No Summer Surprise: A Blockbuster Sequel of Lies

Lies will surely be leveled against Israel’s response to Hezbollah; they will mirror the lies made against Israel’s response to Hamas

As the death toll mounts from Saturday’s Hezbollah strike against a soccer field, the simmering war between it and Israel is likely heating up to a full boil.

Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel was a surprise. In contrast, for months it has seemed inevitable that Hezbollah and Israel were heading towards war.  The only questions were what would trigger it, and when.  Tragically, we now appear to have the answers.

It is also inevitable that 10 months of unfair criticisms leveled against Israel’s defensive actions against Hamas will be recycled to demonize its response to Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks.

The lies will hit 5 familiar chords:

Ceasefire

Hamas violated an existing cease-fire on October 7. Within hours so did Hezbollah. They and their supporters don’t chant ceasefire when they are on the offensive; only when Israel responds.  And they only demand a ceasefire to rearm, reload, and fire again when opportune. Like Hamas, a ceasefire is a stalling tactic for Hezbollah, not a stepping stone to peace.

Genocide

For decades every Israeli response to Hamas and Hezbollah attacks prompted baseless charges of genocide. In each case when the guns fell silent, there was a tragic death toll.  But no genocide.  In each case, the populations of both Gaza and southern Lebanon were higher than at the start of the war.  Obviously, population growth is impossible amid an actual genocide. Also incompatible with genocide is Israel’s facilitating humanitarian aid, a practice unheard of, nor expected, in other war zones.  But don’t be surprised when in Lebanon, as in Gaza, Israeli genocide will again be charged but not committed.

International law

Like Hamas’ October 7 assault, Hezbollah’s 10 months of attacks have been across an internationally recognized border. Like Hamas, it deliberately targets Israeli civilians…Jews, Christians, Muslims, and, like Saturday’s rocket barrage, Druze.  They both shamelessly boast of using their civilians as human shields, proclaiming that such victims should be proud to achieve martyrdom. And they both shield their fighters within mosques, hospitals, schools, and humanitarian agencies.  It is these Hamas and Hezbollah practices that are the violations of international laws of warfare and human rights. Yet it is Israel that will again be accused of violating those laws.

Stop Unconditional US aid to Israel

Like its war with Hamas, Israel’s defensive responses to Hezbollah will prompt critics to demand an end to America’s “unconditional” arms sales to Israel. That demand reflects either the critics’ ignorance about U.S. arms sales to any country or their reliance upon the ignorance of their audience.  The congressional legislation authorizing such sales, the Pentagon’s regulations layered atop, and  additional terms imposed by American manufacturers and distributors debunk the claim such arms sales are  “unconditional.”   In fact, Israel willingly complies with all the conditions, underscoring why, as the only democracy in a region, it is the United States’ closest Middle East ally.

Free Speech

A full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war will further extend what Chicagoans have endured since October 7: streets obstructed by protesters claiming that such mayhem is constitutionally protected free speech.  But no one has a constitutional right to wreak havoc on airport access roads and train stations, vandalize iconic tourist sites, and cancel cultural events featuring Jewish performers.  And it won’t be long before the campus tent encampments return, with their property damage, taunts of passers-by, and forced cancellations of academic activities. It will all be unpleasant…and unprosecuted. None of it will be a surprise.

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Here’s a counter-intuitive surprise:  we should actually believe the terrorists more than their American apologists.  Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s long-stated reasons for fighting Israel are indeed the unvarnished, ugly truth: it is not to adjust a border line or to modify any Israeli policy. It is, quite simply, quite terrifyingly, to eliminate Israel. Those denying or distracting from that violent reality by demonizing Israel are saying “Don’t believe what your ears have heard, and what your eyes have seen Hamas and Hezbollah say and do for decades.”

No one should be surprised when the “blame-Israel” storyline running since October 7 has its summer sequel with Hezbollah. Unfortunately, the sequel is likely to open soon, with many of the same misleading arguments being trafficked by the same actors, all of it choreographed by terrorists convinced they can sell us the same lies again.