Walden Bello från Beirut

En läsvärd artikel av den filipinske forskaren, politikern och debattören Walden Bello.

In the thirty day war, most of the country’s political groups and most of the country have come together in supporting the struggle against Israeli aggression led by the Shiite Muslim-led organization. First among these is the country’s Maronite Christian President Emile Lahoud, who is not shy about praising “the leadership of Hezbollah in the national resistance.” Everybody acknowledges that Hezbollah’s sterling military performance is the source of what the Daily Star calls the “unprecedented level of solidarity” of Lebanese society today. Domestic critics who, at the start of the war, accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into war by capturing two Israeli soldiers for prisoner-exchange purposes are quiet in these heady days of national pride.

If anything has been put to rest by the events of the last 30 days, it is the lie that the Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Deliberate Israeli targeting of civilian targets while Hezbollah fighters focused on fighting Israeli soldiers has put the shoe on the other foot. Indeed, there is now a massive clamor among international civil society groups to try the Israeli political leaders and the army for war crimes and state-sponsored terror.