International community equivocates as Lebanon burns
Issued : Friday 21 July, 2006
Statement by Pat Rabbitte TD
Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources
Labour Party Leader, Pat Rabbitte TD, has said there must be an end to the equivocation of the international community regarding ongoing Israeli bombing raids into Lebanon. Deputy Rabbitte said these raids are “wreaking havoc in the entire Middle East, causing a humanitarian catastrophe amongst the Lebanese, and tearing international law to shreds.
“The situation in the Middle East deteriorates by the hour. The death toll from the nightly bombing raids by the Israeli military and the subsequent response from Hezbollah continues to mount.
“It is abundantly clear that this is no-longer about the return of the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Rather it has more to do with Israel seizing on this incident in order to launch a major military offensive against its enemies with the tacit complicity of the United States.
“At the same time, Hezbollah are using the Lebanese people as a human shield, with the government unable or unwilling to control them. Moreover neighbouring Arab countries are content to support and to use Hezbollah to carry out the military action against Israel they have thus far refused to take.
“For its part, the international community is standing back, despite the fact that it is responsible for arming all the protagonists in this dispute.
“This refusal to intervene must end. The principles of the United Nations, countless thousands of lives, and the fundamentals of international humanitarian law are in serious jeopardy. Israel must be made pull back immediately and a method found to police the region effectively.
“The Irish Government has a role to play too. Thus far its response has merely been to issue anodyne statements rapping Israel on the knuckles. The practical experience of our Defence Forces in the Lebanon must be offered in an effort to diffuse the conflict.”
