Israeli drive into Lebanon was part of a carefully orchestrated plan

HENRY GUTERMAN (Irish Examiner letters, September 6) responded to my earlier rejection (Irish Examiner letters, August 18) of his erroneous claim that the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area is widely accepted as part of Syria.

In the past, he claims, it was considered a part of the district of Damascus by the Syrians.

I am not sure what point Mr Guterman intends to make.

At one time or another, Syria has actually laid claim to the entire state of Lebanon and has spoken of that country as part of a greater Syria.

Such nonsensical claims are entertained by no-one today and, in recent years, the Syrian government has conceded that the Shebaa Farms are, in fact, Lebanese territory.

Mr Guterman is simply trying to muddy the picture, which is that, prior to its most recent assault on Lebanon, the Israeli state was already militarily occupying 25 square km of Lebanon, namely the Shebaa Farms.

It is also holding large numbers of Lebanese citizens seized during its illegal occupation of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000, when Hezbollah drove them out. In attempting to justify Israeli military aggression against Lebanon, Mr Guterman is defending the indefensible.

Over 1,100 Lebanese civilians were murdered by the Israeli military during their vicious assault and the civil infrastructure was severely damaged, particularly in the south of the country. And all this supposedly because of a relatively small-scale attack on the Israeli army by Hezbollah guerrillas. It is clear that this was a carefully executed plan to terrorise a nation.

The malicious nature of the Israeli attack was made very clear on August 30, when UN humanitarian officials accused Israel of acting ‘immorally’ by scattering more than 100,000 unexploded cluster bombs across southern Lebanon.

So far, these lethal and indiscriminate weapons of death have been found in over 350 separate locations. Most of the cluster bombs were dropped in the few days before the ceasefire with Hezbollah came into effect.

The danger that these pose to local civilians cannot be overstated.

It is noticeable also that Mr Guterman makes no reference to the Israeli state’s despicable treatment of the Palestinian people. Hundreds of men, women and children have been murdered by the Israeli army in Gaza over the past few months.

The bloodyminded militarism that Israel deployed in Lebanon is visited on Palestinians on a daily basis.

Israel is a terrorist state which operates a system of apartheid that must be opposed by all those who value human rights.

Anti-War Ireland joins with the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign in calling for a concerted boycott of Israeli products in Ireland.

We also call on Irish people to support both the beleaguered Palestinian people and those Jewish citizens of Israel who are campaigning for a better society free of military aggression.

Propagandists for Israeli militarism should reflect on the suffering they are helping to perpetuate.

Fintan Lane

Anti-War Ireland

Palmer’s Grove

Dublin 20