Pictures smuggled out of Lebanon prove it!
Adelaide Now in Australia reports the following:
A stream of images, obtained exclusively by the News Ltd, depicts how the extremists are using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy calibre weapons… Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly melt back into suburbia, the fighters carrying automatic assault rifles ride in on trucks laden with cannons… Images and footage of Hezbollah activities taken by local newspapers and TV crews are routinely seized by the group’s fighters at road blocks… But in our images, taken clandestinely, a group of fighters are preparing to fire truck-mounted anti-aircraft gun just metres from an apartment block with sheets drying on the balcony.
The reporter witnessed brave Hizballah fighters in action:
“Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets,” he said… “Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated… “After the attacks they didn’t even allow the ambulances or the Lebanese Army to come in until they had cleaned the area, removing their rockets and hiding other evidence… “Two innocent people died in that incident but it was so lucky it was not more… `The people there were horrified and disgusted at what Hezbollah were doing.” … The fighters used trucks, driven into residential areas, as launch pads for the rockets, he said.
What The F… Hizballah purposely endangering innocent civilians?? And what of that terrible attack in Qana? Qana, a village in South Lebanon from which over 150 rockets had been fired at Israel, was in the news today after it was reported that 54 27 60 civilians had been killed when a building, hit by Israeli rockets after a barrage of Katyushas was fired from there, collapsed. The Jerusalem Post however is reporting that the last Israeli rocket was fired at 1 am and that the building collapsed at 8 am. Speculation is that Hizballah ordinance stored in the residential building exploded or something happened in the 7 hour gap that wasn’t caused by Israelis. Might this be another Hizbollywood production? Stay tuned, we’ll find out.
In other news, moments ago, Fox News reported that Israel has agreed to either a 24 or 48 hour cease fire. Already the artillery in the north is quiet and the understanding is that the ceasefire is to allow residents of Southern Lebanon to escape and for humanitarian aid to reach those who need it. Israel also wishes to investigate the impact of the rocket war thus far. We’ll keep you updated as more reports come in.
UPDATE: CNN reports the following with respect to the ceasefire:
Israel has agreed to suspend airstrikes on southern Lebanon for 48 hours to investigate a Sunday airstrike that killed more than 60 people in Qana, Lebanon, a U.S. State Department spokesman said… Spokesman Adam Ereli said the Israelis reserve the right to take action against targets preparing attacks against it during the 48-hour period, but the bombing halt should “significantly speed and improve the flow of humanitarian aid.” Israeli officials also agreed to allow safe passage for 24 hours for residents of southern Lebanon to leave the region.
Thanks to Howard F. for the heads up on the Adelaide Now report. He notes that it is an Australian Newspaper that is not particularly known for its pro-Israel stance.
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There are many Palestinians that want a two state solution, but sadly, they are unarmed.
Israel WANTS to end them…but the Palestinians want ALL of israel
Joel, I’ll try to prove it when there one day is such a situation that one side ends all hostilities in a manner which is acceptable also to the other side…
To say you cannot point a finger is an outright lie. 🙂
As the saying goes, “The crisis in the middle east will end when the Muslims love their children more than they hate Israel.”
In other words, if the Muslim powers that be stop fighting, stop attacking Israel, and pursue a Palestinian state or equal treatment via democractic methods, there will be peace.
Alternatively, if Israel ceases retaliation and attacks back, then they will only get worse, to the point there will be no more Israel.
I challenge you to prove this assesment wrong. If you cannot, then the guilty party has been found. Guilt is found when we understand that when one side gives up, the other will keep going….if both will keep going in military action, then both are guilty…if only one would keep going then that is the guilty party.
the veto right is parallel to that ideal
Perpendicular, not parallel! (Sigh.)
Themiddle, I did read it, and I don’t quite agree with Qatar’s ambassador that it was as balanced as he claims it to be. The draft was perhaps too ambitious and rhetorical with regard to the overall situation. Whatever is done, it should be baby steps first, big steps later. Perhaps the two first “condemns”-parts would have been enough as a start. As it was, it was a bit too much filled with attempt to “rub the nose into it” (as in the way some clueless people attempt to teach their puppies).
And while I don’t fully agree with that draft, I think that the veto system does not work – it gives too much power to too few countries, namely the permanent Security Council members. One purpose of the UN is to be a forum for countries to sort their problems out diplomatically, and in my opinion the veto right is parallel to that ideal.
It’s already waaaay past midnight here, so the next course of action for me is obvious.
Joel, there is no one guilty party in the mess which is the Middle East crisis. The UN cannot point a finger at one side and say “you’re it” while wishing only sunshine and good tidings to the other. The situation is too convoluted for that.
What they can do is take the latest episode in this ongoing saga of “kill thy neighbor”, and point at the latest attacker, condemning them and warning the other side to put an end to the vicious cycle. That’s what they can do. But the ultimate cause of the whole mess… that’s impossible to say. The ultimate cause just doesn’t exist anywhere anymore. Nobody knows. You can go back to Barak and Deborah and even further and further, and still not find something to point the finger at.
Just a side note, UN Security Council Rule 2 states: “The President shall call a meeting of the Security Council at the request of any member of the Security Council.”
As e.g. Qatar is currently one of the elected members of the Security Council for 2006, they have the capability of requesting meetings to be called up. Meetings are held also if the situation warrants it. In other words, emergency meetings are not held because the United Nations Israel-Hate-o-Meter goes to red, but because either a member explicitly requests it or a situation has escalated to such levels that the UNSC needs to get together and discuss what to do,
Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep an eye out for the “Tower of Babbel” book, if it might stumble upon my way. I probably won’t like the contents, but at least it will offer a new point of view.
Finnish, did you actually read that resolution which was vetoed? It is incredible to think it got 10 votes.
By the way Finnish, you only help to futher my point. Notice that the call for the rockets to cease firing out of Gaza is only mentioned alongside a warning to Israel. In other words, “It’s Israel’s fault this had to happen, if they would stop doing this then the Palestinians would stop killing them.”
What’s more is these were press releases, not emergency meetings of the Security Council. This is where they hyposcrisy begins. Justice is blind to the UN…not in that it is not prejudiced, in that it simply cannot see what justice is.
No one listens to the UN because the UN has no moral voice on these matters. I highly suggest you read “Tower of Babbel” by Dore Gold. What I am speaking of is that the UN did not hold emergency sessions on these actions even though they purposefully targeted civilians. However, Israel’s accident (and probably not even Israel’s fault…amazing the building would collapse 7-8 hours after being hit) brought about an “emergency session”.
“The Secretary-General condemns the attacks by Hizbollah across the Blue Line, which resulted in Israeli deaths and injuries, and the capture of two Israeli soldiers. This violent act is a blatant breach of Security Council resolutions 425, 1559, 1655 and 1680.”
Meetings can be held, but often nothing comes out of those (especially from meetings of the Security Council) because they get vetoed by the USA or some other permanent member. In the case in question, it was the wording of condemnation about events in Gaza. And yes, the firing of rockets from Gaza was previously condemned.
Of course words go only so far, assuming otherwise would be naïve. If nobody is willing to listen, the UN is talking to deaf ears.
(You can follow the UN press releases here.)
Imo, Israel, and we, have no reason to beat ourselves into a pulp over this tragedy. Let us not forget that those people started this, sent and continue to shoot missles towards civilians in Israel.
I say, keep up the fight, until whenever the savages have had enough.
Peace,
Rick
Being in contact and holding an emergency meeting in order to “express concern” of an incident are two different things. There is little public condemnation of Hizbullah and to my knowledge there have been no emergency meetings over their attacks. For instance, everyone seems to forget that Israel bombed this residential area AFTER rockets had been fired from there.
I think the media, and the morally bankrupt UN, blow things out of proportion. Yes, Israel hitting civilians by accident is a tragedy…but where is the condemnation and emergency meetings over Hizbollah purposfully targeting Israel citizens? These rockets aren’t aimed at military outposts.
Another try, since my previous comment was apparently eaten by the Jewlicious cookie monster.
I just wanted to point out that the UN briefing linked to by Laya also mentions the UN being in contact with Hizbullah about the issue of exploiting the proximity of UN positions.
Harry: The witness in question took pics of heavy machine guns but he claims to have seen rockets. Also there’s no disputing that these guys are wearing civilian clothes. Someone’s got to counter claims made by some that Hizballah does not use civilian shields.
I hate Hezbollah as a devile of this region. But we must be realistic when we show some evidences. It is ironic to say that Hezbollah hides rockets when you are showing a Heavy Mechine Gun on a pickup!
Hezbollah must be exterminated! but I see no rockets in these pictures. All what I see is only a funny machine gun TOY that our hellicopters can destroy easily.
We have to be realistic.
Tank you.
Hizbullah hides behind the UN too. Here’s a little note snugly tucked inside a recent UN briefing:
“There were two direct impacts on UNIFIL positions from the Israeli side in the past 24 hours and five other incidents of firing close to UN positions from the Israeli side. It was also reported that Hezbollah fired from the vicinity of five UN positions.”
Does the UN condemn Hizbullah firing from near their positions? Of course not! Does it condemn Israeli firing back near their positions? You betcha.
Hizbullah hides behind civilians because it’s a good tactic for them. Here is a glowing report about them in the Guardian.
It should also scare some other people if they are perceived as having won the war or come out of it strong enough to keep their arms:
By the way, the quoted cleric tells us that he was called back from Iran to fight and arrived a week before the kidnappings of the soldiers. Hmmm…
He also acknowledges that Hizbullah is armed by Iran. Of course, this violates UNSCR 1559 indirectly, but who cares. Right?
Ben-David, point taken. Parading the children in front of the cameras is most tasteless, but in any case the children are now dead due to the building collapsing on them. Whether it was due to a direct bomb hit or something else remains to be seen.
Both sides want visibility to their cause. Aspects of reality which opposes the cause are to be minimized, and in this way the news items are made to support ones own version of reality. Like you said, it’s propaganda. Both sides do it. Source critique is essential for anyone viewing news originating from a war zone, be the source the Hizbullah, a blog, the IDF, Israeli government, the UN, etc.
During the liberation/invasion of Iraq (read as you like) I read many different news outlets, including al-Jazeera, to get a fuller picture, as the truth often lies somewhere between the extremes.
Also, as a side note, I’m wondering how accurate or mutually comparable the times portrayed in the captions are – I don’t know the processes of news companies, so perhaps someone who knows might enlighten me. Do the times come directly from the EXIF tags of the images? Are they the time when the picture was actually taken, or the time when it was processed or released by the news company? And are the times all in the same time zone in the first place?
Bottom Feeder asked for photographic evidence that Kfar Qana was used as a launch site.
Here is the footage – straight from the Israeli Air Force
The ceasefire is very good for Hizbullah and its protectors, it is very bad for the Israelis. Hizbullah will use the time to re-arm and regroup.
Uh, Finnish – the point of that article is that the SAME bodies are being “discovered” in the rubble time after time – to provide photo ops for wave after wave of journalists. That is staging reality – and cynical in the extreme for journalists to snap the pictures without reporting the artificiality of the propaganda system they are participating in.
This jibes with CNN reports about artificial, staged ambulance rides – created for the benefit of journalist cameras – and the close control over what journalists can photograph and report in Beirut and elsewhere.
Links 1
Link 2
Dunno about you guys, but around this part of the world you do deploy AA batteries near the places you’re protecting.
Hiding behind civilians is very wrong. But I think it’s about as wrong to know it and still clusterbomb the whole site to atoms.
As for the “milking it”-link, if something like the Qana bombing happens, the photographer who just takes clinical pictures of rubble will not pay the rent next month.
All besserwissering aside, I do think the ceasefire is a good idea in general.
Check out this video and pass it on
Do you think this is shameful, Morbrini?
I think it’s shameful that people are making excuses for this terrible incident. IAF seems to be killing more non hizbullah than actual hizbullah! The IDF is making huge plunders in my opinion. This is shocking.
Bottomfeeder,
You can broaden your education about Hizbullah and civilians in this lovely article:
Hizbullah hiding among civilians
B
and
I think there’s something ironic in Bottom Feeder’s demand for evidence when BF doesn’t provide any to support the claim that Hezbollah doesn’t mingle itself with civilians. References to “[one’s] own reporting and that of other journalists” doesn’t quite cut the nut, as Hunter S. Thompson used to say. What reliable sources prove BF’s assertions?
Moreover, BF reveals certain biases by stating that the IDF claims a right to “bomb civilians.” Nonsense. Over and over again the IDF has taken concrete, specific steps to avoid civilian casualties, at the cost of lessening its own military advantages. (After all, telling the civilians in location X to leave the area prior to an attack also lets the enemy know that location X is in the bulls eye.) In addition, the IAF, and BF knows this but chooses to ignore it for rhetorical reasons, isn’t directly attacking civilians. It is bombing civilian areas in which legitimate military targets have been located by, yes, Hezbollah. It’s simply silly for BF to claim otherwise in an effort to say that Hezbollah doesn’t mingle with civilians, when not even Hezbollah doesn’t deny that some civilian sectors of south Beirut, for example, housed its offices and so on.
BF pretends to be a neutral journalistic source, but BF is anything but.
AMEN for a cease-fire. We need to stop and breathe for a few moments, don’t we?
As for the Adelaide Now in Australia pictures. This is a smokescreen. Anti-Aircraft cannons are DEFENSIVE weapons. These weapons can’t be used to attack Israel.
Who was the ‘witness’ that is referenced in the article – the Melbourne man who says “Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets,” he said. Where is the proof?
Did you read the Jpost article?
“Eshel refrained from specifying what had caused the structure to collapse seven hours after it was hit, but senior IAF officers said Sunday night that the explosion could have been caused by an unexploded missile or by a Hizbullah-planted explosive device.”
Take your head out of the sand!
How to prove that Hezollah uses civilians as shileds
This should not be too difficult. Show us the gun camera footage from the bombers that dropped the precision munitions on Qana and the UN Outpost.
The footage should clearly show the presence of the rocket launchers.
My assessment is that since such footage – which would prove the Israeli case beyond a shadow of a doubt would be a PR coup – has not been released does not exist…
… or the IDF does not want to show the footage since it would be bad for the IDF.
See this
The “hiding among civilians” myth
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/28/hezbollah/index_np.html
Israel claims it’s justified in bombing civilians because Hezbollah mingles with them. In fact, the militant group doesn’t trust its civilians and stays as far away from them as possible.
‘ Throughout this now 16-day-old war, Israeli planes high above civilian areas make decisions on what to bomb. They send huge bombs capable of killing things for hundreds of meters around their targets, and then blame the inevitable civilian deaths — the Lebanese government says 600 civilians have been killed so far — on “terrorists” who callously use the civilian infrastructure for protection.
But this claim is almost always false. My own reporting and that of other journalists reveals that in fact Hezbollah fighters — as opposed to the much more numerous Hezbollah political members, and the vastly more numerous Hezbollah sympathizers — avoid civilians. Much smarter and better trained than the PLO and Hamas fighters, they know that if they mingle with civilians, they will sooner or later be betrayed by collaborators — as so many Palestinian militants have been.
For their part, the Israelis seem to think that if they keep pounding civilians, they’ll get some fighters, too. ‘