The U.N. Resolution

Good news. At last. The U.N. Security Council has finally passed a ceasefire resolution. This resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire (well, not really immediate, effective on Monday), and then a phased withdrawl of Israeli troops from Lebanon. This would be accompanied by a deployment of the Lebanese army to the south of Lebanon, and the strengthening of UNIFIL, the U.N. force in the region, to 15 000 soldiers to enforce a buffer zone. This deal is not perfect, in that it does not call for the immediate withdrawl of the 30 000 Israeli soldiers now occupying southern Lebanon, and that it does not condemn the murder of over 1 000 Lebanese civilians by the IDF. But this deal is better than nothing.

Or would be if Israel was actually going to honour it. The chief of the Israeli army said yesterday that Israel has tripled the number of soldiers it has on the ground in Lebanon to 30 000, and that they expect to continue fighting for another week. This is to clear as much area as possible of Hezbollah fighters to supposedly "make things easier for the international force." And how many more Lebanese civilians are going to have to die to make things easier? The Israeli PM Ehud Olmert claims to have accepted this deal, but in reality is sabotaging it by pouring more troops into Lebanon and surging to, and beyond, the Litani river. This type of duplicity is not acceptable. Either Israel will abide by the decision of the Security Council, or it will not.

As well, the U.S.A. effectively gave Israel a veto at the Security Council during negotiations. The U.S.A. said that it would veto any resolution of the Council that the government of Israel did not accept. This is not appropriate. Israel does not sit as a member of the Security Council and thus does not have a vote, but the United States is prepared to hold the rest of the Council hostage to the opinions of the Israeli government? How much more disdain for the U.N. and the international community can the U.S. government show? It has to stop.

Hopefully Israel will reverse its decision to continue to fight and kill for another week. Israel must realize that to so openly flout the U.N. resolution, over which it held a veto and which its political leaders have openly accepted, will bring nothing but ill will from the international community. Israel makes no friends for itself by proving that it holds itself to be better and more rational than the other 190 countries of the U.N. As well, the U.S.A. has the power to stop Israel from doing this. The U.S. could make this stop now. But the U.S. government seeks the birth of a new Middle East, and if that means the blood of 1 000 innocent Lebanese and 40 000 innocent Iraqis then so be it. What bullshit.

Thanks to Tehanu at EnMasse for the tip on the Israeli flouting of the ceasefire.

Cheers

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