Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Gaza was first!
but does it always have to end with our end?

The Times

“JERUSALEM, July 12 - The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a brazen raid this morning along Israel’s border with Lebanon. Israel immediately responded by sending an armored force into southern Lebanon for the first time since withdrawing six years ago. A number of Israeli soldiers were killed and wounded in the fighting along the frontier, according to Israeli officials and media reports in Lebanon. Arab satellite news channels, including the Hezbollah-backed al Manar, reported that up to seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack”.
Line 24…..
“The Israeli strikes knocked out bridges in southern Lebanon in an apparent attempt to keep Hezbollah from moving the captured Israeli soldiers further to the north. Also, at least two Lebanese civilians were killed, according to Reuters”.
No mention of the Gaza strike…

Le Monde
« Sept soldats israéliens auraient également été tués lors de violentes attaques lancées par le Hezbollah, croit savoir la chaîne d'information qatarie Al-Jazira. Deux civils libanais ont également été tués et cinq autres blessés mercredi au Liban Sud dans des bombardements israéliens, selon la police libanaise ».

The Independent
“Israel dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a Gaza home today in an attempt to assassinate top Hamas fugitives, killing nine civilians as Islamic militant leaders got away.
"The nine dead were all members of the same family, including the parents and seven of their children, Palestinian officials said. The body of a four-year-old boy was among those pulled out of the rubble”.
"Further heightening tensions, the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah announced it had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers during the cross-border fighting".

Al-Jazeera
“Arab Media Watch voiced concern over the way Western media handled Israel’s offensive in Gaza, failing to give the needed attention to Israel's killing of dozens of Palestinians, including civilians, compared with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted earlier this week that he intended to commit war crimes in Gaza. By telling his cabinet that he wanted “no one to be able to sleep tonight in Gaza”, Olmert officially acknowledged Israel’s policy of collective punishment against the 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza, a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
“More than 50 Palestinians, including many civilians, and only one Israeli soldier have been killed since Israel started its widescale offensive in Gaza last Wednesday”.
“An Israeli missile hit a Palestinian home in Gaza City last weekend, killing a 46-year-old mother and two of her children, The Belfast Telegraph reported”.

16 comments:

Dry Gin Martini said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
_z. said...

no comment.

Unknown said...

are you serious LC?
i will keep my opinion about the effect of hizbollah on lebanon to myself. this is a very delicate issue as we all know.

like _z said, no comment
if you want to discuss the politics in the region irrespective of the palestinian crisis, i would be more than happy to do that, but this post is about media bias.

also i'm as affected by the demolition of the bridge and the casualties in lebanon as i am about what happened in gaza. it's not about right or wrong anymore in the area, it's about who has the power in lebanon. so as politics go, or the imaginary borders we care so much about, nothing really changes. as far as people dying, yes i am in the picture my dear.

Unknown said...

LC, what you should know is that the politics of lebanon(especially the south being mostly the battle ground) cannot be seperated from the region. it's directly affected by events elsewhere. so you have to look at the big picture.

also don't worry, we heard that hizbollah was going to be hit. i think this is one strike only, it's not an invasion.

Ghassan said...

for Hizbolah the issue is the exchange of prisoners(at least this is what they say), not a retaliation for Gaza. they used the window of time when Israel is 'busy', which is a logical military stratagem. the only under estimation is that israel could easily handle two 'fronts', and look what they got us into! so there is barely any bias in the news, it's just a downright propaganda campaign. starting with Israel ridiculously boasting about how strong they are... it's almost comical, 'yeah! we're coming in with tanks, planes and missiles!' (ie are you scared yet? could we stop the military charade?)... and the Hizbollah statements 'we have your guys somewhere safe and far' (they're not in the south, you'll have to invade us up to the north to get... or better yet, they're in a ditch somewhere - didn't you see the footage on Sadam?)..
but to be frank this all circle of violence is... let's leave at no comment as Z and M said... it has to stop. and like they say in madrasat el moshaghebeen (which I was listening to lately) 'tab seeb, wana seeb!'

Dry Gin Martini said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dry Gin Martini said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dry Gin Martini said...

I refuse to participate in any further discussions today until I'm in a different state of mind!

_z. said...

lc... why do you always regret what you say, and delete your comments... I had the chance to read them before you erased them... and I actually thought they are valid, they stand, and I agree.

bass i promised a no comment state for today...

yemkin boukra "istankir".

Ghassan said...

wlo sounds like a press conference.

Dry Gin Martini said...

_z: just not feeling right today. too much on my mind, plus trying to get in touch with ex-roommate in mumbai!

Unknown said...

hope you're ex-roommate is ok and again happy birthday and try to calm down.
i know what you mean LC and i didn't take the focus away from lebanon. i'm trying to attack the links that the media use to justify what israel does, that's what i mean by it started in Ghaza.
i don't agree with hizbolla using the lebanese land as they do but i really don't want to get into that. it is like i said, delicate and these are the same issues our events in 82 and 83 were based on. but as long as us, the educated people, keep an open mind and an eye on the big image and put emotions aside, and see how history is repeating itself and that they're just playing us all over again, i don't worry about lebanon. i agree with laila 100% that we're fine if left alone.

so yes i'm more heartbroken about lebanon than ghaza and i don't want to defend palestine in lebanon. this has always been our issue and this is not new.
like i said on laila's blog, the hizbollah's operations are not about the cause anymore, it's about power, and i agree with gus on that and yet again we have another PLO and yet again we pay the price.


because i didn't want to get into any of that, i only pointed out how ridiculously biased the media is. that was the idea of the post. i don't you didn't like where i was getting with it but any post that starts a stimulating discussion, to me is ok.

Zee said...

You fine posters already know of my "dementia" - it's an ongoing sorting out process in my own consciousness between the issues that concern Lebanon and Palestine. And often I get it wrong, and I write the wrong name, I write the wrong state name. You must have mercy or at least patience with me when I mix things up, unintentionally. But rest assured, I am not oblivious to the grand picture.
I feel I know too little, despite that I know so much.
The latest escalation "down there" saddens me deeply.
I need to talk about future prospects - because the present is truly depressing.

Mar said...

They blew up the power center in my village... without the bridges..how do I get there?

Unknown said...

fuck, i'm sorry sweetie

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