Israel has done it again. Last Wednesday January 30th
Israeli war planes violated Lebanese air space for then ninth time in their way
to bomb Syrian military research center. The US and the UN had also done it
again. The US supported this Israeli raid as Israel’s alleged “right to protect
itself”, while the UN denied Israel’s aggression claiming it could not verify it
due to “bad weather conditions.”
While Israel kept silent about the raid with some of its
officials hinting that Israel could have done it and has the right to do it
allegedly in self defense, pro-Zionist media sources claimed that Israeli war
planes targeted trucks transporting weapons to Lebanese Hezbollah on the
Syrian/Lebanese border. Media outlets, including Qatari Al Jazeera, reported
Israel’s fears of Hezbollah getting its hands on Syrian chemical weapons and
Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, as reported by an Israeli security
officials’ chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not
authorized to speak to the media.
Israel’s unfounded claimed fear of having Syrian
chemical weapons in the hands of Hezbollah is a total nonsense and smoke screen
in the face. If Syria wanted to transport such weapons to Hezbollah it wouldn’t
do it in conspicuous convoys crossing the border. Hezbollah had demonstrated its capability to defeat and deter
Israeli aggression using conventional weapons during summer of 2006 and does not
need any chemical weapons. Such claims are used as a justification for
aggressive interventions on the Syrian borders to relieve pressure on the
anti-Syrian terrorist groups.
Syrian officials reported that Israeli war planes had violated
Syrian air space and bombed the Jamraya research center in the suburbs of
Damascus, far from the Lebanese borders. This research center has been the
target of attacks by the American/Israeli-Turkey/Qatari supported anti-Syrian
terrorists and militias; the so-called Free Syrian Army, al-Qaeda and Annusra
Front.
For the last seven months
these mercenary terrorists were directed to attack Syria’s air defense systems
and military bases in order to incapacitate Syria’s military defense
capabilities. They had managed to attack one S-200 base and four surface-to-air
missile bases. They have also succeeded in assassinating military scientific
project managers such as
Colonel Dawoud
Rajiha, who was managing Syria’s long-range missile project. Yet
their many attempts to attack and inflict any damage onto the Jamraya research
center had failed since it was heavily protected. This job was left, then, to
the Israeli air forces. The Israeli air raid shows very clearly the degree of
Israel’s involvement with the anti-Syrian terrorist groups.
No official statement,
Syrian or otherwise, had stated exactly what the Israeli planes had targeted.
Yet some reports claim that the strike was intended to destroy Syria’s
development of advance airspace defensive technology based on nuclear
plasma technology developed by Iranian born nuclear
engineer Mehran Keshe, known as “Tesla of physics”. It
is reported that Iran gave this technology to Syria. This is the same technology
Iran used to “pull” down the American spying drones in perfect
conditions.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry filed a complaint letter with the
United Nations Security Council urging the Council to issue a “clear
condemnation of the flagrant Israeli attack on the territories of a sovereign
state and the Israeli violation of the UN Charter, the international law, the
Disengagement of Forces Agreement in 1974 and the relevant UNSC resolutions.”
The Israeli air raid was also condemned by the Russian
government calling it “unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a
sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable,
no matter the motives to justify it.” Iran, Syria’s closest regional ally,
warned that the “Zionist regime’s attack on the outskirts of Damascus will
have grave consequences for Tel Aviv.” Iran has a cooperative defense pact
with Syria, and had previously warned that any attack on Syria would be
considered an act of aggression against its own country.
The Lebanese President, Michel Suleiman, denounced the Israeli
raid as flagrant aggression and accused Israel of “… exploiting the
development in Syria to carry out its aggressive policies, indifferent to all
the humanitarian and international treaties.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohamed Kamel Amr, denounced the
Israeli attack saying “Such an assault on Arab land is entirely rejected and
represents a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and international
law.” He, also, called on the international community to hold Israel
accountable for its attacks on Arab countries, describing the raid as a danger
to regional security and to Middle Eastern sovereignty.
When it comes to Israel’s violations of international
laws and humanitarian laws, the responses of the American-controlled United
Nation are very disappointing and do not hold the international laws.
Claiming “unclear weather conditions” the UN stated that
it could not confirm the Israeli raid. The only thing Ban Ki-Moon, the
Secretary-General of the UN, could offer was his concern over the
raid.
The deafening silence of the UNSC about the Israeli violations of
the sovereignty of its neighboring countries had encouraged Israel to continue
its terrorist attacks. The UN always apply double standards when it comes to
Israel; the UN either overlooks Israeli terror attacks or considers them
self-defense, while Palestinian and Lebanese opposition to Israeli occupation
and terrorism is considered terrorist acts. In the case of Syria the UN
overlooks the anti-Syrian terrorist supporting states of US, UK, France, Israel,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. These terrorist have been involved in grave
human right violations and war crimes, the latest was the cold blooded execution
of 80 young men in Halab.
The American response to the Israeli raid is also very typically
biased towards Israel. American officials as well as media had focused on the
alleged transporting Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles to
Lebanon. The NBC reported that the missiles “would
remove Israel’s critical freedom of flight over Lebanon.” This
alleged freedom of flight is a violation of the air space of a sovereign
country. Would Israel give this type of freedom
to Syrian war plane into Israeli air
space?
Ben Rhodes, the White House
deputy national security advisor, warned Syria it should not
“further
destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah.” This warning
implies justification for the Israeli raid and for future such raids. During an
interview with French media last Friday the American Defense Secretary Panetta
expressed American concern of the increasing probabilities of Hezbollah
acquiring advanced weaponry from Syria. In her farewell speech, the US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia and Iran of
“stepping up”
military support for Syria and thus adding fuel to possible regional
conflict.
Israel is the mad dog in the Middle East attacking all its
neighboring countries without any provocation. The Israelis claim that acquiring
advanced weapons by any of its neighboring countries means an existential threat
to Israel, and thus they consider attacking and bombing that country their right
of self defense. So Israel had bombed Iraq’s nuclear facility in the 1970’s,
waged aggression wars against Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and lately Gaza
Strip. It had bombed in 2009 Sudanese alleged arm smuggling convoys transporting
weapons to Gaza, and in 2012 bombed Sudan’s small arms factory. In 2007 Israel
bombed Syrian alleged nuclear facility and last week bombed Syrian research
center. This twisted logic is somehow supported by the US and the UN. I wonder
if this logic gives any Arab country the right to bomb Israel’s nuclear facility
in Dimona or any of its chemical and biological weapons facility! Does it also
give them the right to bomb any American ships carrying weapons to
Israel?
Israel’s perpetual terrorism is a flagrant declaration of war
against every country it had bombed. Israel, not Syria or any other Arab
country, is the “destabilizing” factor of the Middle East. Israel’s latest
terrorist attack on Syria could serve as the beginning of a far wider war to
include Iran, driving the whole region into an inferno, whose flame would touch
the whole world.
***********
Dr. Elias Akleh is
an Arab writer from a Palestinian descent born in the town of Beit Jala. His
family was first evicted from Haifa after the “Nakba” of 1948, then from Beit
Jala after the “Nakseh” of 1967. He lives now in the US, and publishes his
articles on the web in both English and Arabic.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian The views expressed in this article are
the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of
this Blog!
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