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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Original sin
By Mohamed El-Sayed Said *
How many times since Resolution 425 was passed has Is-ael "retaliated" against Lebanon? A thousand times per-aps, each more brutal than the next. Qana was merely a microcosm of Israel's larger-scale policy during the in-asion of Lebanon in 1982. Have all these massacres helped Israel suppress the Lebanese resistance? Obviously not. Hence David Levy's threat that "Lebanon will burn" is only an expression of desire for bloody, savage revenge with no military or political value whatsoever.
The underlying message is no surprise to those who have suffered the most from Israeli destruction in the region. The bad news comes from the West, particularly from the US, which blames Syria and Lebanon for the escalation of the past few days.
Once again, the US and some European governments have shown total injustice and insensitivity. Hizbullah may have initiated the last round of violence. But there is nothing new about this and certainly nothing that infringes on the 'April Understanding', which makes a sharp distinction between military and civilian targets in occupied southern Lebanon. Israel has opted for revenge against civilians and civilian targets.
The United States has again overlooked the 'original sin' of occupation, turning its blame against the victim of occupation rather than on the occupier. The only way for saving Israeli lives here is to terminate the colonial situation in Lebanon and Syria.
Forgetting this essential wisdom will tear the peace process apart, creating many Lebanons, and many more Hizbullahs, in the region.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is deputy director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
