On Hillsborough Street in Durham, N.C., not far from my hometown of Chapel Hill, half of a worn-out looking commercial building is occupied by a small but wildly popular outfit known as Locopops. A haven of the petit-bourgeois in a neighborhood of used car lots, the store draws customers from Durham and all points surrounding to taste its frozen creations: perhaps a cucumber-and-chili ice pop for myself, hibiscus flavor for the missus, cookies and cream for the toddler, even a beef pop for Sparky.
The first and only visit I've paid to Locopops was a few weeks ago in the company of my family and some friends, and it was, as always, packed. I sat, licking my pomegranate-strawberry, next to an olive-skinned couple and their small, lively child, with whom my four-year-old sister quickly became acquainted. Refusing to be socially outperformed by preschoolers, the couple and my family started to chat. We learned that the mother was a journalist from Gaza, while the father was an exile who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Our conversation followed their lives and the long arms of fate that brought the couple together in Boston. And when talk turned to war, the tone was unsurprising, almost familiar: fear for family, uncertainty for the future, all muted by the weary sadness of inexorable tragedy.
Since July, Israel has conducted a wrong-minded war in Lebanon - and, as I learned about in some detail that evening, an aggressive military campaign and complete blockade in Gaza. Despite intentions and rationale, the only ones who have benefited from Israel's aggressive strategy have been Islamic radicals. Lebanon, a state governed by coalition and consensus among a diverse population, has become so polarized that even the Maronite Christian archbishop of Tyre has become a Hezbollah supporter. This kind of allegiance would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, when the Christians were chief political and ideological rivals of Hezbollah.
Perhaps a military response to the incursions by Hezbollah was justified, perhaps it wasn't; I won't take on that debate now. Certainly the swiftness, the scale and the magnitude of Israeli retribution have been inexplicably great. The dozens of dead in Qana, more than half children, erased any notion that this was a "limited war" targeting Hezbollah. The images of destruction that flooded in from across Lebanon - of bombed-out power plants, bridges, airports and civilian infrastructure - have made it increasingly difficult to take Israel's side, even for moderates in the region. Saudi Arabia first rebuked Hezbollah for its attacks, but has since spent weeks railing against Israel. A poll in Egypt showed the population of that nation, a key U.S. ally in the region, choosing Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, as their most popular figure in the Middle East.
What would a responsible United States do? Asking this question is in itself an unrealistic pipe dream; for a variety of reasons, our government would never waver from its unconditional support for Israel. But if we are to hold our leaders accountable, we must think in idealistic terms. The answer to this question is morally clear: the United States, a better United States, would in the clearest of terms chastise Israel for waging this war.
A peaceful Middle East will never be achieved by direct military attacks on radicals. It will be achieved, if at all, by establishing a prevalence of moderate opinion on Arab streets and in Arab halls of power. The early criticisms of Hezbollah by Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia offered a taste of how this might work. If militant incursions by non-state actors like Hezbollah or Hamas were viewed throughout the region as unprompted acts of needless violence, then Israel would not need to respond in kind: the popular support of terrorist groups, their very lifeblood, would dry up from disdain.
Unfortunately, Israel did not take the high road, opting instead for the metaphorical underground line. In order to give the moderate voices a chance of being heard, in order to teach the value that the taking of any civilian life is wrong, a better, smarter America would do what any good friend does. Though it's difficult, good friends always call their friends out for crossing the line.
Instead, we have an administration whose overt support for Israel is seen across the globe as another link in an American-Israeli war against Islam. This war has left very little middle ground for moderate Arab leaders to stand on, and it's clear in which direction they are heading.
Will Guzzardi '09 always calls his friends out, especially if they bomb civilians.
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