First, the very, very small line in the sand:
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would not accept the presence of peacekeepers in Lebanon from countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with the state, officials said on Sunday. The decision complicated efforts by the United Nations to form a 15,000-strong peacekeeping force to help enforce a truce that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah.
Now the complaining:
France, which commands the existing peacekeeping force, called for a meeting of European Union countries to volunteer troops. Negotiations with other countries hit a snag, however, when Israel announced Sunday that it would reject forces from nations that don’t have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. That condition would rule out Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia – among the few countries that already have volunteered to help enforce the cease-fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
We really can’t believe that this is an issue. Wait, hear us out – we report about and berate and mock the international community all the time, but seriously, how can this possibly be an issue?
These would be soldiers – armed representatives of their respective governments – ostensibly protecting a country that their governments don’t think has a right to exist. Polls show that they are overwhelmingly likely – by more than a 9 to 1 margin for most of their countries – to actively support Hezbollah’s genocidal intentions. If these were soldiers from countries with anti-Israel populations but slightly less anti-Israel governments (say, if they were from Europe), then we still might say something like “oh well, they’re professionals – they’ll place their orders above their personal preferences”. But even then we’d be wrong – which is an obvious and demonstrably true fact given the UN’s complicity in Hezbollah’s crimes against Israel.*
And you just know that these Indonesian and Malaysian and Bangladeshi soldiers would be even less professional than the Indian and French soldiers who have already been supplying Hezbollah with arms and human shields. You just know it – you know that on the ground, given the choice between giving with the Israeli army a heads up about a Hezbollah jeep heading towards the border, they would do nothing. You just know that on the ground, given the ability to tell the truth and explain that Israel was defending itself or lying and accusing Israel of a war crime – you just know that that Israel will end up being accused of a war crime.
The UN’s mendacity in the Middle East is now legendary. Kofi Annan stands in front of a map that shows Israel wiped out on Palestinian Solidarity Day, then has the nerve to preach to Israel about not needing to worry about Arab military threats. France calls Iran a stabilizing force in the Middle East, then leads UNIFIL. UNIFIL troops know that Hezbollah is literally using their backyard for firing missiles, but then lie about it to the rest of the world. But pretending that soldiers from countries that hate Jews and governments that want to destroy Israel would protect Israel… that’s a whole new level of brazenness.
* The original version of this post read “crimes against humanity” rather than “crimes against Israel”. As far as we know, Hezbollah has committed no violations that are clearcut crimes against humanity (albeit not for lack of trying).
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