Don't Make Me Laugh Danny Boy

Today someone launched two rockets at the northern Israeli coastal city of Haifa, presumably from inside Lebanon. While everyone assumes Hizbullah conducted this action, the Shia-based Lebanese political party and armed movement have denied involvement. So you'll excuse me if I wait to pass judgment. Assuming something isn't the same as knowing something, a lesson we could all well learn.

According to the BBC, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Danny Ayalon, described the Haifa attack as a "major escalation" of the crisis. What a %#$*ing joke! I'm sorry but I've really had enough of this "you hit me first game". How in God's name are two rockets a major escalation? Let's not forget that Israel has blockaded an entire country and is pummelling it from the air with a lot stronger munitions than Kutusha rockets; I believe the number of civilians killed by the Israeli Defense Forces inside Lebanon is now up to 30. What's really an escalation? How do you define escalation?

The truth is that they are an escalation because Hizbullah is fighting back. What Danny means to say is that this war should be fought in Palestine or Lebanon. When it hits home it becomes something more serious. But Danny, it's already hitting home to the Palestinians and Lebanese that are being killed inside their territory. So when your state bombed their country, was that not an escalation requiring a response? You might be interested in a lesson in empathy.

But I'm not forgetting that Hizbullah acted first and killed and captured your soldiers first and this was unjustifiable. But then for over 20 years you occupied and continue to occupy a small part of their country. Before that, Lebanon was the home of the Palestinian resistance (or as you might prefer terrorists) which hurt Israel deeply. And before that, and before that . . .

Now I'm attempting to not get caught up in this most painful and bitter history. It's hard because I have strong opinions. For one, Israel has power, more than any other group in the Middle East. Therefore to my mind, Israel has to make the peace gestures required not abuse their power by whining about a few rockets while leveling bridges and power plants. That's pathetic hypocrisy plain and simple. But maybe that's just me.