From the Israeli Committee on Housing Demolitions (ICHAD), Sept. 13:

Israelis and Hezbollah Haven’t Always Been Enemies
When Hezbollah operative and diamond trader Samih Ossailly was arrested in Belgium in April of 2002, one of the items found in a search of his apartment was an End-Use Certificate (EUC) for a shipment of 113 tons of arms from the Ukraine to the Ivory Coast. So what was an Israeli arms dealer doing in possession of an identical EUC? The answer is convoluted but revealing. Ready?

Once again, the idiot left delivers up propaganda ammo to the reactionary New York Sun on a silver platter. Are these claims true? If they aren't, Al-Awda should sue. If they are, Al-Awda should be generally repudiated by the American left. But they won't be. The left seems incapable of grasping that incessant intonation of the "anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism" mantra is utterly meaningless if we fail to oppose real anti-Semitism. From the Aug. 22 edition (just brought to our attention, emphasis added):

From DPA, Aug. 31:

Damascus- Around 595 Druse clergymen from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights crossed into Syria Thursday for an annual pilgrimage to the holy Habil shrine at Zabadanto, a Red Cross official in Damascus said. The clerics crossed the Israeli-Syrian border at the Quneitra checkpoint, around 65 kilometres south of Damascus, in two groups and walked for about 300 metres while elderly men were transported by by UN buses, which was broadcast live on local television.

In the wake of the Lebanon aggression, Uri Avnery invokes the image of Israel as Washington's attack dog—as he has before. Online at Gush Shalom, Aug. 26, emphasis added:

America's Rottweiler
IN HIS latest speech, which infuriated so many people, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uttered a sentence that deserves attention: "Every new Arab generation hates Israel more than the previous one."

This July 29 report online at The American Muslim argues that an hisotric peace dialogue between Hamas leaders and Orthodox Israeli rabbis was (by strong implication, consciously) sabotaged by the Lebanon aggression. It also repeats the oft-heard claim that the July 12 abduction of two Israeli soliders which sparked the crisis actually took place on the Lebanese side of the border, contrary to the official story of a cross-border raid by Hezbollah.

This Aug. 17 New York Times by Scott Atran op ed ends on an ominous note, but is generally an offering of much-needed optimism. The highlighted passage notes an historic compromise in Hamas' traditionally rejectionist position.

Is Hamas Ready to Deal?
WHATEVER the endgame between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas, one thing is certain: Israel’s hopes of ensuring its security by walling itself off from resentful neighbors are dead. One lesson from Israel’s assault on Lebanon and its military operation in Gaza is that the missiles blow back.

Mike di Paola writes an excellent summary of the environmental and archeological damage from the Lebanese war for Bloomberg, Aug. 15. One of the coastal areas affected by an Israeli bombing-induced oil slick is the ancient Phoenician Canaanite harbor of Byblos. Di Paola writes:

Seymour Hersh's latest feature in the Aug. 21 New Yorker openly portrays Israel's Lebanon adventure as Washington's test war for an attack on Iran. Like most of his recent journalism, it relies overwhelmingly on anonymous sources. One "US government consultant" told him that earlier this summer, before the Hezbollah kidnappings, several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, “to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear." The consultant added, “Israel began with Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of his office and the Middle East desk of the National Security Council." After that, “persuading Bush was never a problem, and Condi Rice was on board," the consultant (reportedly) said.