Des Moines Register
07-29-06
Luban: Iowans watch, worry
Israel has shown it wants peace, too
PNINIA LUBAN
GUEST COLUMNIST
We peace-loving Americans who cherish life, happiness, democracy and
freedom are eager to see conflicts resolved with the least number of casualties
and destruction. Israel, a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, shares the
same aspirations and has proven this time and again.
However, recent unprovoked attacks against Israel by the terror organizations
Hezbollah and Hamas have forced Israel to act decisively in self-defense. These
organizations openly advocate Israel's destruction and are armed and financed
by Iran, Syria and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Imagine how we would
react if terrorist units, enjoying the protection of the Mexican government,
infiltrated the United States and killed and abducted our soldiers, or if civilians
throughout the southwestern states were victims of daily rocket attacks, forced to
live in bomb shelters, bringing normal living to a halt.
Since 2000, no territorial dispute exists between Lebanon and Israel. However,
Lebanon has failed to implement U.N. Resolution 1559, which requires the
disarming of Hezbollah. For years Hezbollah has relentlessly amassed a huge
stockpile of weaponry, including tens of thousands of rockets, stored in homes,
mosques and other sites, which were sporadically fired into Israel. Numerous
incursions resulted in the deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Recent weeks have witnessed the unprovoked killing and abduction of Israeli
soldiers, the hundreds of rockets hitting Israeli cities daily and the prospect of
Hezbollah using chemical or biological weapons or acquiring nuclear material
from Iran. That's prompted broad agreement by the United States and some
European and Arab countries that Hezbollah must be effectively neutralized.
Israel's military operation, aimed at weakening Hezbollah and allowing the
Lebanese government to regain control of its own territory, is difficult because
Hezbollah intentionally operates from dense civilian areas. By contrast, Israel
goes to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage.
Israeli planes drop leaflets urging Lebanese civilians to leave areas in which
Hezbollah operates. Israel is using measured force pinpointed at rocket
launchers, Hezbollah command-and-control installations and facilities used to
arm Hezbollah, such as Beirut airport and roads from Syria.
Israel is allowing a humanitarian corridor into Lebanon to provide food, medicines
and other necessities. Medical centers in Israel are offering wounded Lebanese
civilians free medical treatment. Meanwhile, Hezbollah maintains daily rocket
barrages seeking to kill and terrorize Israeli civilians.
Israel longs for the day when she can expand her peaceful relations with Egypt
and Jordan to all other Arab countries including Lebanon and a future Palestinian
state.
PNINA LUBAN, an Ames resident for 25 years, was born and raised in Israel
and holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Iowa State University.