Too Many Civilians

Rory Miller is back plugging his book, 'Ireland and the Palestine Question, 1948-2004', in the Sunday Independent with a shameful piece of journalism:

"Forget the cliches and casualties, Israel's attack is for the good of all" which really doesn't require further comment.

John Lalor explains why Israel is not to blame: "And the UN has neglected to ensure the fulfilment of 1559. UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) in south Lebanon has gone so far as to even share logistics with Hezbollah terrorists. Therefore, the deaths of innocent, Lebanese is the moral responsibility of the Lebanese government and the UN. To blame Israel is but to admit to the incapability of Beirut and the UN to behave responsibly."

The Indo's editorial writer apparently didn't see these events coming: "This seemingly accidental war could spread and involve other countries in the region"

According to the San Francisco Chronicle "Israel set war plan more than a year ago" (via MLMB)

But back to the beginning. This same editorial states that Hezbollah waged war on Israel: "The war waged by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon is in defiance of the wishes of the majority in Lebanon."

Yet there is some confusion as to where these soldiers were kidnapped:

" The Israeli army confirmed that two Israeli soldiers had been captured on the Lebanese frontier." (ABC via Derek)

'Implementing our promise to free Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, our strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon,' a statement by Hezbollah said. (Yahoo News via Rich)

And leaving the best till last, the editorial continues:

"Israel's exercise of its legitimate right to self-defence involves a wholly disproportionate response, the bombing of the Lebanese army, which is not its enemy; by killing far too many civilians in its indiscriminate efforts to defeat Hezbollah, which is self-defeating; and by destroying so much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, which is quite unnecessary."

This is typical of Western reporting. In order to criticise Israel, even slightly, they must first be allowed to kill 'too many civilians'. That must be why there is little effort dedicated to finding a solution to Palestine. They just haven't killed enough of them yet.