Hezbollah's War Wins Support Among Arab Pro-Democracy Reformers
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Mona Mina, a Cairo physician, has almost nothing in common with Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim group whose militia fought Israel in a monthlong war in Lebanon.
Mina, 48, is a Christian and a secular political activist who has links with parties that traditionally oppose religious- based groups like Hezbollah, whose name means ``Party of God.'' She rejects the imposition of religious law on civic life as advocated by Hezbollah, and says she believes in non-violence, an attitude distant from the bellicose words and practices of Nasrallah.
Yet she's a big Hezbollah fan.
``I support Hezbollah because it liberated south Lebanon, she said in an interview. ``OK, yes, years ago, Hezbollah liquidated some secular and leftist figures. But then they focused their efforts on fighting the Israelis. They have won our admiration.
In the wave of pro-Hezbollah opinion flooding the Middle East, the positive judgment of self-styled secular democrats is perhaps the most striking. On other occasions they would resist identification with an Islamist political organization.
For the U.S. President George W. Bush, pro-democracy reformers are supposed to be the antidote to militant organizations like Hezbollah. The group, founded in 1982, is considered a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. State Department says it is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous attacks on western and Israeli interests, including the 1983 bombings that killed 241 U.S. and 58 French soldiers in Beirut, and the 1994 attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Altering the Balance
Where the U.S. sees in Hezbollah a front for Iran's theocratic government, though, pro-Hezbollah advocates see it as altering the Middle East's political and military balance to Israel's disadvantage.
``Hezbollah is doing things that no government does, said Anthony Boulous, 22, a university student in Beirut. ``Not only did it fight off Israel, but it provides relief to the people who suffered in the war better than any of our so-called governments would.
Boulous, a Maronite Christian who took part in Lebanese pro- democracy protests in the past, said he was comfortable with Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers in July, an act that ignited the war.
`An Adventure'
``Detaining the two soldiers was an adventure, but one I support, he said. ``Hezbollah doesn't scare me. Israel does.
The feelings aren't universal, though many who disagree are afraid to speak out, said Hisham Kassem, editor of the Cairo- based newspaper al-Masry al-Youm.
``It's a convenient way to vent frustrations: `The democrats can't get anything done, but Hezbollah did,' said Kassem, 46. ``This is all dangerous. It's wrong to praise Nasrallah for bringing so much damage on Lebanon. There's a lot of stupidity oozing out.
About 1,200 Lebanese were killed and 4,500 wounded in the conflict, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat said on Aug. 16. Israeli government and police officials say 159 Israelis were killed and 2,015 injured.
Almost 1 million people in Lebanon were displaced, 15,000 homes and 630 kilometers (394 miles) of highway destroyed during the monthlong conflict, Raouf Youssef, Beirut director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Rebuilding will cost $3.5 billion and take years, he said.
A Feeling of Impotence
Kassem's conjecture is that pro-Hezbollah sentiment reflects the feeling of impotence among people battling entrenched Middle East governments, including Egypt's. President Hosni Mubarak has ruled the most populous Arab country for 25 years.
George Isaac, a leader of the Egyptian opposition coalition known as Enough that spearheaded a campaign for greater democracy last year, is among those calling on pro-democracy advocates to rally for Hezbollah because it held off Israel.
``We should at least hold rallies on a daily basis in solidarity with the Lebanese resistance, Isaac, 62, said in an interview in Cairo. ``History will always remember that a man named Hassan Nasrallah succeeded with a small group of men doing what others failed to do with vast resources and sophisticated weapons.
Some anti-Mubarak activists are trying to use the shared positive appraisal of Hezbollah as a way to bridge divisions among forces opposed to the president.
Bolder
Alaa Seif al-Islam, a secular 23-year-old blogger who police threw in jail last May because he took part in street demonstrations, urged Islamic youth to be bolder in their protests.
``Look at how optimistic and proud Hezbollah's adventure made us, he wrote. ``Isn't being young to be daring and a bit reckless? Don't you all burn inside with a need to act, the need to do something?
Support in Egypt for Hezbollah cuts across several fault lines that divide society. Nasrallah was praised by Sunni Muslim scholars who usually disdain the Shiite version of Islam as errant.
``The attacks, killing and destruction taking place in Lebanon by Israeli forces are injustice in itself, said Ali Gomaa, the chief Sunni cleric in Cairo. ``This gives the Lebanese the right to defend themselves. He was responding to some Sunni clerical opinion in the Persian Gulf region that was critical of Hezbollah.
Egypt's main Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, took the same tack, saying that attacks on Hezbollah from a religious angle reflected ``fanaticism.''
A spokesman for the Coptic Church, Egypt's largest Christian sect, also defended Hezbollah's actions. ``All Arabs must be proud of Hezbollah's gallantry,'' said Bishop Rafik Gris.
``Maybe when Lebanese begin to take stock and criticize Hezbollah, people elsewhere will also take a second look, said Kassem, the newspaper editor. ``For now, there's only one opinion, and it's that Hezbollah is a good thing.
Original article posted here.
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