By Ruqayyah Chamseddine
November 27, 2010Exclusive to Al-Manar
The bitter taste of ignorance is at times overpowering; distorting the senses to the point of intellectual nausea. The joyful march of simpletons in unison and the silent rage of dissenters which follows is commonplace while at the same time grotesquely bewildering.
This trend is not selective, it does not reveal its municipal silhouette in accordance to a particular society over another – no, it is circadian and fairly ordinary.
Lebanon, the overlooked and underestimated sliver bordered by both Syria and Israel, is a politically diverse hamlet. Politics is the drug of choice here, above all else; Yellow and Green are not just complimentary colors.
Recently the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (hereon referred to as the “STL“) has been at the forefront of all political machinations; the tribunal was created in order to allegedly probe into the murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri who was assassinated in 2005 along with 22 others.
Syria was more or less cleared of involvement in September of this year – Saad Hariri, the late Rafiq Hariri’s son, stated that ”…at a certain stage we made mistakes. We accused Syria of assassinating the martyred premier, and this was a political accusation.” He went on, “…we were wrong and this prosecution policy is outdated…”
Yes, ‘they were wrong in implicating Syria in the assassination of Rafiq Hariri and for the longest time they were unashamedly wrong. In early 2005, when the wound of the Hariri assassination had barely been tended to, accusations against Syria were coming not from Lebanese sources but those in Israel. The Lebanese had only started to mourn and yet Israel was already boasting of “intel” which conveniently pointed the finger at Syria.
Now it seems like the blame is being shifted towards another group, since accusing Syria has lost its political appeal. Hezb’Allah is the new suspect in this tired and unending drama.
In this case it goes beyond simple political convenience, to accuse Hezb’Allah of having a hand in killing Rafiq Hariri.
I’ve been reading comments being made against Hezb’Allah by every group under the sun; venomous and often childish remarks by those who disregard the role Israel has played in the region since before even the creation of Hezb’Allah in 1982. Israel has always been an instigator; from the illegal occupation of Palestine to the occupation of Southern Lebanon. South Lebanon was only liberated from Israeli occupation in 2000 because of the Resistance, because of Hezb’Allah. This is an undeniable fact.
In 2006 Israel was unable to defeat Hezb’Allah; The Israeli War Commission called the 33 day July War a large and serious failure.
In 2006 Israel was unable to defeat Hezb’Allah; The Israeli War Commission called the 33 day July War a large and serious failure. Retired judge Eliyahu Winograd said his commission that probed the Israeli failure in the 2006 war on Lebanon, found the war was marked by failures, shortcomings and missed opportunities. "To offer a general summing up, Israel lost an important opportunity. We went to war on our own initiative, it was a long war and it ended without a clear victory in terms of the military objectives. An organization of just a few thousand troops [Hezbollah] managed to hold out against an army that benefited from absolute air supremacy, and major benefits on the technological level," he said.
So now here comes the part two of what can simply be called the Israeli Games in Lebanon; they could not subdue Hezb’Allah through military aggression, thus they must bring the Resistance to its knees politically.
So how does Israel bring forth the political collapse of one of the strongest Resistance groups in the region, one which unashamedly continues to challenge Israeli hegemony? The STL.
Though it is called the Special Tribunal for “Lebanon” it is anything but.
The STL is Israeli aided and US-backed according to none other than Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. He has recently acknowledged Israel's "cooperation" with Hariri's tribunal and said that Tel Aviv has been transparent and open to the investigation, Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper reported Friday. He also accused Lebanon's resistance movement of Hezbollah of trying to undermine the tribunal.
In an August speech, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah presented evidence proving that Israel masterminded the assassination. In his televised address, Sayyed Nasrallah presented footage captured by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), as well as recorded confessions by captured Mossad agents, substantiating that Tel Aviv had been behind the killing. 
There is no need to be meek about the role they play in Lebanon. The continuous fly overs Israeli planes conduct over Lebanon, in direct breach of UN Resolution 1701, are not for the sake of wasting precious fuel. 
But again, the ignorant parties will continue to boast and the dissenters will remain loyally persistent in their silent crawl forward. It is often much easier to bite ones tongue in an act of apathetic dismay than to use it in lashing out against a parade of fools.
In this case the same individuals who overwhelmed Lebanon’s political stage with accusation against Syria are now changing their tune, attempting to present to the world another off-key lullaby; changing the suspects but keeping the accusation the same.
Israel adheres to no UN Resolution, nor a single code of law. Israel occupies land which belongs to another people, in both Lebanon and Palestine. Israel has slaughtered the Lebanese and Palestinians en masse, arrogantly and with fear of no legal or moral repercussions.
Yet it is seemingly far-fetched for one to even attempt to accuse Israel of assassinating a Lebanese Premier and 22 others, why?
Israel is not even being investigated by the Special Tribunal for “Lebanon” – why? Because this tribunal is not for the Lebanese, it is not for Lebanon.
The STL is attempting to place the noose around the neck of the Resistance but its attempt will be in vain – any hand which dares to be raised against the Resistance in Lebanon will be “cut off” as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vehemently states time and time again.
Be it Israel, the STL or any other imperialist force – We bow to no one but God.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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