Conflict and War

August 13, 2006

Hezbollah and Lebanon: Myths and Facts

Myth: The Lebanese government never agreed to Hezbollah's armed role in south Lebanon, or to its attacks against Israel.
Fact: There is no doubt that a significant number of Lebanese, including some Shia, oppose Hezbollah and view the group as a puppet of Syria and Iran. However, the government of Lebanon has officially accepted and applauded Hezbollah's attacks against Israel. For example, on the website of the Lebanese Army is a Nov. 22, 2004 document entitled "Independance" (sic) which lauds the "resistance" ...

August 9, 2006

Updated: Post’s Thomas Ricks Charges Israel Intentionally Leaving Hezbollah Rockets Intact

Thomas Ricks, Pentagon reporter for the Washington Post, charged on CNN that Israel had intentionally left some Hezbollah launchers intact to ensure that for PR purposes there would be continued killings of Israelis. This charge is nothing short of obscene. Israeli soldiers are fighting and dying in house-to-house battles to root out Hezbollah rocket teams that are trying to kill the soldiers' wives and children. Ricks should prove his charge or retract it.
August 9, 2006

Updated: A Reprise: Media Photo Manipulation

A blog-driven exposé of Reuters' doctored photos may be the tip of an iceberg of manipulated information and photographs coming from Hezbollah-controlled areas. The question is will America's prestige media give greater scrutiny to the images they publish?
August 9, 2006

Boston Globe Column: Death and Destruction Are Hezbollah’s Goals

Sometimes basic facts get blurred in a fierce, image-filled conflict such as the one spawned by Hezbollah's July 12 cross-border attack in which Israeli soldiers were killed and others kidnapped while a rain of rockets descended on homes and fields. What does Hezbollah, with some 10,000 katyushas and other long-range missiles, really want?
August 2, 2006

United Church of Christ Leaders Condemn Hezbollah But Still Miss the Point

A recent statement signed by two leaders of the United Church of Christ, including Rev. John Thomas, the denomination's president and general minister, called on Hezbollah to release Israeli captives and end "provocative attacks and hatred against Israel." This represents an improvement over previous statements, but problems remain with the denomination's public stance about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
August 2, 2006

Anders Strindberg Turns Truth on its Head in Christian Science Monitor

In an Op-Ed that was published in the Christian Science Monitor on August 1, 2006, Anders Strindberg turns truth on its head by blaming Israel for the current situation while exonerating Hizballah and Hamas, groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Israel. He echoes the terrorists' propaganda both in his underlying premise that Israel's very existence is invalid and in his unsubstantiated allegations and misrepresentations against the Jewish State.
August 1, 2006

AP Ignores Displaced Israelis

Since Hezbollah first attacked Israeli towns and troops on July 12, hundreds of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians have fled their homes. While the Associated Press reports in story after story about Lebanese displaced, the wire service has had little to say about Israeli displaced.
July 31, 2006

A Personal Perspective on the Israel/Hezbollah War

The following is a response by an Israeli citizen to an article that was published last Wednesday in the Israeli daily Ma'ariv. The Ma'ariv article by an anonymous Lebanese writer described her perspective on the war.
July 29, 2006

BBC Headline Falsely Charges Beirut Airport “Destroyed”

BBC reports on the Israel/Hezbollah crisis link to a story about a Jordanian relief flight to Beirut with the false and misleading link headline "Mercy Mission: A Jordanian aid mission flies into Beirut airport, which has been destroyed." In fact, as even al-Jazeera reported, the Beirut airport has not been "destroyed" and has suffered relatively minor damage to its runways.