Some thoughts...

When looking at a political conflict- or a war- it is important to delve into history and not judge the situation by skimming the surface or the newspapers. (if you watch the news or read the papers, its almost certain to be biased- either too pro-US or just plain entertainment)

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Lebanon became home to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees who had fled from the newly established state of Israel. More Palestinian refugees arrived after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Black September. During the early 1970s, difficulties arose over the increase of Palestinian refugees in the south.

Then we have Syria stepping in and sent 40,000 troops into Lebanon to prevent the Maronite militias from being overrun by Palestinian Ezzat forces. Together the Syrians and Maronites pushed the Palestinians out of Beirut and into southern Lebanon.

Basically you have different actors participating in the Lebanese civil war, in order to fight a war on someone else's land. The Shiites are concentrated South of Beirut and Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist organization in Lebanon comprising a militia, a political party, and an extensive program of social development- the latter i feel is not emphasized enough. Hezbollah provides many social services in Lebanon. According to CNN: "Hezbollah does everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools."

Hezbollah, as any other resistance movement or shall i use the term "Freedom fighters" cannot be exactly directly equated to a terrorist organisation. (If they were, anyone who sponsors terrorist networks or supports it indirectly- like Syria, Iran, Israel, USA- are all considered terrorist organisations)

Hezbollah was formed to combat the Israeli occupation following the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and opposes the Israeli state. It was officially founded on the 16th of February, 1985. Hezbollah is one of the two main organizations representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious bloc, but the only militant one. It is also a recognised political party in Lebanon, where it participates in government.

There is a wide disagreement about what Hezbollah should be defined as. Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement. In the Western world; Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel list Hezbollah (in full or part) as a terrorist organization. Other countries and leaders have denounced Hezbollah or their actions, although may not necessarily list it officially as a terrorist group.

There is a deep enmity between Hezbollah and Israel. One of the reasons for the founding of Hezbollah was resistance against the occupation of Lebanon by Israel (1978-2000), which extended to a desire for the elimination of “the Zionist entity”.

The ceasefire of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict was declared yesterday (14th August).
Both sides have suffered immense casualties and both governments have targetted civilian populated areas with missiles which both sides seem to have an endless supply of.

I guess what we must be concerned about, is not so much of who's right and who's wrong... because it'll go on forever. I think it's crucial to consider the failure of the UN security council in stepping in to issue a ceasefire in the early stages of the war. It is also obvious that the US had not told Israel to step back in its bombings- in this post 9-11 where the Bush Administration has become extreme in handling issues of related to the "War on Terror".

Is it not disturbing that the world is sitting back and watching the 1967 six-day war which is ten times worse repeat itself on their tvs?