By Nick Stamatakis
I went through many articles and analyses by objective observers of the Middle East. Almost all of them agree on the two things of our title: Israel’s attack on Hezbollah by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies was quite an original and daring plan and also very risky – but at the same time, it was an act of terrorism. It had a considerable effect in hurting (I would not use the word “decapitate”) Hezbollah, with tens of dead and over 2500 injured. I will try to answer our many questions based on what we know.
- Why did Israel use such a heavy-handed attack? It has been clear that Israeli Intelligence was reeling for weeks after Hezbollah hit and destroyed their headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Many lives were lost in this attack, and Mossad had to respond. They chose this horrific way.
- Will this lead to an Israeli invasion of Southern Lebanon? It looks like the timing of the “pager explosions” is preparation for such an invasion; in fact, we have heard the first news about it.
- What are the chances of such an invasion’s success? Very limited, in my personal opinion. In a few weeks, winter officially starts, and Mount Lebanon is over 10,000 ft high. Heavy snow and wintry conditions make it impossible for Israel to penetrate deeply, especially where (deep in tunnels) Hezbollah hides its heavy weaponry and hundreds of thousands of missiles.
- If a heavy blow to Hezbollah’s capabilities is not feasible, what is the real purpose of Israel’s attack? One thing is very clear: Israeli PM Netanyahu is very frustrated by Iran’s lack of response to the killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh two months ago. Netanyahu wanted a regional war that could have Iran as the main target and would involve the U.S. and NATO on Israel’s side. Iran’s decision was very calculating: It responded by his proxies, and especially the Houthis: the Houthis hit Tel Aviv a few weeks ago and then recently hit a town in central Israel. They likely used hypersonic missiles (Israel denies it), which penetrated Israel’s “Iron Dome.” This was a tremendous failure that contributed, along with the inability to defeat Hamas, to great internal strife. Defense minister Gallant posed fierce opposition to Netanyahu and only at the last minute agreed to the “pager explosion” operation against Hezbollah.
- If causing a regional war is the real purpose, who is behind it? Without a doubt, the international Zionist movement is the real decision-maker here. They are desperate as they are watching their plans for global dominance collapsing all over the globe. Israel was first created to act as a pawn of the Western powers in the most “sensitive” area of the Globe. The West is now watching the entire Middle East (Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia) being part of the BRICS and, even more importantly, taking part in the all-important October 22-24 meeting in Kazan, Russia, where major decisions for the international financial system will be discussed.
This event is a significant turning point in the Middle East. Netanyahu is making one more attempt to ignite a regional war to derail the BRICS summit, probably the last one. For the same purpose (and also to slow the abrupt slide of the dollar after the BRICS summit), the IMF started engaging Russia again this week after a three-year hiatus. Netanyahu and the West will likely fail once again. In their supreme arrogance and “supremacy attitude,” they underestimated the Iranians (who, by the way, are the inventors of chess), Putin (a supreme chess player), and the Chinese (known for their strategy skills and their patience). The best policy would be to sit on peaceful negotiations towards “multipolarity” (I call them a “New Yalta”) and decide that their pipe dream of dominance is gone.
But to this and the possible model to replace “Western Hegemony” we will return soon offering a peaceful coexistence model.
September 19, 2024, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
No matter who’s side anyone is on, we have to recognize that Israelis have balls. They are inventive, they are fearless and they are determined to survive. I wish us Greeks were like that. From the 1948 war against 4 Arab nations, to the 1967 6 days war, to the 1973 belated victory, to the freeing of the Air France hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, to killing a Hamas leader in Tehran, to targeting and eliminating nuclear scientists or leaders of their enemies, to this amazing deed with the exploding pagers, you can’t help but admire them. They are 7 million Jews in the midst of hundreds of millions of Muslims. Not only are they surviving, they are thriving.
We Greeks have an anti Jewish streak. I attribute that to jealousy at their success, while we are struggling to free Cyprus and protect Greece’s borders..
We Greeks have no anti-Jewish anything. We have been living next to each other for millennia. In around 250-270 BC Hellenized Jews translated the Old Testament to Greek and were so influenced by Greek Philosophy and the Stoics that they almost abandoned their religion… Christianity was a result of exactly such a natural convergence of Hellenic philosophy with Jewish adherence to Law and tradition. But this is a very long discussion for tonight.
Bob,
A couple questions for you…
When an ex-KGB guy was taken out in London with a Polonium-infused beverage because he was “eliminated” as an “enemy of Moscow”, Western media did not seem to “admire the perpetrators” for “eliminating their enemies”…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko
And what about that famous “elimination” of the “enemy of N. Korea” with nerve gas in Kuala Lampur airport:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Kim_Jong-nam
…shouldn’t you also be “admiring” the Russians and North Koreans now, too, based on your stated logic above?
War is ugly, but “admiring eliminations” is not necessarily a very healthy condition…
However, the big question that seems to evade publicity right now is the following… who is monitoring and securing the supply chain that has constructed your (and my) cellphone, PC, car electronics, etc, such that in the event of any “sophisticated cyber attack”, these everyday items won’t have the capability of being weaponized against us…? Are we sure there are no such “vulnerabilities” already at play right next to our heads when we sleep at night?
Markos
Valid question and points that you are making. Of course, you are wrong and I will point out why.
When you compare Russia or North Korea, who eliminated internal political opponents, that posed no danger other than potential loss of political power to the perpetrators, compared to Israel, which had to displace 100,000 of its people from Northen Israel, due to Hezbolah rockets, you are comparing apples to oranges.
Neither you nor I are in a position to judge what’s right or wrong. But we should have the clarity of mind to realize that Israelis are certainly fighting for their existence in a hostile area, against adversaries, backed by Iran, that have sworn to throw them into the sea.
As for the devices that we use, that’s a valid concern. Maybe there should be a federal agency, to monitor electronic devices for explosives, as we have the FDA, making sure our food is safe to consume. This is a new frontier. That’s the world. Never stops. Threats abound.
Bob – no more comments on this. We had enough.
Bob, when you have the might of the world’s super power aka USA behind you, you have balls. Let me see how many balls they’ll have if that isn’t the case and they have to go it alone. Let me see how courageous they will be if the 3.3 billion in aid per year were to stop, including the weapons, and the aircarft carriers that are currently in the vicinity. Israel has been propped up by America since day 1, without America, there will be no Israel. So it’s not 7 million against hundreds of millions as you say. Greeks remember certain events such as the hanging of Saint Kosmas by the Turks, who were paid to do so by the Jews because Saint Kosmas spoke against Jewish interests. Jews also desecrated the body of Patriarch Gregory the 5 who was also hanged by the Turks in front of one of the gates to the Patriarchate. Cyprus was invaded by the Turks with the blessing of Henry Kissinger-German Jew- I’m not condoning it, but maybe these events and others could be a reason for some anti-semitism in the Greek community? As far as Greeks being jealous of the Jews success, I doubt it because Greece has had its share of many great successes on the battlefield from ancient times up to the present-too many to recount. Greece was not allowed to engage the Turks during the invasion of Cyprus-the USA stopped Greece from engaging and gave a green light to Turkey. Greece had submarines in the waters around Cyprus and if they were allowed to engage, they would have sunk all the Turkish ships before they even left port. So, its not as you say…
Greg
You are wrong on several points. Russia recognized Israel before America did. Israel fought and won the 1947 war without America’s help. Israel had to import its weapons from Czechoslovakia. That war was against FOUR Arab nations, and Israel was just established. Either they won, or they were wiped off the map. And they won. In the blocking of the Suez canal, in 1955, with France and Great Britain, America forced them to lift the blockade. So, as you see, America did not help Israel from day one.
Moreover, America and Israel share technology. America doesn’t give it to them. They work together to develop weapons. When Israel freed the hostages at Entebbe, assassinated the killers of the Munich Olympic athletes, captured Eichman and so many other operations, it was done by Mossad. Not America. When Israel obliterated the four Arab nations in 1967 in six days, it was Israeli pilots that did it and Israeli tank commanders that beat the Arabs. It wasn’t Americans.
Israel is laser focused on staying alive. I dont blame them. Greece and Cyprus did a smart thing to be pro-Israel. The only problem is that if the Gaza war ends, Erdogan might try to be friendly again. And the Israelis would drop us like a hot potato, because Turkey is a bigger and more powerful economy and military power.
Never bet against Israel. You will lose.
The Cyprus debacle was caused by the Junta, overthrowing Makarios. Thus giving an excuse to Turks to invade. We Greeks are responsible. Not Kissinger, not America. The junta had sent airplanes to supply Cyprus and the Cypriots shot it down, thinking it was Turkish. A nation that wants to have self respect does not blame others.
Greeks were anti-Semitic way before Kissinger. When Tripolitsa fell to the Greek rebels during the revolution of 1821, Greeks killed over 20,000 Turks and Jews. Jews were attacked every Holy Friday in a pogrom called “burn Judas”. Their stores were burnt, their homes and temples desecrated. Sure, the Jews hated the Greeks also. They were given the body of Patriarch Gregory to desecrate and throw in the sea of Marmara.
But these things are in the past. Now, Jews are very powerful. Because of wealth and education. Israel benefits from their diaspora’s investments. We don’t do a small percentage for Greece of what they do for Israel.
Google how many Jews have won Noble prize and how many Greeks. Only TWO Greeks. Thousands of Jews and Israelis. The richest minority in America is the Jews. Greeks are not even in the top 20th. We MUST face the truth if we want to get ahead
Bob – I cannot count the many ways you are wrong here. The only reason I post it is for our readers to exercise their history knowledge and common sense to answer you. But one thing I will answer: I and many others are betting against the apartheid state of Israel for many reasons but mostly because it is a monument of humanity’s bad past. Humanity has to move on and leave behind the Zionist “supremacists” and their pipedreams to dominate the globe and suck it dry to enrich themselves. And for one more reason: Israel does not have the right to practice on other nations what millions of innocent Jews suffered during the Holocaust.
Bob,
Generalized, blanket statements are great, until the underlying details don’t support them…
In the very early 90s, I experienced having rocks thrown at me from behind (dropping left and right) in the affluent neighborhood of Herzelyia, where diplomats usually lived (not a Palestinian neighborhood), as I was merely taking an early evening walk with some NATO diplomat’s family members on a trip that I took to that region. It was Friday around sunset, and the NATO diplomats told me to keep walking, and not to turn around or “make eye contact”, because apparently these were “known” local Israeli kids who were “stoning us” for violating some sort of Friday evening “local religious code of conduct”. I was told on the spot that “eye contact” or “confrontation” would in fact result in additional “much older neighborhood kids” showing up and escalating the conflict in an even more dangerous way. We were extremely fortunate that no rocks hit us, but it was close. I never again felt “safe” in that country from that moment, even in a “non-Palestinian” neighborhood. In fact, I actually felt safer in some “inner cities” of North America, because at least there, I knew exactly what to expect.
In the mid-1990’s, during a routine conference call with the Tel Aviv branch of a large corporation, (evening time in Tel Aviv, early afternoon in the US) the Israeli colleague randomly started laughing uncontrollably, and a minute later he disclosed the following to me, verbatim:
“Do you know what I’m doing right now? I am pointing a laser pointer from my window at some Palestinian kids that are playing at a nearby empty lot, and they are scattering in fear, thinking I have a weapon…”
Of course, somehow this “colleague” found this activity to be both gratifying and amusing. Needless to say I was disgusted with this level of “dehumanizing” mindset.
What impact did this type of experience have upon the psychology of those Palestinian kids? If they grow up in those kinds of conditions, and one day they decide to “retaliate”, and then they are killed by police or soldiers, is it really fair to claim that “they started it”, and that the other side is merely exercising its right to “self-defense”? Would you or your kids like to grow up on the “receiving end” in those kinds of conditions? Would you tolerate that kind of environment if you were targeted by laser pointers as a kid by those who “owned all the weapons” in town?
I share these small examples of first-hand experiences so that the conclusion here is not simply theoretical, because the Western media usually does not advertise these kinds of stories, even in the case above, when Western diplomats are “targeted”.
.
It is one thing to “fight for survival”, but it is another thing to cultivate a culture of treating people in an inhumane, even barbaric way, from a position of “ethnic / religious supremacy” to the point that these provocative treatments elicit a response/reaction, and then those who react are then killed in supposed “justified retaliation”, under the guise of “self defense”. What do you think would have happened if I had not listened to the diplomats, but had turned to confront the Israeli kids throwing rocks at us (And I was just a tourist who didn’t live there permanently…)?
There will never be peace in that region of the world as long as honest intentions and willingness for peace don’t get adopted by both sides. And as long as International armadas and fleets of aircraft carriers show up every time there is a “flare-up” of conflict to make sure that “only one side wins”, there will never be incentive for peace, either. But then again, one Israeli leader in recent history actually had a fair amount of that honest willingess to do what needed to be done to de-escalate the situation:
That was Yitzak Rabin, and you saw what his own “fellow Israeli” did to him in the end:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin
So Bob, I highly recommend you take a trip over there, hang out for a couple months, travel around, “walk the streets”, see how you are treated, see how Christians in general are treated, and see how Christian Orthodox priests are routinely “spit upon” (and sometimes even worse) by local religious extremists without being hindered by local authorities, and maybe you’ll have a different first-hand understanding of what is really going on there, what the underlying attitudes and dynamics really are, instead of making “blanket statements” from your couch at home.
Markos
I’m aware of the spitting on Christians and the general hostility towards the way women dress. But, you’re talking about 10% of the population. I have been to Israel. Tel Aviv is as modern as any Western country is. It is clean, safe, with a non ending party mood. Jerusalem is a different story. And not all of Jerusalem is dominated by the Hasidim. Some areas are. Israelis themselves dislike the Hasidm more than Christians do. I spoke with many Israelis that told me that much.
However, my point was not the internal divisions of a country. They all have those divisions. Here in America we’re just as divided. In Greece is the same.
My post concerned the legend of the “wily Jew”, the lies of “the elders of Zion”. The conspiracy theories of the Jew that wants to “rule the world” and “suck it dry”. My posts concerned the history of anti-Semitism in Greece. And also the fact that the Jews are much better in business, in wealth creation, in science, in military matters than we, Greeks could ever hope to be.
Google how many Greeks have received Nobel prizes. Only TWO. Google how many Jews and Israelis have won Nobel prizes. Here’s what it says about the Jews. “””More than 22% of the recipients, 36% of American recipients, and 28% of the women who received the prize have been Jewish.
What is the secret to the disproportionate presence of a nation constituting less than 1% of the world’s population, taking almost one-quarter of Nobel prizes?””
Jews are the richest ethnic minority in America. Greeks are not even in the top 20. If we want to improve, we have to know where we stand.
That and more was my point. Why do you go off on something totally different?
I am sure Markos will respond in time but I have to say that such simplistic comparisons of ethnic achievement aren’t really leading anywhere. The biggest achievements in math throughout history was done by Greeks if you want to go down that road and 80% of math achievements up to today is owed to Archimedes and even Albert Einstein recognized that his advancements in physics wouldn’t be possible without the math of Karatheothoris. I would bet anything that 9 out of 10 of these Jewish Nobel Prize winners would disapprove first of such narrow mindedness and second and most important would reject the apartheid state of Israel. Greek philosophers of antiquity- arguably the greatest achievers of all time – would never support any idea idea of ethnic supremacy. Instead the three centuries of Hellenistic cosmopolitanism after Alexander the Great and the great Stoic philosophy gave rise to Christianity and St Paul declaring “There is no man or woman, Jew or Gentile”. It was us the Greeks who gave this gift to humanity and our culture persisting to today. And that’s why Greek diplomats are welcome with open doors in ANY and ALL countries on earth. No other ethnicity enjoys such a gift of love and appreciation from humanity.
Bob,
If you didn’t read carefully, I specifically described an incident in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. Your “marketing” efforts are not going to change what I experienced first hand on that day.
And now for your classic “topic derailment discussion”:
Since you seem to enjoy statistics, by the way, there is a very reasonable explanation to your “nobel prize” observation.
Many years ago at a very famous “Ivy League” university in this country, I observed that out of a population of about ~10,000 undergraduate students, there were about 40 undergraduates total identifying as having “Greek decent”, but somewhere between 30-35% (~3000-3500 students) of the entire population that openly identifying with the Jewish faith, most from the Northeast US, but several even from foreign countries, and including a guy from Turkey, who specifically boasted to me that in Turkey, the Jewish minority was thriving, and it consisted of “military officers, industrialists, and politicians”. That was a very interesting conversation, by the way.
Of course, I’m not suggesting that there was any purposeful underlying conspiracy to produce this student demographic at the University. In fact, I emphatically do NOT believe there was…The explanation is simple…not everyone will qualify for the limited financial aid pool, and expensive schools are generally “more accessible” for those families that have much higher incomes. Furthermore, there is much less “paperwork” involved when a student’s parents “have the funds” to pay in full each semester. So from an accounting perspective, it’s less of a headache for the University to prioritize those students who don’t request financial aid (aka who “don’t check that box” on the application). That’s practical reality, and “very good business” too…you can’t blame them for that. If it is true that Greeks have lower incomes in general, or a lower propensity to spend that kind of money on education, especially those in Greece, this statistic makes natural sense.
Now, as a logical consequence to the above, 40 “Greeks” divided by 3000 to 4000 students of the Jewish faith at this particular “World Class University” that I personally observed decades ago yields a 1.1 to 1.3% ratio. That’s interestingly the same “ethnic percentage” of Nobels you quoted above. Of course, when you have access to the finest education, finest professors, and finest research facilities, your chances of succeeding at a Nobel later in life are astronomically higher…but all your co-students also had that same opportunity, too. You are always going to be competing against them. Why don’t you now tell us the percentage of Nobels won by those who graduated from the subset of the “top 10%” of Universities in the world? Is it something like 80% or 90%, perhaps? Is that really a surprise?
So Bob, the math you cite may be proportionately accurate, but not as a result of your twisted, diseased theory that there is an “ethnic disability” within the Greek DNA, or “ethnic superiority” within those who identify as Jewish. If one of the best schools in the world, with some of the best funding in the world for research, from which several Nobel laureates have graduated provides equal educational opportunity to ALL its enrolled students, but only 1% of them are “Greek”, then why are you acting surprised at the results, but instead are insistent on spreading distasteful “racial supremacy theories” that don’t make any logical sense? What’s the big newsworthy discovery here?
Greek universities by the way have never secured the funding they need to compete in the global research race (a.k.a. to produce Nobel prizes winning research), so we cannot blame a “nation’s DNA” or “the students” for that “political” problem. Greece has always been “poor” in modern times in this area. If you want to increase the “ethnic” percentage of Nobels, make a plea to organizations like AHEPA to raise sufficient funds (many millions), and approach those “top research” Universities with your plan to “cover tuition of Greek students”, so that you can increase the statistical representation up to 2-3% instead of 1%…then perhaps the percentage of “Nobels by Greeks” might also increase a few decades later…
Really Bob, you are wasting everyone’s time with frivolous discussions here, when the answers have always been right in front you, if you ever bothered to do “real” research. Quite shameful, man. Don’t you have a conscience either?
“Bob”: as far as the Jews being better in business, and more wealthy, you are correct when you said they are the richest MINORITY in the USA. Yes, they have minority status, unlike the Greeks who don’t have that status, and having minority status affords the Jews many benefits over those that don’t have that coveted status, which gives them a leg up especially in business. Minorities are elgible for low interest rate loans, grants, and preferential treatment when it comes to Ivy league schools. Greeks don’t get any of that because even though there are less Greek in the USA than there are Jews, the Greeks are not considered a minority. So it’s not that Jews are smarter or just better business men, they’re given help that the Greeks can’t get. If you’re given all this help, it makes sense that you would be wealthier and more successful than someone who doesn’t receive these benefits.
As far as Tripolitsa, the Turks also massacred over 30,000 Greeks in Chios, nearly wiping out the entire Greek population on the island.
Maybe the Greeks despised the Jews because they would always collaborate with the Turkish overloards who enslaved Greece for 400 years?
If you want to talk about conspiracy, it’s not a conspiracy but a well known fact that the father of Communism-which is responsible for more deaths than any other ideology since the beginning of time-much more than even nazism-Karl Marx (the father of communism) was Jewish, so was Vladimir Lenin, in fact at least 75% of the Soviet Unions’ first communist government were all Jewish. Interesting right?
Why don’t you tell us what the Jewish talmud has to say about how the non-jews or as Jews like to call them, “goyum”, which translates to “cattle” should be treated by the Jews? I doubt you’d like to talk about that because it would be quite shocking to hear and embarrasing for you. I suggest you crawl back to wherever you came from and don’t attempt to spread your propoganda here because the people on this blog are more educated than you think.