Lebanon has widespread support for claim to disputed territory
Unfortunately, he then proceeds to promulgate Israeli state misinformation.
Mr Guterman is correct when he assumes my remarks on the continued Israeli infringement of Lebanese sovereignty were in relation to the disputed Shebaa Farms.
However, he is utterly incorrect in his assertion that this occupied territory is generally considered to be a part of Syria.
Although taken from Syria by the Israeli military in 1967, the Shebaa Farms — an area comprising some 25 sq km — is widely accepted to be part of Lebanon.
Indeed, on May 16, 2000, Farouq al-Shara, the Syrian foreign minister, confirmed to Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, that Syria considers the Shebaa Farms to be Lebanese.
The Lebanese claim — made by the government and not just by Hezbollah, as Mr Guterman said — has also received significant international support, including that of the Arab League and former US president Jimmy Carter.
Nevertheless, one thing is certain: wherever sovereignty lies, it is not with the Israeli state.
While I hesitate to take the UN security council seriously, it is worth noting that its Resolution 497 declared as ‘null and void’ the extension of Israeli law to the Shebaa Farms in 1981.
Israel, however, has a long history of stealing other people’s land, as many Palestinian refugees can attest, and remains oblivious to the wishes of the Arab population.
Mr Guterman also asserts that Beirut was relatively undamaged by the recent sustained Israeli bombardment because the focus was on the city’s southern suburbs.
Apparently, he believes the people of Lebanon should feel grateful to the Israeli state for its consideration during the bombing.
Is he serious? This is akin to saying Irish citizens should feel grateful to a foreign power that levelled Tallaght, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, as long as it left Dublin city centre unscathed.
Over 1,100 men, women and children were murdered by the Israeli war machine in Lebanon over the past few weeks.
Many more were killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza. I suspect the surviving relatives feel something other than gratitude towards the Israeli state.
Finally, Mr Guterman denounces the call by Anti-War Ireland and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign to boycott Israeli goods.
This is a rather perverse criticism of human rights advocates when one remembers the recent Israeli disabling of a power station in Gaza and the strangulation of commercial life in that Palestinian enclave.
A time will surely come when Arabs and Jews can live side by side in peace and harmony.
Arguably, however, Israeli military aggression and the sustained oppression of the Palestinian people continue to push that day further into the future.
Fintan Lane
Anti-War Ireland
Palmer’s Glade
Dublin 20
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