This war's tragedies
Sinora's tears, the ruin of Lebanon and the bloody cost paid by the Arab Israeli population
Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora fought back tears yesterday – and we alas, couldn't find the tissue to wipe them away. In fact we have no intention of looking for such a tissue.
Instead of weeping in front of representatives donned in suits and ties, Mr Siniora ought to search and find Hassan Nasrallah in his hiding place in the Lebanese capital, and show him the way out of the land of the cedars; otherwise Nasrallah will bring about the demise of Siniora's country.
We are laying our dead to rest everyday, we are spending considerable time in basements and bomb shelters, but in Beirut and in cities in the south of Lebanon and its villages, all hell has broken loose. Lebanon is ablaze.
Washington through to Wellington have pleaded to cease our heavy response, calling upon us to complete the job posthaste. If this is our decree, then it is the duty of the political and military echelons to make every effort in the coming hours and days, to bring the Hizbullah to its knees.
True, it's not an easy task. From the prime minister through to the last soldier, the IDF owes this to at least a million men, women and children who have been seeking prolonged shelter underground - if not to every Israeli citizen.
What a beautiful country, what a terrible state
Some tens of thousands of Israelis were lucky enough – lucky? to have visited Lebanon, to gamble at the De Liban Casino, to sample Lebanese hummus at restaurants atop the Shouf Mountains, to tour some of Beirut's streets, not all of them. This is one of the minor aspects of the war in 1982.
Those who toured Lebanon at the time, cannot, even today forget the sights, and they cannot fathom why the citizens of this country have decided to destroy it at all costs.
How beautiful Lebanon is with its mountains, valleys, ravines, green trees, houses perched atop and alongside the mountains. Switzerland in the middle of the Middle East.
However, only those who had traveled through Aley to Bahmadon, from the Shouf Mountains to the banks of the Avali, know how deceptive the landscape is. It conceals gangs of gunmen, and the nicest people suddenly draw knives and pistols. What a beautiful country, what a terrible state.
The Arab Israeli population never had it easy
The Arab Israeli population is paying the bloody cost of war along with the Jewish citizens of Israel. A relatively high number of Arab citizens have had their lives taken by their brothers, namely the Hizbullah. There's a hackneyed phrase that says "Katyusha rockets don't distinguish between Arabs and Jews."
One has to be somewhat dense to believe that the entire Arab population in Israel is rejoicing at the landing of Katyusha rockets on Israel. Since the founding of the state, generations of Arab citizens have come to believe in the advantages of Israel vis-a-vis its Arab neighbors, and consider themselves fully fledged citizens. Many of them serve in the IDF, almost always in combat units.
The majority of the Arab Israeli population is apathetic toward the developments and is caught up in its eternal conflict of "when my country is fighting my people." A minority enjoys seeing Israel being injured and there are others, who actually contribute to the Israeli security effort.
All in all, once again we are seeing the tragedy of a people that was incapable of appointing wise leaders from among its ranks, and who ended up sending hot headed representatives to the Knesset. The Arab Israeli population in Israel never had it easy, now it's taking the full brunt.
