The Other Oil Spill

Leading congressional Democrats are outraged at British Petroleum and others
responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But that stands in
sharp contrast to their outspoken support of those responsible for a major oil
spill in the eastern Mediterranean in 2006, the largest in that region's
history.

On July 13 and 15 of that year, as part of a major bombardment of the
civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, Israeli planes bombed
the fuel tanks for the Jiyeh power plant on the coast near Beirut, releasing
10,000-15,000 tons of oil. A giant oil slick spread northward by
Mediterranean currents, contaminated the Lebanese and Syrian coasts, and went
as far as Turkey and Cyprus. Meanwhile, large deposits of the densest parts of
the heavy oil dropped to the
seabed to form black toxic mats, destroying sea life below.

The ongoing Israeli navy blockade of the Lebanese coast made an emergency
response impossible in the critical early hours and days of the disaster.
Israeli airstrikes in the immediate area kept firefighters and others away from
the disaster site, while damaged roads and bridges from other airstrikes prevented
crews and equipment from dealing with the growing spill. With the support of
both parties in Congress, the Bush administration blocked efforts at the United
Nations to impose a ceasefire for another five weeks. Full-scale operations to
contain and clean up the spill therefore did not get underway until well into
August, by which time the spill had already stretched hundreds of miles.
As a result, two months after the spill, only 3 percent of
the oil had been cleaned up. Indeed, it took a full six months before the spill
was even contained. It took a full year before most of the beaches had been
cleaned, primarily by local young volunteers.

Legacy of the Spill

Lebanese Environmental Minister Yacoub Sarraf called
the spill "the biggest environmental disaster in Lebanon's
history." Scientists, fishermen, and activists were particularly concerned
for local marine ecosystems. Eggs from bluefin tuna, a species already driven
to the edge by overfishing, are particularly sensitive to such contamination.
The oil covered the beaches just as endangered sea turtles were hatching, killing
an untold number of hatchlings.

The costs of the disaster, in terms of fishing, tourism, and cleanup, have
been estimated at up to $200 million. Although the United States provided
Israel with the jets and ordinance that caused the oil spill, the U.S.
government refused to contribute more than $5 million to the cleanup effort.

The environmental damage was not restricted to the oil spill. The total fuel
capacity of the storage tanks at the Jiyeh plant was approximately 75,000 cubic
meters. None of the oil was salvaged, meaning that what did not spill into the
sea or seep into the ground burned up. The blaze lasted 10 days, sending toxic
fumes into the surrounding area, including greater Beirut, with a population of
over two million residents. Plumes of black smoke were visible for over 40
miles. Ash deposits covered a wide area, more than a
foot deep in some places.

Contrasting Reactions in Congress

Congressional Democrats in large part recognized the extent of the disaster
in the Gulf of Mexico, and were outspoken in their denunciation of BP and
others responsible. For example, Rep. Jan Schakowski (D-IL) declared
that "the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf region is one of biblical
proportions, and the economic and emotional toll on the people there is beyond
devastating," insisting that the "responsible parties must be held
accountable." Similarly, Diana DeGette (D-CO) declared,
"This is a massive environmental disaster that we are really going to be
living with and dealing with for many years to come...We're really going to
have to hold BP's feet to the fire and make sure businesses are adequately
compensated." Other members of Congress were clear that they would insure
that those at fault would be held responsible, with Majority Whip Jim Clyburn
(D-SC) declaring
that "it is important that BP be held fully accountable for their
negligence" and Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT) insisting, "We need to make companies pay."

Yet when the victims of a massive oil spill are not the predominantly white
residents along the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, but instead are
Arabs living in the eastern Mediterranean, their perspective is very different.
Shakowski, DeGette, Clyburn, and DeLauro - along with the overwhelming
majority of their House Democratic colleagues - joined their Republican
counterparts in not only refusing to demand Israel be held accountable, but
actually defending the Israeli assault. Like most targets of the Israeli war on
Lebanon that summer, the Jiyeh power plant and its fuel tanks had no relation
with the militant group Hezbollah, the alleged target of the Israeli attacks.
Just two days after the bombing and the resulting oil spill, however, the U.S.
House of Representatives - in a resolution that passed by a 410-8
vote, referred
to the Israeli attacks as "appropriate action[s] to defend itself."
Congress even went as far as claiming that such attacks against Lebanon's
civilian infrastructure were "in accordance with international
law."

Such an assertion runs counter to a broad consensus of international legal
authorities, however. For example, Amnesty International concluded,
after extensive research and analysis that included a review of Israeli
interpretations of the laws of war, that the "Israeli forces committed
serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,
including war crimes." The International Red Cross, long recognized as
the guardian of the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war, declared that
Israel violated the principle of proportionality in the conventions as well as
the prohibition against collective punishment. Similarly, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Louise Arbour - who served as a prosecutor in the
international war crimes tribunals on Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia - noted
how the Israeli government was engaging in war crimes and Jan Egeland, head of
United Nations relief operations, referred to the
"disproportional response" by Israel to Hezbollah's
provocations - such as the attack on the Jiyeh power plant - as
"a violation of international humanitarian law."

The House resolution also insisted that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon were
in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, which grants the right of
self-defense. None of the congressional offices I contacted, however, was able
to explain how this kind of environmental warfare constituted legitimate
self-defense. Furthermore, a reading of the UN Charter reveals that Article 33
requires all parties to "first of all, seek a solution by negotiation,
enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to
regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own
choice," which Israel had refused to do. John B. Larson (D-CT), speaking
in reference to Republican apologists for the major oil companies, declared,
"I don't know how anyone could side with the CEO of BP over the
victims of the Gulf oil spill at a time like this." He has been unable to
explain, however, how he and his fellow Democrats could side the Israeli
government in this heinous act of environmental warfare.

Political Fallout?

Interestingly, the willingness by such congressional representatives to
accept such large-scale environmental destruction and other war crimes as
legitimate acts of self-defense did not prompt any major environmental groups
or other key liberal constituencies to withdraw their support. Instead,
leading environmental groups endorsed the re-election of scores of Democratic
supporters of Israel's attacks on Lebanon, essentially communicating that
politicians who defend serious acts of ecological sabotage need not worry about
the political consequences of their actions.

One of the most important lessons of environmentalism is the understanding
of the interconnectedness of the world's ecology: that we are living on
one planet. The willingness of so many Democrats in Congress to
self-righteously decry the negligence of BP for causing a massive oil spill on
America's shores only to defend the wanton destruction of U.S.-provided
weaponry that caused a massive oil spill on foreign shores primarily affecting people
of color may be indicative of a kind of environmental racism.

If the planet is going to survive, both politicians and self-described
environmental organizations must defend the environment whatever the
geopolitics of a particular region and whoever the most immediate victims of
its destruction may be.