Standing on the Lebanon Border

By John

With all that is happening in southern Lebanon, it was silly of me to wait so long to post this story.

August 2003. I was in Israel, studying at the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies, located on the University of Tel Aviv campus. After a few days of lecture, we hit the road, traveling to various IDF bases, the Gaza border, law enforcement units, and one very cool trip to shoot firearms with the Jerusalem undercover police.

Several days into the trip, we found ourselves at an IDF outpost on the Israel-Lebanon border. We mulled around the mountain base, chatting with the Israel soldiers, and snapping photographs.

I found myself in a conversation with an Israeli soldier, an American Jew who had grown up in Brooklyn, about the small Israeli unit's mission.

"We keep an eye on Hezbollah," he said. "Two eyes, actually. They're busy up here." I was curious, "what do you mean?"

"Here," the soldier handed me a pair of binoculars, "look on the crest of that hill, right next to that village."

I couldn't find what he was pointing at, "whatever you're trying to show me, I ain't seeing man."

He gave me one of those patient half-smiles and elaborated, "look for the yellow flag."

Sure enough, flying high next to a Lebanese village was the yellow flag of Hezbollah. "Now look below it," he commanded.

I focused the binoculars, only to watch as an artillery emplacement materialized. "Holy s*$#," you guys just let them point that thing at you? "Not at us," responded the soldier, "at Shlomi."

Shlomi was the Israeli town, nestled in the valley below us. The IDF outpost's responsibility was to protect the village and her inhabitants against Hezbollah, who had operated freely in southern Lebanon since the IDF's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, the soldier explained to me, wasn't interested in the outpost, but rather the Israeli citizens below.

I left the outpost with a newfound appreciation for Israel's ability to flourish in the face of such blatant infringements on their national sovereignty.

I appreciated that success even more, when --not an hour after we left-- that Hezbollah gun emplacement opened up on Shlomi, killing an Israeli teenager.

It was an unprovoked attack on an innocent town, an absolutely unexcusable act specifically prohibited by any and all of the modern laws of armed conflict.

And that incident is, in short, why I have supported and will continue to support Israel in their fight against Hezbollah.

August 27, 2006 11:33 AM The Long War

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Comments

Amen

THIRDWAVEDAVE · August 27, 2006 10:05 PM

The truth is the Israeli aggression (justifiable as it often is) is the only thing uniting the arabs anyway, which is why so many Middle Eastern would-be totaliarians are so openly anti-Israel. Without Israel, they'd quickly descend into war against one another.

Supporting one side against the other just guarantees the continued status quo and tit for tat, which both sides are perfectly happy with (note both sides consider the recent conflict a victory).

bob · August 28, 2006 03:29 AM

Bob, your theory doesn't account for the standing treaties Israel has with Egypt and Jordan, nor does it account for all the arab totalitarian regimes/nations that stood prior to 1948 or the hundreds of attacks against Western nations that can't even be remotely connected to US support of Israel. You said without Israel's existence, they would quickly descend into war with each other. Israel was alive and well when Iraq and Iran had an 8 year war and Israel was alive when saddam hussein invaded kuwait too. The last I heard, the bloodshed in kasmir occured while Israel was still a nation and when Jordan kicked the PLO out, after killing thousands of them, Israel was very much alive and well.

goesh · August 28, 2006 05:55 AM

***QUOTE***
"Holy s*$#," you guys just let them point that thing at you? "Not at us," responded the soldier, "at Shlomi."

...
--not an hour after we left-- that Hezbollah gun emplacement opened up on Shlomi, killing an Israeli teenager.
***END QUOTE***

Ok, what I wanted to hear next was that the IDF wiped that location off the map. But further, I don't see how you live with guys you know hate you and who have a loaded gun pointed at your family, without killing them first. It would be one thing if you could not find the bad guy, but here they saw and observed and seemed to do nothing until after the trigger was pulled. ???

AnotherOpinion · August 29, 2006 05:20 AM

Another Opinion: Ok, what I wanted to hear next was that the IDF wiped that location off the map. But further, I don't see how you live with guys you know hate you and who have a loaded gun pointed at your family, without killing them first. It would be one thing if you could not find the bad guy, but here they saw and observed and seemed to do nothing until after the trigger was pulled. ???

Ya see AO, Jews dont have the same rights as normal people, they have to actually bleed 1st before responding. The arab world can print leaflets on the best way to kill a jew, they can get on TV and radio saying when where and how they will kill a jew but the world doesnt view that as enough for a jew to kick the shithead 1st....

I think this is changing, much to the shock of the world. How dare israel attack and start a war over 3 soldiers kidnapped and 8 killed!

It's really pavlov all over again, it's the jews fault really... it's time for the jews to have zero tolerance. time to teach the dogs a new trick.. fear.

david · August 29, 2006 07:27 AM

"Shlomi was the Israeli town, nestled in the valley below us. The IDF outpost's responsibility was to protect the village and her inhabitants against Hezbollah, who had operated freely in southern Lebanon since the IDF's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, the soldier explained to me,
wasn't interested in the outpost, but rather the Israeli citizens below."

First of all, IDF left MOST of lebanon in 2000. They did not completly leave, no. Hizbollah was created in the 80's to make Israel leave from their ILLEGAL occupation of Lebanon! Israel has been invading and occupying Lebanon for DECADES, it is Israel who is attacking Lebanon, it is Israel who is INVADING lebanon and not Lebanon who is attacking Israel! Israel has captured thousands of Lebanese and keeps them in their dungeons and you ask your readers to feel sad for Israel because u see one gun pointed at them?! How many guns did the outpost have towards the lebanese city you were looking at?

Last but not least: "Hezbollah, the soldier explained to me, wasn't interested in the outpost, but rather the Israeli citizens below."

That is insane! In the 2006 war, Hizbollah killed 85% Israeli soldiers, and that is a minimum percentage. During that same war, Israel killed 90% lebanese civilians! 45% of those civilians were children, look it up. 35% were women. And you ask us to believe an Israel soldier that says Hizbollah is aiming at civilians?

You are evidently biased and wrongly informed on the facts between Israel and Lebanon. Look it up before talking about one gun pointed at an outpost.

Truth is this war will go on until the lebanese political prisoners are free'd, and that the Palestinians get an independant state with East Jerusalem as their capital.

No Justice No Peace!

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