Will the ceasefire hold?

Will the ceasefire hold? Somehow I suspect a solution based on a French army returning to a former colony is going to end in tears. A better question is why Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire on terms that have enabled the IDF to stay when Israeli politics were in collapse and Hezbollah seemed to be gaining the upper hand? A good chance to find out what is happening will be this Monday:

NUS

The Stop the War Coalition has released a motion for all Student Union’s to put their name to. Please show your support.

This union notes:

1. That the disaster and chaos of the so-called “war on terror” continues to devastate the Middle East. The death toll in Iraq is well over 100,000 and thousands more have lost their lives in Afghanistan. After several years of occupation primarily by US and UK forces, the situation in these countries continues to deteriorate.
2. The increasingly aggressive rhetoric from George Bush and Tony Blair directed at other powers in the region, in what Blair refers to as an “arc of extremism”, particularly Iran.
3. The recent Israeli attack on and invasion of Lebanon in which over 1,100 people were killed and one million displaced (with children constituting a third of these figures), and the position taken by the NUS NEC meeting of 3 August which backed up Bush and Blair’s position in refusing to call for an immediate unconditional ceasefire.
4. The ‘Time to go’ demonstration organised by the Stop the War Coalition outside the Labour party’s annual conference on 23 September, calling for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, against an attack on Iran, and against replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons programme.

This union believes:

1. The so-called “war on terror” has been a disaster for the people of the Middle East and for the world in general, and has created immense hostility towards the imperialist occupying powers.
2. The threats towards Iran, and possible military intervention, follow directly in this vein: the need to control oil, and the need to maintain control in the face of a possible alliance between Iran and Shia forces in Iraq.
3. Israel’s assault on Lebanon was inexorably linked to the “war on terror”.
4. The position taken by the NUS on Lebanon, and more particularly its refusal to support the 23 September demonstration was not only a huge mistake, but also cuts directly against the mood of the anti-war movement which represents a majority of people in the country, including a majority of students.

This union resolves:

1. To support, publicise and send transport to the Stop the War Coalition’s ‘Time to go’ demonstration (detailed in ‘notes 4’).
2. To also give this level of support to any emergency demonstrations organised by the Stop the War Coalition in response to the current crisis, and to future events.