The crisis is only escalating with Israel going into North of Beirut and Hezbollah not letting up on its daily 200-plus Katyusha attack on Israel, some of which are now landing 25 miles away from Telaviv.
I see this situation going out of hand. There seems to be no scope for any kind of a ceasefire anymore. The Lebanese, the abandoned victims of this faceless war, are the only ones at the negotiating table but have little to negotiate with. Israel, despite its 12000 troops in Lebanon, is unable to contain the invisible Hezbollah, whose cache of Katyushas seems endless. With its mission incomplete, the proud and driven Israelis will not agree to a ceasefire against its fight with the Hezbollah for fear of losing face. However, given that the Hezbollah is a guerrila outfit, defeating it or negotiating with it is close to impossible. Consequently, Israel is in this war for a long haul; fighting a faceless enemy with no one national identity.
Lebanon and the thinking world looks toward the UN to bring about an end to this crisis but alas, the UN is proving to be ineffective. For the last fortnight or so it hasn't been able to muster a multi-nation peacekeeping force whose safety it can guarantee. Something that would only be possible if a ceasefire can be brought about between the warring parties, both of who are adamantly refusing to do so.
The other hope was that the US, a powerful UN member, will intervene; but that too failed because the US, committed to its 'war on terror', is backing Israel against Hezbollah, and will not negotiate for a ceasefire unless it is guaranteed 'sustainable'. Besides, the US is already fighting two other wars on alien soils, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so is unlikely to enter into another.
That leaves the rest of us, a hapless majority. Having developed an immeasurable immunity to human suffering through endless watching of news on the media, we can now, with reasonable ease, watch this innocent massacre of Lebanon to its completion.
However, the human mind never ceases to hope; maybe a miracle awaits, maybe there is another possibility that I can't envisage. Is there?
10 comments:
The Lebanese situation takes me back to a movie I had seen quite a long time ago called "No Man's Land"
Dunno if you have seen it, but the title should give you a good indication that Lebanon is probably in the same situation as the protagonists in the film.
BTW: The film had won the best International movie at the oscars a couple of years ago.
It does not have a very happy ending though :(
As long as ther is hope change and peace is possible.
A solution is seeming tougher and tougher... I thought No Man's Land was a brilliant movie too, Saurabh..
Saurabh,
I'll definitely like to watch the movie you mention; actually I remember reading about it a few years ago.
Thanks.
"faceless" and "losing face"...those are telling points. They describe the asymmetry very well.
Eshuneutics,
I wasn't aware of that play on words until you pointed them out. Thanks. Somehow that juxtaposing of words ('faceless' and 'losing face') makes the asymmetry more dense and obvious.
No. There will not be any peace, and like many other tragedies that have preceded this one there will be a lot of tut-tutting and hand wringing.
Hopefully change will start in November, but who knows.
"However, the human mind never ceases to hope; maybe a miracle awaits."
- Sadly, we can only hope for a miracle.
This is so sad....all around... it would be great if a miracle could occur.
I tend to feel that peace is possible, but with every passing day it seems more improbable..
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