The Stockholm conference for immediate aid to Lebanon brought good news for the battered country, as participants pledged $940 million in aid money or almost twice the amount that had been the target expectation of host nation Sweden.
With their strong commitment, donor countries and international organizations responded to Lebanon's immediate reconstruction needs in a manner that raises hopes for not only quick repairs of the most urgently needed infrastructure and power supplies but also for a strengthening of Lebanon's democracy and sovereignty.
But the bitter drop in the hopeful news was that Israel still refuses to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, raising the question if the government of Israel in the meanwhile has shifted its strategy to less violent but no less coercive attempts to force Lebanon into compliance with its orders.
During the 34 days of armed confrontation, the Israeli Defense Forces destroyed numerous civilian installations in Lebanon which Hezbollah, if at all, could have used only in the most limited ways for its attacks and logistics. These targets included Beirut airport, the Jiyeh power station, and road bridges in areas removed from Hezbollah's sphere of influence.
Rendering the airport and roads unusable and blockading Lebanon by air and sea did not give Israel the advantage that it sought in its military confrontation with the Shiite fighters that were dug in their bunkers and tunnels in South Lebanon. The destruction of infrastructure instead was understood by the Lebanese government and pro-Israeli observers alike as collective punishment of the country.
By stating that it will uphold its blockade of Lebanon's ports and airports against international demands until it considers UN Resolution 1701 to have been implemented, the Israeli government has shown that it is hell-bent on continuing to apply this punishment.
As tool of post-war confrontation, the blockade means that Israel has taken the Lebanese economy hostage. This week's refusal of calls by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for an end to the blockade means that Israel's government intends to release this hostage on nobody's terms than its own.
The fig leave by which Israel covers this moral iniquity is the same as it used in the air raids and bombardments of Lebanon's power plants and urban highways: that such means would stop Hezbollah from receiving arms shipments.
In practical terms, the blockade simply means that travelers seeking to fly to Lebanon cannot book direct Beirut flights for the next few weeks with European airlines such as Air France, Austrian Airlines, or Alitalia, who are as far removed as one can possibly be from any suspicion of ferrying terrorist supplies.
Arab carriers with international reputation as security conscious, highly reliable airlines are still diverting their Beirut flights to Damascus or, like some of their European counterparts, give various dates in September for resuming Beirut service.
Rather than choking Hezbollah supply lines, Israel's blockade creates economic hardships and obstacles to humanitarian work. For the country and companies doing business in or with Lebanon, ongoing limitations on flights and forced routing of most planes through Amman creates extra barriers and brings substantial increases in costs.
Israel's right for security and its needs to defend the safety of its people have been accepted by most countries in the global community. However, by declaring that continued restrictions on civilian air travel will serve Israel's security needs, Lebanon's neighbor uses this leverage of international acceptance for its safety as handy way to conceal that it is continuing to punish Lebanon through strangling its economy.
Ironically, the last time that Lebanon was in a comparable situation of being exposed to what looked like economic blackmail in attempts to enforce foreign influence, was last year when the country's land border with Syria was blocked for weeks by Lebanon's neighbor to the east and north.
Well-meaning statements in support of Lebanon's full sovereignty and contributions to the rebuilding of the country will remain empty promises and superficial remedies unless they are paired with international insistence in rejecting all attempts that this small country with its promising but vulnerable economy is blackmailed or taken hostage by any of the nations with overriding interests of wielding power in the Middle East.
By Thomas Schellen
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2006
