The world turned upside down

Monday, July 17, 2006

Are we in the world of Alice Through the Looking Glass or 1984? I can't quite believe how bad are the responses to Israel's attack on Lebanon, and wonder why we have entered a world where lies are truth, where everything is the opposite of what it should be.

My increasing sense of disbelief began with Tony Blair's statement a couple of weeks ago that the Muslim community in Britain had grievances against the West which were 'false'. You might not agree with those grievances, but they are based on fact: Britain did invade Afghanistan and Iraq; the situation does go from bad to worse in both countries; Britain does back Israel as a key ally in the Middle East and does little to help the plight of the Palestinians; and Britain does support some of the worst dictatorships in the Middle East.

The feeling has come back to me in recent days. The BBC news website reports today that Tony Blair and UN secretary general Kofi Annan have called for an international force (aka Britain and the US) to be sent to Lebanon..to stop attacks on Israel. Tony Blair explained this is to 'stop the bombardment coming over into Israel and therefore gives Israel a reason to stop its attacks on Hezbollah'.

Sorry? Hezbollah kidnapped 2 Israeli soldiers and Israel responded by bombing Lebanon, blockading its ports and airports, bombing its roads, and killing so far more than 130 Lebanese civilians.

Yet the main news channels in Britain led yesterday on 8 Israelis killed by a rocket in Haifa, only then going on to mention 16 Lebanese dead in Tyre, bombing of civilian convoys and the fact that Lebanese/Israeli deaths are running at a ratio of more than 5:1.

This painting of Hezbollah as the aggressors against 'plucky little Israel' is sickening enough. But then there's the accusation that Iran is arming Hezbollah. And who's arming Israel, the only nuclear power in the Middle East and the one possessed of the largest and most deadly arsenal? Israel is the biggest recipient of US military aid, and the only state in the world that can buy arms directly from US arms corporations without the oversight of the US government.

No wonder then that the G8 gathering of the world's largest powers meeting in St Petersburg issued a statement effectively allowing Israel to continue its state terror against its northern neighbour. It contains the following: 'The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilise the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace.'

Well, the Palestinians' aspiration for democracy and peace was expressed through the democratic election of a Hamas government earlier this year, which the Israelis are trying to destroy. Hezbollah is in the Lebanese government and has mass support. So who exactly is attacking democracy?

We're in a new phase now with this war. As one person put it at our Stop the War steering committee on Saturday, the attack on Iran has already begun. That's why Israel, the US and Britain are so keen to go for Hezbollah, because it makes it easier for them to attack Iran. The threat as they see it of a greater Iran stems from the failure of the occupation of Iraq. And we may be witnessing the changeover from the main reason for war being Iran's nuclear capability to the main reason being its role in terrorism.

Don't expect anything good.

7/17/2006 02:19:00 PM | Permalink