Post Correction: Lebanon-Israeli border clash

So this post is just going to be a post clarifying some details that I posted up on in the last post. I didn’t have access to this information at the time of posting but its come to light that some of the UN findings on this event say that the tree was actually on Israel’s side of the border. Not only that but Israel did convey the message to the Unifil *the UN border patrol monitoring the borders since the ceasefire in 2006* that they would be carrying out this clearing process. Unifil also insist that this message was relayed to the officials in the Lebanese army. Though the investigation is still under way to clarify the rest of the events unfolding regarding the actual shooting.

So I’v learnt a thing or two about hastily commenting on an event without knowing the full details first and in the future will wait a while before adding my titbit of commentary. This saves me from having to post a correction post whilst also bypassing me sounding  like a complete un-informed A hole. I say this because I know the frustration of coming across and reading something which someone unequivocally believes is right whilst all evidence points to the contrary. Not only that but its never smart to jump the gun with events as serious as this because at the end of the day lives where lost and to mis-portray events would be an affront to those who passed.    Plus it does take a bit of the sting out of my argument as once one thing is proven false the rest of it can seem to be less convincing.  So far that I am sorry and I guess that this is first mistake out of many ill be making as I progress and develop this blog onwards. Lets just hope the mistakes are on the low side of things number wise.

But that’s not to say that the whole post should be ignored as the argument  comparing it to the flotilla incident still stands. I do believe that if things where the other way round *as they where in the flotilla incident* Israel would be able to legally justify the events unfolding in its eyes.

But I do wish that governments states and people in power would do the normal human thing and admit they are wrong when they have f***** up. We aren’t perfect, we are human, we have flaws and we make mistakes, it just seems this basic human truth escapes those in power. they believe they are immune to it generally and that admitting they are wrong is a sign of weakness. B*******, the reason why trust in government and people in power is at an all time low is because this people will spew any amount of crap to escape from having to admit they are wrong or mistaken. The only time they do admit it is when they are backed up in a corner and their PR managers have jumped ship and left them with nothing else to say. From the ex-BP oil chief exclaiming that the BP oil spill is small compared to the body of water on earth *really? that’s ALLl you could come up with in defence? really?  Couldn’t go with something less  obviously  irrelevant? Surprised you didn’t bother to work out the percentage ratio to add more grit to your seemingly solid argument* to the Israeli deputy UN minister claiming that the Gaza aid convey was anything but a ‘humanitarian mission’  *obviously his definition of humanitarian is much much much more exclusive* in justification of the illegal raid on the ships whilst still in international waters.

And on that note ill end this post with a quote since I couldn’t find a good enough picture to digitally alter sophisticatedly on my purpose built picture software *minimizes the Paint tab on Microsoft*  to summarise this post:

‘ A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.’ John C. Maxwell.

Till next time

 

Lebanon-Israeli border clash

So the story that interested me today concerned border clashes between Israel and Lebanon. The border between these countries has been tense and on high alert ever since Israel invaded Lebanon in the 2006 war. And with the recent events surrounding Israel and the Turkey flotilla incident tensions have become ever more prickly with that of its continents neighbours. Lets just remind ourselves briefly of this flotilla incident. A flotilla of aid and materials was being shipped unofficially from Turkey by a humanitarian group to Gaza in response to the blockade in Gaza. They where there to assist and provide much-needed materials to the closed off city. Israel had not approved this ship to enter Gaza as it would breach their ‘blockade’. So they met this flotilla in International waters *an important point* and through the following confrontation killed 9 people on the flotilla.

Now lets look at the recent clash between Israeli and Lebanese border troops. The Lebanese say that Israeli soldiers crossed their border to uproot a tree and shrubbery that was blocking their view of a town in Lebanon . The Lebanese claimed to have fired warning shots and where met with artillery fire from the Israeli side which sparked the direct clash which resulted in 3 Lebanese officers being killed along with 1 Israeli officer and a Lebanese Journalist. Now the Israelis say that they where on their side of the border and the troops that were fired on where 300 – 400 meters away from the border watching over their fellow troops as they cut away at shrubbery that was falling on their side.

Now regardless of which side is telling the truth *though i doubt with Israelis recent track record of honesty we have much trouble deciding on the truth* Israel would be hard pressed to be able to defend its actions. This is bearing in mind the fact that they don’t believe they did anything unlawful with their handling of the flotilla incident.  The flotilla was a distance away from the Israeli waters but was still attacked because Israel believed that they would be infringing on their territorial sovereignty even though they hadn’t reached there shores just yet. So using that argument the Lebanese soldiers could easily argue that regardless of the fact that the Israeli soldiers weren’t at their border as the Israelis claim they where close enough to threaten their territorial sovereignty.

And since when did gardening become such a top Israeli priority. Overgrown shrubs? not in my neighbours backyard if i have anything to do with it. it’s all about the scenery, It’s the little details that make a big difference as any keen gardener will tell you. Who knew Israeli border officials had such green fingers.  Aid and much-needed material for the imprisoned Palestinian population in Gaza, not really that necessary. A shrub and a tree infringing on their view or land, Unfathomable. It’s good to see their priorities are in place correctly. Not only that, if it is true that the shrubbery was infringing on their view of a village in Lebanon and which they needed to be able to view for security reasons im pretty sure they could have taken the common courtesy of communicating this to the Lebanese border officials rather than doing what they do best and taking matters into their own hand and lauding about the place as they see fit. Especially with all the recent hoopla over Israelis over-aggressive and i’ll-do-what-i-want-regardless-of-what-anyone-thinks attitude being questioned and criticised in the wake of the flotilla incident.

You’d think they would have wanted to buck the trend this time and maybe take a more diplomatic approach especially considering the tense nature of things in the middle east at present. But no, I guess when a shrub or tree has got to go, its got to go asap. That train ain’t waiting for no one, your either on the green carriage or your left stranded on a shrubbery platform. It’s the kind of can-do attitude people welcome at gardening shows who knew it would blossom so passionately in the Israeli border patrol.

That’s all for now

till next time