Never wrong
Portrayed as the world's eternal victim, Israel in the eyes
of the Americans is unquestioned, even when it is bombing civilians,
writes Emad Mekay, in New York
 Click to view
caption |
Petrol tanks are seen on fire at Al-Jieh
electricity station following an Israeli air strike; A Lebanese
youth lifts a child's bicycle from the rubble of a destroyed
residential building in the southern city of Tyre
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For the United States, Israel is always the victim when at conflict
with its Arab neighbours. Otherwise, the zealous mobilisation of US
politicians and intellections in support of Israel's war against Lebanon
and their justification of the bloodshed it has caused would be
ludicrous.
On Sunday morning millions of Americas watched former Speaker of the
House Newt Gingrich (Republican, Georgia) tell them that Israel's
demolition of Lebanese infrastructure, targeting of civilians and total
blockade of Lebanon was an act of self-defence. He and many other public
figures in the US also parroted the Israeli line of blaming Iran and
Syria for the events. There is, Gingrich said, a "Syria, Hizbullah and
Hamas alliance trying to destroy Israel".
"You clearly have Iranian involvement; there are at least 400 Iranian
guards in south Lebanon," he added without citing any evidence.
The US continues to back Israeli aggression with weapons and aid,
justified by claims made by many pro-Israel intellectuals that this
conflict is a world war that includes the United States. "I mean, this
is absolutely a question of the survival of Israel, but it's also a
question of what is really a world war," Gingrich said
Other neo-conservatives and staunch pro-Israel allies also saw
opportunity in the lethal violence gripping Lebanon. William Kristol,
editor of the right-wing Weekly Standard, told Fox News Sunday
that the Israeli attacks were in response to the Hizbullah operation
that lead to the capture of two Israel soldiers, failing to mention how
the Lebanese government and Hizbullah have been pleading with Israel to
return maps of some 140,000 mines it left when it was forced out of
Lebanon in 2000.
Israel still holds Lebanese prisoners and thousands of Palestinians
in its US-funded prisons. It has also rejected calls for a withdrawal
from the Shebaa Farms area that it continues to occupy.
Kristol -- a main propagandist for the US invasion of Iraq -- also
said that the Hizbullah operation was an "opportunity" for the US to be
back on the offensive in the region after a series of setbacks in Iraq
and Afghanistan. "This aggression is a great opportunity to begin
resuming the offensive against the terrorist groups," he said.
"Israel is fighting four of our five enemies, in a sense, in the
Middle East: Iran and Syria, sponsors of terror, Hizbullah and Hamas.
Al-Qaeda doesn't seem to be directly involved. We have to take care of
them in Iraq," Kristol added. "This is an opportunity to begin to
reverse the unfortunate direction of the last six months to nine months
and get the terrorists and the jihadists back on the defensive," he
said.
The US media has also played a role in downplaying scenes of civilian
causalities on the Lebanese side. On Monday, the front-page picture of
The Washington Post depicted Israeli rescue workers operating in
Haifa. The day before was a bland, practically generic, picture of an
explosion in Lebanon. Most headlines have either sympathised with Israel
or undermined the gravity of Israel's attacks.
Alternatively, many TV stations sought to present the current crisis
in terms of equal suffering; that Israeli civilians suffered under
Hizbullah rockets as much as Lebanese civilians under Israeli aerial
bombing.
More than 250 Lebanese, most of them civilians, including women and
children, were killed in Israeli raids using 500-pound laser guided
US-made bombs. The Lebanese economy suffered billions of dollars worth
of damage after Israel targeted Beirut's airport, bridges, roads and
factories. To date, 24 Israelis have been killed -- half of them
uniformed soldiers in combat with Hizbullah fighters.
'Syrian President May Hold Key to Mid-East Crisis' read the headline
of The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. 'Toll Climbs In Mid- East As
fighting Rages on' was the uninformative Washington Post
headline. In editorial after editorial, Israel is portrayed as the
victim. "Make no mistake about it: Responsibility for the escalating
carnage in Lebanon and northern Israel lies with one side, and one side
only. And that is Hizbullah, the Islamist militant party, along with its
Syrian and Iranian backers," said The Los Angeles Times editorial
on Monday.
Palestine Media Watch has said that it had to call CNN's
international desk Sunday complaining about the network's lack of
coverage of civilian suffering on the Lebanese side. The pro-Arab
organisation reported that the answer they got from CNN was they did
"not have enough equipment and could not be everywhere at the same
time".
"I think it's been strikingly one-sided in the coverage. The
downplaying of the civilian casualties in Lebanon, I think, is fairly
remarkable," said Jim Naureckas of the New York media-watchdog group
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). "And the sort of acceptance
that Israel is engaging in some kind of normal behaviour by responding
to the one violent incident on the border by declaring war on an entire
country is treated as a matter of course by US media commentators when
it is really an amazing escalation."
Analysts say that with the US media coverage so biased, the American
public and politicians would be very hard pressed not to take sides with
Israel. "Certainly by giving only one part of the narrative where you
have Israeli victims as the victims of unprovoked violence, it would be
hard not to take Israel's side. If you are taking your information from
the US media, it'll be hard to construct a different way of looking at
it," said Naureckas.
Meanwhile, more US lawmakers came to the defence of Israel,
regurgitating the Israeli line that it was provoked and that its
military action was self-defence. Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton
pledged support for Israel. Clinton, regarded as a possible presidential
candidate for the 2008 elections, criticised the "unwarranted,
unprovoked attacks from Hamas, Hizbullah and their state sponsors" and
named them "the new totalitarians of the 21st century."
"We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American
values as well as Israeli ones," Clinton said.
On Tuesday, the US Senate was still preparing a resolution supporting
Israel in its conflict in Lebanon.
Nobel laureate and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and Israel's
ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, joined dozens who
rallied outside the United Nations in support of Israel's aggressive
stand. In Washington, Christians United For Israel, a group of
right-wing Christian fundamentalists, said they were gathering at least
3500 people to rally in the US capital in order to drum up political
support for Israel in its offensive against Lebanon.
The organisation, led by fundamentalist pastor John C Hagee, says
that Jewish leaders will also take part, including Israeli Ambassador
Daniel Ayalon, retired Israeli defence chief Lt General Moshe Yaalon and
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.
Perhaps those jumping to the defence of defending Israel ought to be
more aware of US laws. The US Arms Export Control Act restricts the use
of US weapons to justifiable self-defence and internal policing, meaning
that US weapons cannot be used to target civilians in offensive
operations. The US Foreign Assistance Act also bars US aid to a country
with a pattern of gross human rights violations. Several human rights
groups have so far condemned the Israeli attack.
But despite these injunctions in US law, on the first few days of the
offensive against Lebanon hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US
munitions have been used by the Israeli army against a country friendly
to the United States and a government fully supported by the United
States. The fact that civilian structures, including milk factories and
houses of worship, have been targeted may leave a long-term dent on the
position of those backing Israel's offensive. That no such effect has
been felt thus far is only because the US continues to succeed in
portraying Israel as the eternal victim.
