Music For Trumpet And Bombs

by Fred Johnston Fri Jul 28, 2006 11:54

The unhappy lack of balance in the way some sections of the Irish media continue to report the horrors of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (it is nothing else) and the horrors Israel is visiting upon Gaza is to be deplored. There is a great deal that we are simply not being told about. The Independent (London) still carries the most informative reporting on these events, in my view; recently, while the Irish Times front page headlined news of Israeli military casualties, The Independent in London showed a more bitter truth, in carring pictures front-page of two infant girls, one eight months old, killed in Gaza by Israeli forces. One has to wonder precisely what agenda some parts of the Irish media are following - or being told to follow. The Israeli army and airforce, as Robert Fisk says (I paraphrase) break the Geneva Conventions on a daily basis; the Israeli government, whose State has ignored every United Nations resolution passed upon it, calmly uses the android-like Condaleeza Rice to parrot out new nonsense about Lebanon not complying with UN resolutions. Because the US backs them, those in the Israeli forces who commit war crimes will never be brought to justice: interesting in the Independent to note the comments of the Israeli press, one of whom, with Old Testament horror, warns that 'Woe to us . . . ' etc if they (Israel) show PROPORTIONATE response in Lebanon. We are witnessing US foreign policy in the Middle East being carried out by proxy through Israel. We deserve, we need, to know about it and to demand that our media inform us.

by Shipsea Sat Jul 22, 2006 21:28

had caught up with us years ago if only we had had the sense to observe it. Everything that happens to us is predicated on the bullshit that has been visited on the Middle East for the last 50 years. Domestic concerns all directly or indirectly relate to this issue: the scramble for oil. All US and UK foreign policy has been predicated on that since WW2 and before.

by eeekkkkkk Sat Jul 22, 2006 17:46

Q: What is the atmosphere in the streets of Beirut, if you can tell.

A: Beirut is quiet, dormant, huddled. We are caged, but there is tenacious solidarity. You have to understand that we see ourselves under an unwarranted attack from Israel. The capture of two soldiers DOES NOT justify Israel's response. There has been a status quo for the past 6 years that was well managed. Hezbollah was not in an impasse, the Olmert government was in an impasse. He ran on a campaign to solidify the "new" (illegitimate) borders, finish the wall and finalize the enclave and withdraw into the boundaries of that enclave. The Olmert government did not have the maturity or intelligence to know how to deal with the Hamas government. Your government was guided by arrogance. We, you and us, are here today because your political class is not up to the challenge. I am sorry, but the Hamas government was elected democratically, and there were myriad ways to deal with them. MYRIAD. But this is the stage of your destiny that you have reached: you build walls around yourselves (you to whom the Massada is a foundational trauma/myth!), and you chase barefoot, toothless, illiterate, hungry people with a state of the art military arsenal. And you insist that you are victims, and you insist that you are on the right side of history. All this bulllshit will catch up with you.

by eeekkk Sat Jul 22, 2006 15:43

An acquaintance passed this on;

' I've just heard from Christine . . . via text messaging . She is in the Bekaa valley in a bomb shelter and Israel is bombing the village where she is at the moment. She says they are bombing the Red Cross, food lorries, fire brigade, hospitals and emergency relief centres . . . She is very concerned about the lack of reporting by the international media about the details of this violence. '