Hezbollah’s Case For Itself

Hey, did you know that the “resistance’s” goal is to help “preserve sovereignty, independence, and freedom, and the liberation of all occupied territories?”

Hezbollah’s No 2, Sheikh Naim Kassem has given us a glimpse of how Hezbollah will be fighting for its relevance in the coming period. In a lecture to Arab university professors from Tunisia, [...]

The PR Battle Over Samir Kuntar

Both Hezbollah and Israel are gearing up for a big day of propaganda over what Samir Kuntar represents.

Who is Samir Kuntar?
Is he a hero returning to his home victoriously after being jailed and tortured at an Israeli dungeon for righteously fighting a murderous, land-grabbing regime? Or is he a terrorist baby-killer who was magnanimously released [...]

Are There Really Two Hezbollahs?

Is slicing the Party of God into good elements and bad elements a sensible policy?
How central is the “military wing?”
Today, the British Home Office banned “the entire military wing of Hezbollah” from the UK, supposedly as a rebuke over their disruptive role in Iraq. In the British decision, there was an implied message: There is [...]

Organized Terror Will Always Trump Armed Mobs

The latest Tripoli explosion is a sign that the pro-Syrian Alawites are shifting their tactics. To survive, the supporters of the Future Movement will have to adapt.

The Tripoli front.
The pro-Syrian Alawites have always been a minority in Tripoli, but two things have given them advantage in the past: A strategic geographical isolation with access control, [...]

Beirut Pundit Smells Regional Package Deal

Lebanese veteran pundit Rajeh El Khoury suspects a grand regional bargain behind the Doha accord.
Should we be thanking Bush and Ahmedinejad for this coffee? (Reuters)
In today’s article in Annahar, Mr. Khoury couldn’t help but notice a deluge of good news in the region, citing 5 specific items:
1- The miraculous birth of the Doha accord
2- The [...]

Now The Hard Part

The Doha agreement diffuses the current crisis and everyone will immediately feel the benefits. But the real issues remain to be solved.
Dismantling the scar (photo credit: Reuters)
Nothing beats the sense of relief the Lebanese are feeling today except perhaps the realization that they will be able to celebrate in the heart of the now-liberated [...]

Fudge Country

The tiny Arab emirate of Qatar is actively seeking to become a land where extremes coexist.

Can Bin Jassem seal the deal?
When Aljazeera was first launched in Qatar, it sported a slogan considered to be a novel idea back then in the Arab world: “The opinion and the other opinion”. Their Anchor Faysal el Qassem became [...]

Tactical Weakness?

Bending with the wind, March 14 was apparently neither shocked nor awed.
A new theory that is gaining currency is that March 14 intentionally turned the other cheek (and handed their weapons) to let Hezbollah and its allies fall into a trap. Here are some of the arguments being made to support that theory:
From Lebanon Updates: [...]