How difficult a decision could it be? Aside from Arab pride which opposes any appearance of submission to the West this Hezbollah stunt was a misguided attempt to keep terrorist activities alive against Israel and by proxy the West and it has failed.
It has failed because Israel didn’t react under the restrains of the West; Israel answered back in the way a provoked Nation would and should. You commit an act of war against our nation we will unequivocally defend ourselves.
Israel’s reaction has given the Arabs pause and created a split
in opinion among Arabs who six years ago would not have given a second thought about supporting Hezbollah over Israel. What has changed?
Democracy, the recent rise to power of Shiites in Iraq, and the tensions of Sunni and Shiites conflicts has changed Arab opinion. These things are all indicative of a split in the way Arabs wish to pursue relations with the West.
There is not unanimous support for Osama bin Laden and terrorism in the Middle East either is there unilateral hatred against the West.
While same Arabs believe that Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, represent "what is left of honor and dignity in times of submission," As columnist Sajed al-Abdali, a Kuwaiti and Sunni Islamist, does and wrote in a column in Al-Rai Al-Amm newspaper.
Al-Abdali believes anyone who disapproves of Hezbollah are "cowards" who should "just stay silent."
However other voices are speaking against Hezbollah and doing this against Arab convention that would not allow even the slightest appearance of support for Israel or dissent without reprisal.
Jordan, housewife Layla Nasser said Nasrallah's men acted with folly when they crossed into Israel and captured two soldiers, igniting the current conflict.
"He reminds me of Saddam Hussein, who dragged Iraq into several similar adventures which have led to the complete destruction of Iraq," she said.
"Nasrallah has done the same and is the cause of Lebanon's destruction," she added. "He is arrogant and irresponsible."
Then there is, Lina, a Shiite banker who declined to give her last name for fear of Hezbollah retaliation, said the group had no right to drag the nation into war.
"In 2000, I supported it because it was a real resistance," she said. "But now I don't, and I don't see any heroism in what it's done so far."
This freedom of opinion is relatively new and just one of the changes that democracy has made.
These changes not only affect the individual but also affect the Middle Eastern region. Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and Morocco have not backed Hezbollah’s actions against Israel as would be expected.
Saudi Arabia lashed out at Hezbollah for starting the recent fight, Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said bluntly and publicly that Hezbollah's decision to cross the Lebanese border, attack Israel, and kidnap its soldiers has left the Shiite group on its own to face Israel.
This is a remarkable statement because it runs contrary to Osama bin Laden’s theory of provoking a WWIII conflict against the West calling on the Ummah (family) of all Muslims to rise up against the Crusaders (West).
Columnist YOUSSEF IBRAHIM wrote for The New York Sun that the -Arab Majority May Not Stay Forever Silent- he wrote:
Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that seventh-century Islam is not fit for 21st-century challenges. That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics, and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.
So why isn’t the Western Press asking Hezbollah if they perhaps have made a mistake by starting this conflict? And why hasn't the press called for the release of the hostages?
We all know that terrorist read and listen to the Western media, we all want an end to these conflicts. Don’t we? So why not ask… Osama you want the Iraq war over? Call off your 1996 and 1998 Fatwas stop the insurgency and the war is over.
Iran and Syria you want the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel over, why not return the hostages?
