Qana

Is it any wonder that the southern towns of Lebanon are pro-Hezbollah?

Bordering Israel is no easy task for any Arab population. Hate runs deep, and the disposition of the people of Qana is with good reason. It was a little over 10 years ago that Israel shelled the UN-protected town, killing 100 people in a hail of shrapnel. Then, as now, Israel claimed that civilian casualties in Qana in 1996 were accidental; a response to Hezbollah firing upon Israeli citizens from this position. In effect, Israel said, Hezbollah used Lebanese civilians as "human shields." An investigation, under UN authority, concluded that the shelling was no accident.

Now, in 2006, the same line is being trotted out, Hezbollah is to blame. If Hezbollah did not exist -- or, better yet, if Lebanon would not tolerate the existence of Hezbollah -- none of this would ever have happened. Hezbollah has admitted that the response of Israel to the incursion and kidnappings was completely unexpected. The tactic of kidnapping and prisoner exchange was, until now, manageable.

Today is a National Day of Mourning in Lebanon. A 48-hour ceasefire is rapidly coming to a close. Tomorrow, rockets will be fired from Hezbollah positions into Israel, and Israeli forces will return fire, in kind, raining death from above on the Lebanese people. Whether or not these Lebanese are Hezbollah, the bombs do not care. The War on Terror marches forward.

The most forceful nations on Earth wield the most advanced weapons in existence, and yet, collateral damage is the constant excuse for deaths of non-combatants.

New initiatives seek to install a peace keeping force in a buffer zone between the two nations, introducing more confusion in this region. An additional authority to deal with cannot be the answer here when the failure of coalition forces to quell uprisings in Afghanistan stretch into the beginning of a sixth year. Coalition forces, too, remain in Iraq seeking to stifle a rabid insurgency -- a conflict vehemently denied certification as a Civil War.

What is to become of the Arab world? To ensure peaceful coexistence with the desires and designs of the West, armed babysitters must suppress any militancy or dissent. Groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas rooted out in this campaign against terror, state-sanctioned tactics of terror used against them, will be annihilated and their ideas quashed. Only after a generation or two of behavioural engineering will the Arab world fall in line and become the gentle neighbour. They will do as they are told by the powers that be and forgetting the wrongs that have been committed against them along the way.

The cycle of violence persists only because those who have the power to stop it, those in the seat of power, refuse. Had Hezbollah not commited to the incursion, killing and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, Israel would not have been made to make a choice. From the seat of power, Israel has a responsibility to defend its borders. "Israel has the right to defend herself," is the sentiment echoed by US President Bush, Canadian PM Stephen Harper, and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.

Does Israel not also have a responsibility and a right to defend its citizens from a escalate conflict? Does Israel, and all empowered nations, not have a responsibility and a right to set a new standard? Not to be the schoolyard bully, not to be the oppressor, to not strike back. Feeding the violence with more violence entrenches those on the other side, increases recruitment for that cause, pushes peace farther from sight. Hezbollah becomes stronger with each Israeli bombing. Israel becomes more staunch an opponent when the group of weaker younger kids on the playground, the kids whose faces constantly change, have the audacity to claim some authority.

When you are the stronger and choose not to fight, it is not a sign of weakness, it is wisdom, tolerance, forgiveness, perhaps even love. Had Israel not bombed Lebanon on 12 July, there would be no Qana Massacre No. 2. Nothing is learned when in kill-switch conflicts.