Lebanon - Gillerman's Speech

Dan Gillerman is the Israeli Ambassador to the UN and was been so for about three years. A savvy smooth Corporate type, educated at Tel Aviv and the Hebrew University and had a successful business career before his diplomatic career.

After the not unexpected carnage in Qana, which I kind of expected, (though still nothing new having been the second time Israel has bombed Qana, the first being 20 years ago with the death of 160 people, then again in response to Hezbollah attacks on Israel) The UN Security Council was convened for an emergencu session and still sits as I'm writing this.

The Lebanese Ambassador delivered his spiel, firing the opening salvo and exhorting the Council to pass a resolution based on its conscience,( fair enough didn't know they had one) and the usual sound-bites.

Gillerman then delivered his address, these are the main points:

a. Israel deeply regrets and is sorry for the death of innocent children and would never knowingly target civilians or indeed children;

b. The bombings were in retaliation for the attacks on Israeli civilians by Hezbollah from the said locations;

c. Hezbollah had fired the Katyusha rockets from the town of Qana, hence it was a legitimate reaction;

d. That everytime there appeared to be a peaceful solution in sight, the enemies of peace (Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and Syria) would always engineer a conflict;

e. That the reaction of Israel to the death of a Lebanese Civilian is regret however the reaction of Hezbollah to an Israeli civilian death or indeed the inadvertent killing of Lebanese civilians by Israelis is great rejoicing in Syria, Iran and Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon;

f. That the Security Council should not allow itself to be played into the hands of the Terrorists (Syria, Iran and Hezbolla), which is what they had intended from the start.

I was personally impressed by this speech, which marked a departure from the tactless comments of Olmert, who that morning had simply stated that there would be no ceasefire.

This was a statesman-like speech, sober, realistic, frank and soundly delivered. However there is one slight problem, it was to the wrong audience. This speech quite frankly should have been delievered to the Knesset (The Israeli Parliament) and before the bombing started. The simple truth is that if anyone had allowed itself to play into the hands of the Terrorists, it was Israel. Another truth is that the greatest recruiting Agent for Hamas and Hezbollah is....Israel.

When you bomb civilian targets, what you do is simply create fertile ground for Terrorism. Hezbollah no one doubts is a vicious, cynical and cowardly terrorist organisation, even the Arab world thinks so, but the bombing of Qana has just legitimised this organisation, so in simple terms, Israel has just given Hezbollah its Charter of existence. I say a big well done to the moronic Generals in Israel who have hijacked the thought process of this campaign. This is not the Yom Kippur campaign, the dynamics have changed, completely in the last 40 years. There is no doubt that there were two severe miscalculations- a. The Hezbollah action; b. The Israeli reaction. Neither expected the reaction that followed. However Hezbollah has come out on top thanks to the Generals of Israel.

I fear the worst because the well trodden, cyclical path we well know, what scares me is the new paths that may be opened. It is necessary to mention by the way that things have moved on since my last post. The Arab world now seems to be warming to the Lebanese circumstances and that to me is extremely worrying.

Back to Gillerman's speech. I would say that this proves that there are voices of reason in Israel who can override the brainless and vicious Hawks who seem to be dictating things. I don't know how much action most of these Generals have seen, but these certainly are not of the Ilk of Dayan, Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin- in my view one of Israel's greatest Generals and by consequence the most effective advocate for peace. The impossibility of an effective annihiliation of Hezbollah by prompt ground action is slowly dawning on Israel and believe me they ought to know they're in a pickle. The airstrikes, if anyone is being honest, has no effective purpose, after all the saturation bombing of the past weeks, the Rocket attacks on Israel, if anything have increased. Its as simple as that, in addition the Israelis are taking on casualties, albeit less than Hezbollah. However the corresponding results of its ground offensive is minimal. In short if you're killing more children than Hezbollah, then something is seriously wrong with your Intelligence and Battle plan in general.

The simple fact is that Gillerman's speech shows the way forward, no matter how hard it is you cannot and should not stop the talking, no matter the cost. This is not helped by George Bush, undermining the UN and not taking a stronger stand, however I'm not going to waste my time on him. Is there hope? Well I hope so.

Self Examination 2(a)

A heartfelt message of appreciation to two people inadvertently left out of previous post and who are two of my very closest friends-

A. The Pedantic Paediatric Surgeon- A brother/friend for over 21 years and who has always been a source of sincere and unselfish support at the lowest times (unless where money is concerned, stereotypes do work, he's half Scottish and it so happens his brother is the Stingy Security Consultant)even when carrying the weight of his own personal difficulties . Godfather of my little girl and father of my Godson. Tribute is due to this unassuming but exceptional fella who has doggedly and consistently charted his path without fanfare or ceremony - rather sadly because his achievements both personal and professional ought to be a source of useful inspiration to a lot of younger people from our own ethnic persuasion. Many thanks mate, as the old Lagos saying goes- may your shadow never grow less.

B. KP of Ostrava- A true friend and a really incredible and courageous person, your views weren't always spot on, but having been given at a time you were carrying your own burden and through your own trials, I can only stand in awe. Happy married life and may you never need Marvin Mitchelson (a Divorce Lawyer, if he's still alive).

Many thanks and God bless.

Ps/ I can hear the Melbourne mate going, "Whoa E., enough already, put a sock in it" and indeed I shall.

The Ultimate Solution

As usual the Ballistics are flying heroically through the air....and killing innocent civilians. Nothing new we know all about that. The macho men In suits and flowing gowns are making speeches and playing real life Nintendo as usual. Enough has been said about that.

Nothing will ever change its as simple as that, nothing we're seeing now is new, we've been down this road before and our children will do the same, like wise their children.

Were it not for the civilian casualties, I would suggest a solution with analogy in a true life situation.

The Magistrate sister, has two kids aged 13 and 11 respectively, though the incident itself took place 4 years ago when they were nine and 7. Her kids were constantly bickering and fighting - as siblings do. As a concerned mother, she would often step in and separate the warring parties. This went on for several months until the fateful day on a stifling hot tropical day temperature 46 deg Centigrade, 80% humidity and a power cut to boot, in addition the Magistrate Sister -as the family is wont- was suffering from the effects of particularly High Blood pressure on the day, fatigue, nausea and a severe headache. She had picked up the kids and driven through two hours if very slow moving traffic, in a car without airconditioning. in short, she wasn't in the mood, believe me!

And so the fight started, various manoeuvres were adopted, Freestyle, Greco-Roman, Catch-as-catch can (apologies I am a wrestling fan) etc. Upon the use of an illegal move, one of the adversaries would pipe up a shrill mummy!! Her response on each occasion was something to the effect of "you have my sympathy".

There then ensued a united cry from the two adversaries for mediation by mum, the mum on her part refused to be drawn into the conflict and basically said nothing. No encouragement was given and no dissuasion was applied, basically they were on their own.

To cut a long story short, the two combatants after exhausting all their energy lay down, covered in a thick film of sweat panting like two Boa Constrictors after a Horse meal. Ony then did she enquire as to whether they would like a drink of juice. The incidents of random confllict drastically reduced thereafter.

The real life situation in Lebanon, is naturally more complex however a solution would be thus.

1. A cage wrestling contest between Olmert and Nasrallah. Cage to be locked for three days. No rules.

2. A Civilian Free War Game Zone in the middle of the Australian desert with high steel walls, where all the combatants and necessarily all the politicians are dropped in with no reinforcements, the contestants being required to use their ingenuity to devise new weaponry, with a background musical accompaniment of 5000 didgeridoos being piped in via loudspeakers along the whole perimeter. Event to be sponsored by Raytheon, H&K, Dassault and Schmeisser and filmed and aired all over the world. A kind of thinking man's Big Brother.

3. 1 above repeated, but this time with politicians only. An all star cast of Nasrallah, Omert (again), Ahmedinajjad, George Bush, Tony, Bashir Assad, Leaders of Hamas and to make it more exciting - David Cameron and Ming Campbell. A plot twist could be added with Simon Cowell being introduced at a later stage of the hostilities on the side of Hamas. No holds barred and no rules.

The reality is all too different. The Arabs hate Iran + who are sponsors of Hezbollah + but the Arabs equally hate Israel.+ The west naturally hates Hezbollah,+ but loves Israel + that wants to destroy Hezbollah + that hates Israel. In short the conflict shall not end in a hurry and where Israel is oblivious and in fact is determined to attack Civilian targets because Hezbollah is equally determined to use civilian sites as a shield or launch pad for its attacks on Israel, CIVILIANS CASUALTIES SHALL CONTINUE. This of course is nothing new, what scares me is whether something new is about to happen. This is no reality show by the way.

SELF EXAMINATION 2

The last five months have been extremely difficult but revealing and educative. The clouds slowly are clearing though the effects/scars of the period shall linger for a fair while.

Adversity, from the first day of my birth, has always been my companion and I have always fought back gamely, as that dreadful but apt macho saying goes- better die like a man than live like a dog (dogs I must say have infinitely better lives than humans). All you ever have in this life is your pride, beliefs, convictions and your Integrity, these no one can take from you. I have never been ruled by tangible wealth, which is why when people who worship it lie, steal, cheat and generally attack you, your only armour is your indifference and truth. Of course there have been moments of weakness, I am a human being and as can be testified to by friends and recent foes alike, what I feel is worn on my face- though not always an attribute.

Nietzsche- the cynical one said two things that I hold true-

"What does not destroy me makes me stronger".

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. "

There must be a reason why I'm on this earth, which is to bring good to something/someone, somewhere, which is good enough for me. As my Dad said, what is yours is yours and what isn't you don't need.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to loved ones/friends who have stood by my side or been a great source of inspiration and motivation at this period, whether they knew it or not and who I have learnt from.

The parent/sisters/brother, BM, The Delectable designer, Mama M, The Sanguine Surveyor cousin, AH, Euphemia Dreaming, The Oriental Barrister, Sive, The Golders Green Geezer, Rossetta, Aunty U, The Leader of the Edinburgh Philharmonic, Caz the Canadian Crusader, Lado Williams, The Uncle, The Sculptor, The Ex-wife, L'il Wales, JO-The Californian Corporate Law Cat, Lindsay T, The magnificent Melbourne mate, Gay and Martin at Wilmington, Big Mike and Joyce. Mama Gee, The Lager Lawyer, The Assinine Architect, Eddie Ofei,Sotiris of Max Planck, Jahman- The Editor, Mike The Other Editor, The Stingy Security Consultant, WSH, Marylin + Lennox, Air Commodore DJO, Colonel JA, Les and lastly but not leastly the most wonderful kids alive- my little boy K and my little girl D, with wisdom well beyond their years, who judged not, complained little and understood that their old man though a little preoccupied, loved them dearly. I say thank you to all.

In the course of this journey, I may have offended many or all for things said/done or failed to be done/said, for this I shall sincerely apologise, but in this regard, I shall quote my mate/merciless shrink- the Lager Lawyer- " E.... you're an Idiot, but a harmless, one so I'll ignore you".

This blog has been a way to express one's thoughts and contact those who I hold dear. I thank you for reading this though.

SELF EXAMINATION

About three and a half years ago, I was seated at a Bar with a good friend and former trench-mate- the Lager Lawyer. Brusque, razor-sharp, eloquent and caustic of tongue and blindingly articulate. We've known each other for 24 years and believe me when we meet there's no posturing or bullshit, we've known each other too long for that. His favourite line being- "I saw you E.... and my Liver cringed".

We discussed my divorce and business plans at length. After a lot of dissection and analysis L2 as we shall call him looked me in the eye and asked me how a man like me who made (then) a good living successfully and competently advising people on how to order and organise their lives, handling matters running into Millions of Pounds could be so terribly incompetent in organising his own life. He told me in no uncertain terms that if I was my own Lawyer I would fire me. In my usual manner I agreed with him. The words Physician heal thyself do not exist for nothing.

Has anything changed in the last few years - the answer - absolutely not!

Flippancy and Irreversible Foolishness

Age does not always equate to wisdom. Size does not always beget strength. Raw Sentiment doesn't always equal permanent consistent loyalty and commitment.

Always look before you leap, words once spoken cannot be taken back unlike physical wounds, feelings cannot be healed. No matter what people say, hurt may be forgiven, but can never be forgotten.

There are certain things one has to live with till the grave. Move on but learn. Yes learn.

Grandad

My Grandfather died on the 7th of July 1975 and I thought to do a pictorial on him. A closet pacifist and a truly cerebral Officer, and rather sadly a Freemason, who believed more in dialogue than force. He served in the Congo as part of the UN Peace Keeping Force in 1960 (bottom photo second from left, Col Mobutu, is second from right). The top photo (in white) was in Nigeria pre-retirement.

We all have our own part to play on this earth, he played his and moved on at the relatively young age of 68, his later years were spent in debilitating illness and regret, but with a heart filled with love and empathy. I shan't judge him by my or anyone else's standards, he lived by his and in my view, that was the most important standard.