The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Radical politics needed

I can’t imagine it would be possible for someone to hear of thedestruction and see the images of the bombardment of Lebanon, and not be outraged at the disgustingand unflinching brutality of Israel in these latest series of attacks.The numbers say it all: nearly 1 million civilians forced to fleetheir homes in southern Lebanon as their towns and villages arereduced to a pile of rubble, nearly 1000 Lebanese killed, the vast majority civilians including an extremely high number of women and children. And all of this happened in the course of four weeks. Many people might think that Israel went too far in their attacks on Lebanon, but also think that Hezbollah is equally to blame because they used force against Israel. However, unlike Israel which was acting in an aggressiveand provocative way – bombing bridges roads and neighborhoods – the Lebanese people were acting inself-defense.The very country which had only been expelled from occupyingsouthern Lebanon six years earlier was once again bombingthem and moving across their borders. Lebanon absolutely had the right to resist what many understandably feared would turn into another occupation. The criticisms of Hezbollah – labeling them a “terrorist” organization – stem from fear withinIsrael and the United States because Hezbollah, along withHamas in Palestine, is one of the only hugely popular nationalist organizations that has successfully beat off U.S. funded Israeli aggression.Israel made a conscious decision in targeting Hezbollah. It wasseeking to destroy the most powerful forms off opposition to aMiddle East controlled by the United States and its watchdog,Israel. Israel may have destroyed the infrastructure of southernLebanon, but it failed dismally in its task to destroy Hezbollah’s (and in Palestine, Hamas’) reputation as legitimate resistance groups.Hezbollah has not only gained massive support among Muslims and Christians alike in Lebanon, but it and Hamas are the image of resistance throughout the Middle East and the rest of the world.Hezbollah and Hamas are fighting against a Middle East thatthe United States, with the help of Israel, wishes to create – a pro- U.S., pro-Israel, pro-free trade Middle East. One that pays no attention to human rights – one that carries out massacres like the ones that have happened in Tyre, Qana, Jenin and Fallujah.A Middle East allowing men and women to be tortured in themost degrading and shameful ways possible in Abu Ghraib prison. A Middle East that allows a family picnicking on a beach in Gaza to be massacred in a “routine” shelling. A Middle East that allows generations to be born and live their entire lives in refugee camps, never being allowed to return to their homes and relatives.It is imperative that anyone who opposes the United States andIsrael’s agendas for the Middle East must stand up and support the forms of resistance that exist there – we must support Hezbollah and Hamas as a legitimate nationalist and resistance organizations, and stand up with Arabs and Muslims in this country and around the world in the fight against racism and scapegoating. In 1943 we would have stood in support of those fighting in theWarsaw Ghetto Uprising. In 1968 we would have stood up against the massacre at My Lai and stood in support of the Vietnamese Liberation Army. And in the early 1990s we would have stood in solidarity with the South Africans fighting to end racist Apartheid.Today we must stand with Hezbollah against Israeli aggressionin Lebanon and with Hamas against Israeli aggression in Palestine, and we must stand up with the Iraqis who are demanding U.S. troops out now!

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Radical politics needed