A UN ruling may have totally undercut the claims that the terrorist group Hizbullah has used to attack Israel, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
But, spin being what it is, we are sure this will make little difference: if American political parties can selectively use facts to bolster their case when it helps them and ignore, downplay or misrepresent facts when it hurts them, then why would foreign groups behave any differently?. The report:
The determination by the UN Security Council that the Shaba farms district is Syrian and not Lebanese land totally negates the pretext that Hizbullah has been using for continuing its terror attacks against Israel, senior security sources told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The sources said that the declaration also reiterated that Israel had fully complied with UN Security Council Resolution 425 when it withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000.
But you’ll never hear that fact brought up in many European countries by political parties there — or some political leaders. More:
"Hizbullah no longer has a valid excuse but this is unlikely to stop this terrorist organization from continuing its provocations in the Mount Dov region under the pretext that it is trying to liberate Lebanese land," a senior source told the Post.
"Hizbullah has the full backing of Iran, which is its mentor, financier and military arms supplier, as well as the support of Syria that continues to control Lebanon through the Lebanese government, so it is unlikely to stop what it has been doing until now.
"The Shaba farms area was always seen as Syrian land by its inhabitants and in the region generally until Hizbullah, with the backing of the Syrian-controlled Lebanese government and Iran, decided otherwise.
"The UN Security Council declaration undermines Hizbullah’s claim to be the freedom fighting liberation organization that it portrays itself to be. It is, in fact, a terrorist organization operating illegally from Lebanese territory," said the source.
Analysts noted that without its claim to be fighting for the liberation of Lebanese land, the justification for the continued existence of Hizbullah’s military arm in a country where all other militias have been disbanded would cease to exist.
The UN determination regarding the so-called disputed Shaba farms district coincided with its decision to extend by a further six months the mandate of its Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been a presence on the ground following the Litani Operation in 1978.
The UN decision, accompanied by sharp criticism of the Lebanese government for failing to deploy its forces in the south, also coincided with the first anniversary of the prisoners’ exchange with Hizbullah.
As part of the deal, Israel freed some 30 Arab nationals and 400 Palestinians and returned the bodies of some 60 Lebanese in exchange for the release of Elhanan Tannenbaum and the return of the bodies of St.-Sgts. Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Suwayid.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah used the occasion to issue a veiled warning that the organization would use every means, including further kidnappings of Israelis, to secure the release of three remaining Lebanese prisoners.
"Every day the Zionist enemy declares that the leadership of Hizbullah has taken a strategic decision to capture Israeli soldiers… I confirm that all options are open," Nasrallah was quoted as saying during a rally in Beirut on Saturday.
But just as with Al Qaeda, the goal isn’t small tactical gains but to achieve a strategical victory. And that doesn’t include a truce (formal or de facto) with Israel or a halt to terrorist operations, UN report or no UN report.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.