University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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One of Hezbollah ' s headquarters sits atop a hill on the Lebanon side of the Israeli-Lebanese border. The northern border had been quiet for a long time before violence erupted again in July, 2006. J. Kalmus photo In the summer of 2006, a war broke out between Israel and Lebanon. An organization called Hezbollah, which controlled a fair number of seats in the Lebanese parliament, kidnapped two and killed several other Israeli soldiers. The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was in charge of the operation, and demanded an exchange of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel for the soldiers. Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister of I this as an act of war, not exclusively perpetrated by Hezbollah but by Lebanon itself, and demanded the unconditional return of the soldiers. The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Fouad Siniora, denied knowledge of the kidnapping operation and did not condone it. What followed was a month-long war, during which both countries were devastated; schools, roads, apartments, and municipalities were destroyed in air attacks. The war ended in a cea c in August. At times, Lebanon was labeled a terrorist state, because it harbored organizations like Hamas, a group widely recognized as a terrorist organization, which controlled a majority of Palestine ' s parliamentary seats as of January 2006, and Hezbollah, respectively. Junior business major Fouad Hassan, who was also the president and founder of The Palestinian Students Association Hassan disagreed with the labels, saying, by way of example, I ' d never call Israel ' a terrorist state. ' But what is terrorism? Going into a country that ' s not your own and terrorizing its people? Others felt that Israel ' s actions in the war were defensive in nature, and that American support of Israel was necessary. Junior psychology major Andrew Bronstein offered, I believe in a nation ' s right to defend itself. It ' s really important that the United States supports Israel, because they ' re natural allies, by virtue of their commitment to democi Some students felt that many on campus did not fully grasp the conflict between the two countries. On what felt to many like an increasingly apathetic campus, it seemed like something as significant as a war during which thousands of hum; beings were killed and injured and more than a million were displaced, could go virtually unnoticed. However, student groups such as American Movement for Israel made the issues known and held many events to inform others of the situation and the history of the conflict. ! 78 middle east conflict

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AAMPE by lisa torsiello The MMPEI will be housed in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Laboratory. This building was renovated with $ 1 1 million in state and University funding. S. Jerome photo

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I Middle East Conflict by chris albanese People congregate by the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, jews came from all over the world to place notes in the wailing wall, many of which prayed for those affected by the violence that engulfed the nation in July, 2006. Photo courtesy Matt Koletsky features 79 1 1