Sameer Quntar- Arab Hero?
I just finished watching the live al-Jazeera viewing of the celebrations for the release of Sameer Quntar. Whilst I was watching, I was a bit confused…Hezbollah had organised a rally that seemed to suggest a large scale military victory. It sort of reminded me of rallies during the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser, rallies at a time when Arabs truly had something to be proud of. So I assumed that Mr Quntar must have done something to be truly proud of. When I asked my father who he was exactly he said that he’d carried out some kind of military operation against the Israelis in 1979- he couldn’t remember what exactly but seemed certain that this was another victory for Hezbollah, especially since ‘we’ had returned the Israeli soldiers dead in return for Sameer.
So I got on the net to find out exactly who he is. My first port of call was -and I am embarassed to admit this- Wikipedia. I was shocked by the account recorded there:
After drowning Danny in the sea in front of Einat (as Ahmed Al-Brass, Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed, and Abdel Majeed Asslan served as look outs and backup cover for Kuntar), Kuntar turned his attention towards the 4 year-old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the toddler’s head, knocking her to the ground. Kuntar then dragged the toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find and laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her arms, Kuntar struggled with the toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar repeatedly beat her on the head with the butt of his rifle and stomping on her body, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued beating her over the head until her skull was crushed and she was dead.
However I assumed that this may just be a gross exageration by Israeli writers and libellous accusations, so I continued my search. Google seemed to bring forth very similar results and thus I decided to turn to the Arab blogsphere. Almost all Arab blogs reached the same conclusion- Mr Quntar was a cold blooded murderer!
Lebanese Bloggers Blacksmith of Lebanon and Anecdotes from a Banana Repulic recounted a similar tale:
“Kuntar went over to Einat Haran and hit her head twice with the butt of his rifle, with the intent of killing her,” wrote the judges in their verdict. “The other defendant also struck her head forcefully. As a result of the blows, Einat suffered skull fractures and fatal brain damage, causing her death. They murdered the hostages – a helpless father and daughter, in cold blood.” They wrote in the sentence, “By these acts the defendants reached an all-time moral low… an unparalleled satanic act… the punishments we are about to impose on the defendants cannot begin to match the brutality of their actions…”
Even neutral observers such as Caledoniya seem to find it hard to put forward a decent argumet in favour of Sameer Quntar and leave it to the reader to decide. Even the likes of Robert Fisk,could only say to Al Jazeera that: “It’s regarded as being the final chapter of the 2006 war…The Israelis certainly lost that war, they did not get their prisoners back – not until now and they’re getting them back dead.”
In todays rally in South Beirut, Quntar and his four companions were greeted by Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, at a mass rally held in their honour in south Beirut.
After hugging and kissing each of the former prisoners, Nasrallah addressed the tens of thousands of people in the crowd, many of them waving the yellow and green flag of the movement, hailing the “victory”.
“This people and this nation and this country that gave a clear picture to the world … cannot be defeated”
So, pro-Quntar commentators view his release as “A victory for Arab resistance” but victory at what price? As Robert Fisk went on to say that “(During the 2006 War) more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers, all died for absolutely nothing and that’s what today’s prisoner exchanges prove.” which is exactly what I see…whether Quntar is a hero or not, what exactly does his release do for the Arab World?
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Google a picture of a 4yr old girl and ask yourself if you killed her, would you be a hero. It makes me want to cry.
I quite agree with you but there does seem to be an overwhelming consensus in his favour. Personally I think killing children is NEVER justified whatever the cause
Of course there is an overwhelming consensus in his favor. Samir Kuntar is the perfect hero for Lebanon. Like they say in his home town: “Samir Kuntar is the conscience of the Arab World.”
And none of you can seriously deny this.
I’m not defending him- I think it’s disgusting that he be idolised like this. And yeh I agree it speaks volumes about the Arab world when he is raised as an icon like this. It’s a sad thing and certainly nothing that ANY Arab or Muslim should ever be proud of.
Yeah, nice words. But it’s not as if Kuntar is even so special. He comes from a long line of such heroes, and the consensus is that he is a hero. That’s the prevailing attitude, and you are whistling in a hurricane. As soon as that gets tiring to you, remember that if you emigrate you could always pass yourself off as being from some other nation.
It is time to begin picking our heroes based on an affirmation of life, than a preoccupation with death. We were put on this good earth to live, not to kill, and not to die, before our time.
I’m glad to see that the Arab world, at least on the internet and in their newspaper editorials, seems to have serious doubts about Samir Kuntar’s heroism. And also questions the value-system that idolized a man such as that. Perhaps there is some hope for the world.
a damned bastard he is
maybe he read the Report of 15 April 1948, dossier 179/110/17 GS, “Secret” quoted in Collins and Lapierre, O Jerusalem! 276; Milstein, Out of Crisis Comes Decision, 267. about how the Israelis killed a baby in front of him mother “in the most brutal way”.
maybe he did read that. but it is not a justification.
maybe he read the whole thing about Deir Yassin and so he felt that killing an Israeli toddler won’t be such a bad thing.
by 1978 the Israelis were insisting that there is nothing called the Palestinian people. you kill their parents, rape their sisters and uproot them to refugee camps and then you claim they don’t even exist….this can trigger some bloody rage.
but what he did is still wrong though
he is called “an Arab hero” because he descended down to the level of the Israelis, and this is an Arab moral crisis.
I applaud you for questioning how a person who commits such acts can be considered a hero. However, if you seek a truthful answer and are willing to accept a painful truth, then ask: “what exactly does his release do for Islam?”.
If you seek the truth then view this conflict for what it is; this is a religious conflict. If it were about nationalities it could have been solved in 1948 and the Lebanese civil war between Muslims and Christians would have never started.
In this conflict, the Arab World is really the Muslim World (dar al Salam) and core to Islam is the principle of duality. The Koran divides up humanity into Muslims and Kafirs (unbelievers). Duality is a complete separation that is ethical, political, cultural and religious. The Muslim has nothing in common with the Kafir; Muhammad’s Allah loves the Muslim and detests the Kafir.
To the Muslim World a 4 year old Jewish girl is a Kafir; an infidel that Muslim Arabs should have no empathy toward.
The fact that you are willing to raise the issue that Quntar murdered a child and you seem to question why he is viewed as a hero is extremely encouraging. I hope you have the opportunity to critique many of the teachings in Islam as you’ll find many answers to your conscientious questions once you start questioning Islam and Muhammad.
Yehuda I do not feel that your statement about duality is universal or even accepted by most Muslims. Any fair minded person, whatever their religion will know that the killing of innocence is wrong and displeasing to God. Im talking about the God that lives in our souls and touches our conscious with what we FEEL is good and bad. This is duality. Each and every person, forget the religion, is called upon to make choices and take responsibility, the high road or the low road. A Muslim, in my view, is someone who takes the high road. A true Jew, Christian, Hindu or Baha’i, if living by the essence of their Faith will never harm another and instead strive day and night to love regardless of anything. Hard, huh?
Yehuda,
Most Muslims, including myself, consider this to be blasphemous. And I completely agree with Omid’s comment.
Hizbullah has had few excuses to justify its military presence in Lebanon, one of which was Lebanese prisoners in Israel (including Qantar) and the other is Sheba farms. Latest developments are a step toward peace and de-militarizing Hizbullah (if Israel comes to respect a peace treaty with Lebanon).
Yehuda:
You are certainly mistaken. Let me give you some examples:
“Remember, Maalik, that amongst your subjects there are two kinds of people: those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you; and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you” (Ali, first Shiite Imam and fourth Muslim Caliph, in a letter to Maalik, the governor of egypt).
“Any one who is worthy of life granted by God (whatever his/her faith), is worthy of receiving bread and butter here (in my temple)” (a notable Muslim, mystique mentor of ancient Iran).
Etc.
i tottaly agree with u mohd, n just 1 word to yehuda before i guess the reason we r all on this page is to seek a truth inorder not judge wrongly so its the same to u before critisizin u need 2 search n learn more so wen u discuss anythin u’ll b confident n sure of n not as u did.
to me the story of kentar is mysterious n has lots of doubts, bt the thing is i trust Hasan Nasrullah n i’m sure there is somethin hidden n i’ll keep on searchin 4 it n i’ll b updatin u n for all of u if u still have ???? all over dis case dnt judge before u’re 100% convinced
Amal:
Kantar is an icon, whether we like it or not. And I think that Nasrallah was insisting on his release just to prove that Hizbullah fights for the common cause of the Lebanese regardless of their faith or political affiliation. Some argue that Kantar is more of a national symbol of resistance for lebanese.
Killing a child is not heroic or symbolic. It is murder, and hardly a way of effective resistance. By exemplifying such terrorists as heroes we are aiding the extremists in a hopeless battle against ourselves, not the “enemy.” There are better and more intelligent ways one can resist foreign terrorism, it is a pity to see no one exploring those other methods.
mohd i agree, bt to me i need 2 search im sur that kentar is a gr8 person goin to arrest israeli soldiers to free other prisoners is sumthin that we r all proud of and cant deny. wt i reached from my searches n i’d like to share it with everyone here, wen he took danny (the israeli physicist)and his little daugther he wanted him alive this is first of all and 2nd the israeli soldiers and police were following them and 3rd they indicated up that what happended to the father and the daughter was seen by was it seen and logically speaking persons who are followed by israeli and wants the prisoners alive and doesn’t want to be arrested will stand and watch the father dying and then kill slowly the little girl its not logical. coz if we continued the story we can see that the to guys with al kantar dies and al kantar and his other freind gets severe injuries and till now al kantar has a bullet in one of his lungs (this i read it in an english website since u trust english writers more). so think and decide.
what made sense to me is what i read in one of the arabic websites while they were rushing to the boat with the 2 prisoners the soldiers and police was following them they (al kantar and his small group) tried defeating them selves and the prisoners but they got shot down and al kantar and his frnd arrested.
i’ll keep on updatin u if i got anythin else.
Israel showed the world that she is governed by compassion. We feel your pain and admire your glory for not acting on blind hate or aggression. It is a sad day for Lebanon, I really feel sorry people who mistake a cold murderer as a hero, I wish for them true hero to look up to.
i just wanted to tell u that Lebanon has its hero and its Al Sayyed Hasan Nasrullah, and we are not waiting for al Kantar or anyother person to be so.
Dear Amal,
I spend quite some time in Beirut some years back and truly enjoyed my time there. It is a beautiful country with even more beautiful people, today I am sad that Nasrallah and co have forcefully taken over Lebanon, nothing good will come of this and poor Lebanon will be dragged into more conflict and hardship. I feel for the Lebanese people and wish for them the peace and prosperity which they deserve so much.
It’s a shame and crime that Hezbollah, a Iranian export, misuse Lebanon for their political games. I hope that the people of Lebanon will find the strength to bring about internal peace and stability without being pushed around by outside forces. Right now it looks like they just changed from landloard from the Syrians to Hezbollah ownership. Peace be with Lebanon and its innocent people who have suffered for too long.
Well, I must say that this blog and comments are very encouraging. It proves to me that the conflict is not between Muslims and Jews or Muslims and Infadels.
Muslims like you who distinguish between right and wrong based on Human Rights are the jewels and heroes of this world. But please SPEAK UP louder and stronger and condemn individuals by name when they wrong your conscientious beliefs.
Samir Quntar said. “I promise my people and dear ones in Palestine that I and my dear comrades in the valiant Islamic resistance are returning.” He said this to thousands of Hizbollah supporters and they only cheered him. They did not vomit in his presence for how sick he made the world feel in killing a 4 year old girl.
The Jews who massacred in Deir Yassin were dreadful people. Menachim Beigin, their leader, can only be applauded for accepting peace with Egypt, otherwise his policies and actions were dreadful. Israeli policies and actions that jeopardize Palestinian civilians in the cause of defense are also dreadful, but the terrorists who kill in the name of Islam and jeopardized your children are your enemy too. Yet few of you speak up!!
Samir Quntar is praising his cause an an Islamic resistance, and so does Nasrallah. They are just two of the Muslim violators of Human Rights. Nasrallah and his gang committed murder and carnage between Christian and Muslim Lebanese. To save Islam from being branded a religion that worships death and Jihad I beg you to speak up and condemn individuals who are wrong. Your battle is that of words and your voices are sorely missed.
Jews too lack voices when civilians are killed in the name of defense. But that should not stop you nor I in condemning these barbaric acts or people.
Is this 4-year-old girl story a generally recognized version of the event? or some doubt it? Did kantar freely admit it?
Amal, I can see why you regard Nasrallah as a hero. But when an Israeli soldier kills an innocent Palestinian or Lebanese civilian, he is also regarded by some others as a hero. And that makes you the equivalent of that. You shouldn’t be offended if someone calls an Israeli soldier who kills innocent civilians a hero, because you’re resorting to exactly the same thing: you’re backing up aggressors who use terrorism as a tactic to get what they want (which is political power, not peace.)
Nasrallah is not only the enemy of Israelis and Jews.
He is also killing innocent Sunnis, fellow Muslims, to feed his terrorist ideologies (and especially the ideologies of those who fund him.) Anyone who doesn’t conform to his dangerous mission will have to suffer torture in his hands and eventually murder. This is not peace. This guy is the most dangerous thing to ever happen to the Arab world since Saddam, which some people looked upon as a great pan-Arab leader, when in fact he was in charge of genocide, wars, and severe corruption.
Many Muslims think of Nasrallah and his organization as violent enemies who will come after their own brothers and sisters after they’re done with the “Jews.” We know that, because Nasrallah’s already coming after us. This guy is aiming for something much larger than what he says. He’s being funded by the millions to mislead you and others into backing up his aggressive, dirty politics, and religious fundamentalism.
This is coming from a pro-Lebanon, pro-Palestine, pro-peace Arab Muslim who is sick of watching leaders win the support of the public by lying, killing innocent people, and declaring themselves as heroes.. only to have people actually fall for their destructive ideologies. Being powerful does not mean being heroic.
We can do better than this Amal. We are born leaders who will change this world by communicating effectively with each other and exploring more peaceful ways of requesting real, rather than temporary, change. There are more and more Israelis standing up with us, and with Lebanon and Palestine, when we just give them the chance to talk to us and listen to our needs. And it’s these guys who will eventually help us win peace, they are rallying every other day against their own governments, petitioning on our behalf, and setting up human rights organizations for Palestinians, and yet here we are as Arabs – calling people who murder them brutally “heroes.”
The real heroes are going to emerge in the near future, I’m sure of it, and they are the ones who will fight against both Israeli and Hezbollah terrorism, while peacefully challenging their followers.
well .at first , we did heard the story from one side , the israelian , next , how he did not kill her mother if he was interested in killing for killing why no one talk about the other target,read more , third and the most important , how you justify the IDF killing daily palestinian kids , who even did not make a month of there life , how a population can vote for a war criminal to be PM like sharon. *sabra and shatilla , and others ,endless list of HIGH CLASS criminal , my idea is , to reject one you consider a criminal , and you have thousends who is worst , you just lie to your self , reject them all , so you have some idea then , so maybe you convince others to believe in your HIGH value standers …
Well, according to the Israeli sources, the mother was hiding.
We have always rejected Israeli terrorism and condemned it on this site and elsewhere, but that’s not the topic of discussion now is it? Let’s stay relevant. Rejecting extremism from both sides is important, but it won’t help if people keep trying to get us to reject only Israeli terrorism.
I dont think I see anyone justifying any Israeli actions in the west bank/gaza on this thread. In fact, I think most of the posts have been pretty even handed in making clear that killing children is wrong no matter what. Why did Israelis elect Sharon? For the same reasons the Palestinians elected Hamas in their 2006 parliamentary elections: fear(whether rational or not), the accompanying anger that follows it, and discontent with the current situation. The same problematic forces seem to work on both sides – which makes me think sometimes that violent Israelis and Palestininans are at heart the same type of people whose only differences are cosmetic (such as: professed religion, outward appearance, and stated goals for Israel is existance or alck thereof).
Also, as others may have made clear (I think Arabista, Esra’a, and Yehuda), Quntar’s murders are not excusable because of past Israeli actions just as the killing of Palestinian children is not excused because of past Palestinian actions. No collective punishment. I think that is one of the main themes of this thread.
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Amal:
Does Hezbollah still march in the streets chanting, “Oh Nasrullah, our Beloved. Destroy, destroy Israel!” ?
Hassan Nassrullah is indeed a hero
the support for him is overwhelming in the Arab world. more than the support Hamas+Al-Qaeda+The Muslim brotherhood + Al-Ahly FC of Egypt have combined.
something which piss off the Wahabis, pro-America Arabs, pro-Israel Arabs and the Anti-anything-Islamic-Arabs.
The only people he doesn’t piss off is the pro-terrorism, pro-Shiite/Sunni conflict, pro murder, pro religious extremism, and self-hating Arab Muslims.
FYI, these groups are equally destructive, listing them in a form of competition doesn’t really aid your case, it just shows the camp you fall under. Anyone who distinguishes between Sunnis and Shiites (Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah) are dangerous, terrorist-driven and simply pathetic. This guy you are cheering for will be the cause of many civil wars to come, and many innocent deaths. Like the Sunnis who died in Lebanon in his name, is this your Islam? Killing your own brethren? What a pity. No wonder we’re living a curse.
I think Esra’s makes a good point. It may seem cool to admire a leader because he pisses people off. But that’s not real leadership. It’s certainly not the kind of leadership that is out to better the lot of its people.
Much of the Arab world is full of all sorts of emotions. And cunning leaders know how to play to those emotions in consolidating political power.
However, if you really want to help your people, you often have to tone down the rhetoric, and come up with ways to pull people together for the greater good. That may not be as sexy or “cool,” but it works, and it’s time to make things work, with better jobs, with a sense of pride, with a flourishing economy, with environmental protection, and ultimately, with peace.
So that’s the question of Arab leaders. Do you want to seem cool, or do you want to be cool by calming things down, and by making things happen, things which will bring good to your people? Is it about you, or is it about them?
Nissim:
Your argument, as a general approach, makes sense to me. However, I have to ask this: which not-sexy approach may come to bend an arrogant state to the will of internationl community, especially when this state happens to enjoy unlimited support of the (only) superpower of the world?
Mohammad, I guess you’re referring to Israel, and to the support she receives from the U.S.
OK. I’m going to say this as an “insider,” having lived in Israel for my first 7 years, having family there for over 200 years, and having followed closely all the developments there since the inception of the state.
Israel may seem like an “arrogant state” to a great many people in the Middle East. And there is no doubt, that just like any other place in the world, there may well be some highly arrogant people in Israel. However, I would argue that Israel is not an arrogant state. Rather, Israel is a state that it trying to survive, and is doing what she thinks she needs to do to succeed in that effort.
Try to put yourself in Israel’s head. Let’s say you become convinced that there are a great many people who want you dead, an impression which is born out by a great deal of historical evidence. So you’re going to defend yourself as best you can, and not only that, but you’re also going to play the role of “tough guy” because you’re convinced that only that kind of image is going to protect you in the long run. And you even allow a lot of your culture to support and sustain that touch guy image.
However, no matter how tough and arrogant you seem, as part of this image that you’ve created for yourself, you still know, deep in your bones, that it is wrong to kill, and that you are commanded by your Creator to seek peace. And there are many aspects of your culture that point to this softer side of you. But you still can’t appear to be too soft, because you know that there are still people out there who are out to get you.
The picture I’m trying to paint is far more accurate than calling Israel an arrogant state. It’s far more nuanced than that.
Could Israel be doing more to promote peace? Yes. Is there a need to address the injustices of the past, on both sides? Yes.
So what is the answer, Muhammad? You know my answer, my friend: Selling a Vision of Hope. Speak to one another with common sense and with a sense of personal dignity. Invest in one another with jobs that protect the environment. Inspire one another with a sense of hope. Sustain the hope with public diplomacy. And when necessary, and it will be necessary, fight against the forces of extremism, and fight hard, but position the fight within a Vision of Hope. Raise the fight on the ground to a higher moral plain by giving the fight a moral clarity of purpose. In effect, use a Vision of Hope, to beat the extremists at their own game.
What I’m going to say to you, Muhammad, may sound wierd. But I deeply believe with all my heart, that Israel not only wants peace, and is willing to sacrifice for peace, but in many ways, Israel is probably best positioned to bring peace to the Middle East, and to help revive the stagnant economies of the Middle East, and to help bring environmental protection to the world. You may think that I’m crazy. But from everything I know, that’s what I’ve come to believe.
Mohammed Memrian,
From all the sources I have read Kuntar denies “seeing what happened to the child,” but the court convicted him; one report says that Kuntar at one point claimed Israeli crossfire killed the father, but this seems unsubstantiated by other sources.
Tellingly, the celebrations of Kuntar do not rely on any supposed innocence of these crimes.
I am struck by the way in which Kuntar’s infamy actually obscures the real issue of political prisoners, prisoners who have not committed or been convicted of murder but nevertheless are in Israeli prisons, some as detainees with no trial. I think Hezbollah and Lebanon are actually harming the Palestinian cause by trumpeting Kuntar as a hero. The news coverage of celebrations for him are juxtaposed with pictures of the Goldwasser and Regev families’ sombre mourning and really paints a bad picture. I would hate people in the world to hear about future prisoner release initiatives and assume every prisoner committed a violent crime against civilians.
Nissim:
The current Israeli policy seems far more than just a tough-guy-image. It seems that Israel is determined to maintain her own survival through military (especially nuclear) monopoly in the region. In other words, Israel wants to be the only regional superpower and then (as you suggest) play the role of a fair boss.
Latest regional developments, however, have increasingly shown that this policy is ill-defined and probably unsustainable. People link unacceptable human rights record of Israel to its military superiority; and then appears a demand for a group/state to balance Israel’s power. (You know, in the Newtonian version of politics, everybody has to bring its interests as well as strengths to the negotiation table, and interests will consequently be distributed proportional to the strengths. So, if you want to gather scores, you have to be a tough guy as well.) Thus a military race comes into existence.
If there is a wide support of Hizbullah (as there is), that is probably due to above analysis. (Sorry, I don’t buy the idea of Esra’a in this case.)
Reviving stagnant economies, environmental protection, all good things of this sort, have to come after a lasting peace.
With regards to Hizbullah, let me propose a more practical approach toward peace. Before everything else, pay attention that (1) Hizbullah insists that it is working in favor of the Lebanese (releasing Lebanese prisoners, freeing Lebanese land, etc), otherwise it will lose its popular base in Lebanon; and (2) I’m almost sure that Hizbullah may be encouraged to be more loyal to its own interests than those of Iran, for it may be evolved into an absolutely separate entity. Now, Israel may pave the way of demilitarizing Hizbullah through releasing remaining Lebanese prisoners (if there is any… and that is why I see Kantar’s release a step toward peace) and giving up on Shebaa farms, etc. so as to press Hizbullah to hand over its “arm of resistance”, for in such a case there would be nothing to be resisted anymore.
However, regardless of this short-term case, given that the majority of mideasterners have come to accept that Israel is here to stay, in the long run, Israel has to choose just one of these two options if it is willing to bring peace to the region: either give up pursuing tough-guy-image, or give up following military monopoly. These two options together will give rise to more Hizbullah-like groups, again and again.
I do respect your opinions, Mohammad, and I wish it were the case that you could broker a lasting peace deal that would lead to vibrant economies and environmental protection. However, I suspect that it is the other way around. Economic and Environmental activity could be used to pave the way to peace, and once peace is in place, it will continue to stimulate such activities further.
Sometimes we focus on peace, but the truth is that the environment presents even more of a challenge, and is much more time sensitive than peace. Peace may take generations to pull off. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time with the environment. If we don’t get our act together in several years, we may pass the point of no return, and doom ourselves to a downward spiral of environmental degradation. I’m coming to believe that the environment is quickly becoming the moral imperative of our time, and that a solution in this regard could help to solve most of our problems, including the issue of peace.
In terms of Israel, yes she wants to be the only nuclear power in the region. We know why she wants that. But ask yourself this, Mohammad, do you really think it’s a good idea for Iran to have nuclear weapons? I’m not saying that Israel could prevent this from happening, although she might try. But Israel aside, does it make sense for regimes so motiviated by religious ideological extremism, to have weapons of ultimate mass destruction in their hands. Israel may be a lot less than perfect, but she is not about to initiate mass destruction in God’s name. Iran’s leaders have made it clear that this eventuality in not beyond the realm of possibility as far as they are concerned.
I also believe that your analysis with respect to Hizbullah, may be a bit naive. Hizbullah wants to consolidate political power, and is not above doing anything to achieve its goal. It will not give up its “arm of resistance” even if Israel continues to release prisoners, and even if she gives up Shebaa farms. And I don’t think that Hizbullah represents the will of the Lebanese. I think that the majority of Leanaese would welcome their abrupt departure. I also beleive that Hizbullah is well within Iran’s control, and that relationship will not change anytime soon.
Mohammad, I wish we could negotiate with extremists, as you suggest. I don’t think that is possible. That’s why they’re called “extremists.” They are not open to reason. They are not motivated by the prospect of peace. They believe that peace will undermine them. They believe in what they want to believe, and for them, the truth is just a side issue.
What may work is to empower the people with jobs, jobs which protect the environment, jobs which will inspire a sense of hope, and jobs which will begin to neutralize the hold of extremist thinking. And as you do this, you will have no choice but to fight against extremism. But at least you’ll know what you’re fighting for. You’re not fighting a “war against terror.” You’re fighting a war to realize a Vision of Hope. There’s a big difference.
Esr’a
oh…Sunni brothers and Shi’ite brothers? Secularists playing divide and conquer on Muslims…
i am Sunni and i’d vote blindly to Nasrllah if he is running for the Arab world presidency.
not just me, the majority of the Arab youth would do the same.
you are so wrong on many levels
Hizbollah supporters include people like this and this and more importantly this.
the last photo is of Ibrahim Issa, the most prominent democratic activist in Egypt, his wall is decorated with photos of Guevara and Nassrllah. he wrote many articles defending Hizballah.
here is one article in Arabic
http://dostor.org/?q=node/3403
but here is a fair warning, at one point you will feel that he is talking to you, and you may be so offended by his language….he has no shame flaming the secularists who play the sunni/shi’te card
btw….Ibrahim Issa and his newspaper were one of the first to campaign for Kareem….they almost dead but Ibrahim Issa called it off because he found there is millions who deserve his effort and attention than the utterly disgusting kareem.
leftist writers, clad girls, heavy metal youth,….etc etc etc
it’s not about terrorism, in the Arab world you hear voices accusing Hamas of terrorism, Al-Qaeda, and even the Islamic brotherhood (duh!). but never ever you hear someone accusing Hizbollah of terrorism.
Hizbollah fought a fair war with honor and courage against the biggest killing machine in the Middle East, when Hizbollah leaders promise they fulfill their promises, Hizbollah didn’t go to war against Sunnis two months ago, Hizbollah went to war against the pro-Imperialism alliance in Lebanon, together with Hizbollah in this war there was Sunni and Christian parties, so the claim that Hizbollah waged war on Sunnis is a cheap claim by someone who want to strip this nation from one of its most powerful weapons.
as for Samir Al-Kintar….it’s just a political game by Hizballah….bite it Junbalat…we Hizballah are the ones who freed the Druze idol Samir Al-Kuntar
Nissim:
When I speak of an ever-lasting peace followed by reviving stagnant economies et al, I mean that such acts can’t bring about peace for they don’t remove the real ’cause’ of conflict. As stated above, I think that the real cause of conflict is a state pursuing superiority while neglecting the rights a superior power has to observe. I think that Hizbullah has a base in between people (ordinary people… no labeling), and you don’t think so. I think that the current policy of Israel will give rise to more Hizbullahs, and you believe otherwise. It’s done: We disagree; and it seems that we can make our positions no more clear than this. Though, I still respect your peace-loving arguments. Good luck with selling a vision of hope.
Mohammad,
I’m going to need a lot of luck, and a little bit of help, from good people such as yourself.
Rocco/Spanky,
The way you address others is truly shameful. This concerns the second comment that you posted here, which will not appear in this thread.
For as long as you post on this website, you WILL respect others, and you will NOT publish provocative and childish insults. All posts here go under moderation if there are more than one links in it; this is a technical issue with the platform that we are using, so do not dare once again insult this forum and its moderation team and cluelessly complain about “censorship.” If you continue to address people in this despicable and aggressive manner, your comments will be deleted. Read our comment policy and if you don’t like it, go post in Al Manar website or somewhere that welcomes your aggression, hatred, and petty insults.
There are plenty other Muslims including Sunnis who blindly follow any leader who appears to be influential and well-funded, this doesn’t prove anything other than we are a nation of sheep. People who do not follow the zombie sheep herders are considered “criminals,” like Kareem. I don’t care who supports Hezbollah! I have my own opinions and values, unlike you. I do not just blindly follow whoever you deem an “activist.”
If you want extremism and terrorism, and murderous leaders who thrive on such disgusting violence, you are free to do that while risking true freedom, and the lives of the younger generation. It seems that you did not learn your lesson yet, but soon you will. When Hezbollah turns against their own Muslim brothers and sisters, you might gain the sanity to understand what they really represent. I promise you that he will come after us, he has already begun terrorizing and raising a generation of murderers and extremists. And with their leadership we will find nothing but bloodshed, racism, censorship, and war. This is what you want. By justifying and hating people like Kareem, and by hatefully insulting anyone who disagrees with you at every opportunity, this is essentially what you want, and yet you claim to be a real Muslim? Laughable.
I assure you, there are more youth going after true freedom achieved through peaceful resistance, tolerance, and the respect of human rights, rather than the terrorism that you and your ilk support. And in the end we will be the ones who win this struggle, not you. Understand this. In the coming years you and your self-acclaimed heroes will be powerless.
Calling someone like Kareem “disgusting” is expected of someone with your mentality.
Unlike Nasrallah, Kareem never murdered anyone. He simply fought for the right to express his opinion, and you hate that.
But that makes him a hero. Bite on your tongue with envy! This will never change. You are the laughing stock of the real freedom fighters. And that hateful, fear-mongering terrorist Nasrallah will be your downfall. Just watch.
PS:
It is hilarious that you cannot see the steaming irony in this foolish statement, the key word being “blindly.” I wouldn’t put it past you to go after a blind, uninformed, terrorist-driven mission. You even unintentionally admitted that.
The Alternative Information Center has a full-scale article on the trial and conviction of Quntar based on declassified military court documents published by Yediot Ahronot here Here is a sample:
Miriam:
Thank you a lot. It’s clear that he might have told a series of lies. however, its indeed a good thing that he is not proud of “crushing the skull of a 4-year-old girl.”
thanks again.
At the same time, he apparently does not regret it.
Israel is a country which arrests Palestinians on a daily basis and holds them without charge for months, and often convicts them in secret trials without a fair procedure. Palestinian detainees are illegally transported into Israeli territory, and they are given limited access to lawyers, and are often harassed with their legal rights subverted in the process. Of course, Israel calls the entire population of Palestine terrorist, so I am not surprised that they would call Samir Quntar a terrorist. I like how the Israeli story, which for 30 years was based on NO PUBLIC DOCUMENTS FROM A COURT TRIAL, has always been given privilege over his own version, which is that he denies killing the girl and believes that the other was killed by Israeli fire. I don’t even think there is enough information here to conclude that either version is correct, but arbitrarily accepting the Israeli version really reveals a lot about how much people trust the government with the least credibility in the world, when it comes to Palestine.
ok fine, the girl died. so her blood is holy? wut abt our blood, what about the thousands of children who have died at the hands of the isrealis? what abt gaza? dammit,
so we have to sympathize with the ppl that murdered us and drove us out of our homes?
o btw…. the girl, was killed accedently. the whole aim of the 3amaleyi was to capture jews and exchange them for arab prisoner. the girl died in an excahnge of fire between the group led by kintar and the isreali pigs. dont believe all that u read on the internet. theres a lot of things cooked up by isreali. o they dont have any problem lying. as we ve learned from the past.
o eish kman… o why it was such a victory, well, kasret mun5ar la isra2eel, hezbollah degraded isreal by the trade, they put there faces in the ground. isra2el didnt want to give up dalal al mughrabis body (which had been with them for 30 years) or the dozens of other, read abt dalal. ull understand whay it was such a joyous event, why zaman il7azamt wala.
ilhmdella o allah yzeed
salamz
o god wut i wrote was a vocabularicular mess,,, nt to mention a grammitical one as well :S i guess le2enni knt msta3jeleh,,, ndaria,,, girl from bahrain,,, wut kind of mentality is that!!!!!!!!!!!! there is no way in hell ur muslim, or even been around muslimz,,,, ndaria 3nnik,,, girl dnt talk on behalf of religion if u have no idea wut ur talkin abt