Hizbullah and its leader have become the pride of all Arabs, writes Jailan Halawi While the US failed with all its might to bring Israel any gains from its massacres in Lebanon, the Islamic resistance Hizbullah and its leader stood tall in the war's wake. After the UN finally issued Resolution 1701 that entails a ceasefire, an air of relief prevailed in the region despite speculation that the peace will not last long since Israel has never complied with any of the previous 159 resolutions. However, for now it was time to rejoice in the Arab and Muslim world. Israel's vicious war on Lebanon and Hizbullah's resistance revived a sense of Arab nationalism and wiped away the myth of the unbeatable might of Israel. Even with the US exercising all its muscle in tailoring a UN resolution in favour of Israel in content, pace and form, it failed to provide its spoilt ally with victory over what it believed to be an easy target which could be destroyed in the absence of a unified official Arab stance. "The end of a legend", was the lead front page article of the Monday edition of the daily opposition Al-Wafd newspaper with a huge picture of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert placing his hand over his head as if to prevent it from exploding. While the Arab world still cries for its children whose blood was shed by Israel's "smart bombs" and the new US call for "constructive chaos", it rejoiced with pride by its victory over a brutal aggressor who failed to show any honour in the battlefield except flexing his muscles on innocent civilians. Hassan Nasrallah and Hizbullah's victory revived the hopes of the Arab nation in victory. "Nasrallah is now the hero who taught the tyrant a lesson and dealt a blow to his arrogance. He is the role model Arab nations aspire to having in their own leaders. After more than a month of engaging in war with an enemy who hides behind the might and dictatorship of a lone superpower forcing its hegemony on the world, Hizbullah won. Even with statements by the Israeli prime minister claiming to have achieved a "political victory" Nasrallah's victory broke the legend of the unbeatable army capable of destroying nations and resistance movements standing in its way," Al-Wafd wrote. "Notwithstanding an evident imbalance of power, the Islamic resistance has proved itself an effective match for Israel to effect harm and panic in the north with its missile power expanding the geographic extent of the threat it poses even further. While Israel's political and military leadership seemed uncertain and confused about their targets and tools [of combat], the resistance and political leadership appeared composed and knew what it wanted, what to do and how to handle the continuous escalation launched by the enemy in various stages. "The resistance was obviously in control of the battlefield, maintaining close contact with its ranks in the south and no one until now knows how they managed to do it. "While the resistance functions under the banner of Jihad and martyrdom, it stayed focussed on upgrading its skills and tools to match that of the enemy. In doing so, Hizbullah utilised the power of faith to fulfil national goals. Hizbullah was not only defending Lebanon but the whole Arab and Islamic nation." "The resistance further aborted the plan of a 'new Middle East' and hence shed a glimmer of hope in the [Arab] people's ability to determine their destinies by refusing the American-Israeli guardianship under any banner. It [the resistance] showed us, the Arabs, where lies our strength and paved the way that protects our dignity and freedom," wrote Abdel-Alim Mohamed in Monday's edition of the daily Al-Ahram. Also in the Monday edition of the daily Al-Masri Al-Yom, in "Resistance and the mind", Yehia El-Gamal explained how the resistance in Lebanon gained the sentiments of all Arab people, something the Arab nation had been missing for long. "I don't think the nation has experienced such a unique, dignified feeling as this now that it has realised how a group of a few believers withstood the barbarian massacres of the enemy." El-Gamal compared Nasrallah's popularity in the Arab world like that of former President Gamal Abdel-Nasser explaining how he [Nasrallah] led resistance to victory over "the insolent Israeli occupation and the unlimited American support that surpassed all expectations to the extent of preventing the UN from issuing a decree to halt the fire until Israel finished its holy mission of destroying Lebanon and Hizbullah." Other columnists like Rifki Fakhri of the daily Al-Akhbar criticised US President George Bush for being fond of "dismantling" any resistance movement at any cost. "It seems that movements resisting occupation in any part of the world provoke President Bush's wrath, whether in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan or elsewhere... the American president's attempts to draw a new Middle East won't succeed for he cannot suppress the world and establish an empire on the rubble of nations. What Bush wants to see is a new world of his own imagination totally removed from reality," Fakhri added. The real challenge at this moment according to many political analysts and writers, is for the Arab nation, whether governments or people, to unite and help Lebanon re-build its infrastructure. Doing so would allow the speedy return of almost one million refugees to their homelands. This will not be achieved without huge financing from the Arabs. And while some Arab states have already started sending financial aid, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with $500 million, analysts urged that such efforts of support be "swift and relentless".
