What is this oversimplification, Sayyed?
Tariq Alhomayed

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah claimed that if it were not for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier in Gaza, Palestinians would have fought one another. He also said that Hezbollah’s kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers was motivated by divine intervention, given that Israel was planning to attack Lebanon, thereby thwarting its plan!

What is this oversimplification, Sayyed?

Reality tells us that the Palestinians did not reach a consensus, that Fatah is not Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas is not Ismail Haniyeh, and that Palestine has not taken a single step forward. Reality tells us that after Khaled Meshaal was issuing statements from Damascus instead of Haniyeh, Nasrallah has become the spokesperson for the Palestinian cause!

An op-ed from Asharq Alawsat’s Editor-in-Chief, Tariq Alhomayed. The paper is laying the principal blame for the Lebanon crisis—and the death of Lebanese civilians—at the feet of Hezbollah. Worth reading.

Also worth reading is the accompanying piece by the former Editor-in-Chief, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid:

The Chance of a Lifetime

Theoretically, Hezbollah has gained the battle, according to the offer presented by the US Secretary of State in Lebanon. However, Hezbollah prefers its weapons to the detainees in Israeli jails or the Shebaa Farms.

Condoleezza Rice arrived in Beirut and announced that she would do what no one else has done before, namely, to solve the root of the problem, not just the issue of a ceasefire.

In Beirut, Rice threw the biggest surprise of all. She informed the Lebanese government that she would fulfill all of Hezbollah’s demands. She agreed to release Lebanese detainees in Israel and return the Shebaa Farms, as well as to compel Israel to return occupied land during the ongoing war. She suggested an international force to protect the border be deployed, in order to separate the Lebanese from the Israelis and protect them from one another. She also demanded the government spread its authority over all Lebanese territories, which requires confiscating the weapons of all militias, including Hezbollah.

If the Lebanese were asked their opinion, the majority would have agreed to support the solution. It represents salvation for all the people of Lebanon and a happy ending to numerous conflicts. The alternative is for the war to continue at a lesser pace; it might last for years and perhaps reach the same solution: a ceasefire, the return of occupied land and a prisoner swap, but with even more death and destruction.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected the offer outright and said it humiliated Lebanon. Can anyone tell me what is humiliating in the entire offer?