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George Washington: My Trip to Israel
by Elise Kigner
 In late June, I traveled to Israel for 10 days through Taglit-Birthright Israel, a group that sends Jewish young adults on a free trip to Israel. When I was in Israel, the conflict in the Middle East had not yet broken out. But still, I could see how close war always is to the Israeli people. In Israel, both females and males are drafted into the army at age 18. Many don't go into combat. One soldier I met was a spinning teacher for the army, but all are in some way members of the Israel Defense Forces. (TownHall)
Harvard: Hizballah's Real Goal is Racist: To Free the Middle East Holy Lands of Jews
by Alan Dershowitz
 Hizballah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land, which includes all of Israel proper, including Tel Aviv, from the "crusaders," a term that includes Jews and Christians (even though Jews were among the victims of the Crusades). The fight against Hizballah is a fight against anti-Jewish, anti- Christian, and humanistic values. If Hizballah terrorism is not stopped in southern Lebanon, it will be coming to a theater, church, or synagogue near you. Dershowitz is a professor of law at Harvard University. (Christian Science Monitor)
Michigan State: United States Supports Israel with Good Reason
by Daniel Piedra
 Israel is a small country and, in every viable aspect, a nation that merely wants to mind its own business. Israel desires peace for her citizens and peace for the world. It is unfortunate that Israel's hate-mongering Arab neighbors fanatically seek to disrupt the Jewish nation's attempts to prosper and ultimately establish peace in the Middle East. There is a reason the United States government supports this tiny nation so fervently. Open your eyes. (State News)
Penn: Israel's "Disproportionate" Response Is Out of Necessity
by Gabriel Oppenheim
 Indeed, images of destruction in Lebanon overpower the senses. They trigger a visceral and natural sympathy for the downtrodden that we all feel here. But that's the cruel twist, really: While we sympathize with innocent civilians, Hizballah does not. Hizballah purposely attacks Israeli civilians while hiding among Lebanese civilians for cover. In fact, on Monday, United Nations humanitarian chief Jan Egeland charged Hizballah with "cowardly blending" in among innocent Lebanese and thereby "causing the deaths of hundreds," according to the Associated Press. (Daily Pennsylvanian)
Stanford: Middle East War: Made in Europe
by Timothy Garton Ash
 The truth is that, now more than ever, the diplomatic key lies in the full engagement of the U.S., using its influence with Israel and negotiating as directly as possible with all partners to the conflict, however unsavory. Until that happens, Europe alone can do little. Yet the issue here is not just changing the realities on the ground in the Middle East. How Europeans speak and write about the position of the Jews in the region to which Europeans drove them is also a matter of our own self-definition. We should weigh every word. Ash is professor of European studies at Oxford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. (Los Angeles Times)
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Haifa: Under the Katyushas
by Steven Plaut
 I am writing this in between ducking in and out of a bomb shelter as Haifa is bathed by the Katyusha rockets and other missiles that Ehud Barak has allowed to be fired at the city. Why Ehud Barak? Because, as Israeli prime minister in 2000, he ordered the cowardly unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops from the security zone in southern Lebanon, which led to the positioning of thousands of Hizballah rockets on Israel's northern border. Plaut is a professor at the University of Haifa. (National Review)
Harvard: From the War Zone
by Andrew C. Esentsten
It is sad, indeed, that even young children know the Hebrew word pigua, which means “terrorist attack.” Israelis have endured years of such attacks, yet they continue to ride public buses and shop in malls and go to clubs because this is their home, and they will not live in fear. Hebrew University’s Frank Sinatra Cafeteria, where nine people were killed and 85 injured in a bombing by Hamas in July 2002, is always packed at lunchtime. I eat there almost every day. (Harvard Crimson)
Monash, Australia: Hizballah Allowed to Fester
by Asher Moaz
 Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora argues that his government did not know of the Hizballah-planned attack on Israel and its intention to abduct Israeli soldiers. I believe it didn't. But it should have foreseen it, not as a possibility but as a sure occurrence. After all, six years ago, immediately following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, Hizballah attacked an Israeli military vehicle within Israel, capturing three soldiers. Asher Maoz is a professor of constitutional law at Tel Aviv University and a visiting professor at the faculty of law at Monash University in Melbourne. (The Australian)
South Carolina: Israel Had No Other Option
by Ben M. Johnston
 What other options does Israel have? Israel left Lebanon years ago, as the international community requested. Israel has tried to make peace with all of her neighbors. And it was Israel that was attacked by Hizballah, not vice versa. Given Hizballah’s actions against the United States, murdering 220 Marines in 1983, why wouldn’t America support Israel? Hizballah’s anti-Western dogma is dangerous to us all. (The State)
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