On Saturday July 31 the Israelis raided the Bekaar Valley, deep inside Lebanon, making a serious breech of the peace agreement. Of course they justify their raid legally. They argue that the raid was justified because Hezbollah was importing weapons. No weapons have been witnessed. Kofi Annan considers the raid as a serious breach of the agreement Israel is pulling its weight. But, on the whole the peace agreement appears to be holding, though no one is bold enough to suggest that peace will be permanent. War could break out at any time. But what sort of peace agreement is this? Basically it is a peace on Israeli terms.
The UN is demanding Hezbollah disarm. But no demand for disarmament is made on Israel. The UN is treating Israel with kid gloves. The United Nations is having problems assembling the UN �neutral� force. Israel still considers that it has the right to deal with Hezbollah in the meantime.
Israel claims that it wants the Peace Agreement to work. They haven�t got all they would desire. Hezbollah is armed and they haven�t released the two captive soldiers, whose captivity sparked the Israeli invasion of Lebanon Israel does not trust the UN to crack down on Hezbollah as much as desired, But what the Agreement means is that the United Nations is defending Israel from the Palestinians, doing its dirty work and saving Israeli lives. This is Israel�s peace.
As the world knows, the affect of the Israeli action on the Lebanese has been devastating. Over a thousand civilians have been killed. More than a million have had their lives uprooted. Infrastructure has been devastated. Many thousands lack water and electricity. Food is in short supply.
Israel argues that because Hezbollah mixes with civilians, civilians must get killed if they are to destroy Hezbollah. But many of their targets (such as Beirut Airport have absolutely nothing to do with Hezbollah. The attack on the Airport was an attack of the people of Lebanon.
Israel attacked a United Nations observation post killing UN observers. Once again, this target had nothing to do with Hezbollah. Israel was essentially showing the world who has the power. Protecting Israel is the umbrella of US imperialism. When Israel began invading, George Bush said that Israel had the right to defend itself, but it should do this responsibly. This has been interpreted to mean that Bush whilst not backing down in his support, would have preferred Israel to have invaded Syria or Iran. Lebanon whilst tolerating Hezbollah doesn�t arm it. Syria and Iran certainly do. So why did Israel invade Lebanon? Because it understands the power of wedge politics! Israel knows that Lebanon is a divided nation, divided between Christian and Moslem. They know that Christian Lebanese have strongly fought interference by President Assad of Syria, interfering into their internal affairs. Bombing, they thought would exacerbate the division. What could be a better a solution than Lebanon declaring war on Hezbollah! There has been hostility from Christian Lebanese towards Hezbollah but not to the degree which Israel hoped for.
Israel has taken advantage of the US sponsored war on terror. Because Hezbollah do not run a state, they can be dismissed as �terrorist�. Yes, they are religious. But they are not like El Quaida, fanatics prone to strike anywhere in the name of Islam. Hezbollah are representatives of the people of Palestine. They are fighting for their liberation.
Revolutionaries do not share their beliefs nor their bourgeois political programme. But we have a side in this war. We support military victory to Hezbollah.
We oppose the reactionary settler state of Israel which from its birth has been lackey of imperialism. We reject those who put Palestinians and Israelis on an equal footing, calling for a bi-national state. The Israelis have a state The Palestinians, after decades of battle, have finally got a mini-state This is not a solution. Palestinian rank and file realize this.
Recently the Palestinians voted for Hamas because they still believed in struggle against the injustice which is Israel. The PFLP leadership had given this struggle away, accepting Israel�s �right to exist�. Hamas, at least in rhetoric, did not. But it is Hezbollah doing the fighting and not Hamas. So the Palestinians support them. Because they are fighting the reactionary state of Israel, revolutionary communists give them military support.
Our support is only military. We urge Palestinian proletarians to forge a revolutionary leadership committed to proletarian dictatorship and a socialist middle east.
Workers in Australia must take direct action in defense of Hezbollah and against Israel. Israeli goods and services must be blacked. This is especially true for those goods and services which are part of their aggressive war effort. We must assist Hezbollah with aid both humanitarian and to directly assist the war effort.
SMASH ISRAEL!
DEFEND PALESTINIANS AND LEBANON !
MILITARY VICTORY TO HEZBOLLAH!