I got quite a kick out of visual image bombs going off simultaneously in the pockets of thousands of terrorists, sort like the slapstick comedy of the Three Stooges, or the abuse inflicted on the hapless Coyote by the wily Roadrunner. And the resulting indignant sputtering of Hezbollah leadership was nearly as much fun. But the recent Israeli pager attack on Hezbollah served an even more important purpose than my personal amusement.
Am I being flip? Well, who is less deserving of sympathy than a terrorist?
To summarize, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in hostilities for some time now, with Hezbollah periodically launching missiles into Israel, and Israel periodically bombing Hezbollah’s sites in Lebanon. Hezbollah is allied with Hamas in the ongoing Gaza war, both sharing a determination to destroy Israel. Both are funded by Iran and engage in periodic terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
The widely disbursed Hezbollah is required to maintain communications with its operatives. Wary of using cellphones because of a fear they can be tracked by Israeli intelligence, they have adopted old-school pagers. Apparently, at some time during manufacture or shipping, Israel equipped these pagers with a small but lethal amount of explosives that could be remotely detonated by signal.
On Sept. 17, thousands of the pagers were simultaneously detonated, reportedly killing more than 12 people, including two children, and seriously injuring several thousand. A day later, a large number of Hezbollah walkie-talkies detonated, reportedly killing and injuring more. Since these devices were being carried by Hezbollah operatives on their person, the vast majority of casualties were Hezbollah personnel.
Predictably, Hezbollah leadership and allies were enraged and unleashed their usual torrent of florid threats and hyperbole, declaring that Israel had crossed a “red line” creating a state of war, as if the years of missile attacks were peaceful gestures. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of those who usually advocate for the Palestinian cause, have joined in condemning the Israeli attack, with U.N. “experts” insisting that it was some sort of “war crime.”
In an active war like this, it is difficult to see what could be more moral. Weapons, of course, are designed to kill and injure enemy combatants, and these exclusively targeted enemy combatants and minimized the threat to noncombatants. Israel has long been under attack from Hezbollah and is entitled to use force to defend itself under all recognized international conventions.
A weapon that specifically targets only the enemy’s active combatants seems very ethical compared to the usual weapons like bombs and bullets, which do not discriminate between civilians and terrorists. These devices were issued only to those who needed to be contacted by Hezbollah command and are necessarily carried on the person of the terrorist. The combatant is most at risk due to physical proximity, and the danger to those nearby limited by the minute amount of explosive use. This was confirmed by the large number of Hezbollah casualties and the small number of civilians reportedly hurt.
Some object to the pager tactic as a danger to international trade. Admittedly, I imagine that the regional sales of rings, wristwatches, and full sets of gloves are down.
A common and understandable lament of those who oppose Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza is the terrible toll that the fighting has taken on civilians, with thousands having been killed and injured. Most civilian casualties are due to Hamas using civilians as “human shields” by deliberately siting military facilities under or near schools, hospitals, and mosques. This complicates Israeli targeting and provides public relations advantages by enabling Hamas to howl in contrived victimhood over the inevitable civilian deaths and injuries they caused.
When pressed, many objectors dutifully condemn Hamas’ October 2023 atrocities and acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself, carefully limiting their objections to the deadly toll that the Israeli responsive strikes take on the civilians of Gaza but directing their anger at Israel alone.
It would seem that these objectors would be quick to approve of tactics like the exploding pagers, which target only terrorists and largely spare noncombatants. But, counterintuitively, I have yet to hear any of the usual opponents of the Gaza war support this pager tactic. Instead, we are hearing some, like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, angrily attacking Israel and U.S. military support over the new tactic. Why?
Tribalism. These supposed “humanitarians” are actually just upset that “their side” suffered a big setback. Most find it politically disadvantageous to publicly acknowledge advocating for a terrorist organization and the atrocities that they commit, so they just cloak their outrage in feigned concern for the innocent victims of the fighting. But, in reality, they view the civilian population of Gaza just as Hamas does—as expendable public relations tools to be exploited in conducting the war.
Tip to Hezbollah and Hamas: Watch out for any parcels labeled “Acme.” Beep beep. Δ
John Donegan is a retired attorney in Pismo Beach who is going back to his old, safer flip phone. Respond with an opinion of your own by emailing it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Autumn Arts Annual 2024.
One bomb detonated next to a 10 day old infant in the doctor’s office.
https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/doctors-…
John Donegan has the mind of child. The New Times should really think about whether they want to continue publishing someone who will smugly defend war crimes in their paper.
“Three Stooges,” “Coyote and Roadrunner”
Mr. Donegan always dazzles with his intellectual acumen.
@Neighborhood: If that is in fact true, always a question when being reported by a terrorist organization, the pager was being carried by a member of Hezbollah, who bears the responsibility for putting that child in danger.
It must really annoy you to not be able to censor those who disagree with you. As someone who supports the murder of children and the elderly, and the taking of hostages, it is funny to hear you accuse anyone of “war crimes”.
@Michael Smith: I direct my writing at liberals, and thus try to put it in terms they can grasp. The cartoon references are part of my effort to make my column accessible to the left.
@johndonegan – Two innocent children and two innocent health care workers were killed in this attack. You argue that these civilians were collateral damage because they were put into harms way by Hezbollah, but again, you don’t have a command of basic facts. As the Associated Press reported, “while the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time it was detonated.” Further, as Amnesty International reported, “The evidence indicates that those who planned and carried out these attacks could not verify who else in the immediate vicinity of the devices would be harmed at the time of the explosion, or even whether only fighters had been given the pagers and radios.” This is the exact definition of “indiscriminate.” Beyond this, as NPR reported, the attacks most likely violate the booby trap provision of international law, of which Israel is a signatory. The United Nations called it a “terrifying” violation of international law. Nearly every claim in this clueless, meandering column is built on false claims and assumptions.
Pretend for a second that an American terrorist in North Dakota was planning an attack on France. Under your logic, the French government would be justified in killing the American terrorist while he shopped for groceries in Fargo, potentially killing anyone who happened to be in the grocery store. In your reasoning, the innocent North Dakota bystanders are just collateral damage for Fargo “harboring” a terrorist. All of this could then be justified on the grounds that France has a right to defend itself. This logic is both absurd and morally indefensible, as is this entire column.
Hell yeah Shanti, just do an old fashioned siege, murder all the men, and sell the women and children into slavery. Very cool and I am very triggered. You all win.
Ex-CIA chief: Pager blasts in Lebanon are ‘terrorism’ -Former CIA Director Leon Panetta
“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism,” Panetta said on “CBS News Sunday morning.”
“This is going right into the supply chain,” he added. “And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: ‘What the hell is next?’”
Many, BUT NOT ALL, of the pagers and walkie-talkies that unexpectedly blew up over two days across Lebanon and in some neighboring countries were in the possession of Hezbollah fighters, functionaries or allies.
Several international treaties and protocols to which Israel is a signatory could render these actions by a state such as Israel illegal under international humanitarian law, scholars say.
One particular focus is Article 7(2) of the Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which was added to an international law focused on the use of conventional weapons in 1996. Both Israel and Lebanon have agreed to it.
It prohibits the use of booby traps, which Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, defines as “objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use.”
NPR
JOHN, AGAIN, SUPPORTS TERROR. Yes Jan 6th was terrorist
Shanti, Got it GOVERNMENTS THAT SIGN ONTO AGREEMENTS NOT TO USE CERTAIN TYPES OF WEAPONS (Landmines US has failed to sign onto!!) are FREE to use them as TERROR BECAUSE TERRORISTS DO IT??? lol
My perspective is NETANYAHU IS WAR CRIMINAL (AND CRIMINAL, LIKE DJT, WHOSE BEEN UNDER INDICTEMENT FOR ALMOST A DECADE). The Israeli prosecutor listed HUNDREDS of witnesses against him!
Israel has tried this eye for ten innocents for decades, how has that worked out?
TWO STATE SOLUTION IS THE ONLY WAY TO LIMIT IT (ALTHOUGH DUMB TO PLOP THEM THERE AFTER WW2)!!!!