As more Israeli bombs fall from the skies over Lebanon, at least one
Filipino worker is feared dead and over thirty-four thousand others are
trapped with nowhere to go: the airport has been hit and roads and
bridges leading out of the capital have been damaged. The only chance to
move is if the bombing stops - even temporarily. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad
Siniora has pleaded for a ceasefire but Israel - seconded by the United
States - insists the bombing should go on.
Since the assault began, Israel has been bombing housing complexes,
power stations, and other civilian infrastructure. Last Saturday, nine
children were burnt alive when the convoy they were riding to flee the
country was hit by Israeli missiles. So far, over a hundred civilians
have been killed. Filipino, Sri Lankan, Thai and other foreign workers may count in the next tally of victims.
Israel insists it is only defending itself from Hezbollah’s aggression
and most media accounts report that this latest round of fighting was
triggered by Hezbollah’s capture of the three Israeli soldiers. However,
they rarely mention that it took place in a disputed zone on the border
and that Israel is holding over 10,000 Lebanese and Palestinians in jail - not to
mention the millions of Palestinians living in the virtual jail that is the Gaza strip.
Prior to the Hezbollah raid, Israel was laying the whole of the Gaza
strip to waste in retaliation for the capture of an Israeli soldier. For
weeks, the Israel Defence Force had been shelling Gaza’s civilian
infrastructure thus cutting off over a million Palestinians from power,
water, and medical services. Over forty civilians - many of them children - had been killed in Israeli operations. More than 100 Palestinian parliamentarians had
been abducted. And perhaps most shocking of all was the massacre of June
9 when Israel shelled a beach in Gaza, killing most members of a family
picnicking by the sea.
It appears that Hezbollah - an Islamic movement with social, political
and military wings and massive popular support — carried out the raid
in an attempt to open a second front on Israel and in response to the
atrocities against the people of Gaza. Israel’s excessive
counter-response is clearly aimed to show its own military might and to
turn Lebanese public opinion against Hezbollah. What’s more, by linking
Hezbollah to Syria and Iran, Israel is adding fuel to the fire already
stoked by the US, thus risking a full-scale regional war. Israel’s own provocative actions are further endangering tens of thousands more of Filipino workers within its
borders and beyond.
Seen from a broader perspective, this latest round of bloodletting is a
consequence of the complete collapse of the Palestine-Israel peace
process. Israel has shown no commitment to peace: indeed, the expansion
of settlements, construction of the separation wall, and the harassment,
arrest and murder of Palestinians continues unchecked. Hezbollah’s
actions in capturing the Israeli soldiers was an attempt to force an end
to Israel’s impunity.
Many analysts believe that Israel’s full-scale attack on Lebanon is part
of a larger strategy to once and for all rout two formidable enemies in
the region — the Hezbollah and the Hamas — in order to impose a final
settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict on its own terms. In
implementing this strategy, the Israeli government seems willing to
violate international law. Under the Geneva Conventions,
disproportionate use of force and collective punishment are clearly
outlawed.
The Department of Foreign Affairs maintains that the Philippines is a
“neutral party” in this crisis. But with the government not saying a
word about Israel’s disproportionate use of force and its violations of
international law, to be quiet in the face of aggression is to be
“neutral” in favor of the aggressor. To stay silent is to abandon
Filipino workers, along with the rest of the Lebanese population, now
facing the full wrath of Israel’s “collective punishment.”
As the Philippine government struggles to evacuate these Filipinos from
Lebanon, the best evacuation plan is still for the the Philippine
government to insist that the bombings should stop. The government
should break with the United States on this question, call for an
immediate ceasefire, and join other countries at the United Nations
General Assembly in calling for an end to the war and a just resolution
to the crisis. Moreover, it should immediately recall its ambassador
from Israel and severe its ties with that country until it ends its
occupation of Palestine.
Not only would these actions signal a principled foreign policy but they
would also to protect the welfare of the tens of thousands of Filipino
workers in the greater Middle East. Filipino workers in that region will
be insecure so long as Palestine remains under occupation. It is already
tragic that so many of our country men and women are forced to work in
strife-torn areas to survive. It would be even more tragic if their
government tacitly supports the actions of Israel and looks on
helplessly as they become “collateral damage” of its war.#