Re: IDF invade Gaza Strip
[quote=davetlv;694444]Shiva
First off Sheba is a transliteration. . . .
Secondly, at this moment in time, according to the UN, that land mass is in dispute between Israel and Syria - fact.
Therefore the purpose of Hizbollah is what exactly? And why have the UN and Lebanese refused, thats right, refused to disarm Hizbolla and continue to allow Iran to arm them through Syria?
I'm no expert, but I'm also not an idiot - I tend to only engage in what I know and not what I think I know - so wanna tell me again how Sheba belongs to Lebanon and how big nasty Israel is provoking Hizbollah, who continue to be in contravention to UNSCR 1771 with the support of your government.[/quote]
Dave, it took more more than 1/2 hr to type my reply to the hizballah armament issue, please go back few pages and check, too long to re-type.
And I add:
Whether it is fine with the world or not, with yrs hizballah has shifted from being a simple armed resistance to becoming a major Lebanese political party. Lebanese demography is religiously composed of 17 sects, and it happens that the shi'a community is a major chunk of it. It is a fact, a reality that everyone has to deal with, whether internally or externally to Lebanon.
The Shebaa fams is a Lebanese (claim), and this will be solved soon at the UN.
After all these years of conflict, now the main issue between Lebanon and Israel remains this spit of land called "Shebaa" farms. Once this is solved, hizballah will probably shift from being a military party to a social party.
Israel should just not give them any reason to act as a resistance party, resistance to occupation, Israel's occupation.
You say Israel is not occupying any Lebanese lands? Ok, lets skip this Shebaa one coz we already spoke very much about it, it is now in the UN's hands and will/should be solved soon.
But you say Israel is not occupying any Lebanese lands? Well Dave occupation has many forms, and invading a country's sovereignty on a daily basis IS a form of occupation.
You talk about the resolution 1771, and I talk about the resolution 1701.
Yes, hizballah should be disarmed, but AFTER that ALL FOREIGN armies have left from its lands. Hizballah is Lebanese, his is on HIS TERRITORY, he is not an invading force but a defensive ones.
However Syria and Israel are NOT Lebanese and they should get out, simply! No nuance, no misunderstanding, crystal clear!!!!
For 30 yrs the former USSR & the US have been fighting a proxy war through Syria & Israel...but where?? On the occupied Syrian Golan heights? NO!!!! They did it on the Lebanese soil.
Lebanon has been victim for so many years of other people's wars: When Syria & Israel wana fix their differences they don't do it face-to-face, they do it through proxy on Lebanon. We even still bear the price of having 400.000 Palestinian refugees in Palestinian camps, what about these ones? Who takes care of them?
Why is Israel denying the return of the '67 refugees? In the name of what? That is their land!
Ok, now lets go back to 1701, which says ALL FOREIGN ARMY SHOULD LEAVE LEBANON!!!
Syria left...but Israel are still in, and I am not talking about Shebaa farms this time (since it is a territorial issue), I am referring to your warplanes that violates the Lebanese sovreignty every day!!! [B]ISRAEL OCCUPIES LEBANESE AIRSPACE[/B], clearer now? Every damn day we hear your war planes over our heads.
Ah, Israel considers this legitimate in order to check on the Lebanese what they are doing. And the West is making the mistake of not selling the Lebanese gov planes to defend its air space, neither supplying them with missiles to shoot them down.
Practically the Lebanese airspace is the backyard of Israel's space...it is like a walk in the park for the Israeli Air Force. Yea, Israel keeps on occupying part of Lebanon, acts as if its backyard, and Lebanon should just shut up, disarm hizballah and let the Israelis do whatever they want....NO, I am sorry.
And to make things more complicated: Russia has decided to step in and they will supply the Lebanese Air Force with Migs to defend its airspace, the pilots are being formed as we type.... Of course this will not be a match against the all-mighty Israeli air force, the point is not here, the point is that Lebanon has every right to defend itself or its territory.
[U][B]As far as I am concerned, I am neither an Israeli sympathizer nor a Syrian or a Palestinian one: [/B][/U][U][B]I am a LEBANESE citizen and I sympathize with my cause only![/B][/U]
Sick and tired of seeing Lebanon being occupied and raped by higher powers that end up playing the victims themselves!
[B]1701 (in UN terms): SYRIA & ISRAEL OUT OF LEBANON.[/B]
And Dave, please stop this charade about Syria arming hizballah, guys just move on!
Israel has armed Lebanese groups for years to fight their proxy war against Syria, just as Syria did as well. To me both of them are fucked up hypocrite countries!!!
Another reason why nobody is leaving Lebanon prosper in peace?
I give you one: ECONOMY
Lebanon has a VERY highly educated class in rate and in its population, it is part of the Lebanese society and culture: 1/3 of its inhabitants are students (even under war and bombardments). It is common for a Lebanese citizen to hold a dual university degrees from the best universities in the region (Mainly American and French universities). Most Lebanese master fluently at least 3 languages since their early age (French, English and Arabic---and recently the Armenian has been added as the 4th national language). Also, most Lebanese hold a second nationality or citizenship, most of them from the west (Europe/Canada/Australia/US), and this why you see many Lebanese with European-type of faces and life-styles...
Lebanon is known to be a major player in commerce and trade since the early ages of the phoenicians, which invented the alphabet, ships for trade and navale routes etc etc... It is a historic fact that still exists very much nowadays. Besides, Lebanon is strategically located between 3 continents Asia/Africa/Europe, strategic route to trade. Lebanon is the only country that has[B] WATER[/B] in the region, our water is like the Saudi oil and even more precious (which Israel is stealing btw).
By its religious diversities, Lebanon is the only democracy in the Arab world that has a christian President of the Republic, the only place in the Arab world where you can live western-style, gamble, have fun and enjoy as if you were int any western country, even more!
In just 40 minutes time you can move from the beach where you are swimming and get to the closest mountain top and start skiing!
Our younger educated generations are continuously fleeing the country looking for a better future in Europe/US or Canada...we are loosing all our brains and middle class somehow because of Israel and Syria, in fact the Lebanese living abroad are 12 million, while the ones living in Lebanon are barely 4 million!!!
If only Lebanon is left alone to prosper, it would eat for breakfast all the surrounding economies, I MEAN FOR BREAKFAST and I weight my words:
Lebanon has just gone out from 30yrs of civil conflict, foreign conflicts on its lands, occupation, destruction, genocides...U NAME IT, and yet u should come take a peak of how the Lebanese have re-built their economy, cities, and infrastructures in just a few years, in practically no time. And hey, it is also very important to point out that Lebanon does not have any in industry, we do not produce anything, NOTHING! We just produce brains...
All our economy is based on a strong financial system, we have more banks than groceries...Lebanon is a fiscal paradise, just like Monte Carlo.
Lebanon has been rebuilding and doing all this within the chaos that its neighbors are inflicting on it...
The world propaganda always show the resistance side of Lebanon, the one of the hizballah etc etc...but this not ALL of Lebanon, it is a part of it only, the part that the media is interested in. Lebanon is much more than that, its a magical country.
Obviously too many reasons why this amazing and beautiful country (Lebanon) shouldn't prosper in peace, he is not an easy little neighbor to deal with!
[B]1701 (in UN terms): SYRIA & ISRAEL OUT OF LEBANON (full stop)[/B]