Malaysia is getting shafted upside-down by UMNO buffoons..

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 2,000 Mat Rempits (bikers) (correct term is actually "BIKE-RIDING ROAD NUISANCE") roared
in approval when Putera Umno chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim
declared them to be one of the nation’s “biggest assets.” 

The
young motorcyclists were participating in the Putera Motor Merdeka Ride
last night to celebrate the country’s 49th Independence Day. 

“They (Mat Rempits) are sorely misunderstood. Because of a couple of
bad seeds they have been discriminated against as a bane to society,”
Abdul Azees said. 

“I truly believe they have the potential and excellence to become the
leaders of tomorrow. All they need is a chance to prove society wrong.”

The majority of the participants, when interviewed, couldn’t agree more with Abdul Azeez ’s statements. 

“We are viewed as a menace because of our love for riding. It is very
unfair to us,” said Md Fikri Abdullah, 18, who aspires to be a teacher.

The patriotic riders, most of whom were waving the Jalur Gemilang,
were flagged off at Jalan Kampung Attap and made their way to the
National Mosque and adjourned later to Merdeka Square with Abdul Azeez
leading the convoy on his scooter. 

The event also saw a flag
presentation and a reading of vows at midnight to Federal Territories
Minister Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique at the square as a show of the
participants’ patriotism and promise to serve society. 

Meanwhile, all the Mat Cemerlangs are showing off their excellence elsewhere…

KUALA LUMPUR: At least 13 cars were broken into, their windows
and windshields smashed, along Jalan Medang Serai in Bangsar, leaving
residents both angry and baffled.

Residents who witnessed the
incident at 5am yesterday said young men on at least four motorcycles
took their time smashing the windows before taking anything of value
inside.

They also claimed the youths were the same ones who often raced
illegally along the Sprint Highway that runs parallel to their road.

Tedin Ng, 51, a resident for more than 20 years,
found the windows of his BMW and Renault SUV smashed and the coins in
the ashtray compartment missing.

“This happened to me last month as well, when they took the radio in my
BMW. Even before I had time to fix that, they struck again,” he said,
adding that the culprits seemed to be sending some kind of message to
the residents there.

“Almost all the cars had both the front and passenger windows smashed.
If they were merely out to get valuables in the car, there is no reason
for them to smash both windows,” a puzzled Ng said.

Another resident, who declined to be named, said he saw what happened and called the police immediately.

“They started at one end of the road and smashed cars all the way to
the other end. They would wait awhile before going on to the next one.
They were not afraid and did not run away,” she said.

“The police came a little too late as the youths had gone by then,” she
said, claiming that the police also did not bother to ask any of the
residents what had happened or who had called.

Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim, who confirmed the
incident, said only six people had come forward to make reports, so
far, even though 13 cars were smashed.

“According to the reports, the suspects were young men who were riding
four Yamaha RX-Z motorcycles,” he said, adding that police would
increase patrols in the area.

“We believe there were  around eight men in all.”

ACP Mohd Dzuraidi said a similar incident happened in the Jalan Terasek area about a month ago.

“In that incident, the men were also on motorcycles, but we still don’t know if this is the same group or a different one.”

He asked witnesses to contact the police via the Rakan Cop hotline at
03-2115 9999 or call the Brickfields district headquarters at 03-2274
2222. 

They’re the future leaders of our country? What a load of BULLSHIT. Ask them to get a decent education for a start, lest they become a bunch of uneducated rednecks like the current UMNO so-called ‘leaders’. Wait a minute, that’s the point isn’t it?

What about people who race cars illegally? Aren’t car racers in a better position to be future leaders of the country? First of all, people who own cars, and who can afford to modify them, are certainly more technically-inclined that the rempit scumbags. Secondly, people who can afford to mod cars definitely have proper education and are earning good salaries. Thirdly, car modders are generally an intelligent lot, and their gatherings would revolve around kopitiam talks about politics, current affairs and, what else, car modifications.

If we look at the racial side of things, a majority of Mat Rempits are malays, and a majority of car modders are Chinese.

UMNO said that Mat Rempits have a strong sense of ‘unity’ because if a single Mat Rempit is in trouble, at least 30 others will go to his aid. Normal laymen may refer to it as ‘gangsterism’. UMNO said that "if you can’t beat them, join them", or embrace them, since the Mat Rempits have been at it for ages. What about illegal VCD traders? Why don’t we label them as Mat Usahawan and claim that their trade promotes tourism?

The reason behind this duplicity is obvious - UMNO is practicing their racist politics as usual, and since the elections are coming up next year they’d certainly want to leverage on this bunch of scumbags.

I can think of a few reasons for this. Chances are, Mat Rempits are typically apolitical and they’re not registered voters. By reaching out to them and destigmatizing them, UMNO is sure to get their votes. On another note, UMNO Youth is nothing but UMNO’s thug outfit. Every election season, UMNO Youth thugs will be doing their rounds to intimidate opposition supporters and destroy the Opposition’s campaign material and billboards. By having the Mat Rempits in their pocket, UMNO Youth will have more thugs at their disposal.

If Mat Rempits were to be the future leaders of our country, I’ll be planning my migration from now.

There’s this thing that never fails to annoy me (as well as fascinate me), and that’s self-delusion.

What the heck is that about?

Well, simple. For instance, if you attribute undue importance to yourself, you’re self-delusional. If the way you see things and reality are totally different but you convince yourself that you’re seeing the truth, you’re obviously self-delusional.

Sometimes, some people that I know of are so self-deluding that I just don’t know where to begin. It’s not the sort of major self-delusion.. it’s just that the regards we have for each other isn’t exactly mutual, but the other person somehow thinks that s/he’s one of the most important persons in my life when in reality s/he doesn’t mean a thing to me.

Normally, I won’t give a damn about this because I’d ignore such people anyway.. they tend to have the tendency towards some kinda obsession or something (not towards me, but towards the stuff that they do). People with unexplainable obsessive-compulsive behaviour are spooky.

The other day, I met one such fella. Back in the old days when we first met, we’d have many arguments over mundane stuff. He’s the sort of guy that, when he could do something, he’d think that he’s the best of the lot and he’ll start trying to ‘teach’ people and assume a mantle of authority. I thought that after 10 years, he’d have changed. Not quite.

Still the same ol’, same ol’.

He heard of this company I’m working with right now, and I don’t know what made him feel like joining it. He doesn’t know what my job is over there, but he started deriding me to make a point that he knows more and that my company would ‘benefit’ from ‘experts’ like him. And yet, in a strange way, he’ll address me as if we were best friends, speaking of minor encounters as if they were memorable moments. Eh?

He passed me his resume for me to hand over to my company’s HR dept. I was wondering if I should even interview him. My boss asked me to sit on his resume and do nothing about it because apparently he’s had a sort of negative reputation from where he’s coming from. Siggghhh.. so, as it is now, the resume’s "been handed to the HR dept".

And then, there’s this other person that I know of, a girl.

Which makes it even more dangerous.

Somehow, she’s managed to delude herself that I’m attracted to her or something, which I have time and again before this told her that I’m not. So strong was her self-delusion that she portrayed the matter as such to her friends, making it look as if I’m into her. Well, enough is enough, and Cold Turkey is the solution. When nonsense like this happens, what I do is that I ignore totally and absolutely, exorcising such needless troubles from my life entirely.

Previously, back at the gym, there was this lonely chap who somehow deluded himself into thinking that he’s my best friend just because I bothered to chit-chat with him at times. He’d be telling people that I’ll teach him how to use nunchucks, I’ll teach him kung-fu or kickboxing, and all sorts of other stuff.

Which means he must be pretty lonely.

My level of chit-chat at the gym is something like 5 minutes for every 1 hour or something like that. There certainly isn’t much time for conversation when I’m rack-running and hitting pyramids on the stack machine. And somehow, to this guy, it’s invaluable. Knowing that I won’t simply hang out with him, he tried to set up my friend and I to go out with him. He told my gym pal, Kiron, "Jae Senn and I are going for dinner on Thursday. Wanna join us?" and he told me, "Kiron and I are going for dinner on Thursday. Wanna join us?".

Spooky.

Kiron and I noticed something amiss, because back then the both of us regularly had dinner with Joanne. It didn’t take long for us to figure out that Mr Lonely is a deluded guy who is, sadly, a lonely chap. He stopped going to the gym soon after, though.. before he made any other friends, and before we got to know him better, and before we have seen more of such stuff from him. In a way, I feel sorry for him though it was spooky.

So, what drives them?

We can see that these people fall into a narrow range of possibilities of Jungian archetypes, from which the same Freudian collective unconcious operated upon their id under the same

(off to sleep. Gonna check out Syed Ali Taufik Al-Attas at Sedaya tomorrow morning)

The Hezbollah-Israel war is drawing to a close, and not surprisingly, both sides claimed victory. Amidst an almost 7-to-1 death ratio, Hezbollah claims triumph over Israel. Hezbollah’s infrastructure at southern Lebanon is completely eliminated; UN and international peacekeeping forces will govern southern Lebanon and restore sovereignity of that area back to the Lebanese government. Hezbollah’s state-within-a-state is no more. And yet, they claim victory..

Meanwhile, Metula News Agency has an article that gives a more realistic account of what has happened. Viewed from the eyes of anti-Hezbollah Lebanese, of course. Here’s some excerpts.

The politicians, journalists and intellectuals of Lebanon have, of late, been experiencing the shock of their lives. They knew full well that Hezbollah had created an independent state in our country, a state including all the ministers and parallel institutions, duplicating those of Lebanon. What they did not know – and are discovering with this war, and what has petrified them with surprise and terror – is the extent of this phagocytosis.

In fact, our country had become an extension of Iran, and our so-called political power also served as a political and military cover for the Islamists of Teheran. We suddenly discovered that Teheran had stocked more than 12,000 missiles, of all types and calibers, on our territory and that they had patiently, systematically, organized a suppletive force, with the help of the Syrians, that took over, day after day, all the rooms in the House of Lebanon. Just imagine it : we stock ground-to-ground missiles, Zilzals, on our territory and that the firing of such devices without our knowledge, has the power to spark a regional strategic conflict and, potentially, bring about the annihilation of Lebanon.

…

Of course, our army, reshaped over the years by the Syrian occupier so it could no longer fulfill its role as protector of the nation, did not have the capacity to tackle the militamen of the Hezb [hezb-Allah : the party of Allah. Translator’s note]. Our army whom it is more dangerous to call upon – because of the explosive equilibrium that constitutes each of its brigades – than to shut up behind locked doors in its barracks. A force that is still largely loyal to its former foreign masters, to the point of being uncontrollable ; to the point of having collaborated with the Iranians to put OUR coastal radar stations at the disposal of their missiles, that almost sunk an Israeli boat off the shores of Beirut. As for the non-Hezbollah elements in the government, they knew nothing of the existence of land-to-sea missiles on our territory… That caused the totally justified destruction of all OUR radar stations by the Hebrews’ army. And even then we are getting off lightly in these goings-on.

It is easy now to whine and gripe, and to play the hypocritical role of victims. We know full well how to get others to pity us and to claim that we are never responsible for the horrors that regularly occur on our soil. Of course, that is nothing but rubbish! The Security Council’s Resolution 1559 – that demanded that OUR government deploy OUR army on OUR sovereign territory, along OUR international border with Israel and that it disarm all the militia on OUR land – was voted on 2 September 2004.

We had two years to put implement this resolution and thus guarantee a peaceful future to our children but we did strictly nothing. Our greatest crime – which was not the only one! – was not that we did not succeed but that we did not attempt or undertake anything. And that was the fault of none else than the pathetic Lebanese politicians.

Our government, from the very moment the Syrian occupier left, let ships and truckloads of arms pour into our country. Without even bothering to look at their cargo. They jeopardized all chances for the rebirth of our country by confusing the Cedar Revolution with the liberation of Beirut. In reality, we had just received the chance – a sort of unhoped-for moratorium – that allowed us to take the future into our own hands, nothing more.

…

Lebanon a victim? What a joke!

Before the Israeli attack, Lebanon no longer existed, it was no more than a hologram. At Beirut innocent citizens like myself were forbidden access to certain areas of their own capital. But our police, our army and our judges were also excluded. That was the case, for example, of Hezbollah’s and the Syrians’ command zone in the Haret Hreik quarter (in red on the satellite map). A square measuring a kilometer wide, a capital within the capital, permanently guarded by a Horla army [1], possessing its own institutions, its schools, its crèches, its tribunals, its radio, its television and, above all… its government. A “government” that, alone decided, in the place of the figureheads of the Lebanese government – in which Hezbollah also had its ministers! – to attack a neighboring state, with which we had no substantial or grounded quarrel, and to plunge US into a bloody conflict. And if attacking a sovereign nation on its territory, assassinating eight of its soldiers, kidnapping two others and, simultaneously, launching missiles on nine of its towns does not constitute a casus belli, the latter juridical principle will seriously need revising.

Thus almost all of these cowardly politicians, including numerous shiah leaders and religious personalities themselves, are blessing each bomb that falls from a Jewish F-16 turning the insult to our sovereignty that was Haret Hreik, right in the heart of Beirut, into a lunar landscape. Without the Israelis, how could we have received another chance – that we in no way deserve! – to rebuild our country?

Each Irano-Syrian fort that Jerusalem destroys, each islamic fighter they eliminate, and Lebanon proportionally starts to live again! Once again, the soldiers of Israel are doing our work. Once again, like in 1982, we are watching – cowardly, lying low, despicable, and insulting them to boot – their heroic sacrifice that allows us to keep hoping. To not be swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Because, of course, by dint of not giving a damn for southern Lebanon, of letting foreigners take hold of the privileges that belong to us, we no longer had the ability to recover our independence and sovereignty. If, at the end of this war, the Lebanese army retakes control over its territory and gets rid of the state within a state – that tried to suffocate the latter –, it will only be thanks to Tsahal [the Israeli Defense Forces. Translator’s note], and that, all these faint-hearted politicians, from the crook Fouad Siniora, to Saad Hariri, the son of Lebanon’s plunderer, and general Aoun all know perfectly well.

…

In addition to these two zones, Tsahal has exploded a nine-storied building that housed Hezbollah’s command, in Beirut’s city center, above and slightly to the left (to the north west) of Haret Hreik on the map. It was Nasrallah’s “perch” inside the city, whereby he asserted his presence and domination over us. A depot of Syrian arms in the port, two army radars that the Shiite officers had put at the Hezb’s disposal, and a truck suspected of transporting arms, in the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh.

Moreover the road and airport infrastructures were put out of working order : they served to provide Hezbollah with arms and munitions. Apart from that, Tsahal has neither hit nor deteriorated anything, and all those who speak of the “destruction of Beirut” are either liars, Iranians, anti-Semites or absent. Even the houses situated one alley’s distance from the targets I mentioned have not been hit, they have not even suffered a scratch; on contemplating these results of this work you understand the meaning of the concept “surgical strikes” and you can admire the dexterity of the Jewish pilots.

Beirut, all the rest of Beirut, 95% of Beirut, lives and breathes better than a fortnight ago. All those who have not sided with terrorism know they have strictly nothing to fear from the Israeli planes, on the contrary! One example: last night the restaurant where I went to eat was jammed full and I had to wait until 9:30 pm to get a table. Everyone was smiling, relaxed, but no one filmed them: a strange destruction of Beirut, is it not?

Of course, there are some 500,000 refugees from the south who are experiencing a veritable tragedy and who are not smiling. But Jean [Tsadik. Editor’s note], who has his eyes fixed on Kfar Kileh, and from whom I have learned to believe each word he says, assures me that practically all the houses of the aforesaid refugees are intact. So they will be able to come back as soon as Hezbollah is vanquished.

The defeat of the Shi’a fundamentalists of Iranian allegiance is imminent. The figures communicated by Nasrallah’s minions and by the Lebanese Red-Cross are deceiving: firstly, of the 400 dead declared by Lebanon, only 150 are real collateral civilian victims of the war, the others were militiamen without uniform serving Iran. The photographic report “Les Civils des bilans libanais” made by Stéphane Juffa for our agency constitutes, to this day, the unique tangible evidence of this gigantic morbid manipulation. Which makes this document eminently important.

…

Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I pray that no one puts an end to the Israeli attack before it finishes shattering the terrorists. I pray that the Hebrew soldiers will penetrate all the hidden recesses of southern Lebanon and will hunt out, in our stead, the vermin that has taken root there. Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I have put the champagne ready in the refrigerator to celebrate the Israeli victory.

…

As for the pathetic clique that thrives at the head of my country, it is time for them to understand that after this war, after our natural allies have rid us of those who are hindering us from rebuilding a nation, a cease-fire or an armistice will not suffice. To ensure the future of Lebanon, it is time to make peace with those we have no reason to go to war against. In fact, only peace will ensure peace. Someone must tell them because in this country we have not learnt what a truism is.

Left-leaning outsiders tend not to grasp the real gist of the matter, clinging instead to lofty ideals which will never happen, having a constant spastic reaction to blame Israel first no matter what goes on.. We can see this happening just within the past year, when Noam Chomsky praised Nasrallah and Hezbollah for "securing" Lebanon while the Lebanese riled at this statement and loudly proclaimed that Chomsky had missed the point - Hezbollah militias arms themselves to keep the Lebanese in check, they are terrorizing the Lebanese civilians. But will the rock stars, actors, film producers, ‘peace’ activists and pacifists understand this? Probably not. In fact, it seems that they don’t at all.

Sitting there in Hollywood, or among their similarly artsy (or ‘peace-loving’) peers, they can only regurgitate the same terms handed to them by Hezbollah’s PR department - "Occupation", "Zionist aggression", "murdering of women and children". The last time Israel "occupied" Southern Lebanon, it was to eliminate a massive PLO movement that was practically holding the country hostage. The PLO under Yasser Arafat seemed poised to take charge of southern Lebanon as an independent entity, and an eventual coup d’etat to overthrow the Lebanese government isn’t far off. If it weren’t for Israel, Lebanon wouldn’t exist today. Israel’s "occupation" plugged a vacumm that would have otherwise been filled by subversive elements such as the Hezbollah. Syria does not recognize the sovereignity of Lebanon and perpetually itches to re-occupy what they view as a "satelite state" of Syria. It’s hardly surprising then that Syria is one of the strongest backers of Hezbollah.

Malaysians are equally ignorant at hailing Hezbollah as heroes and resistance fighters. They’re nothing but instruments of Syria and Iran to destabilize the government of Lebanon, with the hope of allowing Syria to occupy Lebanon. Israel liberated Lebanon once again, as they did over 20 years ago, and the terrorist mouthpieces manipulates the story to say that Israel is "occupying" Lebanon. A majority of Lebanese hate the Hezbollah movement, they can see clearly that Hezbollah is the first wave for a hostile takeover by Syria. In 2004, due to international efforts, Syria had to pull their military out of Lebanon, to much celebration among the Lebanese. This is indicative enough of the Lebanese’ hatred towards the foregin occupiers (Syria, NOT Israel), and it’s clear why they ended up telling Noam Chomsky to shut up if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Regular Lebanese DO NOT want Hezbollah to be around, period.

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that is against the Lebanese government. They are NOT freedom fighters. They are saboteurs with the intent to overthrow the Lebanese government. They are an extension of Syria and Iran’s imperialistic goals. Syed Hamid Albar and UMNO Youth should get these simple facts straight, but it’s probably beyond their intellectual capacity to comprehend something like this.

Imagine this.

A freelance militant group exists in Johor, swearing the destruction of Singapore. This group is covertly backed by certain quarters of the Malaysian government, e.g. UMNO Youth (Malay Supremacists Inc.)

On one fine day, in order to portray heroism, the militant group launches an attack against Singapore and demands that Singapore frees the imprisoned terrorists that it has in the prisons. Singapore decides not to negotiate with the militants and seeked a diplomatic solution instead.

When approaching the Malaysian government to request for assistance to suppress the terrorist raids of the militant movement, the only answers they got are:

1) The Malaysian government doesn’t know who’s behind this militant group.
2) The Malaysian government is therefore unable to exert control or influence over it.
3) Besides, Singapore has been a thorn in our sides for so long, the Malaysian government doesn’t truly object to what’s happening.
4) Singapore’s on her own - the Malaysian government will not assist in any manner.

Not surprisingly, the Singapore government then declares that it will conduct its own counter-attack to protect the security of the tiny city-state. The militant group then declares war on Singapore, while the Malaysian government turns a blind eye. The local population of Johor views the militant group’s defiance as a sign of heroism and embraced them as a symbol of strength, providing them shelter and civilian areas from which they can launch attacks against Singapore. Civilian buildings were also used as ammunition storage, and the local population was honoured to be able to be a part of this ‘resistance’.

Singapore’s counter-attack was debilitating. In the opening hours itself, they completely bombed most of the militant positions in southern Johor. Not surprisingly, heavy damage was inflicted upon civilian casualties, though these civilians are hardly innocent bystanders.

The Malaysian government then starts singing a different tune, calling Singapore’s attack an affront to international law and pleaded to the United Nations for help. At the same time, they sang praises for the militant movement, finally revealing the implicit ties that they have.

For the rest of the world who has observed what’s been going on, they knew that Singapore wasn’t at fault despite the heavy military response. The United Nations couldn’t classify it as a violation of international law because it clearly wasn’t. In the meantime, the population of Johor, who were so proudly supporting the militant movement, now blames Singapore for their suffering and are whining day and night about ‘atrocities’ and claiming that Singapore intends to conquer Johor.

Much of the Malaysian population, too, joins in this chorus to condemn Singapore, and the Malaysian government labels Singapore as a threat to world peace. To add more stupidity into the mix, a Malaysian minister declares that "This war did not begin with the militant movement’s attack upon Singapore.. it started with Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, it started with Temasik’s separation from Malay control. This war is an ongoing struggle against Singapore’s arrogance."

Does this fictitious account sound absurd?

Does it sound improbable, beyond reason?

The exact analogy of events are happening elsewhere right at this moment. The same twisted logic dots the landscape in which these events unfolded. And of course, as far as some quarters are concerned, the tiny state, the victim-turned-aggressor, is the perpetual aggressor in the region although it’s her much larger neighbours that have always initiated hostilities against it. Others support the crazy governments and militant movements merely because they are fellow co-ideologists.

And the biases drawn along these lines just makes the whole thing entirely more absurd.

The solution is not an immediate ceasefire, nor is it the destruction of any particular faction or state. Between the two ideologies that clearly separates the two factions, neither of them professes the principles of "turn the other cheek" and "live and let live".

A lasting solution can only be found when all players involved give up their culture of violence, respect the right for personal liberty, and join the rest of the developed world to realize a civilized society. Until then, as long as the major players in the region have state-endorsed fascism and love to promote hate against others who do not embrace their ideology, conflicts will continue and absurdities will mount.

Spreading lies through the Press and prime-time news = okay.
Coming up with alternative opinions and viewpoints on the Internet = NOT OKAY.

Expected responses to criticisms:

"It won’t be that bad. Look at China - they’ve been censoring the Internet for years but they don’t seem to be dying, innit?"

"Well, at least over here, we’re seeing jail time. In Iran, you’ll be dead by public execution!"

"Cuba’s been keeping a tab on such ‘online dissidents’ and look at them, they’re so politically stable and the country is so united!"

Sure. Vision 2020, here we come!

Two buzzwords in the local press: Israeli atrocities and Qana.

Our local guys wasted no time getting their asses up in a knot over Qana, the latest Jenin. Syed Hamid asked the UN to launch an independent investigation into the massacres at Qana. The other issue that caught the limelight were accusations by the local papers, echoing moronic Arab sentiment, that Israel intentionally murdered UN observers. Murdered, they say.

Preliminary investigations have already begun. And what do we know so far?

1) Based on UNIFIL press releases, we know that the UN gave strongly-worded statements against Hezbollah for launching rocket attacks from the vicinity of UN outposts. So, in the latest twist of terrorist tactics of using human shields, they figured that their own population isn’t worthy enough of propaganda and have decided to go all the way and use the UN observation posts as shields.

Some excerpts from the reports:

29th July 2006 - "There were two incidents of firing close to UNIFIL positions from the Israeli side in the area of Marwahin and Deir Mimess in the past 24 hours. At the same time, it was reported that Hezbollah fired from the vicinity of six UN positions at Tibnin (2), At Tiri, Beit Yahoun, and Alma Ash Shab (2). UNIFIL strongly protested all these incidents to the Israeli and Lebanese authorities respectively."

30th July 2006 - "It was reported that Hezbollah fired rockets from the vicinity of three UN positions in the area of Tibnin, At Tiri and Brashit. They also fired small arms fire from the vicinity of two UN positions in the area of Alma Ash Shab and Al Duhayyra. UNIFIL strongly protested all these incidents to the Israeli and Lebanese authorities respectively."

31st July 2006 - "Two tank rounds from the Israeli side impacted directly on a UNIFIL position in the general area of Hula yesterday afternoon, causing extensive material damage, including the ammunition shelter, but no casualties. One aerial bomb impacted in the vicinity of a UN position in the area of Alma Ash Shab yesterday morning, causing damage to the parameter wall. It was reported that Hezbollah fired rockets from the vicinity of this UNIFIL position prior to the aerial bombardment. Hezbollah also fired small arms fire from the vicinity of the same position. They also fired rockets from the vicinity of two UNIFIL positions in the area of Tibnin and At Tiri in the central sector. There was one more incident of firing from the Israeli side close to UNIFIL position in the area of Mays al Jabal, when 10 tank rounds impacted 100 meters from the UN position. UNIFIL strongly protested all these incidents to the Israeli and Lebanese authorities respectively."

Most of the reports have similar accounts of Hezbollah terrorists launching attacks nearby UN observation posts, causing counter-attacks to hit the UN posts or exploding nearby.

Bravo! These are truly freedom fighters worthy of admiration! How honourable.

2) Recon videos have been released, showing the IDF responding to the sites from which rockets were fired. Shots were fired from the building where the civilians were supposedly killed. Furthermore, the IDF has given ample warning to civilians prior to offensive operations.. though I wonder how on earth they can distinguish the civilians from the terrorists who blend in among the civilians.

3) Criticisms have been levelled against these photos (WARNING: Graphic content):

This child was supposed to have been crushed by rubble, but exhibits no external trauma associated with being crushed by a collapsed building. This is possibly footage from another incident, but claimed to be from the Qana building collapse.

These two ‘rescue workers’ carry the body of a child from the collapse site. Note: This picture was taken within 1 hour of the building collapse. But the boy has already exhibited rigor mortis. Another note: Neither men were covered in soot from the rubble. Obviously they weren’t the ones who have been doing the digging. Keep an eye on the guy in the Green Helmet - he’s a Hezbollah official, and he’s in almost every picture when there’s a corpse to pose with. Just take a look at AP and Getty image galleries.

A picture taken at 9:06 AM, a little over 1 hour from the building’s collapse. All four corpses exhibit advanced rigor mortis consistent with deaths exceeding 12 hours. An International Red Cross Commitee personnel sits in the background. Incidentally, the ICRC tabulated 28 deaths, but the Lebanese somehow claimed over 50 deaths and eventually produced extra corpses for the Red Cross to count..

Corpses extricated from the collapsed building. No signs of blood on the white sheets that’s usually consistent with massive trauma resulting from being crushed. Did they bleed till they’re entirely dry of blood within 1 hour of the incident? Hard to say.. such a thing has never happened before but anything can happen here in the Middle East..

A young boy dead from being crushed by the collapsed building. Again, there’s no blood stains, no cement soot on his clothes and forearms. His body exhibits significant rigor mortis as well.

Critics have indicated that these photos (and many more like it) are not consistent with what the Lebanese claimed happen. While the Israelis have apologized for massive civilian casualties, we must not forget why civilian casualties happen in the first place:

Hezbollah terrorists position their armaments among civilian population in the Lebanese suburbs. Furthermore, they’re dressed as civilians, which will serve two purposes:
a) to allow them to blend in with the local population and escape when the ground troops move in.
b) if they get killed, Hezbollah can count them as "civilian casualties" and make it look like an intentional targeting of civilians.

Syed Hamid Albar is right - Hezbollah soldiers are freedom fighters who protect the Lebanese civilians. They sure deserve our fullest respect.

4) The building where those 28 civilians were in collapsed 8 hours after it was bombed by the IDF. It was bombed at midnight, when Hezbollah terrorists were launching attacks from it as evidenced in the earlier link (which illustrates another point - not only were the Hezbollah launching attacks from civilian positions, they were doing it under the cover of night so that a military response couldn’t tell that a civilian target is being put in danger. What cowards.)

Does that sound normal to anyone? Let’s see.. the building I’m sleeping in gets bombed, and I sleep right through it. 8 hours later, the building mysteriously collapses and I’m still in there soundly asleep while guns were blazing all around me since around 30 minutes earlier.

That’s normal, alright. Those bloody Israelis murdered the civilians in cold blood.

5) The Green Helmet guy mentioned earlier should be given an award for being the best rescue worker in the whole of Lebanon, if not the world. Check these out - he’s EVERYWHERE. These photos were from different incidences at different times across Lebanon.

A dead baby is found in one place, and later exhibited at another place:

Observe the following pictures closely:

The odd thing is that although some of these photos were taken hours apart, and even days apart, the props seem to remain the same.. For instance, the kid in the 3rd, 4th and 5th pictures are obviously the same. But this same corpse is being used as a prop in 3 different backdrops -

a) Next to an ambulance, where Mr Green Helmet, this time around, happens to be a paramedic of some sort, without his rescue gear.

b) Next to some ruins. Mr Green Helmet is moaning the death of a child who appears to have been retrieved from the rubble.

c) Here is the same dead child again, this time in the middle of a city, probably right after an Israeli air strike.

Obviously, something is very, VERY wrong here. Perhaps this is how the Lebanese can account for 57 deaths when the ICRC only counted 28. Hezbollah is milking the international press for what it’s worth.

These pictures of civilian deaths carry heavy propaganda value. Each time Israel kills a civilian, chances are the world will see 3 to 5 civilian deaths. In this example, a single dead child is being used to depict 3 separate incidences of a child being killed by the Israeli military.

Make no mistake, this war is as much a propaganda war as it is a military one.

The deaths in Qana are unfortunate, and the Lebanese have capitalized on it to further demonize Israel. A single incidence of the Israeli army killing civilians can be recycled and amplified again and again to the detriment of the Israeli Defense Forces’ image. Meanwhile, non-stop Hezbollah rocket attacks continue to go unreported in the mainstream media.