Garbanzo Toons: Muslims Protest the War

Monday, July 17, 2006

Muslims Protest the War

Muslims attending a memorial service at a Dearborn mosque Sunday evening called upon businesses along Warren Avenue in Dearborn to shut down at 5 p.m. Tuesday to protest Israeli action in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

About 1,500 people attended the service at the Islamic Center of America in memory of 12 family members of a Dearborn family who died after a building in Lebanon was struck last week by an Israeli warplane.

>Speakers at the service criticized Israel and asked the U.S. government to help U.S. citizens trapped in Lebanon.

With picture slides behind him showing the attacks in Lebanon, Ned Fawaz, chairman of the board of the Islamic Center, urged the crowd to "call Washington, call all your senators ... send e-mails" voicing opposition to Israel's actions.

Mohammad Bazzi of Dearborn Heights said that business owners are planning to shut down at the start of a march scheduled for Tuesday along Warren Avenue -- the main commercial strip in east Dearborn.

I understand that Lebanese Americans would be upset. Their family members are being injured and killed. Their homes are being destroyed. The infrastructure of their country, newly rebuilt, is being reduced to rubble. If I were in their position, I too, would be outraged. But not at Israel.

Israel did not set out to attack Lebanon. Israel was attacked from Lebanon. The Lebanese should be protesting against their real enemies: Hezbollah and Iran. Just as it has been said that the Arab world will battle Israel down to the last Palestinian, so will Iran, through their proxy, Hezbollah, battle Israel down to the last Lebanese.

It's been Hezbollah stockpiling thousands of Iranian supplied missles in preparation for this war. And where have they been storing these missles? In heavily populated areas. Why? To increase civilian casualties in order to help press Europe's and the U.N.'s "blame the Jews" button. They know they can't beat Israel militarily, but even the worst terrorist does better than Israel on the P.R. battlefield. There, Israel has two strikes against it. It's a Jewish country and it fights back. That combination offends a lot of people, including Muslims in Dearborn Michigan. Their "blame the Jews" button has been stuck in fast forward for years.

Under the circumstances, they'd be much better off venting their anger at the terrorists who are using their family members as human shields in order to deflect the wrath of Israel. They are using the entire country of Lebanon as a pawn in their bloodthirsty game. The only way the Lebanese can come out ahead, is if Hezbollah is completely removed from their country. I hope some Dearborn residents can step out of their automatic "blame the Jews" mode, as other Muslims have, and offer some help by standing with Israel in their battle against a common enemy.

Labels: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Muslims