Israel’s Love-Hate Relationship with the UN Peacekeepers
by Some in the Israeli cabinet are floating an idea of asking UN peacekeeping troops to come in and and be a barrier between Israel and the West Bank towns. Is this really such a good idea, and does the Israeli leadership have the stomach to surrender any level of power for peace?
Returning to the editorial, the plot line definitely not only thickens, but evolves into down right ugly.
Israel has never liked any international body sticking their noses into their business. If the reader thinks back upon the modern history of Israel , they are quick to shut down any and all attempts when international investigations are called for. The most notorious incident culled was of the American peace activist, Rachel Corrie from Washington state, who was run down like a dog by an Israeli Army bulldozer . As the pattern goes, there’s an apology , then the IDF dodges calls for international investigations, only to have the file closed after a local investigation. The bombing incident in Qana that flattened a house full of women and children in Lebanon , and now Beit Hanoun’s bombing are all following the same pattern:
- Apologize and promise an investigation.
- Cast doubt onto the witness(es) version(s) of events.
- Conduct a local inquiry which places the blame on others as much as possible.
It also bears reminding of the UNIFIL detachment in Khiam , Lebanon that had bombs falling close to a permanent well-marked UN base, which wasn’t new and should have been well-known by the IAF. Is it any wonder there’s been bad blood between the two? Israel didn’t seem to care too much, even when the calls came in from the UN bunker, begging them to stop shelling in the area. In the end, someone chose not to listen and four people died. Again, this is not an isolated incident; “ UNIFIL has a history of being fired on by the Israeli military dating back to its inception in 1978. ”
Koffi Annon , who is normally useless or incompetent, was right on the nose this time when it came to being outraged. It was an intentional hit, and the evidence backs it up: six hours of shelling and phone calls, and the continued strikes as rescuers were furiously digging through the rubble in an attempt to save lives .
Considering all this water under the bridge, the bad blood with the United Nations, and their unwillingness to give up any power, this has all the makings of a very bad idea. “Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was the first to suggest an increased involvement of a UNIFIL force. The prime minister had reservations, but after two weeks he also began to support the solution that is now in force in Lebanon.”
Forgive me for not seeing the positive side of, “at least the pig is wearing lipstick”, but the leaders in Israel are much too hard headed; it’s not a wise decision to send in UN peacekeepers. Israel is not ready to surrender control. What will happen when Israeli leaders lose their tempers if the UN troops are not performing up to their expectations, or a few rockets slip through? Is Israel going to march in and start a war to kick them out? Israel’s military has proven time and time again a UN peacekeeping force makes a good “OOPS!” target.
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