Time to pay the piper

Ehud Barak says his country is ready to turn a new page in its relations with Lebanon, but it will take far more than talk to undo the damage wrought by 22 years of occupation.
His troops may be gone, but the effects of their presence will take many years to dissipate, so the "Israeli" prime minister should take responsibility for his predecessors’ actions and agree to pay compensation for the many thousands of Lebanese whose lives have been ruined ­ or ended ­ by "Israeli" aggression. Having made Lebanon its whipping boy for more than a generation, "Israel" cannot simply walk away and hope to enjoy anything like normal relations with this country.
People have been deprived of their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods, and most of their human and civil rights. The physical destruction has been immense, the economic ruin almost total, and the psychological impact devastating. How does one answer a 5-year-old whose only comment on the withdrawal is a question: “When will "Israel" be back?”
Try as he might, if at all, Barak will never be able to make full restitution for all of the trouble that his country has caused here. He could start, however, by addressing the most easily quantifiable aspect: the destruction of property both private and public.
What was, until this week, the occupation zone is quite literally filled with evidence that "Israeli" actions cost this country billions of dollars over the years in ruined homes, shops, roads, and infrastructure. This is not to mention the damage inflicted on priceless assets like Beaufort Castle, or the bill for air strikes on bridges, power stations, and communications installations.
From the "Israeli" perspective, the best part about paying compensation is that it would signal the Jewish state’s willingness to live by the very rules that it has sought to have others obey. The "Israeli" government has put much weight behind the efforts of Holocaust survivors to reclaim what was wrongfully taken from them during World War II, and it has promised to seek compensation for Jews whose property was confiscated by Arab governments in 1948. If it does not pay reparations to Lebanon, how can the Lebanese listen to the words of Barak and his compatriots with anything but doubt and hostility?
"Israeli" officials and citizens alike can often be heard to complain that many governments treat theirs like an international outlaw, but in fact the Jewish state has benefited from uncommon leniency, thanks largely to protection afforded it by the United States. Other countries are not simply denied a few perks at the United Nations when they defy international law: they are slapped with sanctions and/or bombed into submission. Iraq, for example, killed nowhere near as many Kuwaitis as "Israel" killed Lebanese, but Baghdad is still paying the price.
It will take years for Lebanon to get back on its feet, and while much of the damage was our own doing until 1990, "Israel's" “contribution” has been relentless.

The Daily Star, 27-5-2000.