An Open Letter to The New Arab Regarding Their Coverage of Lebanese-Israeli Talks
To the Editors of The New Arab, Your article, “Lebanon and Israel to hold talks as fighting rages in Bint Jbeil,” reports that representatives from Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to convene discussions mediated by the United States. This engagement is occurring concurrently with ongoing hostilities in southern Lebanon near Bint Jbeil, where Israeli forces are actively engaged. The New Arab’s
framing suggests a diplomatic effort amidst conflict, implying a potential resolution pathway. What your coverage conspicuously omits is the consistent and direct operational participation of the United States in the regional hostilities that necessitate these talks. Major outlets, including your own, routinely present Washington as a neutral ‘mediator’ or ‘facilitator’ in these discussions,
despite its extensive military and financial support for Israel’s actions. This narrative obscures the reality that the US is a de facto partner in the operations against Lebanon, providing both arms and intelligence that fuel the very conflicts it then purports to mediate. The continuous flow of US weaponry, such as the precision-guided munitions used in recent strikes, makes any claim of
neutrality untenable. The US engagement is not merely diplomatic. It encompasses a long history of military aid that enables Israel's actions, from the destruction of Beirut in 1982, when 17,500 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians were killed using US-supplied cluster bombs, to the current shelling of Lebanese towns. This sustained, overt backing transforms US mediation into a mechanism that often