Middle East erupts

[tw]

Thousands of civilians are fleeing the war northbound. The Israelis said this was Hezbollah transporting weapons into battle? The war is not about Hezbollah. It has exposed a racist and 'disproportionate' aggression unique to Israel. From the New York Times of 12 Aug 2006:

Before Attack, Mixed Messages on Convoy’s Right to Go
More than a thousand Lebanese civilians from several southern villages were driving bumper-to-bumper down a road near the wine-making village Kefraya when the missiles hit around 9 p.m., said Ronitte Daher, a newspaper reporter from the village of Qlayah.

The people were fleeing villages that Israeli troops had recently occupied, and believed they had permission from the Israeli military to pass.

The Israeli Army, in a statement, denied it had granted permission, and said it had acted on the mistaken suspicion that Hezbollah guerrillas were smuggling weapons in the vehicles. It reiterated that it had banned the movement of cars south of the Litani River, though the convoy was hit well north of it [itallics added].

“We saw the light and the sound of the bomb,” said Ms. Daher, who was traveling in the convoy with her sister. “I got out of the car and heard voices of people crying and shouting.”

Between two and three missiles hit the convoy, eyewitnesses and officials said. Among the dead were a Lebanese Army soldier, a baker and a Red Cross emergency worker. A Lebanese Army unit had traveled with the convoy, leaving a base the Israelis recently occupied.

An honest and moral Israeli army would have doubted cars headed north are Hezbollah weapons headed south. But this is a war where anything Arab is evil. Anyone fleeing the war must be the enemy. Even the Red Cross is often attacked only because it might be Hezbollah. 90% of innocent Lebanese are justifiable targets - even in the most northern town of Tripoli.

Moral Israelis that some here routinely assume are the good guys?