dev
War notes, cont’d.
By this time nearly a third of Lebanon’s population has been displaced by Israel’s bombardment. Israel has a very poor track record on this score. I distinctly recall Shimon Peres, in ’96 during Operation Grapes of Wrath, saying outright that Israel was deliberately creating a refugee crisis in order to pressure the gov’t of Lebanon. This was and is, of
Just a tad behind the curve
This just in, from the World Saxophone Quartet’s “Political Blues”: I’m gonna take the metroliner down to Washington and give them some advice;Keep your politics to yourself and leave the brown countries alone/Keep your politics for yourself and leave the Third World alone/And while you at it, hit up on your cell phone to warn Abbas about Sharon […] Doh!
War notes
1. From yesterday’s AP, a comment by the UN’s Jan Egeland on Hezbollah’s use of human shields: “Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending… among women and children,” Egeland said. “I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this.
At another glance
Zvi Bar’el in a recent Haaretz: Until this war, Lebanon was the dream of all those who believe in multiculturalism. It is the only state that grants equal rights to some 18 ethnic groups and sects, which managed, albeit with great difficulty, to build a balanced political system and in the last year was given a global round of applause
Fish on 9/11 “truth”
I’ve taken strong exception to the op-ed writings of prof. Stanley Fish before. But he gets much right in this piece about the controversy surrounding Kevin Barrett, a university lecturer in Wisconsin who is under fire for his view that 9/11 was “an inside job.” Fish argues that Barrett’s critics and supporters are both wrong — the critics for arguing,
At a glance
Marc Cooper excoriates U.S. “scuttle diplomacy,” noting NY Times reporting on fast-track weapons transfers from the U.S. to Israel. This doesn’t seem to have penetrated the thick skulls of the cable news talking heads. The U.S. is not simply giving Israel “breathing room” to hit Lebanon (although Tony Snow denies even that much, with an arrogance that makes Ari Fleischer
Updates, thoughts
I strongly support the UN’s stance on a ceasefire, as if it matters worth a damn. The spectacle of John Bolton lashing out at the UN every day is hard to take, now more than ever. The discourse on the cowboy right couldn’t be more disturbing. Newt Gingrich was on Bill O’Reilly yesterday, rattling sabers, with O’Reilly saying the U.S.
Good reading
Fred Halliday, at Open Democracy, recalls his two-day visit with Hezbollah in 2004. In engrossing detail, he describes his “relations with [Lebanon] and its left intelligentsia,” then recounts his interview with a senior Hezbollah official, Sheik Naim Qassem:On the matter of political relations with Iran, the sheikh was absolutely clear. Hizbollah regards the Iranian spiritual leader, in this case Khamenei,