Anti-War public meeting

antrim | anti-war / imperialism | event notice Monday October 30, 2006 12:46 by Ciarán

War, Islam & Resistance

Anti War Movement presents
War, Islam & Resistance

with speaker
Ibrahim Mousawi
Al Manar, Lebanon (Hezbollah TV Station)

Belfast Unemployed Recource Centre
Tuesday 31st October (Halloween)
7.30pm

Background to Public Meeting.
For 33 days this summer, the Israeli military laid siege on the people of Lebanon.

Using the deadliest of modern weaponry, including bunker busters manufactured by Raytheon, and the illegal phosphorous chemicals, and cluster bombs, Israel was confident it could inflict a swift decisive victory over the Hezbollah forces that had forced them to withdraw from their long occupation of the Lebanon in 2000.

But what began as a long planned attack aimed at destroying Hezbollah ended in a humiliation for Israel. A small band of irregulars kept at bay one of the worlds most powerful armies for over a month, and inflicted remarkable losses on it. For the first time ever, the Israeli Defence Forces were unable to prevail in an all-out war.

This outcome was not only a shock to the Israeli military. It was also a devastating blow to George Bush and his junior partner Tony Blair in their attempt to rescue US global hegemony from the debacle of their Iraq adventure. The US administration gave at least a nod and a wink to the Israeli military and may well have been involved in planning the onslaught unleashed on 12 July, as US journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed. Their aim was simple. The Israelis were to deal a devastating blow to Iranian influence in Lebanon and hopefully to end Iranian influence over the Shias in Iraq as part of the offensive against Iran itself.

The defeat has greatly added to the current problems that Bush and Blair have in pursuing their war aims in the Middle East. Both the US/UK are under mounting pressure to remove troops now. George Bush no longer speaks of all out victory. He accepts that the war is being lost. This meeting will give the anti war movement an oppurtunity to discuss the great shifts that have happened, and to discuss the one of the major turning points, the defeat of US/Israeli forces in Lebanon

Ibrahim Mousawi, is the chief editor of foreign news at al-Manar TV, the Hezbollah TV station, whose transmission towers were targeted during the Israel attack. His speaking tour will provide an opportunity for anti-war supporters throughout the country to hear more about how the resistance of Hezbollah forced the Israeli defeat.