Hudson New York

Hezbollah, the Party of God, is flexing its muscles again. The situation in Lebanon has deteriorated during the last months, Obama’s diplomatic approach leaves Israel isolated in the land of rogue states, while the Europeans are systematically failing to secure Lebanon.

In the Nazar Valley, scores of trucks have been travelling at nighttime, filled with weapons to be hidden away in the tunnels for the Party of God. European soldiers are powerless: they cannot prevent Hezbollah from getting machine guns, rifles and rockets.

It was nighttime on March 30, south of the Litani River (a no-go area for Hezbollah, according to the UN resolution no. 1701). While European troops were patrolling the area, they spotted an unidentified truck and approached it. Some armed men got out of the truck, pointing their weapons directly at the soldiers’ faces. In order to avoid tensions, the UNIFIL troops had to give up the fight and retreat. 

On July 14th, a Hezbollah weapons facility blew up (accidentally?), just a few miles from the Italian headquarters. When UNIFIL soldiers tried to investigate, they were stopped by a large group of rock-throwing civilians.

Last month, when another weapons-filled truck was discovered, the “resistance movement” of Hezbollah prevented European soldiers from patrolling the area.

Nevertheless, the UN mandate for the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon (1978) states clearly that one of its  three main goals is to assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area,” and “[to] assist the Lebanese armed forces in taking steps towards the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an free of any armed personnel”.

Moreover, UN Resolution No 1701 further states that: “the Council also authorized UNIFIL to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind; to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties under the mandate of the Security Council”.

The situation in this area has always been problematic, but ever since Hezbollah lost the elections in 2007 and an internal power struggle started, it has become even worse. A good metaphor for describing it could be a volcano: it sits silently until a certain time and then it explodes - all of a sudden - causing an inferno. It is crucial therefore to understand that the situation in Lebanon is developing along with the situation in the entire Middle Eastern area; it means we all have to look at the bigger picture.  

Trapped between Iran and Hezbollah, Israel’s government must make hard choices on a daily bases and since the Europeans are practically powerless (some says that Major General  Graziano is hiding some info from Tel Aviv’s government in order to avoid further problems) and the government of the United States are shifting priorities and allies in this area, Israel’s position is made even more complicated.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Venezuela, North Korea, Russia and the even communist China, are hot spots in the war against the West and like it or not, we are all taking part in this war. If we, as Westerners, do not connect the dots with a red-alert pen as soon as possible, someone else will. The State of Israel is at the center of everyone’s attention and is combating the most difficult battle for all of us who share the common values of democracy and the rule of law. 

All the Rogue States mentioned above (and many others) are joining forces, backed and guided by al-Qaeda’s leadership, its allies and its armed branches such as Hamas and Hezbollah. They share a common value: Radical Islam, and they share a common task: the annihilation of Western civilization as we know it.

If the United States gives up the fight and, if the Europeans are divided and powerless, who is going to be our champion? Israel finds itself in one of the most difficult period since its foundation: we are leaving the country of God alone against the Party of God and its many allies.