I'm going to break my rule for talking about Israel. Why? Because I'm deeply troubled. I'll be brief; I don't want to get worked up. Jews have trouble separating Israel's government from 'being Jewish' and I refuse to do that. This means I'm usually at odds with the majority of Jews. I do believe in Israel, but I believe that somewhere along the way, people forgot what it was all about. I'm not stepping up here to give a logical, well thought-out treastice on War and Peace in the Middle East. This is a mostly emotional post to vent my frustrations. I'm also not saying I'm right, okay? I'm just opining.

Lebanon. God help Lebanon. Beirut, once the Paris of the Middle East. I want to visit Lebanon. I want there to be a Lebanon for me to visit. Lebanon was, for three decades, immersed in agonising civil war. After a painful reconsiliation, the country managed to do what the US is unable to forcibly accomplish in either Afghanistan or Iraq. Lebanon had peace, extended calm and all the potential to regain what it had lost through a surprisingly functional factional coalition government. Of which Hezbollah was a part - not a large part, but elected by people, nonetheless.

Hezbollah is not Lebanon, just as Republicans are not the USA (though some might debate that). Hezbollah's aggression against Israel was out of the blue, so far as I understand, though I am certain it has accomplished its goal of destabilising the current delicate balance. Hezbollah has, it seems, plunged the greater part of Lebanon into conflict. Maybe it's not a surprise, considering the group's beliefs and mandate, but then why did this take the entire world by surprise?

For the record, I believe Israel has every right to respond to Hezbollah's attacks. It's called defense. What is not alright is for Israel to blithely rain havoc upon so many innocents. What Canadian Prime Minister, Steven Harper, called "a measured response" was not. Retaliating in the form of killing hundreds of civilians for the death of a few soldiers is not alright, nor is it measured. Fuck you, Steven Harper, and your ridiculous non-stance. And fuck you Hezbollah and Israel for once again not looking at the larger picture.

Israel has not looked at the larger picture since Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995. How could Israel have responded? Considering the nation's reputation with intelligence and related technology, surely it could have managed an internal strike that could have crippled an arm of Hezbollah. I'm not saying it would have worked, or that the budding war could have been avoided, but they didn't even try.

I was recently asked if I thought there was a solution to Israel's problems. What did I say? It goes against everything I believe in, but I also think it's about the only option left. Isreal needs to let Palestine go. Just give up the land and fuck the settlers. The settlers shouldn't be there anyway. Let it go. No discussion about right of return or any of that bollocks. You want out? There, you're out. Now leave us alone. That's what I think Israel should do. Israel did not create the climate of intollerance, that was the fault of neighbouring Islamic countries who set Palestine up as the sacrificial lamb. Maybe, after ten years of utter separation as sovereign nations, maybe then discussions can begin again. I dunno.

Anyway, I'm done venting. I have no solutions, only emotions. The situation is far beyond what emotions can accomplish. There. That was my annual discussion of my disgust and sadness. I think I can now get on with my day.