Hizbullah Shrine Enthralls Lebanese Children -Robert F. Worth
The children crowd forward around the glass case [pictured above], eager for a glimpse of the martyr's bloodstained clothes. His belt is here, and the shoes he died in, scarred with shrapnel. The dead man being shown such veneration is Imad Mughniyeh, the shadowy Hizbullah commander. Hizbullah has hailed him as one of its great military leaders in the struggle against Israel.
Now, the group has opened an exhibit in honor of Mughniyeh. The eerie heart of the exhibit is the glass-encased room displaying his possessions, as if they were a saint's relics. On a recent afternoon, a crowd of onlookers stared through the glass in awe, some of them weeping openly.
“Look, there’s his gun!” shouted a small boy dressed in army fatigues, leading his parents in for a closer look.
Schoolchildren pour in throughout the day. On a recent afternoon, busloads of schoolchildren were arriving to see the exhibit.
This is a tense moment in Lebanon. Last month Lebanon formed a transitional government in which the Hezbollah-led opposition has enough cabinet seats to wield veto power.
Hezbollah officials have recently renewed warnings that they will retaliate against Israel, which they blame for Mr. Mugniyah’s death. Israel has denied any role in the Mugniyah killing, which took place in Damascus, the Syrian capital. But Israeli and Western agents had spent 25 years pursuing Mr. Mugniyah, who was blamed for a series of spectacular attacks, kidnappings and hijackings, including the suicide bombing of a United States Marines barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American service members in 1983.
(New York Times)
View Slide Show: Exhibit Honors Hizbullah Commander (New York Times)
The children crowd forward around the glass case [pictured above], eager for a glimpse of the martyr's bloodstained clothes. His belt is here, and the shoes he died in, scarred with shrapnel. The dead man being shown such veneration is Imad Mughniyeh, the shadowy Hizbullah commander. Hizbullah has hailed him as one of its great military leaders in the struggle against Israel.
Now, the group has opened an exhibit in honor of Mughniyeh. The eerie heart of the exhibit is the glass-encased room displaying his possessions, as if they were a saint's relics. On a recent afternoon, a crowd of onlookers stared through the glass in awe, some of them weeping openly.
“Look, there’s his gun!” shouted a small boy dressed in army fatigues, leading his parents in for a closer look.
Schoolchildren pour in throughout the day. On a recent afternoon, busloads of schoolchildren were arriving to see the exhibit.
This is a tense moment in Lebanon. Last month Lebanon formed a transitional government in which the Hezbollah-led opposition has enough cabinet seats to wield veto power.
Hezbollah officials have recently renewed warnings that they will retaliate against Israel, which they blame for Mr. Mugniyah’s death. Israel has denied any role in the Mugniyah killing, which took place in Damascus, the Syrian capital. But Israeli and Western agents had spent 25 years pursuing Mr. Mugniyah, who was blamed for a series of spectacular attacks, kidnappings and hijackings, including the suicide bombing of a United States Marines barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American service members in 1983.
(New York Times)
View Slide Show: Exhibit Honors Hizbullah Commander (New York Times)
3 comments:
It is hard to see a peaceful light at the end of a tunnel lined with exhibits like this.
Yup. i edited out a reference to Lebanese Boy Scouts visiting the exibit. Hezbollah has become mainstream in Lebanon. Very bad trend.
Well, Bush and Rice still believe there is a chance for meaningful peace before January. Sadly, LOL. Which makes my point from other comments that this is not the information dissemination machine you want to put your faith into. But keeping on this topic, it is a very bad trend. It becomes harder and harder to see any reasonable time-line for peace. Scary and sad.
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