Israel drags America to hell
By Neal AbuNab

We told America not to go into Iraq because it would be fighting Israel’s war with the Arabs, but no one listened. Now, we tell America do not be a cheerleader for Israel as it destroys every living thing in Lebanon. But America has become deaf and it only hears the gospel coming out of Tel Aviv. If you think the last week in the Middle East lasted forever brace yourself because this war will go on for months if not years.

President Bush has clearly sided with Israel and justified its slaughter as part of his “war on terror.” We have been reminded over and over that Hizbollah is a terrorist organization. Even heads of prominent Arab American organizations, like Nihad Awad of the Muslim CAIR; stated on Fox News that “yes” he considered Hizbollah a terrorist group. Unfortunately, he is scared and his views do not reflect the true sentiments of Arabs and Muslims. I, like the greatest majority of Muslims, do not find a shred of justification to call Hizbollah a terrorist organization. In fact, we consider them the champions of Arab dignity and the few Muslims left in this world with the courage of conviction to sacrifice their own lives for the right thing.

But Nihad Awad is not alone and he joins his apologetic Arab leaders; like Hosni Mubarak and the elite Monarchs, in condemning his own kind. All these people are dishonest and they do not serve the interests of America. We love the American people more than they do and that’s why we fight so hard to tell America the truth. It won’t be long till America realizes that with friends like Hosni Mubarak who needs enemies!

The war in Lebanon is a contest of willpower and determination. I listened carefully to the words of the two leaders who really own the moment; Ehud Olmert of Israel and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of Islam. I consider both the children of Abraham and whoever wins the moral argument will prevail in the end.

Olmert ordered the assassination of Nasrallah and has been chasing him all over Beirut with his missiles and bunker busters. This action lacks morality as it violates the sanctity of immunity afforded to leaders. Olmert ordered the destruction of civil life and infrastructure in Lebanon. He killed hundreds of people and dispossessed hundreds of thousands who fled the country. Nasrallah’s response has been so far measured and restrained.

The Qur’an says: “O people who say we believe: stand up for God and become witnesses for justice. Do not be traumatized by the evil you receive from other people; that it would prevent you from practicing justice with them. Uphold justice and that will bring you closer to what is right. Do what is right by God; for it is certain God has expert knowledge of all your work.” (Chapter 5, Verse 8).

Nasrallah has followed the mandate of morality more than Olmert, despite the claims that Israel is doing its best not to kill civilians. Nasrallah stated in a speech last week that he intentionally avoided hitting the Petrochemical installations in Haifa because of “unpredictable consequences” to the civilian population. Israeli Rabbis issued a religious ruling that sanctioned the killing of Arab women and children. It is a clear violation of the morality mandate that recognizes the sanctity of all human life.

The evil we receive from others should never traumatize us and cause us to dehumanize them. As a Palestinian I’ve had to practice this principle all my life to heal myself of the trauma of the 1967 war that made me homeless; and demanded that all Palestinians bless the Israelis and thank them for their evil. But Israel and America are deeply traumatized by suicide attacks. The current war between Israel on the one side and the Lebanese-Palestinians on the other side could very easily spread to engulf the whole Middle East from Tehran to the Mediterranean. Many Americans may say: so what, nuke them all and be done with this s- - t (Bush’s descriptive word for the current war).

This is the careless attitude that elected Bush for a second term and only bows to forceful behavior. Bush has marginalized America and turned it into a dumb cheerleader for Israel. Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan said recently: “this president has turned into a city councilman from Brooklyn and he has outsourced US foreign policy to Israel, Sharon and Olmert.” 9/11 is not a sacred cow that we have to revere, and in its holy name constantly justify the destruction of other countries. America needs to get over this trauma because the injustice it is inflicting on the rest of the world is only perpetuating this vicious cycle.

If right after 9/11 America said to Muslims: let’s come together and decide what is right and what is wrong, and with that moral compass let’s together eradicate what is evil. Then, Muslims would’ve told America: return to the Palestinians their rights in a secure and independent state; and eliminate economic tyranny in the Middle East. Tell all your Royal friends in the oil-rich Arab countries to go to Switzerland where they can live out the rest of their days grazing in the green fields. If this had been done by now, the world would have moved on to a new promise, and the root causes of “terror” would have been eliminated. We would have $20 per barrel oil and Palestinian boys would be marrying Jewish girls. Imagine what that world would’ve looked like? All humanity dancing in a circle of love.

Instead, Bush chose to do the exact opposite. He justified further repression of Palestinians as “self-defense”, and killed more Arabs in Iraq to protect the fat Sheikhs. We are stuck in a medieval time warp and America’s wealth and strength have become a brutal tool of vetoes and tyranny. The only solutions left are military and violent in nature. Israel wants to eliminate Hamas and Hizbollah. It does not care about the “collateral” human misery that stands in its way. Hizbollah wanted Arab prisoners out of Israeli jails but even if this demand is now met it will not suffice. Hizbollah can not go back to Lebanese politics as usual and justify the demolition of Lebanon to free up prisoners. Nasrallah said: “if war is what you want then war is what you will get.”

This is the final conflict in the Middle East. The stakes are too high for Hizbollah to lose. But what is victory for Hizbollah? To hold out and to keep this war raging for as long as possible. If Israel can not declare victory in two or three weeks, the whole world will demand that it stops its aggression. Then, US diplomacy will try to broker a cease-fire that exchanges prisoners and empowers Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Saniora, to hold Hizbollah accountable for the demolition of Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Hizbollah will raise the stakes on the ground and will begin to show the Muslim world what victory looks like. It is likely to strike the heart of Tel Aviv so that Israelis begin a massive exodus out of Israel. Then, Olmert will escalate more and mobilize a full-scale ground invasion and re-occupation of Gaza and Lebanon in the name of “self-defense”. Syria can not afford to have Hizbollah eliminated, and so it will jump into the war. The war with Syria will go on for a couple of months while it receives its share of the beating. By this point, Iran will have mobilized the Shi’a population in Iraq against US troops.

The mid-term elections will focus on the threat of Iran, national security and the raging war on terror in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. The Republicans will win the elections and the Bush administration will strike Iran in December. War will rage for the following two years from the Mediterranean Sea all the way to Tehran, and beyond to Kabul and Islamabad. And instead of humanity dancing in a circle of love it will have its final embrace with death.