THE TABLET
THE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY FOUNDED IN 1840
ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH
NO ORDINARY ENEMIES
Awounded animal is most dangerous when cornered, and that applies to countries too. Israel is a case in point. The scars of Hamas’ malevolent outrage on 7 October last year had scarcely started to heal when Hezbollah opened a second front, firing 1,700 high explosive rockets from the Lebanon territory it controlled towards military and civilian targets in northern Israel. It should be no surprise that Israel reacted with aggressive counter-attacks. Would any other country have done differently?
In this case, however, Israeli actions seem to be coloured by the same ruthlessness that it has applied to its treatment of Hamas in Gaza. It has taken only limited steps to avoid civilian casualties; it has ignored advice from its allies to seek peaceful solutions; it has embarked on a major military campaign without any clear idea where it will end, or how and when. Just as the total elimination of Hamas was never realistic, Hezbollah is far too deeply embedded in the lives of Lebanon’s Shia minority community to be easily displaced. It is a veritable state within a state, and a client of the Iranian theocracy. It is also the one part of Lebanon with a functioning government.
Israel has to find ways to defuse tensions rather than exacerbate them. Instead it seems to have the same taste for never-ending conflict that is has shown in Gaza and in the West Bank. They are linked. Hezbollah says it will cease its bombardment once Israel agrees to a Gaza ceasefire. But the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has no great interest in one. Indeed, its very survival seems to demand a perpetual
military crisis. António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, has observed, “It is for me clear that both sides are not interested in a ceasefire. And that is a tragedy, because this is a war that must stop.”
Clearly Israel cannot occupy swathes of Lebanon territory, and experience should warn it that any military action on the ground would be fraught with insuperable difficulties. The complete dismantling of Hezbollah’s military capability is not something Iran would tolerate: materiel lost would be quickly replaced. So the infliction of pain and suffering on innocent Lebanese civilians would seem to be the only strategic outcome of Israeli policy. Neither Hezbollah nor Israel has anything to gain from a prolonged conflict. The rocket bombardment of Israel is, and always was, pointless, except as an expression of anger and hatred.
The United States appears to have exhausted whatever leverage it had over Israel policy, yet cannot bring itself to cancel the blank cheque it signed at the very start of Israel’s existence, which was renewed, emotionally and militarily, on 7 October. Indeed it is America’s presence behind Israel which makes it such a red rag to the Iranian bull. The ill-feeling is reciprocated in Washington, where Iran is seen as no ordinary enemy. Nor was the raid on the American embassy in 1979 in Tehran the beginning of this enmity, which in Iranian nationalist mythology also embraces Great Britain. Unless and until they can find some accommodation, Iran and the United States – and therefore Israel – will remain bitterly at loggerheads.
SAFEGUARDING AND CONSENT
A REVOLUTION THAT FAILED WOMEN
The horrific story of the abuse of young women by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed brings together aspects of similar scandals, such as those involving Jimmy Savile, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. In each case the perpetrator used money and power to groom the victims he had targeted. In each case many others knew what was happening but connived in the abuse or turned a blind eye. In each case the abuse could have been stopped if those in a position to intervene had done so. What is it about society’s attitude to women, and not just those under the legal age of consent, which produces a culture in which such abuse can happen? Why is it still acceptable for men to regard women as “fair game”? Why is a culture of “banter”, of nods and winks regarding consent, tolerated, even indulged? The so-called sexual revolution, which seemed to arrive simultaneously with women’s liberation and the Pill some time in the 1960s, did not lead to a climate of equality between men and women. Instead, it glamorised sexual freedom, putting psychological pressure on young women to make themselves available for male sexual attention. To say “No” to such demands was seen as a prudish refusal to enjoy the gift of freedom from outdated rules and moral inhibitions.
In fact, while some of those rules had indeed been twisted to suit male interests and desires, often their origin lay in a
desire to protect women from wealthy and powerful men. Christians rejected fornication, polygamy, divorce, promiscuity, adultery and prostitution partly because of their potential to harm women and their children too. As Christianity became dominant, the imposition of these rules led to social stigma for those who broke them. But it was women who suffered most. A “fallen” women was “ruined” for life while the man who “ruined” her was merely “disreputable”. Even after the 1960s the status of “unmarried mother”, slowly to be replaced by the more neutral “single parent”, though sometimes freely chosen, could be a difficult path, sometimes leaving women subject to prejudice and discrimination. What the Harrods affair also illustrates is the frequent absence of any sense of corporate responsibility for the sexual safety of young women in the work environment. Managers knew of Fayed’s abuse, but did nothing. Adulthood does not free women from vulnerability.
The concept of “safeguarding” has made good progress in places like schools, colleges, churches and sports academies. The concept extends beyond the age of consent, to include young adults. Safeguarding must be part of routine policy for every company. As long as men have most of the power, there must be robust processes in place and managers trained in a culture of mutual respect to level the power dynamics.
2 | THE TABLET | 28 SEPTEMBER 2024
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