolution between these two nations in sight? I doubt it, we're on a long bumpy road here. During this blog I do not want to side with the actions of either nation because I detest them both. However for those who condone one over the other... if you believe other people are responsible for their leaders then you must take responsibility for your own leaders. If you believe its okay for Israel to kill the Lebanese people because their government helps kill people, then you must believe also it to be okay for you to be killed because of your government kills people.
Capiche? It doesn't matter who started what, just that this is still continuing. Whose fault is it though? Naturally, it should be the peoples. These governments were elected by the mass populace and therefore represent their ideas. But, as we've seen within our own country, that isn't always the case. Sure, the people may generally support an idea the party has, and parties actions are supposed to represent the whole, but sometimes a government can either do something totally different or it did not allude to their total ideology. On both sides of the table actions were uncalled for, and I know a lot of people in Israel disagree with the government's actions. I think everyone is to blame, and no one is to blame.
So...what are we going to do? I feel that we should stop any and all foreign aid to that region so they may become desperate enough to try diplomacy. After all, the missiles and bombs used by israel are surely the ones we gave to them. Once they try for diplomacy, we build from the bottom up, giving as little help or as much is needed to the region. What ever happened to the peace coalitions Clinton was working on? They were doing great...that is until Bush came into office and disregarded them. The middle east is the way it is (at least in that part) because over the past 5 years it is the area that has been neglected. We need to hear all sides and work for some common ground, even if it is with terrorism.
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