Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel to “Count to one million!” this past Monday before starting any attacks or violence against Lebanon. To those who know Israel they realize this threat has nothing to do with any threats which might emanate from Israel, they have everything to do with Nasrallah reinforcing his own standing as Hezballah has some difficulties as their losses in the Syria conflict continue to mount. Hezballah requires their front with Israel to give their movement legitimacy and without support in Lebanon they would not have this front. Nasrallah’s problem is the fighting by Hezballah in support of Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad in his war to try and reestablish his country with him still in control. Hezballah only has an obligation to fight for al-Assad because Iran insists they assist the Iranian efforts to support al-Assad, an ally, or should we say the more honest assessment of puppet, and thus retain Syria as the anchor on the Mediterranean of the Shiite Crescent across the Middle East. This Shiite Crescent begins with Iran bordering the Indian Ocean and Persian (Arabian) Gulf across Iraq and on through Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. Should Iran lose their claim to Syria personified by Bashir al-Assad who is more Shiite than Sunni as an Alawite Muslim, they lose their western Shiite Crescent anchor. The civil war in Syria has drawn more assets from Iran who has sent mostly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units and as the fighting had continued they demanded that Hezballah assist the efforts and this demand has only increased as the fighting became more and more desperate. Initially Hezballah had great successes but soon they began to have sufficient losses that they were no longer able of hiding the deaths and severe injuries to their fighters. As Hezballah is mostly an all-volunteer force, leaving Hezballah has proven bad for some individuals’ health.
Hassan Nasrallah Gesturing during remote feed video onto large screen during Hezballah semi-annual pretense of readiness to defeat any Israeli assault as he remain in hiding presumably beyond the reach of Israeli drones and commandos. This enhances his appearance of constantly under threat by Israeli forces seeking to assassinate him. The likely truth is that Israel had no reason, desire or even bothered to draw up plans to do so. As far as whether Israel could find Hassan Nasrallah’s various secreted locations, probably already have them pinpointed on some map just in case it becomes advantageous to remove Nasrallah from his position as the figurehead of Hezballah.
Still, and especially with the losses in Syria, Hezballah needs volunteers to fill their ranks of fighters. They control much of the government forces throughout Lebanon and is allied closely with President Michel Aoun and through these connections they control the education system in much of the areas and through this they indoctrinate the youth thus providing for future volunteers. One of the main attractive themes which is used in the schools and in their seeking for new recruits is the idea of fighting the Jews, Israel in particular. This has been a central theme even in Iran where their two major indoctrination inducing themes are “Death to America” teamed with “Death to Israel” both of which are often chanted in demonstrations after Friday prayers. This is the Iranian version of George Orwell’s 1984 “Two Minutes of Hate.” The similarity between the Iranian use of hate and Nasrallah using hate for Israel and the Jews are asimple means of holding power through defining and demonization of the other. This has been one of the means of unifying populations throughout Islamic history beginning with Muhammad during his later period in Medina after his being cast out of Mecca as his preaching that his revelations were the only truth, something the pluralistic society of Mecca refused to accede to, eventually rubbed the leaders of the city and the populace to such an extent they rejected both his preaching and soon the man himself, Muhammad, was cast out of the city. Once he established his power base in Medina he turned on those who had rejected him, first the Jewish tribes in the vicinity of Medina and then on Mecca bringing it down and subjugating those who had formerly rejected him. This was why he called his religion Islam which best translates as submission. This is still the method used by Islam that all must bow to their wishes and as Muhammad chose the Jews for a special place as the most accursed by Islam, this theme is repeated today. This is part of why Israel is so hated and why they so often depict the United States as controlled by Jews or as the puppet of Israel and thus singling the United States for equal hate as is given Israel. Some may ask why then is Britain also given such hate even more so than France, which was just as much a colonial power after the end of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the reason is simple, the Balfour Declaration brining Israel into existence, as they were under Jewish control. Everything traces back to the Jews no matter how absurd such a premise may be. Below we have Orwell’s “Two Minutes of Hate” and a rally against Israel, Britain and America from Tehran and the similarities are easily recognized.
Two Minutes of Hate
Endless Mindless Hate
There has also been a renewed belligerence from Gaza using a new tactic of firing their rockets from both within Gaza and from the Sinai Peninsula. Other than opening up a new front by using Egyptian territory there may be more involved. These rockets have been largely a single volley and then a return to what can be described as a normal level of fear and anxiety. The truth is, as we noted in our article Hamas Appointments Signal Coming Conflict, the recent retirement by Ismail Haniyeh and his replacement by Yahya Sinwar signals an expected increase in belligerence and the definite possibility of another Gaza war as Hamas will likely start a new rocket offensive this spring and into the summer. More rockets were fired into Israel today and all that remains is to see who and how many take credit for the attacks. Currently there is a war ongoing in Gaza in a rather subdued struggle for control of the area, the attacks on Israel as well as potentially Egypt between Hamas and Islamic State. Both groups would desire to eradicate Israel and both find Egyptian President Sisi to be a threat to their particular version of Islam, as he is calling for a reformation within Islam placing the emphasis on the Meccan coexistence verses instead of the Medina conquer the world and subjugation verses. Both Islamic State and Hamas see conquest as the true path of Islam holding no question in the supremacy which must be brought about by any and all means necessary including by the sword. Their argument with Sisi still would take a back seat to their hatreds for Israel and the Jews. In the case of Hamas one should not believe their aim is simply to destroy Israel and scatter the Jews to the far corners of the Earth as their Charter calls for the annihilation of all Jews wherever they may be found. Quoting the Hamas Charter, it states in Article 7, “The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’” Further, it states in Article 32, “Zionism scheming has no end, and after Palestine, they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates River. When they have finished digesting the area on which they have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion. Their scheme has been laid out in the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’” These are actual beliefs which they intend to act upon yet nobody appears capable of understanding their deep-seated anti-Semitism and the extents to which they intend to carry the extermination of the Jewish People. What the world need understand is that the Islamic hatred for the Jews goes all the way back to the beginning starting with Muhammad and was not a product of their influence from the Nazis but rather it was an Islamic influence of Jew hatred which spurred the Nazis even further and was responsible in part for the “Final Solution” which was in part formulated through the input of the Mufti of Jerusalem in discussions he partook in at the Wannsee Conference. Hamas is simply the continuation of Muhammad’s preoccupation with the extermination of the Jewish People.
Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar
What poses the real threat is the possibility of facing a two front assault from the south using both Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula by Hamas as well as facing Hezballah in the north potentially attacking from both Lebanon and onto the Golan Heights from within al-Assad held areas around Damascus in Syria. Where such would not prove an impossible task for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), it would limit that care which could be granted should the IDF only need fight on just one front. There would be a necessary broadening of any theater of operation with less ability to use discretion when targeting essential structures being used as rocket launching facilities or command and control. This would be particularly true on the front against Hezballah as they have been provided with sufficient ability to destroy much of Israel with their estimated one-hundred-fifty-thousand rockets and missiles. With such an arsenal they could probably overwhelm the Iron Dome systems and in order to preserve the nation the IDF would be required to rely on intensive air strikes and use of Israeli missiles in a series of precision munitions. The usual surgical precision and calling off air strikes simply because there would be a potential for civilian casualties would need to be given less urgency as many of these rockets and missiles and their launchers have been placed in what Hezballah refer to as their hardened positions which they claim Israel is unable to strike. What they are relying upon is that no Israeli government would ever permit the unrestricted use of missiles and air strikes regardless of civilian casualties. The difference in any coming conflict with Hezballah is that it would come down to Lebanese casualties or Israeli casualties and that would not be a difficult, though it would be an unpleasant, thought for any Israeli Prime Minister no matter where on the political scale they may sit. Any Israeli Prime Minister who would hold Lebanese or Gazan lives as more important and more precious than Israeli lives and call off strikes which would save Israeli civilians simply because Lebanese or Gazans might be hurt should step down immediately. There is a point where being humane when fighting a war has to give way to the practicality of fighting a war. Any war with Hezballah who have been provided with more missiles and rockets than many European military powers could put into use at any given time by Iran with the intent of overwhelming Israel and destroying as much of the country and murdering as many of the people as possible, that requires taking off the gloves and fighting any confrontation as what it is, an all-out no-holds-barred war. Such is not exactly something to be proud over, but reality has consequences and the only thing which Israel can promise is that she will not fire the first shot.
That leads us to the final reason Nasrallah made the comments he did. His other purpose is to establish through quotations the idea that any confrontation must have been started by Israel. In this with repeated statements of how Hezballah will go to any length in protecting Lebanon from Israeli aggressions, Hezballah will not shy when Israel attacks, Hezballah stands ready for the coming Israeli attacks and statement after such statement that when Hezballah strikes Israel in a cross border raid killing IDF soldiers on patrol and kidnapping soldiers if able they will claim the Israelis attacked and the world, even for a moment believes and reports such, then the entire following conflict will be blamed on Israel. Many of the world media will point to all the times Nasrallah warned of impending Israeli attack. The problem is Hezballah claims that the Galilee is occupied land and that Israel illegally holds these lands so when they attack it is in defense of lands they claim are occupied despite there being a recognized international border which places these lands within Israel. The entire length of the Lebanon Israel border is fenced and any attack required crossing through the fence at recognized crossing points. The entire border between Israel and Lebanon is supposed to be monitored by the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. These are the same peacekeepers who were supposed to prevent Hezballah from rearming and prevent their digging an entire new set of underground facilities. This is the same United Nations peacekeeping force which the Europeans walked out of supporting, India left after they were threatened and these peacekeepers now basically work for Hezballah. These United Nations forces were referred to as UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and were put in place after the Second Lebanon War and almost lasted two years before basically turning the other way and allowing any breaching of the agreements they were supposed to enforce. They became so threatened that one seldom sees any United Nations vehicles south of the Litani River and those one can find are often being driven by and used to transport Hezballah units, rockets and provisions. UNIFIL became a joke and if there is any logic left in Israel, they will never again trust the United Nations, European union, European nations or most of the world to keep even a single promise if doing so places them in opposition to the forces of Islam as the world is more afraid of terrorists than they are of Israel because Israel will not be blowing things up in their capitals or anywhere they care about. Israel needs to realize they are on their own for the most part and any friends they may have after an election may disappear after the next election and their promises will leave with them. Such is the lesson of the written agreement given Ariel Sharon by George W. Bush which has since become a dead letter with at best may become resurrected briefly but will then be eclipsed somewhere down the road, guaranteed. The only promises Israel can count upon are in Torah.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 