Published: August 27, 2006 11:29 am      

Missing facts may have changed Israel/Lebanon poll results

Perhaps your poll question: “Has Israel over-reacted in its assault on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon” might have had different results if it had been worded thusly: If you knew that Israel’s attack on Lebanon had been planned for over a year, and that the capture of two Israeli soldiers was just their excuse, would you still think their attack was justified? If you knew that Israel has about 10,000 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners, some held for 20 years, and that capturing two or three Israeli soldiers was to attempt a prisoner exchange, would you still think Israel did not “overreact?”

If you knew that Israel started dropping bombs on Lebanon before Hezbollah started firing rockets on Israel, would you still support Israel’s attack? If you knew that Israel made over 6,000 bombing raids to over 1,000 rocket attacks by Hezbollah, would you still support Israel’s attack? If you knew that Israel has killed over 1,000 civilians and displaced over 700,000, while Hezbollah has killed a few dozen Israeli civilians, would you still support Israel’s attack?

If you knew that Israel has violated Geneva conventions by collective punishment of innocent civilians, destroying power plants, bridges, roads and food processing plants, bombing hospitals, fleeing civilians, and Red Cross ambulances, causing extensive environmental damage by oil spills, and denying relief convoys access to civilians, would you still support Israel’s attack?

If you knew that while loud charges are made about Iran and Syria providing rockets and missiles to Hezbollah, the United States provides tanks, planes, ships, heavy artillery, bunker busters, to the tune of billions of dollars a year, would you still think Israel’s attack was justified? And if you knew that the reason Iran provided Hezbollah with weapons was to act as a deterrent to Israel attacking Iran, and that that was why Israel chose to make a preemptive attack on Hezbollah, with the connivance of the United States, to wipe Hezbollah out in order to make attack on Iran possible, would you still support Israel’s invasion of Lebanon? And if you knew that while all the fuss is being raised about Lebanon not complying with resolution 1559 and disarming Hezbollah (which would have created civil war in that country), Israel has failed to comply with dozens of UN resolutions over the years, including many involving Lebanon, (www.middleeastnews.com/unresolutionslist.html), would you still support Israel’s invasion of Lebanon?

And would you support the invasion if you knew that Israel, through its lobbying wing AIPAC and think tank WINEP (you can Google these), funnels millions of dollars and lobbying efforts to administration officials, legislators and the media in order to persuade them, and ultimately, you, to support any action of Israel’s.