Muslim and Western leaders from across the world have blasted the Israeli bombardment of Lebanese civilians in Qana on Sunday 30th July and said the massacre would sow the seeds of hatred against Israel and further tarnish the image of the US and UK for condoning these acts of genocide.

IT SEEMS THAT these acts will send across a wrong message that might is right and that it does not pay to be a moderate in the face of state-sponsored terrorism.

At least 56 people, more than half children, were killed in the airstrike that crushed a building, the deadliest attack of the Israeli campaign, raising Lebanon’s overall death toll to over 500.

The brutal killings have further severely dented the UN’s image in the Middle East as a body representing the international community, since it has demonstrated its palpable weakness when confronting stronger nations. Describing the Israeli bombardment as “an act of gangsterism and state terrorism,” Mohammed Al-Omar, a prominent Arab political analyst, told reporters that Israel would go down in history for perpetrating “Qana Two.”

He said the first massacre in Qana was committed a decade ago when Shimon Peres, then prime minister of Israel, ordered artillery bombardment of Lebanese inhabitants in the same region. The dubious distinction of perpetrating the second Qana goes to the current Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, he added.

“How much more does it take to wake the Arab world from its deep slumber?” asked Um Aiman, a Saudi mother of five. “Israel is not our friend nor is the United States. They are attacking the Arab countries one by one. We wonder who is next because Lebanon is definitely not the last,” she added.

Michel Abdo, a Lebanese citizen living in Jeddah, said, “I am very upset. I wonder if the world would react in the same way if it were Israeli children who were killed.”

The United States has not condemned the attacks on Lebanon; on the contrary, it has blessed it. The United States has even gone an extra mile by supplying Israel with more arms.

Abu Ala, a Jordanian, said the Israeli acts of terror witnessed both in Gaza and Qana, are pointers to the shape of things to come. “When US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about the need for a new Middle East during her recent tour, she must be having in mind a region where Israel is the only super power. What we have seen is a warning to other states of the fate that awaits them if they try to challenge Israeli aggression against its neighbours.”