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| Even Christians back Hizbollah! |
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Sunday, July 30, 2006
Hamid Mir
BEIRUT: Hamra Street in west Beirut was once famous for its nightclubs. Today, these clubs are virtually deserted. My hotel is located close to this once-bustling street. The other night, after hearing the sound of heavy Israeli bombardment I decided, like many other journalists, to come out of the hotel. It was 1.30am. Despite the eerie silence and overall gloom, west Beirut looked extremely beautiful.
While strolling through the area with some fellow journalists, I ended up on Hamra Street where I noticed that one nightclub had its lights on. Astonished, we decided to go inside, where we found a man with his head down reading Robert Fisk’s ‘Pity the Nation’. When asked what he was doing alone so late at night in the nightclub, the middle-aged man looked at us with great suspicion. He asked us to identify ourselves and when we told him we were journalists he immediately relaxed.
He told us that he was waiting for two women from south Lebanon who work in his nightclub. They had left for Tyre that morning to evacuate their families and bring them to Beirut. When they arrive with their families, he said, he would take them to a Christian school nearby where a refugee camp has been set up. The man was named Basheer and had a cross dangling from his neck. I asked him about his Muslim name, to which he smiled and replied that Christians in Lebanon are often named Basheer. A former Lebanese president, Basheer Jamail, who was killed in a bomb attack in 1982, was also a Christian.
I asked Basheer what he felt about Hizbollah. Without a moment’s hesitation he said: “ Hizbollah is defending Lebanon. A large number of Christians, like myself, are its supporters.” His reply stunned me. Here we were in Hamra Street where a Christian nightclub manager was openly supporting Hizbollah’s resistance against Israel! A French journalist asked Basheer whether he knew that Al-Qaeda leader Aiman al-Zawahiri had also supported Hizbollah and whether that made him have second thoughts. He replied: “ I don’t know what Zawahiri’s motives are. But I do know that if the Israelis reach Beirut their bullets will not differentiate between Sunnis, Shias, Christians or the Druze.” He pointed out that the Israeli bombing of West Beirut in 1982 had destroyed a number of churches and that the honour of not only Muslim but many Christian women was also violated by the Israeli army. “ Only Hizbollah can stop Israel.”
Basheer pointed out that only Hizbollah has succeeded in defeating Israel. Today, six years later, Israel is still licking its wounds over its humiliation in South Lebanon. He said that perhaps Sheikh Hassan Nasarallah would intensely dislike his (Basheer’s) profession. “Maybe he might not even trust me because of my religion. But if I want to live in Lebanon I fervently believe that only he can provide us security.” The French journalist said that because of Hizbollah, South Lebanon is in ruins and asked what Hizbollah has given Beirut apart from destruction. Basheer replied with more than a trace of bitterness: “ You European Christians are responsible for many of the problems facing Arab Christians. The US and Europe want us to become your agents and allies. In 1982 we did just that. But when the US and French forces left, we were at the mercy of Hizbollah. They did not persecute us, that is why we are with Hizbollah.”
Basheer’s words were corroborated by a survey published on July 29 in the Daily Star, Beirut’s only English language newspaper. The paper printed a survey conducted by the Beirut Centre for Research and Information which reveals that 86.9 per cent of Lebanese support Hizbollah’s resistance against Israel. Hizbollah’s actions have the support of 96.3 per cent of Shias, 79.5 per cent of Druze, 80.3 per cent of Christians and 88.9 per cent of Sunnis. On the question of Hizbollah capturing two Israeli soldiers, 96.3 per cent of Shias supported the move, while 40 per cent of Druze, 54 per cent Christians, and 73.1 per cent of Sunnis approved.
On the US recent role in the Middle East, all communities showed their disapproval. A staggering 94 per cent of Shias viewed the US role negatively, while 88 per cent of the Druze, 85 per cent Christians and 91.7 per cent of Sunnis also reacted negatively. This survey was conducted only in Beirut and reflects the capital’s feelings accurately. Even though the Israelis have made a distinction between the largely Shia south and the Christian west, most Christians and Druze in the west of the capital do not consider Israel their friend.
Some observers have claimed that after the present strife, a large proportion of Lebanese Christians will abandon the country. They point to the fact that western embassies are readily issuing visas to this community and predict that after the ceasefire the number of Christians in Lebanon will sharply fall. The ones who remain, it is said, will hang on to their identity but will seek protection from Hizbollah and be dependent on their goodwill.
After spending ten days in the country, it is apparent that Hizbollah’s real strength lies in its welfare activities among ordinary people. The group’s hospitals are not solely for the Shia population but are open to Sunnis, Christians and Druze alike. The party can be described as a combination of democracy, Jihad and Ijtehad. Hizbollah made a lot of mistakes in its early years. It waged an armed struggle against the Shia Tehrik-i-Amal and Palestinian refugees. The beneficiary of such actions was always Israel.
That is why Hassan Nasrallah in more recent years has focused his attention on Shia-Sunni unity and on conciliation with the Christians.
The results of these actions are now there for all to see in Lebanon. On Saturday morning, Israeli jets attacked and destroyed a car belonging to a Hizbollah leader in the southern Beirut area of Al-Dahiya. When I got there with my cameraman, I heard patriotic music blaring from a Hizbollah truck and people distributing sweets to the assembled crowd. We learnt that they were celebrating the retreat of the Israeli army from a south Lebanon village of Bint Jabal.
On our way back near Sabra, I saw some Hizbollah men distributing sweets in front of a church. A Christian nun, while eating the sweets, had raised her right hand in jubilation and was making a victory sign with her fingers.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
