Lebanon devastated

The oil of the Middle East is gradually taking a red hue. The people of the world are watching how the hyenas are aimlessly destroying a country which is full of natural beauty.

The question of self-defence should not be raised only when Israel's interests are hurt; all other countries in the Middle East have the same right to defend themselves.

If you take a look at a current map of Israel showing Palestinian areas inside in distinct colours and also the concrete boundary walls erected by the Israeli government around the Palestinian inhabited areas, you would realise why there is so much resentment and animosity between the two sides. The Palestinians simply cannot go around from one area to the other without facing Israeli check posts, visiting neighbouring Arab countries is out of the question! If the Palestinians are forced to accept the present pockets of Palestinian inhabited areas as their future state, then it would forever be a vassal state of Israel. How could the Palestinians accept it? After all, they were living on this very land for centuries before the creation of Israel in 1948. After that, the exodus of Jews from Europe to Palestine had started and it gained further momentum after the 1967 war. Now European Jews [even their forefathers] who had never lived in Palestine for the last couple of centuries are claiming the land to be their homeland!

Presently, the Israeli forces are bombarding and killing innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon and destroying their buildings including power stations and water supply system on the plea of rescuing three Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbullah reportedly to swap them for thousands of Palestinian prisoners now languishing in Israeli prisons without trial. If Israel can round up so many people and imprison them with impunity, why can't Hezbullah capture a few Israelis? What is the logic?

The tragic thing is that the United Nations could not even call for an immediate ceasefire; such is the strength of the Jewish lobby! They have allowed Israel as much time as possible to destroy the infrastructure and economy of Gaza and Lebanon. Should this be allowed to go on?

Strangely enough, the big powers did not seem to be too concerned with the daily massacres of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza, they would rather take up the issue of Iran's nuclear reactors, suspected to be making fissile materials despite Iran's denial. The same thing happened in the case of Iraq, which was also suspected to possess WMD, but after invasion of that country and killing of thousands of Iraqis, no WMD could be found even after thorough search of the country!

With such leadership around, the world is unlikely to have peace in the near future.

Abul Mohsin, Dhaka