Palestinians snap up Hezbollah flags
From correspondents in Gaza
July 18, 2006
LEBANON'S Hezbollah may have few friends in the international community, but it has won many admirers among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where the guerilla group's yellow flags have been flying off the shelves.
Support for Hezbollah has soared in Gaza in the wake of Israel's offensive in Lebanon, launched after the group seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid.
For Gazans, it all looks very familiar as Israel nears the fourth week of a major operation here - likewise ordered after Palestinian militants abducted a soldier and killed two others.
"I am selling more Hezbollah and Lebanese flags than I ever have," said Tareq Abu Dayya, one flag shop owner, adding that buyers had snapped up thousands of flags since last week.
Sitting in his store, as large yellow Hezbollah flags flew on an pole outside, Abu Dayya said Gazans of all stripes were buying, but especially Palestinians who have relatives jailed in Israel and who hope Hezbollah can arrange a prisoner swap.
Many now look to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for inspiration.
Some Gazans said Nasrallah had stood with them when Arab leaders had done little to stop an Israeli offensive that has killed 90 people, nearly half of them civilians.
Israel has vigorously defended its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
"Nasrallah is a hero," said Mohsen Abdallah, 35, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, as medics picked up the body of an 18-year-old Palestinian killed by Israeli gunfire.
"We hope Nasrallah bombs Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Let him do what a billion Muslims cannot do."
At a pro-Lebanon rally by thousands of Gazans today, marchers carried hundreds of Hezbollah and Lebanese flags and held large posters of Nasrallah aloft. Protesters burnt US and Israeli flags.
July 18, 2006
LEBANON'S Hezbollah may have few friends in the international community, but it has won many admirers among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where the guerilla group's yellow flags have been flying off the shelves.
Support for Hezbollah has soared in Gaza in the wake of Israel's offensive in Lebanon, launched after the group seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid.
For Gazans, it all looks very familiar as Israel nears the fourth week of a major operation here - likewise ordered after Palestinian militants abducted a soldier and killed two others.
"I am selling more Hezbollah and Lebanese flags than I ever have," said Tareq Abu Dayya, one flag shop owner, adding that buyers had snapped up thousands of flags since last week.
Sitting in his store, as large yellow Hezbollah flags flew on an pole outside, Abu Dayya said Gazans of all stripes were buying, but especially Palestinians who have relatives jailed in Israel and who hope Hezbollah can arrange a prisoner swap.
Many now look to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for inspiration.
Some Gazans said Nasrallah had stood with them when Arab leaders had done little to stop an Israeli offensive that has killed 90 people, nearly half of them civilians.
Israel has vigorously defended its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
"Nasrallah is a hero," said Mohsen Abdallah, 35, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, as medics picked up the body of an 18-year-old Palestinian killed by Israeli gunfire.
"We hope Nasrallah bombs Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Let him do what a billion Muslims cannot do."
At a pro-Lebanon rally by thousands of Gazans today, marchers carried hundreds of Hezbollah and Lebanese flags and held large posters of Nasrallah aloft. Protesters burnt US and Israeli flags.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 2:37 AM
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