Thursday, August 10, 2006 New Arab hero JERUSALEM (AFP) Hassan Nasrallah takes on mighty Israel and is winning
The Arab and Islamic world has a new hero. In countries from Morocco to Indonesia, Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is being feted as the man who took on mighty Israel and is winning. Even in London, some marchers demanding a ceasefire in the Lebanon conflict on Saturday carried placards emblazoned with portraits of the charismatic chief of the Lebanese resistance group that captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in a bid to force an exchange of prisoners with the Jewish state. Nasrallah may not have predicted the ferocity of the response to his groups actions, but in the month since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his air force against Lebanon Hizbollah has continued to rain rocket fire across the border into Israel. Some of the young London marchers chanted slogans urging Nasrallah to target Tel Aviv with his missiles, a wish echoed at demonstrations across the Muslim world. In Morocco, they shouted Well-loved Nasrallah, destroy Tel Aviv! in Casablanca on Sunday, as well as We are all Hizbollah, we are all Nasrallah! and Allah, give victory to Hizbollah!. In Spain, where the countrys half million Muslims are regarded as moderate and well-integrated into the population of 44 million, support for Nasrallah is strong within their community. Nasrallah fights to liberate his country according to Riay Tatary of the Union of Muslim Communities in Spain, expressing his support for the resistance. Protestors in the capital of Austria, which is home to about 400,000 Muslims, chanted Nasrallah, please, bombard Tel Aviv! at a 130-strong rally on Saturday. In Jordan, which has a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel, protesters brandish huge portraits of the Hizbollah chief and chant for a Hizbollah victory. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shias thronged Baghdad on Friday chanting Death to Israel! nd Resistance! in a massive demonstration of support for Hizbollah. It was the largest foreign show of support for the Lebanese guerrillas since Israel launched its offensive. In Pakistan, Nasrallah may not yet be as popular a figure as Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, but large portraits of the bearded and bespectacled leader, wearing the black turban reserved for Shia scholars, feature at increasingly frequent anti-Israel demonstrations, especially by the minority Shia community. He has also attracted the support of some of Pakistans majority Sunni community for resisting Israeli attacks. Afghanistans population is also predominantly Sunni, but there too support for Hizbollah is growing. This is a country where the Lebanon conflict has a special resonance and where Western troops have been blamed for scores of civilian deaths since a coalition led by Israels ally the US toppled the Taliban regime in 2001. Given the omnipresence of foreign forces in the capital Kabul, however, portraits of Nasrallah are generally not on open display. I can foresee the day they will be the heroes of the Islamic world, Kabul university lecturer Mohammed Zubair said. Hizbollah is a terrorist group, but by the ignorant and unfair attacks of Israel on innocent people and sovereign countries, such terrorist organisations become legitimate in peoples minds. In Indonesia, the Muslim worlds most populous nation, Nasrallahs status is rising amid increased anti-Israel protests. Bangladesh even named a bridge after Hizbollah, and it was opened by the countrys junior communications minister. I named the bridge Hizbollah because of our love for the Lebanese resistance group, Salahuddin Ahmed said. Hizbollah is the only group which is fighting Israel, and the bridge is named after the group as a mark of honour, he said. Support for Hizbollah is also as strong within some parts of Israel itself as it is in Lebanon, the groups base since its formation in 1982 in response to Israels invasion of the country. Among the narrow streets and alleyways of Arab East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967, cassettes and CDs of songs praising Hizbollah and Nasrallah are on sale. Nasrallah, 45, is a skilled orator with a sense of humour unusual among fundamentalist movements in the Middle East. He was elected Hizbollah secretary-general in 1992 after Israel killed his predecessor Abbas Al Musawi, his wife and three-year-old daughter in a air strike. Jerusalem Arab traders bereft of the usual tourist custom huddle to discuss the latest devlopments in Lebanon and Israel. Im happy to see Israeli soldiers drop like flies, said Jabra Nazmi, 25, owner of a store that sells cloth. Killed Hizbollah fighters? They go to paradise as martyrs. Khaled Tamimi, a 42-year-old boutique proprietor, said people admire Nasrallah as they admired (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein. Hes someone who has stood up to Israel that has occupied us for 40 years. He explained that Palestinians feel so let down by Arab presidents and kings that they bestow hero status on whatever leader hostile to Israel and the United States. http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?CategoryId=2&ArticleId=117741 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. 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