Israel and Arab world

To sum up the 58 year old Middle East conflict here is the bottom-line: Israel was CREATED ILLEGALLY in Palestine by displacing & killing its indigenous people. Israel is NOT looking for a peaceful solution WHATSOEVER. They have a hidden agenda of establishing `GREATER ISRAEL' by occupying more Arab lands. Their ultimate goal is to rule the world from Jerusalem. Based on their now distorted scripture they think they are the 'Chosen People' by God and that rest of the world community are their servants. They WILL NOT STOP their high handed terrorism until that agenda is fulfilled.

Israel's regular unprovoked abduction of Hamas & Hezbollah's people (including women & children) is not conveniently reported in the world media. Hezbollah, Hamas are not terrorists, but they are the sons of the soil, defending their respective soil. They are indigenous people & their organisations are a direct result of Israeli barbarism & occupation of Arab lands. In fact the world's ONLY & most dangerous terrorists are the Americans & Israeli Zionists, who are using each other as proxies in this conflict.

When it comes to Palestine-Israeli conflict, hearts & minds of majority Muslims are on the right track and are not blinded by their religion.

Those accusing, that Muslims living in America are taking advantage of American life and yet blaming America, please note that these Muslims are genuinely patriotic in their new homeland. For them America comes first and NOT ISRAEL. In reality it is the Christian and Jewish Zionists who, by taking all advantages of American life are betraying the very America which provides them food & shelter. For them Israel is the ONLY priority. And these are the 'Americans' who are getting blamed and rightly so.

A look at ancient Athens might help us to understand the Hezbullah-Israel conflict. Ancient Athens was a democracy and a great military power. And it was also embroiled in a constant war with the militarist oligarchy of Sparta. So when the tiny island of Melos decided to join Sparta in 416 B.C., the Athenians sent an army to subjugate Melos. The attack was pre-emptive, because Melos might soon join Sparta. The Athenians were afraid that if they did not conquer Melos, others would be encouraged to do the same.

In Melos, the leaders of both sides came together in a parley. The Athenian leaders told the leaders of Melos that they must surrender if they wanted to survive. The alternative was conquest, slavery for the women and children, and death for the men of the island. The leaders of Melos, hoping that Sparta would come to their aid, opted to fight, with the result that the Athenians had predicted. Athens took the city, killed the men, and enslaved the women and children of Melos.

The parley had been a disaster. The leaders of Melos were afraid to put the issue for a vote of their people who would surely have sacrificed their leaders in order to secure autonomy and democratic freedom that Athens offered them as long as they remained loyal. At the same time, the leaders of Athens were afraid to make any concessions to Melos, for fear that this would be taken as a sign of weakness.

This was a disaster for Athens as well as for Melos. It gave a boost to the Spartan propaganda that democratic Athens was, in reality, a tyranny. It put Athenians on the wrong moral footing in the second part of their great war with Sparta (which they had not been in the first). Instead of asking for surrender of Melos, Athens should have asked for its loyalty.

Melos, which was no match for the formidable Athenian army, was foolish to defy Athens in the hope of Sparta's support. But Sparta was licking from its earlier defeat at the hands of Athens and was in no position to provide any meaningful assistance. Similarly, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbullah, which is basically a ragtag group and no match for Israel's formidable armed forces, has been carrying out rocket attacks on Israel at the prodding of Iran. But Iran's bungling Shiite Mullahs are in no position to help them directly other than providing some short-rage rockets to kill and injure Israeli civilians.

Like Athens in Melos, Israel gave a boost to the propaganda that it is engaged in a war against entire Lebanon when the Shiite Hezbullah represents only 40 per cent of the Lebanese population and are concentrated in the south.

Hezbullah should realise that it cannot defeat Israel and Israel should realise it cannot totally eliminate Hezbullah. Unless they have decided to go for a perpetual war, they must recognise the reality and find a way to live in harmony.

Mahmood Elahi Ottawa, Canada

A close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said all those now in South Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah. Even a layman would understand that this is a lame excuse for killing some more innocent civilians. The world leaders are simply ignorant about the issue. They are not taking any drastic measures to stop the ongoing massacres of innocent people. The whole world seems to be so much concerned about the Middle East but when they really need to take some measures, they are simple remaining silent. Some people are saying that Israel has got the right to defend itself from Hezbollah but how can killing of unarmed men, women and children be called self defence?

After more than a decade of civil war, Lebanon almost finished rebuilding the country. This sudden attack on Lebanon, just a decade after the civil war, has broken the backbone of the country.

Sooner or later, this violence will come to a halt but who will pay for the damaged property and the dead?

Md. Maruful Hoque Maruf NIketon, Dhaka

Dear Mr. Sameer Khan, Firstly thanks you for your comments any open dialogue is always welcome. I appreciate your point about Bangladeshis fighting for their own homeland, and so did the other nations you mentioned. But is this case so simple? Did Bangladesh tell Pakistan that we want you out of our country and we want all of your Pakistani land to be ours? Did we have an agenda saying that Pakistan did not have the right to exist?

The democratically elected government of Palestine does not recognise the right of Israel to exist and you could say the same. But that is not the reality. Israel is a big nation and it cannot be removed from the map. We have to come to terms with this fact.

What I meant to say is that Palestine should agree to the land that will be given to them negotiate in a sensible manner and be ready for sacrifices, being the smaller and the less powerful of the two nations. If they want to fight they can continue fighting just as they have been doing for decades and till today they have achieved NOTHING.

I feel for them as much as anyone feels but the rule is not to let your emotion run your mind.

Concerned Muslim On-email

While Israel, the illegal country in the Middle East, is ravishing the sacred land of Lebanon and killing people at random, reactions from the world community as well as the Muslim world makes one point obvious that the collective apathy from the peopleMuslims or others-- will surely be aggravating the burning Middle East situation further.

And Israel knows it well that no reaction from any corner of the world will inflict any damage to its interests, nor will any world body bring forth any resolution against the Jewish state. And, unfortunately this has proved to be very much in line with the above observation that ultimately undermines the harmony, peace and prosperity.

Under all circumstances, it appears that the Muslims are responsible, to an extent, for these atrocities against them by the Zionist country. For observers think that the Shiite & the Sunni sects fight among themselves for decades and that has proved to be fatal on many occasions. It is letting others play with their lives in any way they wish. Why shouldn't the tormented Muslims get rid of the curse like these divisions among themselves when it is clear from the Holy Quran and the Hadiths (the sayings of Prophet), that there shouldn't be any confusion for the Muslims as to how they would be governing their collective lives?

Today, in the wake of an all out attack by the Israelis, the OIC and other Islamic countries seem to be ominously divided on the issuenot to speak of the United States and other powerful countries.

To ensure a sustaining image and a stable state for the Muslims across the globe, it is now obvious that they all have to get united to fight the evils that are tearing their harmony and peace apart.

Rafiqul Islam Rime Agrabad, Chittagong