Both US and Israeli officials claim that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization. I do not wish to argue that it is not one (it has targeted civilians), though Hizbullah itself vehemently denies the claim and most Arabs in the region do not see it as one. I do want to take issue with the double standard: if Israel targets civilians, then Israel is a terrorist state. And not only has Israel targeted civilians in its day to day military operations in Lebanon and in the occupied Palestinian territories, it has also maintained a military occupation of the Palestinians since 1967 that has wreaked havoc and fear on their lives - in a word, terrorized them. Read more about Lies, Double Standards, and Culpable Fallacies
On the morning of Wednesday, 12 July 2006, members of Hizbullah penetrated the Israeli-Lebanese border, conducting a military operation that resulted in the killing of three Israeli soldiers and the abduction of two. Hizbullah demanded the release of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in exchange for releasing the two abducted soldiers. Since then, Israel has carried a savage military campaign against Lebanon, first under the excuse of retrieving the two soldiers, but now under the excuse of also destroying Hizbullah and making sure that it not operate against Israel, the same excuse it gave about the PLO when it invaded Lebanon in the summer of 1982. Read more about Today's war in Lebanon: The latest chapter of the original 1948 conflict
In an earlier essay for The Electronic Intifada, on the right of return of Palestinian refugees, Raja Halwani concluded that it is one thing to recognize this right and another to implement it. In this follow up essay, Halwani takes an in-depth look at arguments for and against implementing the right in practice. Read more about On the Right of Return - Part II
The right of return of Palestinian refugees is a legal and a political right. But it is also a moral one, explains Raja Halwani, associate professor of philosophy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in this essay for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about On the right of return
