Israel Is Genociding Lebanon — There's Barely Any Coverage

New column by Lee Camp

Column and voice over by Lee Camp

If Israel hadn’t spent the past two-and-a-half years committing genocide in Gaza, then it probably would be a big news story that Israel is committing genocide in Lebanon. Instead, as it stands, hardly anyone seems to care.

Most mainstream outlets might say that “fighting continues” between Israel and Hezbollah. Or if you’re CBS News it’s something like, “Lebanese people die due to unknown cause.” But roughly zero mainstream outlets are calling Israel’s actions what they are — genocide. As of this writing, if you Google “Lebanon genocide,” you won’t find a single mainstream news outlet listed.

A couple of weeks ago, Genocide Watch put out a warning about probable genocide in Lebanon.

And the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security issued a Red Flag Alert a month ago.

In it they basically lay out the case that Israel is either committing genocide in Lebanon or preparing to—if we’re being generous. Luckily Israeli officials are not timid about revealing their true motives/desires to murder innocent people. The Lemkin Institute said:

“Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich [warned] last week that Beirut’s southern suburbs would ‘soon resemble Khan Younis,’ a reference to the city in the southern Gaza Strip that has been completely flattened by over two years of Israeli bombardment.”

Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon is not “carefully targeted” or “pinpoint strikes” or whatever other military jargon bullshit the US/Israeli war machine pumps out. Back to the Lemkin Institute:

“The scale, geographic scope, and coordinated intensity of these actions indicate an intent not merely to strike military objectives, but to inflict broad suffering and create conditions of life that render civilian existence unsustainable.”

Whole villages in Lebanon are being wiped off the map. And even the pro-Israel, pro-genocide New York Times had to admit that Israel seeks to annihilate a specific group of people (the definition of genocide).

In private calls to local leaders across southern Lebanon, Israeli military officials have assured several Christian and Druse communities that they could remain in the evacuation zone. They have pressed them, however, to force out any Lebanese from neighboring Shiite Muslim communities who have sought refuge among them as Israeli bombardments flatten Shiite towns…

That’s right, the Israelis are threatening people who hide Muslims in their communities. Hmmm, can you think of any other time in history when people were punished for trying to protect a specific group of people from persecution and murder? I think it rhymes with “Gazi Nermany.”

Yet again, Israelis are behaving like the Gazis.

In this video posted by Rania Khalek, we can watch with our own eyes as Israel obliterates an entire rural village in Lebanon in a matter of seconds:

And don’t for a minute buy the bullshit excuse, “Israel is the most moral army in the world — They warn people to evacuate before bombing them!” While Israel sometimes issues evacuation warnings to areas before raining death down upon them: A) The evacuation orders are often given in the middle of the night with only a half hour to get out. B) Issuing evacuation orders does not actually entitle someone to commit genocide or domicide. It’s the equivalent of warning someone you’re going to murder them and then murdering them — You’re still guilty. C) After heeding the warning and evacuating, the Lemkin Institute notes:

“With no other choice than to sleep in their cars or on the side of the road, many Lebanese have chosen to return to their homes in southern Lebanon, knowing that they face almost certain death. Israel is inflicting absolute terror on the Lebanese population.”

So let’s get to the “why” for a moment. Why does Israel want to steal part of Lebanon and murder its people? Israel has long sought Lebanon’s resources, especially the water. On top of that, Israel has an ongoing plan for taking over most of the region, which they call “Greater Israel.” Netanyahu has essentially endorsed such a plan.

But it’s not just Israel. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee recently said Israel has a biblical right to take most of the Middle East. (By the way, you also have a biblical right to stone your wife to death if she isn’t a virgin when you get married. Thank goodness.)

Back to the Lemkin Institute:

“If the international rules-based order had not been dismantled by Israel, the United States, and their allies, Bezalel Smotrich would be at The Hague right now for the genocide he perpetrated in Gaza, not broadcasting videos about the second genocide he is plotting in Lebanon.”

We all must fight the urge to succumb to “genocide fatigue.” Every time the US and Israel (or any country) work to murder innocent people, we must speak out, protest, and fight back. Israel’s approval rating around the world is in the toilet. Their economy is in the sewage pipes below the toilet. Their interceptor missile stockpiles are nearly empty.

The world is closer than ever to stopping Israel’s genocidal rampages.