Hezbollah is poking the Israeli snake hoping that a “foolish” reaction would reduce the pressure on Gaza (and on Hezbollah’s internal political situation). Will it work?
We have a big pile of bloody limbs…
Events in Gaza have a mysterious way of echoing themselves in Lebanon. Take for instance the year 2006 when the Israelis got crazy in Gaza to free a soldier in Hamas’ captivity. A few days later, Hezbollah daredevils expressed their “solidarity” by capturing and killing Israeli soldiers of their own, causing the devastating July war.
The result of that botched war was that Hezbollah ended up gaining more stature in the Arab world. In fact, most of Lebanon’s political problems today stem from Hezbollah’s insistence on reaping the benefits of “winning” that war.
In that light, it would be easy to understand why angry calls in Israel for killing Mr. Nassrallah are music to the Sayyed’s ears. The angrier the Israelis are, the more reckless their reaction will be, the more Hezbollah will benefit, the more Gaza will benefit.
Mr. Nassrallah taunted the Israelis by showing up in public and by deliberately chosing gory words to describe the severed Israeli limbs that could or could not be in Hezbollah’s possession. After all, the only evidence that they exist comes from Al-Akhbar, Hezbollah’s mouthpiece, which conveniently chose not to publish pictures of the limbs for “humanitarian reasons”.
Al-Akhbar’s testimony is sketchy for two reasons: First, Al-Akhbar was the same source that “witnessed” Hezbollah’s “largest ever maneuvers” last year; an event that turned out to be more sizzle than fact. Second, Al-Akhbar was not shy during the July war of publishing gory pictures of Lebanese children blown apart by Israeli bombs. We are therefore excused to find their “humanitarian” argument hollow. In other words, Mr. Nassrallah could be bluffing…Again. (Here’s a challenge to Al-Akhbar’s team: If you really do have those pictures, why don’t you email a copy to me? If I’m convinced, I’ll tell everyone that I saw them without publishing them)
Hotheaded Israelis are making news by clamoring for Sayyed Nassrallah’s head, but there are signs that the Israelis are not taking the bait this time. Yigal Walt writes in Yideot Ahranot, an Israeli newspaper, that “there is no need to kill Hezbollah’s leader, who is quickly becoming an Israeli asset”:
At his current weakened state, Nasrallah is an asset to Israel. Just like Iran’s Ahmadinejad, his contemptible rhetoric merely serves to alienate Hizbullah from growing parts of humanity. Killing him will eliminate this strategic asset, turn him into a martyr, give Israel-bashers some more ammunition, and likely renew rocket attacks on the northern front. There is also no telling who would be stepping into his robe – after all, Nasrallah himself “came to power” after Israel assassinated his predecessor. [..] Weakened and in hiding, Nasrallah increasingly feels the need to sink lower in order to garner some attention.
So what’s your opinion on this? Do you think Sayyed Nassrallah is bluffing? And if so, does that mean that he’s internally weakened? How do you think the outcome of Gaza will affect Hezbollah’s Lebanese position?
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society, business and politics since February 2005.
To Israel, they prefer a coward (Nasrallah) living in a hole somewhere under civilian women and children who comes out once in a while to make fool of himself! Nowonder he is an asset!!!
Well , I came to find out that it does not matter what
Nasrallah says or do everybody is ready to translate situations into our Lebanese politics , first of all I’m not with Syria. second Nasrallah is known to be honest, even in Israel they believe what he says . Why would he be bluffing about the bodies , it is in his interest to keep the honest reputation so he’s not going to screw it up now, and he is trying to flee some of our lebanese sons from Israeli jail.
I don’t agree with having weapons other than the army but what does it have to do with Nasrallah bluffing ???
I feel we just want to be against Nasrallah just because we are against him . And we want to follow our Leaders even if they switch places .
If Walid junblatt will announce tomorrow morning that he support Syria, I bet you that most of the Druze will support Syria .( I am Durzi and I know us better).
Wake up everybody…. wake up and be fair.
Finally there is a reaction about Nasrallah’s speech.
Let us be clear about something, I don’t suppose that Nasrallah is bluffing. There was a war in the summer of 2006 and not a picnic. People died and were injured having body parts flying. And I am sure Hizbulah was able to collect some remains of injured or dead soldiers. It makes complete sense and no need for a shitty paper like Al-Akhbar to prove it! no army in the world can save every single thing of his soldiers. But whether the parts exist or not that is completely not the point, it doesn’t matter now!!!!
What a shameful day for us Lebanese muslims and christians, were our leader comes out and boast about having heads, legs, arms, and around half or 2/3 of a body!!!!
Why did he do such a disgusting thing?
Maybe coz Every time nasrallah gives a speech something big has to be in it. That is a strategy to keep him important and god like. It became a rule that every time nasrallah gives a speech he should fire the people up with strong stand. In the war he told to watch the isreali ship buring live, after the war he said how much rockets he has, then about a new weapon that could change everything, but what a shameful thing when u run out of ideas you start talking and trying to win support with human body parts. What a bad argument when u say that isreali army is lying since it said it leaves no one behind but leaves hands behind. WHAT A BAD F***ING ARGUMENT
What should he have done:
You have body parts fine, u tell the red cross which will negotiate this issue secretly. And maybe you will be able to release some prisoners (Lebanese or Palestinian) if the isrealis really want to retrieve them. But now no way the isrealis will negotiate this. After this Even I wouldn’t!!!!
Lets be very clear, the day Nassrallah gave that speech was a black day, a day that humiliated the Lebanese, especially the muslim shi3as.
We are not monsters whoever our enemy is.
PS: If they kill Nasrallah, they will have na3eem kasim on their hands which will be worse for both Lebanese and Isreal.
Peddling body parts to Israel is really pathetic even by Nasrallah’s standards. I think this is yet another proof that the two captives are actually dead… why else would he feel compelled to start bargaining with whatever limbs or internal organs IDF left behind in 2006?
Somebody please tell this body parts profiteer and necrophiliac, that his merchandise isn’t worth much. Since according to Jewish traditions, it is enough to bring to burial even one cell of a dead Jewish person, and in extreme situations, it’s OK to declare a person dead, and not bury him at all.!
His extortionist methods are not new to Judaism. Jewish scholars and religious leaders did face the same issues thousands of years back ( back to the Roman empire times BTW ), and there is a well established adjudication about this matter of blackmailing Jews regarding their dead and their captives.
He has to expect that we are people with some intelligence, and not just pieces of flesh.
Bluffing or not isnt whats important… again hizzi media proved its efficiency and created ripples across both Lebanon and Israel with contradicting reactions on either side. Nasralla is shouting and jumping to be noticed and yr right Mustapha he is after attention and in essence what he’s saying is “lets talk guys”. Seems to me like he needs some sort of achievment, either a swap or a military operation would benefit hizz out of this tight spot they’re in now… maybe he took benladen’s reprimand to heart or something lol
At present, any settlement hizz undertakes internally seriously threatens their long term plans mainly to keep their weapons and lebanon for regional “services” and drastic political changes. So creating a diversion even if it leads to war with israel stands to benefit hizz more on all levels,than a resolution to the standoff with M14 and the rest of the world. Those were my 2 cts sorry for the lengthy post
Nasrallah the Embalmer thus gives fresh meaning to his claim that Hezbollah is stockpiling arms. When you side with him, you’re certainly going out on a limb…
Why should the Israelis bother assassinating him? I don’t think he wields real power anyway.
I would like to make a comment about one of your readers who said that Nasrallah is trying to free some of our lebanese sons from Israeli jail.
The last time he tried to free them (There were only 2 of them)1500 Lebanese were killed and much of Lebanon’s infrastructure were destroyed. Wouldn’t make more sense to free the hundreds of Lebanese sons who are in Syria’s jails, after all he is a friend and ally of the Syrian regime, and many of those prisoners are Shiite themselves.
For those that grew up listening to Nasralah’s rhetoric and ‘truth-telling’ you must have hard time reconciling the events of the last 2 years with this mehdi-like figure. Folks wake up, he’s just another political player and a damn good one at it. He knew his audience too well and fed them what they wanted to hear.
Since the Syrian pullout he lost his ‘magic’, add to that the disastrous consequences of the ‘divine victory’ war, the humiliating ineffectiveness of tent city, not to mention the constant tire burnings and red-line warnings.
Must be frustrating for such an egocentric figure to witness the crumbling of his grandeur and be totally ineffective to reverse it. Desperate means calls for desperate measures, one thing for sure trading body parts is a new low for the ‘sayyed’.
I just why Gemayyel,Jumblat and Geagea got pissed off when Nasrallah talked about the dead israeli soldiers remains….are they that concerned about the well being of israeli soldiers????
I didn’t see them that pissed when we all saw Kana’s dead children’s remains…..
SHAME SHAMEEEEEEEEE
My first thought was -
Is he using a giant freezer? Large specimen jars with formaldehyde? Sort of Frankensteinish. So typically Nasrallah. Show business at it’s best.
I think it’s all about provocation. Poor Nasi – he is in really desperate NEED of a war. I can’t think of any other way for him to escape the corner he has backed himself into without it. Could be a war against Israel or perhaps against Lebanon …. but he does NEED that war because he’s got to have his “divine victory” – anything less is complete Humiliation and he already said that is never going to be an option.
Interesting arguments Mustapha.
Indeed, Israel has little interest in killing Nasrallah. Better have a leader that is hiding like a dog. And better keep the focus on the Sunni-Shiite confrontation. Why give them opportunity to reunite against Israel?
Nasrallah: “The government cannot steal our rights. We want a fair share in the government and ALL institutions.”
Except in matters of missiles. All rights reserved to Hezbollah. Long live the missile.
My feelings on Nasrallah’s comments on the remains of Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 war:
1- Nasrallah wouldn’t release any major public statement without getting it cleared by Iran. The belief that it
would cause Israel to act irrationally in response is highly unlikely (and sort of naïve), although it mirrors Ahmadinejad’s approach to world politics. My thinking is that it is an intentional polarizing statement rallying the true believers on both sides to their own respective positions and therefore maintaining the wide gulf between the 2 extremes. Why? Because a drift towards the center means compromise – a world inhabited by rational and reasonable individuals – and the extremists (hardly rational or reasonable folks) relegated to irrelevance.
2- My impression is that Hezbollah serves more as a vehicle of political control (by both internal and external actors) within Lebanon than its more promoted self defense role against Israel. It rejects being folded into the Lebanese army as would normally be the case in any independent country (or at least one trying to become independent). One country, one army. Nasrallah’s behavior is the attempt to stir the pot in order to keep Hezbollah relevant in the eyes of his supporters.
3- Nasrallah also has to keep himself relevant. There seems to be a need on his part for attention – what gets said or done is irrelevant as long as it gets noticed. A long time ago some publicity hungry Hollywood mogul supposedly made the following comment; “I don’t care what they say about me as long as they spell my name correctly”.
There are other more meaningful ways to catch Israel’s attention if the purpose is to ease the pressure on Gaza. Effectively, by the current approach, it emphasizes that Hezbollah is not really a major revolutionary power (think of the Viet-Minh/ Viet-Cong) but one totally dependent on propaganda and unsophisticated bluster to hide the weaknesses.
4- As for Gaza itself, Hezbollah’s position continues, and will continue to be (with Iran in control), the training of Hamas and the supplying of rockets. That won’t change in the short term.
Shows how much you know idiots. al-Akhbar showed the pictures of children in Qana to show the violent Israeli aggression and awaken the world (which seems to be dead). Whether you like it not, Hizbullah, Sayyed Nasrullah and the likes of Imad Mughniyyeh are staying till the Zionist entity vanishes and world then can live in peace. Iran is getting stronger everyday, world stupid and illegal pressures against it will not work.
If Zionists value their one soldier Gelaad Shalit, we value our THOUSANDS of prisoners in Israeli dungeons being tortured by electricity, boiling water and perhaps chemicals, and rarely allowed to be examined by Red Cross. They value the lands they stole, we value OUR lands, not just Shebaa Farms but also the Lebanese occupied 7 Villages, Ghajar, Golan, ALL Palestine the Arabian land. Until we get our rights in living in peace with justice, we have the right to resist which is an internationally recognized law except in the minds of ignorants and one-eyed people.