BEIRUT: The center of Beirut was packed Sunday with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, pressing their call for the government to resign in a jubilant mass of protest and carnival.
And inside the prime minister's office, on a hill overlooking that joyful, pulsing crowd, officials acted as though all were normal, though they were having trouble understanding what was happening on the street outside.
"I don't understand what is this great cause that is making them create this tense political mess and stage open- ended demonstrations," Prime Minister Fouad Sinoria said.
Could it be that Pallywood was filming a new propaganda project? I think it's a valid question. We have seen their techniques before. But, what if it's not?
The opposition, led by the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, is continuing to press hard, staging demonstrations that have already proved its ability to mobilize and motivate large crowds, with the sheer numbers alone calling into question the legitimacy of the U.S.- backed government.
They have shown they can take out pretty much whoever they want in Lebanon, by killing them. Very few people are safe. That, in itself, is an intimidating factor. But now they can call mass rallies/street parties to demonstrate for supposedly no good reason?
I guess the world is ready for more bloodshed, because we have all of the signs that the Saudi king was right. We see them, yet we become resigned to the fact that there is nothing that can be done to stop the growth of violent organizations.
Somewhere, somehow, if there is ever to be peace in the Middle East, these people are going to have to choose the path of peace. They are going to have to recognize the state of Israel, then they are going to have to put down their arms and talk, with them.
There is no way this can be solved, in any other way. If this doesn't happen, you can talk about the possible deals and scenarios all day long. This will never get to any true resolution, if it doesn't happen. It must get to this point, before anything else will ever work.
4 comments:
What I find so ironic, LAS, is, as usual, the position of the World Left on these issues.
Do they support a democratically elected arab gov't, or do they support Hezbollah who is trying to bring it down by force? It can't be both.
Do they support more US involvement in the arab-israeli conflict, or less? When Bush intervenes, he's "meddling." When he doesn't, he "doesn't care." Which is it? And really, what can the US do to resolve the issue anyway?
I watched with great interest an interview with Dennis Ross, who knows more than any American about making peace there. He was livid at Carter for his ridiculous new book for a couple of reasons. One, Carter presents (without citation) a map commissioned by Ross for his own book, which was a visual interpretation of what Clinton offered Arafat at Camp David. Carter calls the map the "Israeli interpretation of the deal." Ross also slams Carter for saying the Palistinians were offered nothing at Camp David - Ross says they got the best offer they will ever get.
I'm angry at Carter for the title of the book. Of course, he's not talking about the real apartheid, under which no jew can live on "muslim land." He's talking about the imaginary one - the one invented by the Left.
We've done everything we can for the arabs in that region. Up to them to decide what they want now.
Greg,
//Ross says they got the best offer they will ever get.//
They got everything they asked for except for Jerusalem. That's quite a lot, especially when you consider that this process has been going on for many years and had been at an impasse for much of that time period.
Also noteworthy is, at that time, this was the best offer Israel could possibly make and still maintain some kind security. You know the rest, Arafat flatly rejected it and incited the intifada that occurred immedaitely afterward.
If they do not want peace, they should just come out and say they don't. They should stop playing these patheticly childish games and have the guts to stand up and say that nothing is acceptable, with the exception of Israel's complete withdrawal from Palestine. I know that Israel will never agree to this and they shouldn't. But at least we will all know where they stand, and it will put the world on notice that either they side with the barabaric forces that seek violence as a means of solving disputes, or they realign themselves with those that refute those tactics.
They cannot have it both ways and still maintain any level of credibility.
Which leads me to this, Europe's leadership has been highly absent amid all of this. They like playing both sides against the middle.
//If they do not want peace, they should just come out and say they don't. //
I think they did, with the parliamentary elections.
Greg,
//I think they did, with the parliamentary elections.//
I think you are right. But how does someone get those that want nothing more than to blame the US and Israel for everything, to to see it? I don't think it's possible.
The other consideration is this:
Those that want peace are afraid to speak out, due the reprisals from those that kill. There is a terror factor here, whereby the militants terrorize the locals into voting this way. God help the person that dares to vote for a candidate that is not a radical Israeli hater.
Post a Comment