Is anbody surprised about the growing support around the world (not for Israel) but for Lebanon and Hezbollah?

Question

You can tell me I'm wrong but there is an unprecedented amount of anger towards Israel regarding their sheer arrogance and heavy handed-ness towards civilians.

lets put it this way. I wouldn't like to have been a Jew walking through central London yesterday. They treat any other middle eastern race as if they are sub human and it's a disgrace. I've just watched George galloway on Sky news and he made Jews look like barbarians which is what they are.

It has been reported in the foreign press that Syria has declared thta it is ready to join forces with Hezbollah

Answer 1

Regarding your statement about not wanting to be a Jew walking through central London yesterday - as a matter of fact I, a white English atheist, went on that demonstration in London yesterday calling for a ceasefire. You may be interested to know:

I saw a nice friendly middle aged Jewish woman handing out "Jews for Justice for Palestinians" leaflets. I asked for one from her. Later I saw a group of four orthodox looking Jews with beards and black clothes and with sort of flat furry hats, again in the march at Whitehall. And later still I saw another orthadox looking Jew dressed in black with a sort of top hat on in Parliament Square trying to pick his way through the crowd, presumably to meet up with someone. I didn't see anybody shout or spit at them or anything.

Onto your other statement....

Outside of the muslim world I don't think there is "growing support" for Hezbollah.

However, there is an enormous, and growing, amount of sympathy in the UK for Lebanon, a poor benighted country which only recently shrugged off Syria meddling in its running. Personally I was really looking forward to a short holiday there in the next couple of years, for a beer or two in a restaurant in Beirut and maybe a visit to see the famous cedar trees.

Most reasonable people in the West recognise the difference between Jews as a race and Israel as a rogue state which lives beyond international laws, slaughtering innocent Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. Israel as an entity does do these various war crimes, let there be no doubt. For instance John McCarthy, (who was himself kidnapped by muslim extremists in Lebanon in 1986 and held for five years, so presumably doesn't like muslim extremists!) points out in the Independent today that 63 Palestinians were killed and 142 wounded by Israeli atatcks on Gaza in May and June this year - while in the same period Palestinians injured fourteen Israelis with rockets and killed none.

I think since we were lied to about the non-existent WMDs in Iraq, British people in general are less likely to believe the sort of lies that Bush, Blair and the Israeli government come out with.

Sure, Israel has difficulties with terrorism, and since I have to travel to work on the tube in London, I have a lot of sympathy for any country that has to deal with suicide bombers etc but you have to ask how much Israel brings it on itself really. In my view Israel and the rest of the world would be a great deal better off if it simply withdrew back to the pre-1967 borders and helped encourage moderate, liberal muslim opinion, instead of fueling hatred among muslims and pushing them into the arms of the extremists. All the killing and systematic oppresion is surely only going to push young Palestinians growing up in squalid conditions into joining up with the terrorists. It seems an exceptionally stupid, shortsighted policy to act so brutally towards one's neighbours when Israel could be encouraging moderate, liberal Islam instead.

Well, that's my opinion.

Americans reading this might want to remember that the UK is not new to dealing with militants. We put up with IRA activity for about thirty years and we didn't go and shoot missiles and drop bombs on Dublin any time the IRA sent their guys over the border from Dundalk in the Republic to do stuff in the border counties of Northern Ireland. That is a pretty good analogy with what is going on when Israeli jets bomb civilians in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon.

Let's hope the killing stops sooner rather than later.

Answer 2

I am not surprised. Consider all the "facts" and propaganda since the creation of Israel and all the broken UN resolutions as well as what Israel has done in comparison to Lebanon/Hezbollah.

I don't agree with the war, neither am i on a particular side, however the western countries that support Israel also have a lot to answer for. Hezbollah are racist/prejudiced people who have no acceptance of others and therefore should not expect any sympathy. The only ones who deserve this or any empathy are the innocents on both sides.

Answer 3

Jews are not barbarians and never were. They are defending their homeland and if the rest of the world doesn't like it then they can go to hell. Hezbollah, a terrorist group, has been preparing for this confrontation for years and the Jews are willing to give their lives to kill as many terrorists as they can. Iran is the country behind all of this and it is Iran that America and Israel will have to fight in the future to end this Islamic conflict. Israel will continue to bomb and shell lower Lebanon until the Hezbollah militia has been wiped out. If Lebanon had done it job according to the UN doctrine there would be no war at this time.

Answer 4

It is not surprising.

There tends to be a very strong and long-standing bias against Isreal. And their current incursion into Lebanon has reinforced this in many people's minds.

While I don't necessarily think it is "as simple as it looks", the images of the intense bombing, the destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure, and the loss of innocent life on both sides is deplorable. From what I have heard, there was a provocation by Hezbollah, but there has also been a disproportionate response, and if things were going "the other way", there would be a lot more pressure for a quick halt to the fighting.

Both sides must disengage and dispassionately begin to work toward a reasonable solution.

Answer 5

yes but although the world is not for israel, America is. the newspaper said yesterday according to polls that most Americans back Israel and they don't want Israel to have a cease fire. and Arab groups are shouting out the chant "Death to Israel, Death to America" as if America is the only country that supports Israel...then again maybe we are. i dont hear about too many other countries coming in Israels defence. anyways the support from America might not last for a long time because of the international pressure. and there is alot of support for Lebanon and Hezbollah because Islam is the second biggest religion behind Christianity so no i'm really not that surprised.

Answer 6

I am not surprised but I hold no hatred for the Jews or the Muslim countries.Since the Hezbolla could not get one Jew to listen to their side, they desided to take some hostages to draw attention to their cause, Which in this case was the release of the Hezbolla prisoners held by Israel. Since all Israel believes Hezbolla is a terrorist organization and wants the total destruction of Israel, and knowing themselves that most of the prisoners they are holding should have been released long ago, would have been embarased if the world knew how long some of the prisoners have been in Israeli jails. So after getting the USA to agree to come out in their defence, Israel instead of negotiateing an exchange of prisoners, used this minor incedent to wage an all out war on Lebanon. The attack was obviously patterned after the initial USA attack in Iraq. I guess Israel and the USA thought the rest of the world would ignor the needless deaths, and destruction of a relitively moderate muslim country. Lebanon is not without fault either. By allowing Hezbolla to opperate inside their country, they must have known that at sometime this sort of thing would happen. I wish instead of the killing by both sides, all concerned would spend an equal amount of energy understanding the needs hopes and dreams of their peoples and their children.

Answer 7

I don't think that anyone with an ounce of humanity could condone what Israel are doing to the Lebanese population. But I wouldn't go as far as saying that people are supporting Hezbollah. People can see that Hezbollah's armoury is relatively puny in comparison to Israel's force, so Israel are being heavily condemned and rightly so. But I don't believe that that has been converted into support fot Hezbollah.

Answer 8

Civilians...wow, it's funny how ha mas and Hezbollah don't wear uniforms but rather disappear within the population because of this fact. Aside from taking refuge in hospitals and populated areas Hezbollah appears to be winning the propaganda battle in some parts of the world. I would have to say that propaganda serves only the weak and Israel shall pervail. Modern day warfare is nasty the days of fighting wars where the enemy wore different color uniforms are over and the unfortunate fact that the enemies comfort in keeping civilians as shields makes the majority of the world sick.

Answer 9

I don't know fully the reasons behind all these problems but I would say the Israelis are at least in uniform and standing up to be counted, not hidden away like terrorists, that's why I can't see them as such.

Israel was created out of other races land after the end of the 2nd world war, as a homeland for the Jewish race who had nothing. I can understand their efforts to protect it, that's no different than all the other countries in Europe at the last war. England actually involved itself earlier than it needed by going to war with Germany to stop them eventually coming to England, I maybe wrong but I fail to see a difference in the two situations.

I still believe that all wars are caused by greed, countries wanting better trading deals ie oil. land acquisition , religions, or in some cases love. However no one wants to see ordinary people suffer no matter who they are, especially children from either side of any conflict. I have yet to see a war or incursion that actually made life for the ordinary citizen better, they end up paying and the upper class or business community start taking profits immediately. The whole system needs changing not just some small action in some distant country.

show me how life has been made better in recent history by wars ,the ww2 was to be the war to end all wars everything would be better!!!!!!! Is it?

Answer 10

For once the world has the right point of view about Israel .But this came at a very expensive price ; the death of many poor children .
The world needs to know that Israel completely made no discrimination between civilians and military men . They bombed camps for refuges , they killed so far more than 300 kids .
Unfortunately , the western media shows nothing of this . All what they show is the Israeli point of view . The Americans are filled with ideas that HizbAllah are terrorists because this is what they watch in their news chanels . I watch A.B.C for example and it is making me sick .
For those who don't know :
1- Israel has more than 4 thousand Lebanese prisoners . Jailed with no charges .
2- Hizb Allah has tried dozens of times to free those prisoners in a peaceful way .It was of no use .
3- The 2 Israeli soldiers were kidnapped from a LEBANESE OCCUPIED VILLAGE called Shebaa . The village belongs to Lebanon and occupied by Israel .
4- The kidnapped were soldiers . So Israel was supposed to fight and kill soldiers , not women and children

Answer 11

Do you think Lebanon and Hezbollah are getting support from the world communities. I don't think so. Just everyone is having lip sympathy to wards them. And to some extent the death of the children. whom the Hezbollah have used as shield, also pricked the consciousness of the community.

Every one who is supporting them, are doing so not with hearts, but due to fear and also treating the Muslims, as vote bank, as in India.