The tactic of pressuring civilians has been tried before, and more than once. The Lebanese, for example, are very familiar with the Israeli tactic of destroying power stations and infrastructure. Entire villages in south Lebanon have been terrorized, with the inhabitants fleeing in their thousands for Beirut. But what also happens under such extreme stress is that local divisions evaporate and a strong, united leadership is forged.
The editorial noted further that "Israel also kidnapped people from Lebanon to serve as bargaining chips in dealings with the kidnappers of Israeli soldiers. Now, it is trying out this tactic on Hamas politicians." Prime Minister Olmert "should know that arresting leaders only strengthens them and their supporters. But this is not merely faulty reasoning; arresting people to use as bargaining chips is the act of a gang, not of a state."[9]
A common theme during the height of the violence was that Israel's actions were appropriate and justified, that it was merely acting in "self-defense" against "terrorists" who threatened not only Israeli civilians, but, in some versions, civilization itself. It was acknowledged that Israel was responsible for the deaths of far more civilians than Hezbollah, but the difference, we were told, is that Hezbollah intentionally targets civilians while Israel makes every possible effort to avoid killing innocents.
This argument was articulated by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, who said, "I think it would be a mistake to ascribe moral equivalence to civilians who die as the direct result of malicious terrorist acts," referring to Israelis killed as a result of Hezbollah rocket attacks. In contrast, acting in "self-defense," Israel's military action merely had "the tragic and unfortunate consequence of civilian deaths." But, he added, "It's simply not the same thing to say that it's the same act to deliberately target innocent civilians, to desire their deaths, to fire rockets and use explosive devices or kidnapping versus the sad and highly unfortunate consequences of self-defense."[10]
The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem put the number of Palestinians killed in June at 42, 24 of whom "did not participate in the hostilities, but were bystanders who were killed in attacks by Israel's air force."[12] This number did not include the seven members of the Ghaliya family killed on a Gaza beach. Israel denied responsibility for the killing, but an investigation by Human Rights Watch demonstrated the implausibility of the denials.[13] The group appealed to the Israeli government to stop harming the civilian population of Gaza, noting that the Israeli military had "interrupted the supply of fuel to Gaza and kept Gaza's crossings mostly closed to supply of food and other humanitarian goods." Hospitals in Gaza were forced to reduce "their activities to life-saving procedures," but because of the blockade and the destruction of Gaza's power station on June 28, "hospitals cannot perform life-saving surgery." The action of the Israeli military, the group noted, "constitutes collective punishment, in violation of international law."[14]
By the end of July, 524 Lebanese had been killed and 51 Israelis, 18 of whom were civilians, according to media reports.[15] In other words, while most Lebanese deaths during the violence were civilians, most of the Israelis killed were soldiers. It's no slight irony, which alone should be enough to invite skepticism of the official interpretation of events, that the "terrorist" party which deliberately tries to kill civilians is so incompetent it ends up killing more soldiers than innocent bystanders; while the reverse is true for the party that is supposedly doing everything it can to prevent civilian casualties.
According to Human Rights Watch, "Hezbollah claims that some of its attacks are aimed at military bases inside Israel, which are legitimate targets. But most of the attacks appear to have been directed at civilian areas and have hit pedestrians, hospitals, schools, homes and businesses."[16] Hezbollah's claims, of course, are given no serious consideration; and the group is rather judged by its actions and by the facts on the ground, leading observers to conclude, rightfully, that Hezbollah is engaged in terrorism for firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel. Yet this standard doesn't apply to Israel, whose declarations of benevolent intent are accepted at face value and regarded as evidence or statements of fact. Few commentators-none in the mainstream-are willing apply the same standard and to similarly term Israel's actions "terrorism". Hypocrisy prevails.
By August 24, according to the World Health Organization, 1,184 Lebanese had been killed, with the number of displaced people in excess of 900,000. "In addition," the W.H.O. notes,
the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) military operation has caused enormous damage to residential areas and key civilian infrastructure such as power plants, seaports, fuel depots, and hospital and health centres were destroyed. Seventy-two bridges and virtually all road networks have been systematically destroyed leaving entire communities in the South inaccessible.... The remains of unexploded ordinance splattered all over form a major ongoing threat to the health of the population.[17]
Peter Bouckaert, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, noted that
Time after time, Israel has hit civilian homes and cars in the southern border zone, killing dozens of people with no evidence of any military objective.... Israel says the fault for the massive civilian death toll lies with Hezbollah, claiming its fighters are hiding weapons inside civilian homes and firing them from civilian areas. But even if the Israeli forces could show evidence of Hezbollah activity in some civilian areas, it could not justify the extensive use of indiscriminate force that has cast so many lives.[18]
Journalist Mitch Prothero made a similar observation:
Throughout this now 16-day-old war, Israeli planes high above civilian areas make decisions on what to bomb. They send huge bombs capable of killing things for hundreds of meters around their targets, and then blame the inevitable civilian deaths - the Lebanese government says 600 civilians have been killed so far - on "terrorists" who callously use the civilian infrastructure for protection. But this claim is almost always false.... For their part, the Israelis seem to think that if they keep pounding civilians, they'll get some fighters, too.[19]
After Israel targeted a residential building in the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday, July 30, killing dozens of civilians, Israel claimed that Hezbollah had been firing rockets from the vicinity. "However," noted B'Tselem, "information which has since been made public reveals that on the day of the attack no rockets were launched from the village of Qana."[20]
Israel blamed the deaths on Hezbollah not only by claiming rockets had been fired from the area but also by saying it had warned residents of Qana to evacuate. "But," reported the Associated Press, "many in Qana-like the thousands believed holed up across south Lebanon-said they were too afraid to leave on roads that have been heavily bombarded by Israeli forces. The main road to the nearest city, Tyre, is lined with cars smashed by missiles and pancaked buildings."[21] In an earlier incident, Israel had "incinerated a van in south Lebanon, killing 20 people, among them 15 children," as the van, "carrying two families," was "fleeing the village of Marwaheen after Israeli loudspeaker warnings to leave their homes."[22]
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