"Why is Lebanon more important than Darfur?" (Hasdai Westbrook)

The journalist & blogger Hasdai Westbrook asks a good question here, which also happens to be a very important question. Of course, I can already recite in advance many of the irrelevant, idiotic, and/or disingenuous answers that various people would offer (most of which would involve changing the subject). But what, if any, are the answers worth taking seriously?

--Jeff Weintraub
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Hasdai Westbrook (small-d)
Posted August 17th, 2006 by HW
Why is Lebanon More Important Than Darfur?

The killing and gang-rape continue. The peace agreement has proved fictional, the African Union force near-useless, and half of Darfur’s people have no access to humanitarian aid thanks to attacks on aid workers. At least 200,000 people have already died [actually, over 400,000 --JW], a number that could be dwarfed if current conditions persist. So why no international pressure on Khartoum? Why no cease fire, no peacekeeping force of Turks, French and Italians? Why no deployment of troops even to protect the refugees now being hunted by the Janjaweed in Chad?

Perhaps if Israel were involved, this apathy could be reversed. There seems to be comparatively little outcry at Muslims killing Muslims, or blacks killing blacks. No, it takes Israeli military action to wake the world’s ire. By this perverse logic Israel should undertake an act of humanitarian aggression against the people of Darfur. Just send a handful of Israeli commandos to shoot at Africans. That would get the issue on the security council agenda.