Darn, I did not know Nasrallah speeaks Hebrew!!

Of course he speaks Hebrew, he even has a Hebrew Blog!
(in addition to his English Blog)
And a great sense of humor we didn't know of, apearantly..

except his 'hostages' are viewing him more and more as their 'hero' what with the escalating number of civilian deaths at the hands of the IDF (which from this cartoon we conclude are the liberators?!), lisa.
Rouba

Hi Rouba,

I am quite certain that the message of this cartoon is not that the IDF is the "liberator" of Lebanon. Everyone in Israel knows that the situation is far, far more complex than that. And I certainly don't know anybody in Israel who wants the IDF in Lebanon in the first place.

Hi Lisa,

This is the first time I'm leaving a comment here although I have been reading your blog weeks before this damned bloodshed.
The reason: I was just willing to express my sadness of seeing you (even you, the intlligent girl, reading a lot, watching a lot, experiencing a lot), believing in such a distorted version of reality. Is it really Nassrallah taking the whole population of Lebanon in hostage??? You should be kidding.
Seeing this tasteless cartoon on your blog, I can comprehend now how and why the polls in Israel encourage more bloodshed.

Laila from Iran

p.s. Just to avoid some people of wasting their time for accusing me of so and so labels, I would like to say that I am against Iranian regime. And am secular as well.

Hi Laila,

I was wondering who that reader from Iran was! ;) (joking)

Look, just because I post a cartoon does not mean that I am advocating a position, okay? I posted this cartoon because I think it's an interesting expression of a very common Israeli opinion: That our country was dragged into a war by Nasrallah. You can argue against that position if you like, no problem; debate is always great, as long as it's civilised. But please do not take this cartoon too literally. Remember, it's just a cartoon. ;)

Also, regarding your contention that "polls in Israel encourage more bloodshed" - No. I'd be willing to bet all the money I wish I had (but don't have) that there is not a single person in Israel who wants this war. There are a lot of people who believe that the army's response is necessary, in order to protect Israel's citizens and its sovereignty, but they recognize that necessity with great sadness. And again, before you respond - please remember that I am expressing what I see as mainstream opinion. I am not expressing my own opinion - which I will keep to myself, for now.

'Just discovered your blog in today's Wall Street Journal.

Fascinating and grist for my own blogmill:

"To stop apologizing for our positions"

Lisa,

love your stuff....sitting in an internet cafe in Hunstville, and there you were...on my laptop doing the Canada AM thing. Good work. cuz ken@tecumseth.com

Ladies and gentleman, meet my brilliant cousin Ken. Ken, it's been waaay too long!

And he (Nasrallah) must be SO proud..........

Actually, he probably is......

If I may have a say in it, I'd say we're all hostages, including Nass but for a third party ... and maybe Syria as well.
I read this blog recently, interesting perspective http://freesyria.wordpress.com/2006/07/28/thank-you-iran-for-nothing/ Enjoy the reading.

While Hezbullah may use public relations to try to dissuade people from knowing that Syria and Iran trains fighters and sends them weapons in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1559 the truth is that people should know Hezzbulah could not be launching so many missiles without them.

"They turned the tiny to heroes, and heroes to shameless" Nizar KABANI

To civilian deliberate targeting, I"DF" puts responsibility on HA fighters.
Such cartoons are used to close any debate, at least in Israel.
But just right now, reporters rushed on the place of such killings (like Qana today), don't locate any weapons. Past events, specially in that city, makes me not believe IDF claims.

Coming from a IDF's spokesman, this would mean:
"we will continue levelling everyone, and wait for international troops to go look where HA is."

I find the power of cartoons in as it pertains to issues in the middle east both baffling and impressive.

Rather than arch charicatures of a pervailing attitude, they are interpereted as definitive editorial stance.

they get far more reaction than any news article. So weird to think that cartoonists and thier musings can be so powerful in this day and age.

I tend to agree with Adina.

Cartoons in this region are much more powerful than some editorials.

As for this cartoon, I'll keep my opinions to myself. There is too much more to worry about.

That cartoon expresses my sentiments exactly. Good stuff.

Isn't it the other way around though? "Free our 2 soldiers or we will kill 60 of the hostages as each day passes." Just look at Qana, who is holding whom hostage?

I've noticed that quite a few people harbour this odd belief that the IDF is attacking the Hezbollah in Lebanon in order to free the two hostages. In fact it's quite clear that the soldiers will not be freed via military action, any more than an elephant would find a pin in a china shop. The purpose of the IDF's action is not to free the hostages.

The stated goal of the IDF is to wipe out Hezbollah's military capabilities in Lebanon, in order to prevent it from further attacking Israeli territory, as it has been doing since the IDF withdrew in 2000. The July 12 incident was not the first time Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers; three were kidnapped from Israeli territory in 2000, about six months after the withdrawal. Their bodies were returned in a prisoner exchange four years later. Also, the north of Israel has come under frequent Hezbollah bombardment over the past six years.

Let me stress that the stated goal of the IDF is to wipe out Hezbollah's military capabilities in southern Lebanon. Whether or not the army will be successful in this endeavour is another story altogether. And not for this comment thread!

Stated goals and actual goals are usually two separate things.

Really?

Does this mean that Arafat was ACTUALLY trying to destroy Israel with suicide bombers while saying he wanted a two state solution, and that Nasrallah and his supporters are ACTUALLY trying to deliver flower seeds via missile so that Jews and Arabs can make a garden of Eden together?

Shocka!

Nasrahllah on Israeli satire show Eretz Nehederet:
http://www.keshet-tv.com/nehederet/
Click on Nasrahllah's photo to see the sketch (I think you need IE).

Nasrahllah: "We are going to target Haifa, and after, after Haifa. And after, after, after Haifa, and after after after after Haifa..."
Reporter (worried): "Anyone counting the 'afters'?!"
...
Nasrahllah: "...and after after after after after after Haifa... Wait a second, I reached Sinai, rewind..."

they show him as addicted to Israeli media (presenting a song for our version of "American Idol").

Hi Lisa,

Nasrallah is yet another fanatic with evil intentions. Before him came Adolf Hitler who was greatly inspired by Martin Luther who was greatly inspired by a few gospel writers who tired to gain acceptability by blaming the Jews for Christ's death rather than the Romans. And speaking of the Romans, they were the ones who evicted the Jews from their homeland leaving them without state protection for over 2 000 years. And here we are today still faced with much of the same thing.

This voice from Canada wants you to know that you're not alone, for many of us here understand your challenges.

Stay strong!

What is it with people and cartoons?

This is a very funny post. I listened to this leader of Hezbullah on c-span television the other day. He seems quite intelligent but doesn't seem to have much respect for my country (the United States) or for Israel.