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Hizballah's Adventurism Leads It Into Isolation

Manuela Paraipan - 7/27/2006

The attack of Hizballah on Israel compelled me to reconsider the decades-old war by the Muslims against the Jewish state. This conflict is but a small piece of the puzzle. In the middle of the conflict between the Iranian supported Hizballah and Israel, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh verbal attack on Israel by saying that the Jews are the "most detested people" on the planet. The comment came after Iran's top national security official, Ali Larijani, had voiced Iran’s “decisive support” for the militant Palestinian groups and for the Hizballah, and basically for anyone who fights to destroy Israel. This is simply and purely madness. Yet, it is hardly uncommon for the Islamic leaders to publicly or behind the curtains call for the eradication of Israel, or at least for its relocation far away from the Middle East region.

It is absolutely appalling to see the resurgence of the hatred towards the Jews, taking the lead in Middle Eastern politics.

The core problem, beside the immediate political interest of Iran, Syria, and Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who is depicting himself as the savior of the Muslim world, is not the so-called occupation of the Palestinian lands, as we frequently hear, it is the very existence of Israel period.

It doesn't matter if Israel have the right to exist. There's no point to it. It does exist.

Syria, Iran and their cronies, namely Hamas and Hizballah, have found themselves pretty isolated, and they didn't expect it. Somehow, they thought that the entire Arab world would join their fight against Israel. They thought it would be like 1967 and 1973 all over again.

But, the turning point has come and the Saudi and Egyptian officials have slammed Hizballah for "adventurism", for dragging Lebanon into a bloody, undeserved war, and for further destabilizing the region.

"Hizballah is trying to survive as an armed movement by ... provoking a conflict with Israel. This state of affairs makes it a 'state within a state',” Al-Ahram said quoting Egyptian officials.

Pandering to radical Islam is a dangerous approach as it is considered a sign of weakness by the Arab Muslim world. The way war works is that, once someone attacks you, it is either that you destroy their ability and will to make war, or keep on being attacked.

By shelling Hizballah, Israel is not only doing itself a service, but also to Lebanon. For years, Lebanon has been a hostage of Hizballah and its providers. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Fuad Siniora lastly recognized it publicly, in an interview with the Italian, Corriere della Sera. Siniora said, “the entire world must help us disarm Hizballah, which obeys the political agendas of Tehran and Damascus.”

A source from the Lebanese Christian side that asked not to be named told me yesterday that, “if matters are left only in the UN, it will be a disaster. Both Iran and Syria have managed to circumvent the UN every time, one on the nuclear issue, and the other on the Hariri investigation, UN 1559, and the international court. Both the US and Israel have to do drastic things directly to make full use of this opportunity and cut Hizballah down to size. Otherwise, any half-baked solution concocted at the UN will bring back future anti-American and anti-Israeli retribution with a vengeance. Of course it is Lebanon as usual that is paying, and will pay, the biggest price. But if the US and Israel play their hands well, Lebanon stands to gain a lot eventually and the present destruction might be affordable in the long run.”

From Israel’s viewpoint, this conflict is about self-preservation and about removing Hizballah, which has been created and funded to wage underground war against Israel.

The Arab League declared war on Israel in 1948, not the other way around. Lebanon, Syria and all the other Arab country - except for Egypt and Jordan - are still officially at war with Israel.

The PLO, Fatah, Hamas, Hizballah and Islamic Jihad all have covenants and constitutions calling, not for an independent Palestinian state, or for a sovereign Lebanon, but for Israel’s destruction.

That is why on the deepest level, irrespective of the Lebanese–Israel conflict outcome, I have no expectation that Iran and the Arabs will agree to a lasting peace with Israel in the near future. In the end, if you do not value all lives as much as your own, peace cannot be achieved with any people different from you.