The thousands of explosions detonated in pagers on or near the bodies of members of Hezbollah in Lebanon last night have killed nine people so far, including a young boy, and wounded or maimed thousands. The death toll is almost certain to rise. At least two hundred people are in critical condition. The attack has of course generated deep shock and horror across the country.
It was a brutal attack that meets all the criteria of terrorism. Everyone is assuming it was carried out by the Israeli security services, very likely with the knowledge of US agencies.
There has been no condemnation of this barbarity by British or other Western governments. News reports in Britain instead focus on the fact that Hezbollah is outlawed in this country (and about fifteen others) as a terrorist organisation. The talk is of an unprecedented security breach and a counterintelligence failure. Western powers are urging restraint in response.
This despite the fact that it is crystal clear that the Netanyahu leadership is actively seeking wider war with Hezbollah, while both Hezbollah and the Iranian government have so far been doing their best to avoid crossing red lines that would lead to war.
At an overnight meeting before the attack, the Israeli security cabinet agreed to widen Israel’s war aims and defence minister Yoav Gallant commented that ‘the possibility for an agreement with Hezbollah is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas’. Hezbollah’s leadership has repeatedly made clear it would stand its forces down if there was a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to a genocide that has been condemned in the world’s highest courts.
Imagine for a moment how different the response would be if this barbaric attack had been carried out by a pro-Palestinian organisation. But objectivity and balance, let alone any interest in cause and consequence, have long been abandoned by the West when it comes to the calamity caused by Israel’s aggression in the region. In one of the most shameful episodes in our colonial and imperial history, the British government appears willing to stand by the Israeli government whatever atrocities it carries out.
Apart from being morally repugnant, this is a policy that might as well be designed to encourage Israel to ever more extreme acts of violence.
As polls show, most ordinary people here have a very different attitude. The Palestine and anti-war movements need to do everything possible to deepen and broaden our campaign for a ceasefire and to stop the region careering into an all-out war. That starts on Saturday with our national demonstration at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and then the demonstration on Sat 5th Oct, one year on from the start of the genocide.