By David Bender

    As the Second Intifada broke out in late 2000 in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, there emerged a sense among many Israelis of all political orientations that perhaps as Israelis and more specifically, as Jews, they were simply meant to suffer, to live under constant attack, and to exist in a way in which their existence was always being challenged.  I remember at the time thinking it was an odd sentiment or at least a sentiment that was willfully ignorant of the historical fact that Israelis themselves bore significant (though far from total) responsibility for their predicament.  It also failed to account for the fact that as the military hegemony in the region, Israel had the ability to inflict vastly greater suffering on its neighbors and population living under its military occupation than the reverse.

    The Israeli sentiment that perhaps they are simply destined to suffer may or may not be correct, but it seems beyond a doubt that the Lebanese have met such a fate.

    During the past week the world has seen Israel’s spectacular ability to inflict pain, suffering, and terror on one of its vastly weaker neighbors.  

    Lebanese suffering during the 15 year civil war was great.  Over 150,000 people were killed and the country was largely destroyed.  City streets, buildings, homes, roads, and farms have been slowly rebuilt over in the 15 years since the fighting ended; but the scars of the war litter every corner of the country.  

    Even after the war officially ended, Israel and Syria continued their war.  The Israeli military remained in south Lebanon and Syria (and Iran) continued to provide financial, military, and political support to Hezbollah.  Israel and Syria could fight via Lebanon.  Lebanon became the proxy battlefield.  Israel and Syria could remain untouched within their borders; only the Lebanese suffered.  And the suffering, particularly in the south was awful.  In Israeli’s losing fight there against Hezbollah, they employed bombing, torture, and blockades.  A quick visit to Qana (where the Israelis supposedly mistakenly bombed a UN refuge) or Khiam i(a terrifying prison in which prisoners were routinely tortured and kept in isolation for years.   South Lebanon puts a face on the Israeli occupation.  

    Nonetheless, the 1990’s felt like a transition in Lebanon.  There were still many problems:  the south was unstable; Hezbollah’s intentions were still uncertain; the rebuilding of the country was done in a highly corrupt way; the Syrian occupation was holding the peace, but was also stealing billions from the country; and there was a sense that while the war had ended, in a sense nothing had been solved.  But the rebuilding continued, Israel finally withdrew from the south in 2000, and for the first time in decades, despite all its remaining problems, Lebanon seemed to have a future.

    But 2004 and 2005 would be significant years for Lebanon.  First, the Syrians, instead of gradually lessening their grip on the country, in the summer of 2004 strengthened it.  They forced the Lebanese to change their constitution to allow Emile Lahoud to remain as president of Lebanon (and more importantly as Syria’s puppet).  It was a humiliating situation for Lebanon in which the veneer of sovereignty was shown to be meaningless in the face of Syrian pressure.  Then on February 14, 2005 the former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq al-Hariri was assassinated in Beirut.  Without theorizing who did it (though many would point the finger at Syria), it risked throwing Lebanon back into chaos.  In the days after the killing, there was talk of a return to 1976 (the date most consider the beginning of the civil war).  But against all odds, Lebanon prevailed.  There was a series of bombings in the months after that were clearly an effort to further undermine emerging Lebanese stability, but they all failed.  The Israelis, though, may succeed.

    It is tempting to take a critical distance from the situation in order to understand and analyze the Israeli attack.  As a geopolitical move it carries its own set of objectives and risks.  One could discuss its chance of success in neutralizing Hezbollah (very low in my opinion) or the role of Iran, or the implications for Syria.  But there will be plenty of time for this.  

    Right now, I believe it is important to appreciate the suffering of the Lebanese people, the vast majority of whom never wanted anything but stability and peace.  At last count there were more than 300 dead and over 1,000 wounded.  Innocent people.  The airport and sea port have been bombed, dozens of bridges throughout the south have been destroyed, the road to Damascus (now one of the few ways out of the country) was attacked.  Trucks filled with refugees fleeing the bombing in the south have been blown up by Israeli helicopters on the pretense that they could be carrying Hezbollah fighters.  

    The most heart-wrenching thing, though, is that I have never before seen one country unleash such massive firepower against another country that is quite literally completely unable to defend itself.  Lebanon is simple taking the punishment, because it can do nothing else.  It is a cruel sight.  

    It is as though they are destined to suffer at the hands of their neighbors…and perhaps soon even themselves.