The Israeli propaganda machine

Wayne Madsen

The Israeli propaganda machine, backed by its corporate media adjuncts in the United States, is once again spinning the generality that Hezbollah forces are hiding among the civilian population in Lebanon, thus justifying the massacres of women and children stuck in the war zone without any means of escape. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said today on Meet the Press that Hezbollah were using the 51 Lebanese, mostly women and children (including disabled children), killed by Israel today in the village of Qana were “human shields” taken by Hezbollah. Just as with the deliberate Israeli attack on a UN outpost in Khiyam that killed four UN blue helmet peacekeepers, Israel is blaming Hezbollah fighters as justification for Israel’s policy of inflicting “collective punishment” on Lebanon. Collective punishment carried out by the Nazi leadership in occupied nations like France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia was considered a war crime by the War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremburg, Germany and earned a number of war criminals an appointment with the gallows.

Gillerman, who is a close friend and collaborator of US envoy to the UN John Bolton in trashing the UN system, pushed the story, as have other Israeli and Bush neo-con officials, that one of the Canadian peacekeepers killed by the Israelis, Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, sent emails complaining about Hezbollah using the Khiyam outpost as a shield from Israeli attack. The source of that story was retired Canadian Major General Lewis MacKenzie who spoke on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about purported e-mails sent by a person conveniently not around any longer to confirm or deny their authenticity. MacKenzie echoing the major Israeli government and neo-con talking point on the deliberate attack on the UN facility said, “They [Hezbollah] use the UN as shields knowing that they can’t be punished for it.” However, the UN liaison officer to the Israeli Defense Force, Irish Lt. Col. John Molloy, warned Israeli forces six times before their deadly attack that their bombs were endangering lives at the outpost.

It is noteworthy to point out the political ties of MacKenzie. In 1997, after retiring from the Canadian military, MacKenzie stood as a Tory candidate for Parliament from Nova Scotia. He lost to the Liberal candidate. He also opposed the appointment of former General Romeo Dallaire as a Liberal Senator. In reality, MacKenzie is a neo-con supporter of the current fervently pro-Israeli and pro-Bush government of Tory Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which includes born-again “end times” fundamentalists like Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and neo-cons with strong ties to Israel. On July 26, as he was spinning his e-mails story, MacKenzie spoke at a pro-Israel rally in Toronto sponsored by the United Jewish Appeal and the Canadian Jewish Congress that was attended by Israel’s Consul General in Toronto.

As a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia, MacKenzie was accused of being biased in favor of the Serbs who were committing atrocities against Bosnian Muslims.

A major currency of the global neo-cons is disinformation and misinformation. It was seen in the bogus Niger government documents shopped around the justify the attack on Iraq and the fake on-line resumes used to downplay the importance of the CIA’s covert counter-proliferation ompany Brewster Jennings & Associates. Considering MacKenzie’s rightwing politics, there is a definite odor surrounding the “e-mails” from the dead Canadian officer being used to justify Israel’s attacks on the UN and civilians in Lebanon.

On July 18, Major Hess-von Kruedener sent a single email to CTV in Canada describing the situation in Lebanon. Nowhere did he state that Hezbollah was using the UN outpost for cover — in fact the officer states, “I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position”:

“We have had a brief ‘tactical pause’ in the action here, so I am taking this opportunity to provide you some information on the situation here in south Lebanon. At the outset, I will provide you with a brief background on who I am, What the Org and Mission is here and then answer some of the bank of questions you provided.

Background

My name is Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, and I am an Infantry Officer with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, of the Canadian Forces. I was sent to this Mission (United Nations Truce and Supervision Organization -UNTSO) last October 05, and am currently serving as an unarmed Military Observer. I have now been stationed here in south Lebanon for Approximately nine months.

I am currently writing to you from the UN Patrol Base Khiam, which is situated approximately 10 km from the nexus of the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian Borders. I am serving with Observer Group Lebanon, or OGL, and I am on Team Sierra. The Patrol Base is named after the village it is situated in, El Khiam, which sits on one of four ridges which dominates both the Hasbani River valley, which then changes to the Houla Valley when it crosses the Lebanon-Israel border 10 km to our south.

A Canadian soldier mans a guard tower at Camp Ziouani, Golan Heights, in 2002. Thousands of Canadians have served in this border region since 1958. (Photo: MCpl Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

The patrol base was initially an observation post and was built in 1972, but was later destroyed in 1976 during the fighting between the PLO and the South Lebanese Army (SLA). In 1978 it was rebuilt again and manned by elements of the Norwegian Battalion serving with UNIFIL. In 1980, Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) assumed responsibility for it. Historically, the area of the El Khiam and Hasbani valleys to the north and the Houla valley to the south have been the main axis for invasion in to Lebanon and Palestinian Territories.

Mission

The mission of Team Sierra and OGL within the greater context of UNTSO is to maintain the integrity of the Withdrawal Line (Blue Line), and report on any and all violations or activities that threaten the cease-fire and international peace and security here along the Lebanese/Israeli border, and Israeli Occupied Lebanon, and to support the UNSC resolution 1559, within our mission mandate.

Information Requested

(1) Currently, there are several nationalities that are here on the patrol base with me. I am serving with an Australian, Chinese, Finnish, Austrian, and Irish Officers. They come from various different backgrounds, levels of experience and services (Army, Navy and Air Force) from within their militaries.

(2) I have been here for nine months of a one-year tour of duty. Since I have arrived here in Lebanon, this current incident is the fourth I have seen and by far the most spectacular and intensive.

The first was 21 Nov 05, when the Hezbollah tried to capture IDF soldiers from an IDF observation position overlooking the Wazzani river near the town of Ghajjar on the Blue Line. This action was unsuccessful and resulted in the deaths of the Hezbollah raiding force.

On 01 Feb 06, a young shepherd boy was Killed by an IDF patrol near an abandon goat farm called Bastarra. Hassan Nasrallah (note: Hezbollah’s leader) vowed that there would be consequences to this action. Team Sierra was tasked on 2 Feb 06, to assist in the investigation of the incident, and we sent one team to do so while the other team conducted its normal mobile patrolling activities.

On 03 Feb 06, a limited engagement took place initiated by the Hezbollah on several of the IDF defensive positions located in occupied Lebanon.

Then on 28 May, the Islamic Jihad (PLO) fired rockets from South Lebanon, into Israel, which elicited an immediate aerial bombardment of positions near our patrol base and in the Bekka valley.

(3) Our Team’s normal operational activities are to plan, and execute daily vehicle and foot patrols of the Blue Line area within our area of responsibility. Unfortunately, with the current artillery and aerial bombing campaign being carried out by the IDF/IAF, it is not safe or prudent for us to conduct normal patrol activities. Currently, we are observing and reporting on all activities in our area of responsibility, with specific attention to activities along the Blue Line, which is clearly visible from our hilltop position.

(4) Team Sierra is currently observing both IDF/IAF and Hezbollah military clashes from our vantage point which has a commanding view of the IDF positions on the Golan mountains to our east and the IDF positions along the Blue Line to our south, as well as, most of the Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol Base. It appears that the lion’s share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area. On the night of 16 July, at 2125 hrs, a large firefight broke out between the Hezbollah and the IDF near a village called Majidyye and lasted for one hour and 40 minutes.

(5) Based on the intensity and volatility of this current situation and the unpredictability of both sides (Hezbollah and Israel), and given the operational tempo of the Hezbollah and the IDF, we are not safe to venture out to conduct our normal patrol activities. We have now switched to Observation Post Duties and are observing any and all violations as they occur.

This is all the information of a non-tactical nature that I can provide you. I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position, proximity or the amount of or types of sorties the IAF is currently flying. Suffice to say that the activity levels and operational tempo of both parties is currently very high and continuous, with short breaks or pauses. Please understand the nature of my job here is to be impartial and to report violations from both sides without bias. As an Unarmed Military Observer, this is my raison d’etre.

What I can tell you is this: we have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing. The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity.

I thank you for the opportunity to provide you with some information from the front lines here in south Lebanon.

Maj Hess-von Kruedener”

Meanwhile, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns took to the Sunday talking head shows to continue to defend Israel’s aggression against and collective punishment of Lebanon. From 1997 to 2001 Burns was U.S. ambassador to Greece. According to State Department insiders, while in Athens, Burns spent more time concerning himself with the embassy gardens and shrubbery than in tending to his diplomatic duties.