Dahiya doctrine in Gaza posted by Richard Seymour

Norman Finkelstein mentions something I hadn't heard of before, namely the 'Dahiya doctrine', first mentioned by Israel's Northern Command General Gadi Eisenkot in this interview with Ha'aretz back in October. The doctrine is quite straightforward, as reported by AP (one of two English language news sources to discuss it, and the only major one):

"What happened in the Dahiya quarter in Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired upon. We will apply disproportionate force upon it and cause great damage and destruction there," he said. "From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases."

“This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved”.

Discussing the plans, the International Law Observer commented:

Regional scholars working in the field of military strategy and national security have confirmed that the IDF is putting together a new programme for facing up to possible upcoming wars, whether with Lebanon, Syria or the Gaza Stip. The solution, as it appears, has come in the form of a “disproportionate eruption” through a newly acquired emphasis on air bombardment, where Israel plans “to act fast and with disproportionate force…in order to punish in a scope that would oblige long and costly reconstruction processes.”

It is, as the Heathlander points out, a doctrine based on the annihilation of a major population centre which even Human Rights Watch felt compelled to condemn because of the attacks on infrastructure and civilian apartment blocks where the IDF believed support for Hezbollah was strong. Israeli military doctrine as currently applied in Gaza involves the deliberate perpetration of crimes against humanity. This is why medical centres, ambulances, apartment buildings, a university, mosques, a school and a children's hospital, a television station, and parliament buildings are being blitzed.

Before Israel began its latest operation, it engaged in what can only be described as a terrorist cold-calling campaign, in which Palestinian families were warned that their houses may be bombed if the Israeli military suspected it was hiding weapons or Hamas members. The attempt to preemptively terrorise non-combatants worked in some cases, sending families fleeing. This is perhaps not as crude as the air-dropped leaflets and radio messages used by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, during which civilians were simply ordered to leave on pain of fiery death, but if Israel intends a ground assault, this is surely to be the next step. Then they will say, as the US did in Fallujah, 'we ordered them to leave, so only bad guys can remain', as if the war crime of ethnic cleansing justified the war crime of mass bombing.

Labels: dahiya doctrine, gaza, hamas, hezbollah, Israel, lebanon, zionism

"Islamofascism" posted by Richard Seymour

Or, They Are All Hezbollah.

Labels: 'islamofascism', hezbollah

Lebanon Strike posted by Richard Seymour

Via 3arabawy and Sursock, I hear that there's a general strike in Lebanon. Apparently, the army are being sent in to, er, keep order. Though I've seen no indication that Hezbollah are backing the strikes themselves, pro-American commentators are blaming Hezbollah for the general sense of disorder. The truth is that Hezbollah have been extraordinarily tentative about the effective collapse of the government, and are rather too reluctant to rock the boat.

Check out Sursock and 3arabawy for updates.

Labels: hezbollah, lebanon, strike, trade unions

Nasrallah on the Bush administration. posted by Richard Seymour

From Hezbollah TV, an interesting discussion of Nasrallah's impressions of the US:

BEWARE OF RELIGIOUS TREND IN US ADMINISTRATION
Sayyed Nasrallah said that to better understand this visit, one can refer to studies, facts, researches and books issued in the US by reliable think tanks. "From these studies, we can conclude that the current US administration continues to be a coalition of three groups: The first is major oil firms, since key figures in this administration either own oil companies or arms factories. So the second is large arms industries. The third group is a religious trend in the US called Christian Zionists. However I do not want to use this term so that the Divine Christian religion is not offended." His eminence explained that this religious group is a strong constituent of the tripartite coalition. The other two groups are interested in controlling oil resources and marketing weapons, he added.
"However the third religious group has millions of supporters, controls media outlets and enterprises. This group believes that it is paving the way for the return of Jesus Christ to Earth, They believe that one of the conditions for his return is the rise of a Jewish state; a condition that materializes in Israel. It is also required that all the Jews from across the globe live in Palestine.
What they are doing for the Jews is not out of love, not to defend Semitism, not to show regret for massacres, but because they deride Israel for the sake of their own ideological project. Hence, I would like to point to two issues: What this religious trend is undertaking should not give anyone in our Arab and Islamic worlds any reason whatsoever to hold the Christians responsible for it. Whatever they are doing will backlash because Jesus Christ peace be upon him will not advocate Israel, oil firms, weapons industries or any tyrant on this Earth. He will advocate the oppressed."

This is worth mentioning because it amounts to a slightly more sophisticated analysis than some of Nasrallah's previous statements (I mean the ones that can be verified) in which he appeared to subscribe to the sort of "wag the dog" thesis that John Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt and even James Petras have been putting about.

Labels: hezbollah, Israel, lebanon, nasrallah, US imperialism

World Against War - International Peace Conference posted by Keith Shilson

Watch all videos from the conference here.

Labels: afghanistan, anti-war, cairo, conference, hezbollah, iran, iraq, occupation, palestine, peace, turkey

The media's war on Lebanon posted by Richard Seymour

An interesting study by the ICMPA discusses the media's coverage of last year's war on Lebanon:

Labels: hezbollah, idf, Israel, lebanon

Phalange fascists booted out posted by Richard Seymour

The seat formerly held by the Christian Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, has been lost to Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, which is part of the opposition. Gemayel has responded by pouring vitriol on the Armenian Christians who may now have to contend with the violent pro-Gemayel 'Lebanese Forces', and by resorting to racist, sectarian arguments. The opposition seemed like it had pretty much pissed away its near-victory last year due to the conservative strategy of Hezbollah and Aoun, but this is an encouraging blow to the "March 14th movement" and its overseas allies.

Now, the UN are whinging that arms are flowing to Hezbollah, as if Lebanon's big problem isn't the pachyderm that keeps invading the room. As if the world's biggest arms dealers aren't threatening Lebanon all the time.

Labels: free patriotic movement, hezbollah, lebanon, phalange