Okay, so I have stated my opposition to the war in Lebanon, but I also want to take another track. I watched with revulsion and anger as parents pulled their children from the rubble of the building hit in Qana. Later when watching the protests as a result of the bombing, it came to me that if the situation was reversed, and a Hizbollah rocket slammed into an Isreali building killing 60 people including women and children, there probably would have been rejoicing around the Arab world. Hizbollah is firing indiscriminately at cities across the border and it is only a matter of time before this happens. There is no moral high ground in this war and their can be no winners. If the Arabs are angry because Muslim women and children were massacred, where is the anger for the secretarian killings in Iraq? Why is the Arab world so mired in a cycle of humiliation that they no longer care about who is being killed, but rather who is doing the killing?
Speaking with some Arab acquaintances, none of whom are Lebanese, it seems to me that they were excited by this war and the potential for damage Hizbollah might inflict on Isreal. They seem less concerned by the hopes of peace eroding, the damage in Lebanon, or the lives lost, than with the prospect of hurting Isreal. There will be no progress in the Middle East unless Muslims become more concerned with improving their own lives then with the destruction of others.
Yes, I am outraged, but not just about this incident. I am outraged by the war; by the attitudes of leaders on both sides; by the martyr mentality that exists; by the despots and tyrants here at home and in the Middle East; by Condi Rice; by the "Arab Street" and the Knesset; by the fact that none of this will help solve anything; and finally, I am outraged that all the lives lost in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon mean shit to W & Co. Bring it on!
For those of you tired of Fox News and who still want more outrage with an Arab bias here is some Robert Fisk for you.
