2006-07-31-Qana building collapse
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Will investigation prove Hezbollah
arms at fault in Qana building collapse?
jewishsightseeing.com, July 31, 2006
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2006-07-31-Qana building collapse |
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jewishsightseeing.com, July 31, 2006 |
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By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM—I do not see myself as a propagandist for the
Israeli establishment or its military. I have been writing these letters
for almost six years, basically to myself, as a kind of diary, in an
effort to understand what is going on around me. I have been organizing
the material into a book that I call, tentatively, Professor at War.
A short while ago I began looking for a publisher. Then I felt it
necessary to add another section, which I label "Operations in Gaza
and Lebanon."
Some time ago, a truck load of Palestinian missiles being
paraded for the folks in Gaza blew up, killing 19 people and injuring 120.
Hamas claimed the explosion was a result of an Israeli attack, and sent a
barrage of missiles into civilian areas in retaliation. Palestinian
competitors of Hamas asserted that the explosion resulted from faulty
handling, and blamed Hamas for the catastrophe.
The collapse of a residential building in the village of
Qana may be another incident of the same kind. Lebanese officials claim
was the result of an Israeli air attack, and killed as many as 60
civilians, many of them children, who had been sleeping in the building
while seeking shelter from Israeli attacks on the village. The Lebanese
Red Cross is saying that the death toll was 27. The difference in numbers
is not the main point, although it serves to illustrate the hyperbole of
our adversaries.
The Israeli Air Force does not know what happened. It
admits to bombing the building, but says that it occurred seven hours
before the structure collapsed. The difference might be explained by the
explosion of munitions stored in the building, independent of the bombing.
Given the character of Hezbollah, it is possible that the explosion was
deliberate, meant to sacrifice children and other civilians for the sake
of propaganda? Remember the "rape of Belgium," said to have
included many atrocities by German forces in World War I. Historians are
still arguing as to how much was truth, and how much British invention for
the purpose of recruiting support for its entry into the war.
Kofi Anan began a Security Council session the same day of
the incident by demanding that its members condemn Israel in the strongest
of terms. In my view, he would have been justified in expressing his
dismay at the casualties, and calling for an investigation. Asserting the
need for a condemnation in advance of an inquiry is the grossest violation
of an executive's authority. Regardless of what really happened in Qana,
Anan deserves the condemnation of his personal behavior in the strongest
possible terms.
The Israeli Air Force is justifying its bombing of the
building by saying that it observed Hezbollah fighters seeking refuge in
it after firing rockets. It has broadcast film of trucks going under
civilian structures in Qana after firing at Israel. Some 150 rockets have
come from the village, all of them seeming to be aimed at civilian targets
in Israel. The air force also said that it provided ample warnings,
several times, of its intentions to attack the village, and urged
civilians to flee.
War is hell. Justice, fairness in assessment, and a concern
for truth are among the casualties. An appropriate casualty of this war
should be the reputation of Kofi Anan.
Sharkansky is an emeritus member of the political science department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem |
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