In this issue: 1) Peace groups call Congress in support of Kucinich Immediate Ceasefire Resolution 2) Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon - Human Rights Watch 3) Top Iraqi's White House Visit Shows Gaps With U.S. 4) UFPJ Seeks Meeting with Iraqi PM 5) U.S. and NATO Balk on Troops for Lebanon Force 6) It's Disproportionate. . . 7) The road to peace runs through Shaba Farms 8) Stop Now, Immediately 9) Bombings Hit Children Hardest 10) ADC Files Lawsuit Against Secretaries of State and Defense for Failure to Protect US Citizens in Lebanon 11) Israeli civil rights group challenges Halutz 12) Hezbollah a tough foe for Israeli military 13) Nasrallah's Game 14) Lebanese Red Cross ambulances suffer new security incidents 15) Why is Bill Clinton in Connecticut? 16) Voice For Peace: Who Speaks for Us? - Tikkun 17) Fighting Could Harden World's Iran Stance
Summary: Today is a national call-in day in support of the Kucinich Immediate Ceasefire Resolution. Jewish Voice for Peace, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, Peace Action, the American Friends Service Committee and other peace organizations are asking folks call their representatives in Congress and ask them to cosponsor and support the Kucinich resolution. The Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121, ask to be connected to your representative's office. Info on your representative, including local phone numbers, can be found at www.house.gov.
Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said yesterday. Researchers confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border. "Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "They should never be used in populated areas."
When Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House today, he is expected to make requests that clash sharply with President Bush's foreign policy, the New York Times reports, signaling a widening gap between the Iraqis and the Americans on crucial issues. The requests will include asking President Bush to allow American-led troops in Iraq to be tried under Iraqi law, and to call for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The growing differences between Iraqi and American policies reflect an increasing disenchantment with American power among politicians and ordinary Iraqis. Another thorny subject is amnesty for Iraqi insurgents. He has to balance demands by some Iraqi leaders to give amnesty to insurgents who have attacked American troops, with fervent opposition from American politicians to any such policy.
United for Peace and Justice has sent a letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister requesting a meeting with representatives of the U.S. peace movement when Al-Maliki visits New York on Thursday to discuss cooperation in removing U.S. troops from Iraq. The letter notes that a majority of Iraqis and Americans both support a timetable for US withdrawal. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3334
Support has built quickly for an international military force to be placed in southern Lebanon, the New York Times reports, but the question is where will the troops come from. "All the politicians are saying, 'Great, great' to the idea of a force, but no one is saying whose soldiers will be on the ground," said one senior European official. "Everyone will volunteer to be in charge of the logistics in Cyprus." There has been strong verbal support in public, but private concerns that soldiers would be seen as allied to Israel and would have to fight Hezbollah guerrillas. Israel wants such a force to keep Hezbollah away from the border, allow the Lebanese government and army to take control over all of its territory, and monitor Lebanon's borders to ensure that Hezbollah is not resupplied with weapons. The Europeans envision a much less robust international buffer force, one that would follow a cease-fire and operate with the consent of the Lebanese government in southern Lebanon.
Bush's endorsement of the violence that Israel is inflicting on Lebanon -- a sustained bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of civilians and can only be seen as collective punishment -- is truly astonishing, Eugene Robinson writes in the Washington Post. Of course Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah's rocket attacks. But how can this utterly disproportionate, seemingly indiscriminate carnage be anything but counterproductive? Destroying the Beirut airport, blasting communications towers into oblivion and cleansing southern Lebanon of its civilian population are not measures the world will see as an attack on Hezbollah terrorists.
On Saturday Lebanon's Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah representative, announced that once the IDF withdrew from the Shaba Farms area, Hezbollah's role as a "liberating" army would be over, and it would stick to a purely a defensive role, reports Zvi Bar'el in the Israeli daily Haaretz. This is a very significant statement, Bar'el says, because it begins to define the conditions for Hezbollah's disarmament. The government of Lebanon, Hezbollah, the United States, France and the United Nations have all realized now that the key to achieving a long-term and sustainable cease-fire by means of the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the south lies in a resolution to the Shaba Farms dispute. Syria and Lebanon claim that the strip along the Israel-Lebanon border is part of Lebanon and therefore Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was never complete; but Israel and the United States have claimed that it is Syrian territory.
This war must be stopped now and immediately, Gideon Levy wrote yesterday in Haaretz. Every day raises its price for no reason, taking a toll in blood that gives Israel nothing tangible in return. This is a good time to stop the war because both sides can claim they won: Israel harmed Hezbollah and Hezbollah harmed Israel. History shows that no situation is better for reaching an arrangement. A decisive victory is not in the offing. On the other hand, the price is skyrocketing. Not only in the streets of the Arab world is more and more hatred being sown, but also in the West. Not only hundreds of thousands of Lebanese but tens of thousands of Westerners fleeing from Lebanon are contributing to the depiction of Israel as a violent, crude and destructive state. Millions of TV viewers in the West see the images of destruction and devastation, most of which are not shown to Israeli audiences.
55 percent of all casualties at the Beirut Government University Hospital are children of 15 years of age or less, Inter Press Service reported yesterday. "This is worse than during the Lebanese civil war," Bilal Masri, assistant director of the hospital, one of Beirut's largest, told IPS.
Yesterday the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld failed to fulfill their constitutional to protect US citizens in a crisis or time of war. In the lawsuit, ADC alleges that the defendants placed US citizens in peril by not taking all possible steps to secure the safety and well being of US citizens in Lebanon.
In letter to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel condemned as illegal IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz's comment that "for every Katyusha barrage on Haifa, 10 more buildings in the Dahiya neighborhood of south Beirut will be bombed." The association complained that Peretz must clarify to Halutz that it is completely unacceptable to motivate military activity on revenge. "The grave and illegal targeting of Israeli citizens does not justify such illegal orders, which means the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and civilian interests," the association said.
Figures released by the Israeli army show the pace of Hezbollah rockets raining down on Israel has not slowed — and the guerrillas are nowhere close to being neutralized, AP reported yesterday. Air power alone is proving insufficient to rout Hezbollah, whose determination and intimate knowledge of the terrain are making them a tougher-than-expected foe. Mideast observers say Hezbollah only has to remain standing — not beat Israel — to emerge victorious in Arab eyes.
Adam Shatz, writing in The Nation, speculates on the possible motivations of Hizbollah. Since the 2000 Israeli withdrawal Hezbollah has faced mounting pressure to lay down its arms and become a purely political organization. By conducting a raid that was likely to provoke a brutal Israeli reprisal, Nasrallah may have gambled that the fury of the Lebanese would soon turn from Hezbollah to Israel, thereby providing a justification for "the national resistance" as Lebanon's only deterrent against Israel. If so, Israel (with the full support of the Bush Administration) has played right into his hands, inflicting more than 300 casualties, nearly all of them civilians, and pounding the civilian infrastructure, eliciting sympathy for Hezbollah even among some Lebanese Christians. By striking at Israel's Army during its destructive campaign in Gaza, Nasrallah has earned praise throughout the Muslim world for coming to the aid of Palestinians abandoned by the region's authoritarian governments.
The Lebanese Red Cross Society reported five security incidents in recent days affecting ambulances, according to an International Committee of the Red Cross report yesterday. On 23 July two of its ambulances were struck by munitions, although both vehicles were clearly marked by the red cross emblem and flashing lights that were visible at a great distance. As a result, nine people including six Red Cross volunteers were wounded. "The ICRC is gravely concerned about the safety of medical staff ", said Balthasar Staehelin, the organization's delegate-general for the Middle East and North Africa. "We have raised this issue with the Israeli authorities and urged them to take the measures needed to avoid such incidents in the future."
Bill Clinton will be stumping for Joe Lieberman in Connecticut while Rep. Maxine Waters is stumping for his opponent, Salon reported yesterday. Lieberman and Waters have been at it since at least 1995, when he spoke in favor of California's anti-affirmative-action initiative. Lieberman may have chastised Clinton, but he has also provided a template for the other politician in the Clinton family. Hillary Clinton has undergone a gradual transformation into a kind of Bride of Lieberman, hawkish on the Iraq war, adamantly pro-Israel and tracking right on social issues. If Lieberman sinks, it will raise a lot of questions about the current Clinton strategy. Waters said there were rumors in Washington that Clinton and his wife are freaked out by the sudden progressive insurgency. The DLC is trying to put down a small rebellion before it spreads. Lieberman spent Sunday stumping in Hartford's black churches, where, according to the city's black leaders, nobody had previously seen him in his 18 years as senator. "His people will tell you he has been here, doing things quietly," former Hartford mayor Thirman Milner, now a Lamont supporter, said. "He must have been really quiet."
Wherever one stands on the question of how much influence various lobbying forces have on America's Middle East policy, it is clear that American Jewish opinion, or at least the perception of that opinion, carries significant weight, Mitchell Plitnick writes in Tikkun. From the Washington, D.C. perspective, American Jewish opinion is that the United States should never bring any tangible pressure, economic or diplomatic, to bear on Israel no matter what it does. Polling data suggest that American Jews think otherwise. A survey conducted last year by Ameinu, an American Zionist organization, showed that 47 percent of American Jews believe the United States should indeed pressure Israel to be more conciliatory to the Palestinians (in fact, only 20 percent said the United States should not pressure Israel). A 2003 survey conducted by Americans for Peace Now showed strong support for a settlement freeze. Over 70 percent of the poll's respondents supported it.
Iran insists it will not be drawn into the Middle East fighting between Israel and Hezbollah but may be unable to avoid fallout on the already difficult diplomatic struggle over its nuclear program, hardening positions on all sides, AP reports. Outside Iran, the fighting could sharpen the resolve of Western powers and others that claim Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon. Inside the country, hard-line forces might become increasingly unwilling to make concessions.
Articles: 2) Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon Israel Must Not Use Indiscriminate Weapons Human Rights Watch July 24, 2006 3:11 PM http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0724-17.htm
Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
3) Top Iraqi's White House Visit Shows Gaps With U.S. Edward Wong July 25, 2006 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/world/middleeast/25maliki.html
When Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House on Tuesday for the first time, he is expected to make requests that clash sharply with President Bush's foreign policy, Iraqi officials say, signaling a widening gap between the Iraqis and the Americans on crucial issues.
5) U.S. and NATO Balk on Troops for Lebanon Force Elaine Sciolino And Steven Erlanger New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/world/middleeast/25force.html July 25, 2006
Support is building quickly for an international military force to be placed in southern Lebanon, but there remains a small problem: where will the troops come from? The United States has ruled out its soldiers' participating, NATO says it is overstretched, Britain feels its troops are overcommitted and Germany says it is willing to participate only if Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that it would police, agrees to it, a highly unlikely development.
6) It's Disproportionate. . . Eugene Robinson Washington Post Tuesday, July 25, 2006; A15 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400810.html
Bush's endorsement of the violence that Israel is inflicting on Lebanon -- a sustained bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of civilians and can only be seen as collective punishment -- is truly astonishing. Of course Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah's rocket attacks. But how can this utterly disproportionate, seemingly indiscriminate carnage be anything but counterproductive?
7) The road to peace runs through Shaba Farms Zvi Bar'el Haaretz 07:34 25/07/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742228.html
Saturday saw another development in the status of Fuad Siniora's government versus the strength of Hezbollah. After the government received "a franchise" to enter into negotiations on a prisoner-exchange deal, Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah representative, announced that once the IDF withdrew from the Shaba Farms area, Hezbollah's role as a "liberating" army would be over, and it would stick to a purely a defensive role. This is a very significant statement, because it begins to define the conditions for Hezbollah's disarmament.
8) Stop Now, Immediately Gideon Levy Haaretz Monday, July 24, 2006 http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0724-20.htm
This war must be stopped now and immediately. From the start it was unnecessary, even if its excuse was justified, and now is the time to end it. Every day raises its price for no reason, taking a toll in blood that gives Israel nothing tangible in return. This is a good time to stop the war because both sides can claim they won: Israel harmed Hezbollah and Hezbollah harmed Israel. History shows that no situation is better for reaching an arrangement. Remember the lessons of the Yom Kippur War.
9) Bombings Hit Children Hardest Dahr Jamail Inter Press Service Monday, July 24, 2006 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0724-10.htm
About 55 percent of all casualties at the Beirut Government University Hospital are children of 15 years of age or less, hospital records show. "This is worse than during the Lebanese civil war," Bilal Masri, assistant director of the hospital, one of Beirut's largest, told IPS Monday.
10) ADC Files Lawsuit Against Secretaries of State and Defense for Failure to Protect US Citizens in Lebanon American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee July 24, 2006 http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2865
Today, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld failed to fulfill their constitutional and professional obligations and protect US citizens in a crisis or time of war.
11) Civil rights group challenges Halutz Aviram Zino Ynet News (Yedioth Ahronoth online) 20:06 , 07.24.06 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280788,00.html
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel appealed to Defense Minister Amir Peretz after IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz apparently said that "for every Katyusha barrage on Haifa, 10 more buildings in the Dahiya neighborhood of south Beirut will be bombed." The association complained that Peretz must clarify to Halutz that it is completely unacceptable to motivate military activity on revenge.
12) Hezbollah a tough foe for Israeli military Steven Gutkin Associated Press Mon Jul 24, 4:14 PM ET http://tinyurl.com/glkl7
Figures released by the Israeli army show the pace of Hezbollah rockets raining down on Israel has not slowed — and the guerrillas are nowhere close to being neutralized. Air power alone is proving insufficient to rout Hezbollah, whose determination and intimate knowledge of the terrain are making them a tougher-than-expected foe. Mideast observers say Hezbollah only has to remain standing — not beat Israel — to emerge victorious in Arab eyes.
13) Nasrallah's Game Adam Shatz The Nation July 20, 2006 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060731/nasrallah_game
In January 2004 Sheik Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, presided over a major prisoner exchange with Israel, in which the Lebanese guerrilla movement and political party secured the release of more than 400 Arab prisoners in return for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and an Israeli businessman and alleged spy, Elhanan Tannenbaum, whom Hezbollah had kidnapped. Moments before the exchange was sealed, Ariel Sharon withheld three Lebanese detainees, one of whom, Samir Kuntar, had killed a family of three in the Israeli town of Nahariya in 1979. Nasrallah, having failed to release Kuntar and the two other men, declared that Hezbollah would "reserve the right" to capture Israeli soldiers until the men were freed.
14) Lebanese Red Cross ambulances suffer new security incidents International Committee of the Red Cross Israel/Lebanon - Bulletin 2006/03 Latest report on ICRC activities in the field (22-24 July 2006) July 24, 2006 2:48 PM http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0724-13.htm
Heavy bombing has continued in the south of the country over the past three days. Medical staff from the Lebanese Red Cross Society continue evacuating the wounded and sick under very difficult and dangerous conditions. The Society reported five security incidents in recent days affecting ambulances, events that highlight the obligation to spare those engaged in medical work.
15) Why is Bill Clinton in Connecticut? It helps his wife, and it helps Joe Lieberman connect with a group of long-neglected voters. Colin McEnroe Salon Jul. 24, 2006 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/24/clinton_lieberman/
"They're desperate. They're losing," Rep. Maxine Waters told me on Saturday. The California Democrat was 3,000 miles from home in Hartford, Conn., at Ned Lamont for Senate headquarters in the black neighborhood known as the North End. By "they" she meant the Joe Lieberman campaign.
16) Voice For Peace: Who Speaks for Us? Mitchell Plitnick, director for education and policy, Jewish Voice for Peace Tikkun Magazine July/August 2006 http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0607/plitnick
While he was preparing for his first visit to Washington as Israel's new Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert was told not to ask for any money for his "Convergence" plan. The message came from the State Department, but was sent to Olmert through Malcolm Hoenlein, the Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Obviously, Hoenlein plays a very significant role in relations between Israel and the United States. But how many American Jews have even heard of him? Or of Howard Kohr, Executive Director of AIPAC? These are names that should be known to all American Jews, because these are the voices that are speaking for the American Jewish collective.
17) Fighting Could Harden World's Iran Stance Associated Press July 25, 2006 Filed at 9:48 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Mideast-Fighting-Iranian-Fallout.html
Iran insists it will not be drawn into the Middle East fighting between Israel and Tehran's Hezbollah clients but may be unable to avoid fallout on the already difficult diplomatic struggle over its nuclear program -- hardening positions on all sides, experts on the talks say.
-------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org