The uncovered war story

That is, the story not covered by the media. They tend to report that the Middle East war is one between the Arabs and the Israelis. That’s simplistic and innaccurate.

It started out between the state of Israel and Hezbollah, known to most of the world as a terrorist organization. Iran and Syria are known backers of Hezbollah, so it was a proxy battle. But Israel aimed its wrath at Hezbollah, which is located in southern Lebanon.

And because Hezbollah uses routes into and out of Lebanon for supplies and arms, Israel launched an assault on the Beirut airport, and major highways and bridges in Lebanon to cut off that supply route. So a lot of Lebanon got devastated.

Meanwhile back in Gaza….remember Gaza? That’s where the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas kidnapped the first Israeli soldier, which provoked the first wave of attacks by Israel on that area, about a week before Hezbollah entered the fray and made it a two front battle. Back in Gaza, a terrible crisis is growing.

Why these groups – Hamas and Hezbollah - would knowingly incur the wrath of the IDF is beyond understanding. But the battles have brought death and destruction to a lot of places in the Middle East — in the Holy Land. And people are suffering a humanitarian crisis that is largely out of camera range right now. The Wall Street Journal carried this report a few days ago:

Some Lebanese hospitals are running out of medicine as patients hoard their pills and employees fail to show up for work. Israel’s blockade of Lebanon’s ports and its destruction of roads have cut off delivery of food to some areas. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora appealed again for an immediate cease-fire and urged the international community to become more involved.

People live in fear all throughout these lands, including Israel. That’s why they built that huge concrete wall along the border of the Palestinian territory. Israelis, who have long feared random homicide bombings from terroritsts, are now getting hit with rockets indiscriminately lobbed over their border with Lebanon.

But on the other side, Palestinians are suffering a growing crisis, and even relief workers are crying out for help. Hunger and sickness does not discriminate between faiths, cried one priest working for Caritas in Gaza.

The story you don’t often hear in the mainstream media is that not all Arabs are Muslims, and Islamic fascists are a breed unto themselves. There are many Arab Christians suffering in this war, and they are unnoticed.

The world’s religious leaders are urgently calling for attention to the human needs in the Middle East. Pope Benedict’s attention is focused not on geopolitics, but on the humanity caught in the conflict. Asia News has a report on the Pope’s most recent plea.

 An immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, humanitarian corridors for aid delivery to the population, starting negotiations for the “right of the Lebanese to the integrity and sovereignty of their country, the right of Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of Palestinians to have a free and sovereign homeland.” Benedict XVI today reaffirmed the principles which the Holy See believes should underpin resolutions to finally end the conflict that has periodically flared up in the Middle East since 1948, when the state of Israel was born. This Sunday was dedicated to prayer and penance by the pope on Thursday to “implore God for the precious gift of peace” in the Middle East.

Here’s another report in the International Herald Tribune that at least tries to see the reality of the indiscriminate suffering. When you read “Arab population” read it as both Muslim and Christian.

The cameras aren’t getting to an awful lot of people who are tragically caught in this crisis. There are, thank God, relief agencies that are at least trying to get to them. Here are a couple of good ones: Caritas International and the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. Both have recently reported tremendous suffering in their region, and they’re doing all they can to bring aid and relief.

They’re the ones covering the battlefront you don’t see much about in the Press.