World comment: how does it end?

On the eighth day of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the world's comment pages have turned to diplomacy and the question of how to resolve the conflict.

In The Times, Magnus Linklater considers the pros and cons of the language of "Yo Blair" and writes: "Broken syntax and stumbling sentences are revealing, because they give the impression of half-formed policies and poorly worked-out ideas."

It is a theme taken up by Simon Heffer in The Telegraph, who observes a "general lack of a coherent foreign policy by the Blair administration". In The Guardian, Sir Menzies Campbell, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, says it is time for an immediate ceasefire.

The New York Times reports that America has granted Israel one more week to achieve its aim of "severely weakening" Hezbollah.

"For Israelis, fighting back made all the difference. We’ve taken Hezbollah’s best shot and we’re still standing. 'We will win,' Mr Olmert told the Knesset on Monday, and this simple assertion became an instant headline and a rallying cry," writes Zev Chafets in the newspaper's comment pages.

The Washington Post asks whether this how the summer of 1914 felt. Charles Krauthammer says the crisis "represents a rare, perhaps irreproducible, opportunity" to eliminate Hezbollah: "The road to a solution is therefore clear: Israel liberates south Lebanon and gives it back to the Lebanese."

Closer to the fighting, the tone is more confused. In Yediot Aharanot, Israel's best-selling daily newspaper, Naomi Ragen writes: "I am not worried about the home front's stamina, thank you very much. But I do worry about the stamina and steadfastness of the government."

Haaretz notes the limited bargaining room of Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese Prime Minister: "Any deal with the Lebanese government can be interpreted as national betrayal, and Siniora, who must live with Hezbollah even after this war, will find it difficult to accept terms that will make him look like an American, or even worse, an Israeli puppet."

In Beirut, The Daily Star observes the evacuation of foreign nationals and diplomats from the perspective of a country left behind: "In these darkest of hours, with the skies of Lebanon and the brains of international leaders clouded by the haze of war, the Lebanese are desperately searching for an outstretched hand of diplomacy."

The London-based Al-Hayat says it is hard to find popular support for Hezbollah's fight against Israel: "Politically and nationally, it is difficult to say that turning Lebanon into a scorched land for the benefit of an Iranian-Syrian project is a praiseworthy effort that enjoys popular approval."

On the weblogs, Lebanese Political Journal describes enormous enthusiasm for the confrontation in Syria: "In fact, the Syrian people seem unhappy that their government has not joined the fight. They are calling this, 'The Final Battle.' It's rather apocalyptic."

Elsewhere, photographs (as above) of Israel girls writing "To Nasrallah (the head of Hezbollah) with love," on artillery shells are attracting controversy.

UPDATE: We e-mailed AP to ask about photographs of the Israeli girls and the artillery shells after reading allegations that the images were staged or the girls were coaxed into writing the messages. Here is the response of the AP's Middle East Photo Editor Enric Marti:

"The location of this artillery unit, which was set up the same morning, is just outside the village, right next to the cemetery of Kyriat Shmona. A lot of residents were wandering nearby but most of them were not allowed to get close. That group of children, together with their father and mother, went in because they had some kind of connection with the commander of the unit. It is not clear if they are residents of the town or not, but most probably they are. Soldiers had already written on the shells;  the mother had written also. The children were encouraged by the father to keep writing. Other photographers were taking pictures before AP photographer Sebastian Scheiner and the AFP photographer (Pedro Ugarte) arrived. They did not sense that the situation was arranged by the photographers at all."

Comments

In the world's eyes it would seem to be that we should allow terrorists to govern this world. That we should allow extremist militant regimes to dominate and that we should do nothing about it because their tactics of ruling through fear allows them to. No one in the civilized world wants to see innocent loss of life, but no one in this world is stepping up and helping the Israelis to rid these extremists whose sole mission is to "wipe them off the map", let alone defeat western civilization. As a result, its too late for Lebanon after Hezbollah become a part of the infrastucture because nobody in this world helped them stop it. The sad truth is that Hezbollah does not care enough about its own people to not place rocket launchers ontop of civilian property or to keep their offices away from civilan land. Clearly there has been more destruction in Lebannon becuase Hezbollah makes their citizens targets. It was the Israelis who dropped leaflets to the Lebonese people warning them of the bombings before they took place. I don't see Hezbollah informing Israelis -- rather they send their missles over with barbed wire.

This is not a war about Jews and Arabs or the world has Israel to blame for their problems. This is a problem of more and more extremists coming to power in this world and using terror as their way to gain influence. Why? Because they see it works by winning over the fear of people. Israel had nothing to do with the Indian or Spain train bombings. Israel had nothing to do with the slaughter of innocent children in Chechnya. It is the same terrorist factions that make up Hezbollah and they use Israel as an excuse to go on fighting some jihad that calls for the destruction of western civilization and the free world. Thank God to Israel for being the ONLY country to have courage to stand up to these terrorists while the rest of the world does nothing except allow them to gain more power.

[Leonie]

Israel will now have another black mark against it. The world will always remember the plight of the Palestinians and now they will remember the destruction of Lebanon. The holocaust is 60 years ago and we are taught never to forget. Tell Israel that. In the future the holocaust will fade into history but the Israelis treatment of palestinians and lebanese will remain as I think they want to own more of the Middle East. They torture, kill, kidnap, bulldoze, bomb, spy on, humiliate, injure and expect respect. They are laughing and smirking on our screens right now saying how the G8 and America supports them. Smirking and saying it was Lebanons fault. How sick can you get?

[Ben]

Wait, before I say anything I want you to know I am jewish.
My religeon has been highjacked by the Israeli fanatics.
I understand loss, pain and terror. I see it ion the faces of the Lebanese.
I am so sorry for the Israeli attacks on you and your people.
I support Peace Now, Israels oldest and largest peace movement.
Israel needs to be stopped now.
Not all jews support violence against arabs. We need to be heard.

[Connor]

I did not want the war in Iraq and lessons should have been learned. No wonder muslim people all over the world are angry. Afghanistan,Iraq,Palestine,Lebanon and now Syria and Iran are being talked about. This is all fueling hatred. I am not muslim and I am not a jew. I value all people. I hate what is going on in these countries. If Israel said "we want half of Lebanon and we are going to call it Israel" who would stop them? Why does Israel control America (and Tony Blair)? Are they hypnotised? I see no reason to prolong conflicts. Come on Tony Blair - be the organ grinder not the monkey for once!!

[Karen]

"Blessed are the peacemakers"
Mr.Blair we need you to step up now and speak out against Israel. Collective punishment. Or is it that you too guilty about Iraq to condemn Israel for bombing a country? Is that the hold Israel and America has over you? How can you sleep at night? This will never stop through war - diplomacy is the only way to solve things. The world is watching.

[Denny]

I find the photo of jewish girls writing messages on bombs appalling. This shows true hatred. For the one soldier that was kidnapped by Palestinians Israel responded by: knocking out the electric for half the population (a million people?), kidnapping Hamas electing officials and killing 70 Palestinians. Come on, how can anyone say Israel is in the right here. It looks like more of a land grab to me. The two soldiers were captured on Sheeba Farms (disputed land). Israel wants to flatten Lebanon and move their borders further into Lebanon. The American media is, as usual, giving watered down versions of events. Israel has continually built settlements and treated the Palestinians badly. Yo Blair I think you are wrong in supporting Israel. How many more times are we going to see you go against the British opinion. I think you need to get a backbone and stand up against Bush and Israel. How many enemies will this make for Israel, America and the UK. War is never the solution. Would you have bombed all of Ireland to hit the IRA? Crimes against humanity. collective punishment and war crimes are just the start.

[Ronald O'Hara]

I cannot believe the ignorance in the Media!

The U.N. Gave Israel to the Jews after the Holocost of WWII...1 May 1948...We, the World gave the Jews the Land of Israel!

The Arabs have never stopped attacking her, and she has never attacked anyone!

Yet, you all stand around and condemn her for defending herself....

God's Word, the Bible warns the world that the day would come when this prophesy will be fulfilled....we stand at that door:

Zechariah 12:2-3
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces * , though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it

[Sadiq Ahmadu-Suka]

Every country has the right to defend itself but Isreal has taken this to an artform and started defending itself before threats actually appear. This does not detract form the fact that there are terrorists operating in all borders everywhere now but show proof and damage those involved , but not the entire country.

[Danello]

PRESENTING THIS AS AN ISOLATED hostage-taking incident ignores Israel's regular snatching of Palestinians from their homes.Thousands are held in 'administrative detention' without trial, women and children amongst them. A doctor and his brother - both civilians - were kidnapped from their home in Al Shouka, near Rafah, THE DAY BEFORE Corporal Shalit was captured. Like him, they need to be returned to their families in the established practice of prisoner exchange. And all elected MPs, punitively imprisoned by Israel in recent days, must be immediately released.

[Kevin]

While I firmly believe Israel is over-reacting, those that paint Hezbollah as some social services organization are lying to themselves. The rocket attacks by Hezbollah are aimed directly at Civilians without even the illusion of trying to hit Military targets - THAT is the difference between the sides as well as the fact that Hezbollah is using the Lebanese people as a human shield.

Hezbollah was elected indeed - perhaps the Lebanese people should have considered who they were voting for a bit more. Maybe next time they will exercise the slightest amount of Foresight and actually cast a vote for the future of their country instead of bowing to the fear and propaganda of Hezbollah.

Israel is also in a bit of a position that none of us can appreciate. With the venemous tones coming out publicly from the Iranian president (the country which has OPENLY supported terrorist action(s) against Israel) I cannot easily question their offensive actions. Perhaps some of the more veteran Islamic members of the world community should actually try to calm down their sheep instead of promoting perpetual Jihad.

[John Fartpants]

I remember reading somewhere that one of the justifications used by terrorists for the indiscriminate murder of Israli citizens of any age was that even a newborn Israli was a potential member of the Israeli army and therefore a legitimate target. Your photograph of young Israeli girls enthusiastically dedicating artillery shells to their chosen enemies would seem to bear this out. Every Israeli citizen is a warrior in the cause of Israeli national security. However not every Lebanese citizen is a Jew-hating member of Hezbollah. Israel, your war must stop now.

[phil whitehead]

Whatever the rights or wrongs of this particular upsurge in violence within Lebanon, it appears to me that it is always the 'hated' Western democracies who are expected to provide both the financial and material aid, along with the personnel to help the population of Lebanon. What do the other 'wealthy' Arab states contribute, very little it appears to me other than anti Western rhetoric. It's about time they started to contribute their fair share to the Lebanese people rather than the full burden falling on the West, in particular the US and European Community.

[frederic whyte]

There is only one true Rogue State in the Middle East: Israel. Why has no international leader dared to condemn its actions?

Financial interest? Guilt?

How can the international community only express 'concern' at Israel's actions? For too long Israel has been given carte blanche.

It is about time the world stood up to this group of Arrogant Bigots.

By the way, before I am accused of being anti semetic etc, I am Jewish myself, as are Many of my Friends.


Frederic Whyte

[emanuel appel]

a letter from America

To Blaise Fini,

I hold my head high and proud at the pounding that Israel is giving Hezbollah and their accomplices in the Lebanese government.

It is this same government of cowards and whiners who wants to have it both ways: it praised and coddled Hezbollah and doesn't want to take the consequences of their actions.

These same whiners go running to foreigners asking for a cease fire but fail to do what's necessary: release the kidnapped Israeli soldiers and keep Hezbollah from Israel.

It's oh so simple.

[Who]

I was astonished to see the picture at the top of this page of Israeli children writing messages on shells to be fired apparently at Lebanon. Is this Israel's idea of a good publicity shot? Israel's propaganda claims that Palestinian's bring their children up in a culture of death. Seems like Israel does the same!

[H Marph]

In the Middle East, we only hear about bombs and violence but no brain and language. It is becoming a real panacea.

[Michelle Matarrese]

If the terrorists in Lebanon were disarmed the killing would stop. If Israel were to be disarmed every Jew in Israel would be killed. Think About It.

[Monty Baker]

There is not one legitimate military intelligence expert in the world who believes Hezbollah can be disarmed and destroyed.

Israel is already talking of a 'disabling' Hezbollah instead of 'destroying' it.

Israel special forces stepped over the border and took eleven casualties in mere minutes and then retreated.

Israel dropped a bomb only a few hundred metres from where Australians were gathering to escape the carnage. How is that an accident? Or are all brown people in Lebanon now the enemy?

The photos I saw of Israeli kids writing messages on tank shells is almost worse than the images of slain Lebanese children. Have a look for yourself here :

www.yourewreality.blogspot.com

Are the images on that blog being seen around the world? I think it's an Australian blog. Didn't see the photos elsewhere.

Indoctrinating seven or eight year old Israeli girls for future wars, while creating a new generation of enemies across the border for them to one day fight.

All bombings are terrorism, whether they come from Hezbollah or Israel.

I can't believe this is happening.

AGAIN!

[M Youssuf]

I find it amazing that people like Tony Blair and George Bush can not see that when you drop a bomb on a house, everyone in that house will die. This is just what the terrorists do - they also kill indiscriminately. If the Israelis know where the so called terrorists are why don't they send in the army and flush them out. This way only the fighting parties will get killed and not the innocent.

[Zamy Agha]

Who are Hizbollah:

There are, broadly speaking, two schools of thought in American foreign policy on how to deal with Islamic fundamentalism. Both fail to correctly gauge the impact and longevity of Islamist movements such as the Hizbollah.

There is one school that says all Islamist movements are extremist, so they push the ‘shoot them all’ formula, arguing that extremists will never become mainstream,"claims that this group of thinkers, which includes many foreign policy framers in the United States, is largely suspicious of all Islamist movements, and dismisses the ones that try to co-opt democracy as doing so for "tactical reasons." To this think tank, the Islamist groups may modify their strategies to recoup and reorganize, but they will be unlikely to form a loyal opposition to their own government and may return to their old ways and resort to violence.

Pointing towards the Hizbollah, it is the level of crises in society that determines the choice between bullet and ballot for such organizations. Living with the wicked requires a contract of utility. This is not a question of love or compassion. Pragmatism does not mean liberalism or an acceptance of democracy, but a pragmatic strategy is a rejection of a revolutionary strategy. The Islamists are in constant confrontation with the system, but resort to violence when faced with oppression and extreme social, economic and political conditions, as was the case in Algeria. pointing towards Jordan, where less extreme social conditions accompanied by efforts to co-opt Islamists have been able to achieve a rolling back of the violent, revolutionary Islamist agenda. Thus, it is often the nature of circumstances and degree of tolerance on the part of the state itself that determine the path an Islamist organization chooses to take.

It is easy to distinguish the Islamists who will be willing to join a democratic system from ones that will not give up revolutionary methods. Those movements that provide social welfare services increase their constituencies through socio-economic justice, such movements are more likely to have a high level of interest in working within the system. Those Islamist movements that do not provide social welfare services are usually the ones that are small, underground and violent.

By definition Hizbollah, as a provider of welfare, has the motivation, initiative and the interest to work within the democratic system, but given the social, economic and political crises may well turn back to revolutionary goals if the situation around it worsens and becomes increasingly oppressive and isolationist.

[Blaise Fini]

It's very difficult for neutrals in this war to understand how Israel's backers could actually walk down the streets with their heads held high, especially after the indiscrimate bombing of civilians and the destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure. Afterall, wasn't it the Israelis who started all this mess with their continuing subjacation of the Palestinians (actually their treatment of Gazans is pure racism), and the kidnapping of the Hamas Minister of Education a week before the 2 Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. They (the Israelis) refus - as do the U.S. to talk to Hamas - and yet they are democratically elected by the Palestinian people. You cannot tell people how to vote - that would be undemocratic, wouldn't it? Actually the Israeli government has funded Hamas in the past to offset the PLO and other parties in the region, so basically Israel just wants to have it their own way - and Palestinians (the root of this problem) are lower class people whose 200 lives wouldn't even equal 1 Israeli Jew. The fact that the Christian Right in America is on their side says it all. Loonies and Racists.