Honesty and strength

By Salama A Salama

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Hassan Nasrallah admitted that Hizbullah's leadership didn't expect the capture of the two Israeli soldiers to lead to such devastation. In doing so he silenced his critics and cemented the sense of solidarity that developed in Lebanon during Israel's barbaric aggression. The war boosted Hizbullah's popularity across the region as effectively as it undermined the reputation of indecisive Arab governments. The war made it clear that Iran has emerged as a major regional power and that it is a friend of both Syria and Hizbullah. Now some people want to smear Syria, saying that it places Iranian interests above those of the Arabs.

Syria is being criticised because it opposes the deployment of international forces on its border with Lebanon. But Syria has rights and interests and is entitled to defend them. Israel may say it wants to stop arms supplies to Hizbullah but it is going about it in a way that shows it is seeking to blockade Syria and place Lebanon under its thumb. Yet you don't hear many people criticising Israel for occupying extensive swathes of Arab land, or for waging attacks inside Lebanon with US blessing.

The Arab people, in stark contrast to their governments, support Hizbullah and admire its honesty. Hizbullah had the courage to admit its mistakes, just as it had the guts to go to war. The Arab people, tired of giving in to Israel's every wish, also sympathise with Syria. We have suffered defeat in many wars provoked or started by Israel and each time the fighting has ended in phoney peace and make- believe negotiations. Meanwhile Israel continues to occupy Arab land, forcing Arab civilians to live behind barriers, in virtual or real prisons.

The Arabs don't believe that Iran or Hizbullah are a menace, nor do they pin much hope on peace talks. They are tired of living in police states that are corrupt and ineffectual. The Arab public believes that successive defeats have been the fault of Arab regimes, a result of the weakness that tyranny engenders. With the US blindly backing Israel and Europe expressing nothing but hatred for Arabs and Muslims, the Arab public has turned to Hizbullah and its charismatic leader in the search for someone they can look up to. They want a leader who can navigate through the current dire straits. Islamic organisations have become popular in this part of the world for a simple reason. They have the stomach to resist, which is why Islamists did well in Palestinian and Egyptian elections. The Arab public has no hope for peace with Israel.

The war in Lebanon should have united us. Instead we continue to bicker. The constant attempts to smear Hizbullah fuel Sunni-Shia mistrust and alienate the Syrians and Iranians. It doesn't need to be like this. It is a myth that the only alternative to not submitting to Israel is total destruction. We can engage in resistance while talking of peace, and we must acknowledge that to secure peace we have to be strong.

Let's learn from Iran. Tehran has not closed the door to negotiations and is continuing to build its nuclear and technological capabilities. Likewise, Hizbullah is now engaged in reconstruction efforts at home and its leader says that negotiations are underway, with Italian mediation, to secure a prisoner exchange. Hizbullah even agreed to the Lebanese cabinet's decision to deploy the army in the south. This is pragmatism, power and reason thrown together. And it is what we should be doing. We need to talk softly but carry a big stick.