CSMS Magazine EditorialIn their historic summit last week, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has condemned the Israeli aggression in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, which has resulted to a high toll of civilian deaths and material damage. Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysian foreign minister and current NAM president, warned that “the excessive and indiscriminate use of force by Israel has caused too many losses of human life, severe injuries and large-scale damage to properties,” Prensa Latina reports. “The NAM condemns the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Gaza and the Lebanon, as well as the arrest of Palestinian ministers, members of the Legislative Council of the Palestinian National Authority and other officials,” the foreign minister emphasized in a communiqué. The statement was published last week by the Bernama news agency. Syed Hamid underlined that the movement, made up of 116 countries, “firmly rejects the Israeli policy of the collective punishment of the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.”“The brutal Israeli military actions in Gaza and in Beirut, including the bombing of government institutions, have not only obstructed peace efforts in the Middle East, but reflect its lack of commitment and will in the search for peace,” the foreign minister stressed.For her part, Louise Arbour, the UN Human Rights commissioner, stated that the military escalation and the deaths in the Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories should be regarded as war crimes. The indiscriminate bombardment of cities and areas where civilians will inevitably suffer is unacceptable, and those responsible could have criminal responsibility, she stated. The Israeli assault on Lebanon now enters its second week with no sign of subsiding. Many experts believe that Israel’s intent is to transform southern Lebanon into a wasteland. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) wants to clear the south of the country, an area that inhabited, until last week, more than 400,000 people. Hundred of people had to be buried in mass graves, for hospital morgues are filled to capacity. The costal border town of Tyre, the scene of relentless Israel bombardments, has been reduced to a huge pile of rubbles, and thousands are feared perish under them. By attacking Lebanon, a fragile country, with such ferocity and with complete Washington endorsement, Israel is not really trying to recover its two missing soldiers. The aim is to send a massage, reaffirming its neighbors that it and only it must hold supremacy in the region. Meanwhile, the rest of the world watches as war crime is being committed. An array of diplomatic maneuverings have produced nothing, and one can bet that as long as the hawks in Washington continue to support war crime, the obliteration of Lebanon will continue. If there is a lesson that developing countries trying to acquire the Ultimate weapon will learn from this is that the world is still being managed by the rule of the jungle. The mightiest is always right, no matter how gruesome his crimes could be. As an Arab diplomat put it of Lebanese television last week, “The Arab nation must understand that only a coordinated and sophisticated Arab military machine can subdue Israeli militarism and produce a comprehensive peace in the Middle
Non-Aligned Movement condemns Israeli aggression in Gaza and in Lebanon
