Headline: In war's dust, a new Arab 'lion' emerges
Byline: Dan Murphy Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 08/29/2006
(CAIRO)To most of the Arab public, the debate over who won the war between
Israel and Lebanon's Hizbullah is already settled.
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah is being feted through song in Syrian
nightclubs and on Palestinian radio. In Egypt, his name is being given
to babies. On Baghdad streets, posters celebrate his "victory."
Islamist and secular groups are united in declaring Mr. Nasrallah the
new "lion" of Arab causes.
The long-term political fallout of this euphoria over Hizbullah's
ability to withstand Israel's superior firepower is still uncertain. In
Lebanon, suffering brought by the war has seen support for Hizbullah
split along sectarian lines. But there are signs that opponents of
authoritarian regimes in the region have been emboldened by Hizbullah's
actions, linking their struggles against their own states to the
Lebanese guerrillas' fight with Israel.
What's more, the perception of Nasrallah as the Arabs' new champion -
replacing secular leaders of the past like Yasser Arafat - has
accelerated the regional shift of support to Islamist leaders seen as
less corrupt than their secular counterparts.
The biggest boost to Nasrallah's popularity appears to be among
Palestinians and Syrians.
Alaa Abul Heijah, the leader of Firkat Ishaman, a band in the West Bank
city of Jenin, says that he decided to write a tribute to Nasrallah
after watching footage of Israel's attack on the village of Qana. The
result was a song that dubs Nasrallah "the Hawk of Lebanon," and has
quickly become one of the more popular war songs.
In Damascus, posters of Nasrallah with young children or of Nasrallah
flanked by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, adorn shops and cars. Singers have even brought
the "resistance" into popular nightclubs where alcohol flows and
Syrians dance to popular songs found throughout the Arab world.
To be sure, Sunni Syrians and Palestinians aren't necessarily enamored
of the hard-line Shiite alliance of Iran and Hizbullah. Some see them
as outsiders who use the Palestinian cause to further their own
interests. Abdel Majid Sweilem, a political-science professor at Al
Quds University in Jerusalem, says many Palestinians feel caught in the
middle of the Iran-US standoff. "We don't want to be in the Iranian
coalition, but we don't want to be involved in the American'" one
either, says Mr. Sweilem.
But for most Palestinians, little seems to dampen their elation at
what's perceived as a victory against Israel through mere survival.
Omar Shaban, a Gaza-based political analyst, says Hizbullah's endurance
is the closest thing Arabs have had to a victory against Israel in
decades. Nasrallah "is an example of a leader who Palestinians are
dreaming of," says Mr. Shaban.
That's a feeling shared by many Arabs. "He is the first leader to
really defeat Israel. He does not live in palaces or drive a Mercedes.
He lives with the fighters and the people," says Mahmoud Mahrouf, a
high school teacher in Cairo. "Nasrallah is the only true Arab leader
today."
While much of the visible support falls into the category of Arab
kitsch, there are signs that Nasrallah's rise in the region will
translate to a boost for opponents of the US and Israel.
According to a recent article by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, chairman of
Cairo's Ibn Khaldun Center, a postwar poll by his think tank found that
Nasrallah is ranked the most "important" regional leader by Egyptians.
Rounding out the top five, in order, are: Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahamdinejad, Khalid Mishal of Hamas, Osama bin Laden, and the Muslim
Brotherhood's Mahdi Akef.
During the war, Mahdi Akef, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim
Brotherhood, the country's most popular opposition movement, made
comments of almost unprecedented militancy for an organization that
laid down its arms a generation ago.
Pressured by eager young followers, he said the Brotherhood was "ready"
to send 10,000 members to fight alongside Hizbullah, and he followed
that up with a thinly veiled attack on Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak, accusing "Arab leaders" of abandoning Lebanon to "Israeli
aggression."
"If [the Arab leaders] weren't Muslims, we would have killed them,
because they are a bigger threat to the nation than Israel itself," Mr.
Akef said. His tough talk has been followed by a crackdown; 17
Brotherhood members were arrested last Friday.
Close US allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have taken heat from their
citizens for not standing with Hizbullah during the war.
While praise remains near unanimous outside Lebanon, recent polling
shows more mixed feelings about Nasrallah's militia. A poll released
Monday by L'Orien Le Jour, conducted by Ipsos-stat, found that while 84
percent of Lebanese Shiites want Hizbullah to remain armed, 54 percent
of Sunnis and 77 percent of Christians want the group disarmed.
* With reporting by Joshua Mitnick in Jenin, West Bank, and Rhonda
Roumani in Damascus, Syria.
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