Stephen Harper irresponsibly supports US-Israeli aggression in Lebanon [View All]

[tuvor]

By insisting that Hezbollah disarm first, while saying nothing about Israeli troops moving deeper into Southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is allowing the invader to dictate the terms of a ceasefire, which can only lead to more violence in the Middle East. Respected Canadian, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights calls the Israeli aggression "A possible war crime," in violation of international humanitarian and criminal law. Ms. Arbour indicates further that "Canadians would never agree to the needless slaughter of Lebanese civilians or the persecution of Palestinian people by Israel, and yet that is exactly what our government appears to want.

Two democratic elections were held in Lebanon and Palestine. Hezbollah won 35 seats and Hamas, a majority government. Both parties enjoy popular support, not just because they stand up to Israel, but for providing food, medicine, education and social services. Unfortunately this was not the kind of democracy the U.S., Israel and Canada among others, had in mind. They declared them "terrorists" and refused to recognize their legitimacy as representatives of the electorate. To add insult to injury, Israel imposed an embargo on the Palestinian people witholding $50 million in taxes and custom duties, while the U.S., EU, Canada and Norway cut funding to the Hamas led government, amounting to a total of $1Billion in annual aid. As a result of this embargo, the World bank predicts that the poverty rate in Gaza and the West bank will exceed 67% by the end of 2006.

According to the Mandela Institute for Human Rights, Israeli prisons continue to hold 10,073 Palestinian prisoners including political representatives, women and children. Many are abused, tortured, held without sentence and deprived of necessary medical care.

Double standards abound. We are constantly reminded of the 2004 UN resolution on Lebanon, calling for Hezbollah (with no air force or navy), to disarm, while the 1967 and 1973 Security Council resolutions for Israel to vacate Arab occupied lands on the West Bank to allow for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes, is ignored. In the meantime, Israel has no plans to end construction of a 670 km wall which infringes on Palestinan land in the West Bank, despite the International Court of Justice ruling that it is only legal to build the barrier inside Israel.

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