Helping kids understand both sides of Middle East crisis
When you see the phrase “the Middle East” in the newspaper, it’s often right beside words like war, terrorism and conflict. There’s the war in Iraq and growing concern that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons. And in the past couple of weeks, a new and fierce battle has broken out in this part of the world: between the countries of Israel and Lebanon.
To understand this conflict, you need to know that Israel was created as a democracy in 1948 to be a homeland for Jewish people. Jews have lived for centuries in the region and elsewhere but had not had their own country for thousands of years.
Many Arab people in that region believe their land was taken unfairly to create Israel and say that Israel has no right to exist. Some of these people are Palestinians, who are looking for a country to call their own – either alongside Israel, or, for some, instead of Israel.
Israel and Lebanon have a history of war. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to get rid of an anti-Israel Palestinian group that was launching attacks at Israel from Lebanon. Israel occupied a buffer zone there for 18 years, until 2000.
What sparked this latest fight was a raid into Israel that led to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July 12. The raid was carried out by an armed, anti-Israel group in Lebanon called Hezbollah. Israel responded by bombing Lebanon and demanding that Hezbollah release the Israeli soldiers. In turn, Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel and called for the release of prisoners held in that country. Each side is blaming the other as the conflict gets worse.
Lebanon
After a civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s and ‘80s, and years of being controlled by next-door neighbor Syria, Lebanon was finally beginning to look like a stable country that could succeed on its own last year. Lebanon has called on Israel to stop the bombing, asking for a cease-fire. Lebanon’s parliament has a dozen Hezbollah members in it. But Lebanon’s government is not strong enough to control Hezbollah in the southern part of the country. Hezbollah is popular in southern Lebanon. The group, using money from countries that oppose Israel, has often served as the local government — building schools, hospitals and roads. In other parts of Lebanon, people who objected to Hezbollah’s actions have become more supportive since the Israeli bombing started. Some Lebanese blame Israel and Hezbollah for the damage.
Israel
Leaders of many countries, including the U.S. and Israel, say Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Israel wants to move Hezbollah out of the southern part of Lebanon to help make sure that Hezbollah rockets can’t reach Israel. Israel says it does not want to be at war with Lebanon for a long time as it has been in the past. However, because Israel has neighbors – including Syria and Iran – that want to destroy it, the Israeli government says it must stop Hezbollah kidnappings and rocket attacks. Israel wants Hezbollah gone. If that happens, it hopes Lebanon’s weak but democratically elected government will get political control of the southern part of its country. But in the Middle East, conflicts are rarely short. The fighting tends to be intense, and peace – when it comes – tends to be fragile.