Commentary: Is it possible to make peace by destroying bridges?

A UMNS Commentary By the Rev. Joe Hale*

President George Bush and Secretary of State Condolezza Rice are giving the green light for Israel, and its leaders, to unleash an impressive Israeli war machine to destroy Beirut and other areas across Lebanon.

Many towns have been reduced to rubble and hundreds of Lebanese people have been killed in Beirut and across Lebanon, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Israel has demonized Lebanon to justify its war and the destruction it has wrought. The reality that has been Lebanon is very different.

The Israeli claim that it is not targeting one group, the Hezbollah, does not wash. What has and is happening is a different reality. Innocent people, residential communities, and indeed, a sovereign nation has been crushed—with no mandate beyond the desire of Israel to kill and destroy. What the State of Israel has done is a crime against humanity.

When George Bush first ran for office, I voted for him. I could not then have imagined his design for Iraq. Nor would I have imagined his present uncritical alignment of the United States of America with an Israeli government policy of massive military conquest and indiscriminate destruction of a sovereign country.

Israel’s intention to expand its borders over the years is not new. It takes only a look at the maps over the last 40 years to see—Palestinian land taken, control over water diverted, the building of massive settlements on occupied Palestinian land, and a severely reduced area left for Palestinians in even the original “Palestinian West Bank.” Israeli intentions resemble the old saying of the man who “only wanted to have all the property touching his.”

Hezbollah, in Lebanon, was virtually inactive as a military entity before the 1982 Israeli invasion, while to the Lebanese it was very active as a humanitarian organization. The missiles reaching Haifa in the current conflict were sent in response to crushing Israeli air strikes targeting them, strikes which quickly broadened to destroy Beirut, and much of Lebanon.

The confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank over the last 30 years has moved slowly, but deliberately, and is seen in the large number of illegal expansions, encroaching upon year after year across the Palestinian West Bank. The evidence is seen in answers to questions like: “Who builds the walls?” “Who controls the gates?” “Who controls the water?” “Whose basic human rights are protected?” and the questions go on.

The destruction of Lebanon, and the disregard for the rights of its people, has happened—perhaps not intentionally—but with the formal support of our President.

While the war was launched by Israel, the destruction of Lebanon was an action that took me by surprise, although it should not have. It is only the climax to what slowly, over the years, has been done by Israel to the Palestinian people. But rather than piece by piece, Israel has begun a quick war of destruction and total conquest this time, intended to be swiftly accomplished, and hopefully as quickly forgotten. I fear this will not be the case.

On Aug. 3, I spoke by telephone with a respected, world-renowned leader who lives in Israel. He is a citizen of Israel and also a Palestinian Christian. He is known and respected by Israelis and Palestinians alike. He founded a great university with a faculty of both Israelis and Palestinians, and a student body that reflects the population living in Israel.

He is heartbroken, personally knowing many of the people in Lebanon who are greatly suffering today. I believe many across the world are also crying.

I first visited Beirut with my father 52 years ago. He was traveling to an assignment in Thailand with the United States Department of State. From Beirut, we traveled to Damascus for a meeting with one of his colleagues there. The road we traveled that day would be impossible today because most of its bridges are now destroyed.

I am asking this question: “Is it ever possible to make peace by destroying bridges?”

*Hale retired as general secretary of the World Methodist Council in 2001, a position he held for 25 years. In April 2002, as part of a 16-member National Council of Churches “Religious Leaders Delegation to the Middle East,” he met with heads of state in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and religious leaders in Istanbul and Jerusalem and the concern for peace in that area was a long and deeply felt commitment.